The Way Out

        There are a lot of small differences about life here. Some are more subtle than others, but it's funny how something small can cause a cultural block between us. When I first arrived here, I asked someone where the restroom was and they just stared at me in complete confusion. Here it's called the toilet, which isn't so unusual, but it sounds really strange and informal to say "can you tell me where the toilets are."
       I've found that about half the time, the people I meet are foreigners like me, and are often just as confused or unable to give directions. Once when I was riding on the tube at a time when the train was particularly crowded, the driver came over the intercom and said, "I think we should make this one V.I.P." Everyone around me just stared at each other. We had absolutely no clue what he was talking about and I still haven't quite figured it out. He waited a while before leaving, so the only meaning I can derive from it was that he meant that some people needed to get off because it was too crowded. ??
       Another problem we've run into is that when we need directions and we can actually find a local to help us they're not sure how to tell us where to go in a way that we understand. They assume that we know the area better than we do and that we know the names of stores or streets in the area. The conversations tend to be somewhat circular and in the end we usually have to find our way on our own anyway. I'm also surprised at how many different stores and brands I've seen. I rarely see any brands I recognize and when I do, the products often have different names or they're different products all together or the packaging is completely different. Of course there's McDonald's, KFC, Starbucks, the usual suspects, but even they sell some different products and those are the only places I recognize.
       One difference that I have found most odd is that they don't have any exit signs here. Even in China there were exit signs. Here they say "way out" instead. I guess maybe some foreigners wouldn't know the word exit. ?? They also rarely have street sign here, which makes the city a bit harder to navigate. I guess they are ugly and take up space, but I already miss them. I've seen more whole milk than anything else and just as much goat milk as 2%. I'm going to get to try a lot of new things I guess and I think grocery shopping will be pretty interesting. lol. So far the main thing I've learned is that I have a lot to learn. That's probably the understatement of the year. Oxford trip in the morning!

These are a slight bit out of order because some of them were taken in Oxford, but this seemed like as good a place as any to put them. The first is Westminster Abbey, second is me at Wagamama, next four were taken during a scavenger hunt, a street busker, sparkle cupcakes at Covent Garden, a famous tea house, and a rare black phone booth, and the last four are from Oxford. Enjoy!

London!

      I'm finally here! I don't even know where to start, so let me just say that I love it here. This is the greatest city that I have ever visited, including NYC. There is so much to see and do and everyone I have met has been extremely helpful and friendly. The last few days they have kept us busy to say the least and at the end of each day I have been exhausted, but I've experienced so much that it has definitely been worth it.
      The day I arrived was pretty rough. I was up for 32 hours and the pressure change in the airplane really drained me. I was literally dead on my feet which was hard because I was excited to be there and meet the other participants of the program, but I felt like I couldn't show it. I made some friends that day and after we had settled in a bit we went to put money on our cards for the underground and decided to take a trip to Piccadilly Circus (kind of like time square) for dinner. We ate at a Vietnamese restaurant in China town and the food was absolutely amazing. It was fun to use the underground and it was a great start to the trip.
       I slept so hard that night and felt much better in the morning, but then we were up early and off and running again. We had orientation that day and then some of us went to Harrad's for lunch which was really cool. It's a huge and very nice department store of sorts and it had literally everything. After that we went on a 3 hour walking tour of the city with a tour guide and we went ALL over the city. This was really cool, but pretty tiring as well and we were all beat by the end of the day. We saw the globe theater, all the parliament buildings, the London Eye, Tower Bridge, Big Ben, many museums, Westminster Abbey, etc.
       The next morning I had my interview as well as many of my new friends and it went extremely well. I could not be more excited about my placement. I am working for the Queen's cousin, which is just amazing on its own, and the other girls I'll be working with are very young and fun and I can tell that the office will have a great atmosphere. It's very laid back and casual, and we'll be planning the Royal Ascot which is basically the same as the Kentucky Derby and I'll get to go to that which is an amazing opportunity! I work in Notting Hill, just like the movie in Lady Elizabeth's house, which is connected to one of the gardens Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts climb into together. It's one of the nicest areas in London and it's very beautiful. I navigated the tube all by myself that day and I feel really confident about it now. It's much easier to navigate than NYC. I picked up papers for a scavenger hunt at the main EUSA office and then we completed some of the things on the list for that too that day. We went to Covent Garden and Leicester Square mostly and we had a lot of fun at both places. We at cupcakes with sparkles on them, saw many impressive street performers (buskers), etc. I already have some favorite places and things that we'll be back for again (like the cupcakes, Vietnamese food, and food at Wagamamas (a noodle shop)). So fun!
       It's been very warm, unusually warm for London, and it hasn't rained once. I'm sure it's coming, but the weather is pretty decent in the summer overall here. I'll try not to always recap everything I do, but instead tell you about interesting things that I learn or differences in the way people live here. Tonight we had a welcome party and tomorrow we have our first seminar and cultural excursion which means we'll be going to the Science Museum. It should be a lot of fun. Excited for new adventures tomorrow! More to come soon! Photos too....don't worry. ;)

London Internship Placement

       Yesterday I received an email detailing the company at which I will most likely be completing my internship! I will still be required to interview with them when I get to London so it's not set in stone, but for now, I'm enjoying learning all that I can about this company which is called Party Planners. It was started in 1960 by Lady Elizabeth Anson. It's a small company, but they have a very impressive portfolio. They've planned events for pretty much every member of the royal family that I could think of which is just unfathomable to me although I'm not quite sure why I was so surprised considering where I'll be. So basically what I'm saying is, I might be planning an event for the queen of England this summer! EUSA also provided me with an extensive employee evaluation that has been very helpful in giving me details about what I might expect from my day to day work there. It also gave me incite into smaller and yet still very important details such as the dress code and what I can expect from the work atmosphere. From what I can tell, the events they plan tend to be very traditional and by that I mean that they are what I think of when I think of old England or medieval times. I am used to seeing very modern weddings and looking at their portfolio was more like the depiction of fairy-tales. I still have a lot to learn about the company, but from what I know so far, I'm extremely excited to be working for them this summer. Check out the website. http://www.party-planners.co.uk/

NYC

       My second trip to New York City certainly did not disappoint. Jackie and I took the train from New Haven and had a very leisurely and enjoyable time in Manhattan. We had a few places we wanted to hit and to be honest, not surprisingly we did not get to them all, but we really had a great time at the places we did make it to. We visited Chinatown, Little Italy, Ground Zero, the waterfront looking out towards the Statue of Liberty, and Time Square. It was also really cool to just be in Grand Central Station when our train came in.
       It was Jackie's first time in NYC and we both agreed that it was nice to just walk around without worrying too much about where we'd end up. I was really proud of us for being able to navigate the big city all by ourselves as silly as that may sound. We did get a little turned around once when we took the wrong subway, but we probably didn't really even need to have taken the subway half as much as we did. We realized later that we could have easily walked the distance to most of our destinations. Manhattan isn't half as big as we had envisioned it and the weather was just right for walking around town.

       The highlight of the trip was probably the people we met and interacted with. It's such a diverse place and meeting people from all over the country and the world in one place is awesome. We met one man in particular who was a construction worker that has worked at Ground Zero for the past nine years. He said that he had lost 17 friends in the World Trade Center attacks and that some days it's still hard to come to work, but mostly he feels that it is a privilege and an honor. He was so great to talk to and we spent a good twenty-five minutes sharing our lives and getting to know each other and I really appreciated his honesty and genuine nature. Overall it was a wonderful experience and for me it felt like practice for this summer when I will be navigating London. I can tell you this much, London will certainly be an adventure.

Connecticut Adventure

        After taking this road trip, I can't help but wonder why I have never visited the east coast before. I have been to New York City once before, but there is so much more to be seen in that part of the country. The obvious answer I've come up with is that when I've gone on vacations in the past, I'm seeking warmth, and even though Connecticut is on the seaside, it's certainly not known for warmth. Luckily for us, the weather this weekend was pretty perfect. There was one dreary day, but it mostly just threatened rain and all that was seen of it were a few sprinkles here and there. Honestly I was very happy for that day because it cleared some of the allergens out of the air and provided me with some much needed relief from my symptoms.

       New Haven was very beautiful. You could see obvious differences in the city immediately surrounding Yale versus the parts a little ways away. This may be the case for many college campuses but New Haven is a surprisingly poor area with the exception of the students who attend school at Yale. The city did contain some gems that me and Jackie had the pleasure of visiting though and we had a great time of it. There are lots of cafes/book stores surrounding Yale and I was basically in heaven every time we entered one. I could definitely see my self spending a lot of my time in them if I had them near by. Here is a photo I took in the one I especially loved. Rather than buying books, They had many that you could exchange and this sounds like a wonderful idea to me. They were piled up all over the place and I could have stayed there all day. I guess that's the perk of living near lots of smart people. Everyone probably reads books. But then again, who knows...really everything I thought about Yale and the people who would go to school there was wrong, so I could easily be wrong about that too. No more assumptions for this girl.
        Trey, the friend we were visiting was very busy with school and baseball, so we took the liberty of entertaining ourselves during the day. We decided to go to the children's museum on one occasion and it was hilarious. The girl working the front desk looked at us like we were crazy for actually wanting to pay to go in the museum. It was in fact, very small and quaint, but we still had a lot of fun. It was just our style and it was easily worth the $5 admission fee for the pictures we took alone. :) I love photos so much. Good memories are so much sweeter when you have something tangible to look back on like a picture.

       When we left the children's museum, I thought it would be cool to go to this light house park I found online. It was a little yucky out this day as I mentioned before, but I really think it just added to the seaside lighthouse beach affect. I think lighthouses are so neat anyways and the park we went to had a swing-set ON the beach! I have never seen this done before in all the years I've been to Florida and I truly think it was the best idea anyone has ever come up with. Two things I love so much in one. Swing set + the beach = a very happy Julie. I felt like we were in Ireland walking along the rocks and looking out to sea. I've never been to Ireland, but the moss was so lush and green which is how I would imagine it. So very beautiful and majestic. God is good and he has made so many beautiful things!

       I love Connecticut. It has a lot to offer and some day I'll have to make a trip up and down the east coast. There are a lot of places I want to visit, but I feel like I found a hidden treasure in the U.S. this weekend. Most of the places I want to see are in other countries. I wouldn't call it close to home....mostly because the extremely long drive is still so fresh in my memory, but it's much closer than most. The best thing about the coast is that you can take the train to the other coastal cities once you get there. This is relatively inexpensive and fun and next time I write all tell you all about our trip to New York City. :-D I am so lucky to have the opportunity to experience so much. May I never forget how blessed I truly am.

Preconceived Notions

     I'm here at Yale! I just feel like every preconceived notion or idea I had for what Yale would be like has been totally false. It is extremely beautiful here. The weather is perfect and the campus has a rich history which can easily be seen just by glancing around at the historic buildings and beautiful trees. I'm sad to report that my allergies are today even worse then they were a few days ago even with the pills I've been taking aimed towards curbing them. They're putting a bit of a drag on things, but I'm doing my best to ignore them.
     I have noticed a few differences so far. There seems to be a lot more diversity in the make up of  the student body (which is one of the only things I did expect), the squirrels are a slightly lighter shade of brown, more like a tan, and although there are lots of people outside enjoying the day together, it's very very quiet. I guess this is because they are all working in study groups? I'm not sure, but there's not much laughter, and apparently we stand out because we have received many stares by passing strangers today. For the most part though, they seem to be just like you and me. They go to Yale, but they are still just people and college students, and talking to them is just like talking to anyone else. They don't all get straight A's, they have fun and hang out with friends, are in sororities and fraternities and are involved in CRU.
     Oddly enough I was in my very first Frat house today, which I find hilarious. I had no idea that was where we would end up, but we went to visit a friend of Jackie's and that's where he lives. It was pretty gross to be honest. It smelled of beer and there were empty cups all over the floor. It could use a good cleaning to say the least. We sat on the balcony and looked out over New Haven and chatted a bit. I was also surprised by how small the school really is. The name carries so much weight, but I learned today that there are only about 5,000 undergrads. huh.
     Currently, Jackie is taking a nap (she was only able to sleep about 2 hours last night for some reason), and I am just chilling for a bit and waiting for her friend Trey to finish up with baseball practice so we can venture out and see the sites. We learned today that the train to New York City is only $28 round trip, so that's what we'll be up to Saturday. I'm definitely feeling fatigue from the extremely long car ride (we arrived at 4:45am which was about two hours later than we had expected to) and lack of sleep as well. I hope I'll be able to get in a decent amount of sleep tonight. We'll be attending their CRU tonight, which is called Yale Students for Christ here, basically I gather because the crusades were so gruesome and are offensive to some at this liberal college. I'm excited to be there and meet fellow believers. :) It's always encouraging to see people from all over he country and the world following Jesus. I'm fascinated by everything and can't wait for what the rest of the weekend will bring. More to come soon.

Road Trip

I honestly can't believe we're really doing this. Jackie and I are road tripping to Yale University tomorrow after classes. This is the kind of thing that people say will happen but in the end it never actually does and it looks like this time Jackie is really going to follow through! I am always down for anything and I think this trip will be a wonderful experience. I'm going to pretend to be Rory for the weekend. ;) Jackie knows several people there because of a spring break trip she took last year called Big Break and we'll be attending their CRU meeting on Thursday and possibly traveling to New York City on Saturday if all goes according to plan. I still haven't told my mom I'm going yet and I'm a little nervous about how she will take it when I do tell her tonight. Like I said before, I just never thought we would actually go and I didn't want to tell her until I really knew we would. I'm so excited! This will definitely be a memorable weekend. =D Ivy league Christian boys here we come! Haha. I'm all packed and ready for fun!

I hope I'm not jinxing this by writing this now. I just couldn't hold off any longer!!!

Allergies

It is currently 3:20am and I cannot sleep because of my allergies. I was very excited earlier about the spring showers we received, but now that it has stirred up all the allergens in the air, I am beginning to wish that it had never rained. I have never been tested by a doctor and have no clue what my body is actually reacting to, but I do know that I need medicine. I have used Claritin in the past and it hasn't seemed to really work for me so I'll try something new this time. I was thinking about trying Zyrtec. I'm pretty sure what I need is an antihistamine and to start taking it regularly. I think this is the key to allergy relief that I have missed the mark on in the past.  Antihistamines work best if you take them BEFORE you have symptoms and I always seemed to wait instead until after I was feeling unwell. Here's hoping they work because I really should be sleeping.

Yay for waking up in five and a half hours.

Ella Enchanted

I know this is sort of a kids book, but I'm sort of a kid still myself. This weekend I spent a pretty good amount of time alone and it was so nice. Sometimes I feel like I just need time to myself and this feeling had definitely been building in me for a while. I've been reading several books at once lately and it has kind of sucked some of the fun out of reading. The books I'm currently reading are made up or short stories or letters for the most part or my Bible which I always read in small amounts at a time. That being said, it has been pretty natural for me to read all of them at once, but there's just something to be said about reading a book straight though without ever having any desire to set it down, and that's precisely what I did with Ella Enchanted on Saturday. I was surprised at how much I loved this book. It was really well written which is rare for any book and more specifically I think for books written for this age group (teen). I know everyone says this about books, but I liked it a lot more than the movie (which I still like), and felt that the character of Ella was very strong and relate-able and well developed. If you're looking for an easy read and are a sucker for a charming prince, I definitely recommend reading this book. :)

p.s. Just trying out this new amazon link, I want to add photos, but I don't want to post anything that will be considered plagiarism and this seems like the easiest way of insuring that I don't.

Visiting Italy

This post is more for me than anything else...not that I have any followers anyways. haha. My mother is an art teacher and she works with another art teacher at Highland Hills named Leslie Shell. Ms. Shell was my art teacher growing up and her daughter is only a few years older than I. Although we have only met once when we were younger and very briefly at that, our mothers feel that we are "twin daughters," and so we have struck up somewhat of an online relationship. From what I know of her she seems very sweet and she loves the Lord and to travel, so perhaps our mothers are right this time. :) She has been nice enough to share with me a bit of her expertise on traveling in Europe as she spent a summer doing just that a few years back. She shared with me two "hidden treasures," as she calls them that she feels I just MUST see and from the photos I've seen, I believe she is right. These two places are so magical and beautiful and they have both definitely been moved to the top of my list of places to visit. The first was Cinque Terre, Italy or The Five Islands in English and the second is called Interlaken and is located in Switzerland. The first especially looks like paradise to me. A place that I would dream of living in. When looking into possible routes I could take in getting there, I found a site that gives you a lot of really helpful advice about traveling in Italy. Since this is a place that I hope to live in for a least some amount of time in my life, this certainly caught my interest and will be information I make good use of. Click here to access the site.