The One Where I Get A Taste of British Countryside

Well... this weekend I got invited to a pub near Brighton far away from the city in a remote village. The place was your typical old-style pub, really quaint and cute, with a living space upstairs with bedrooms and stuff. The place was freezing though as they never turn the heat on! The village looked straight out of a movie!

It was cool being the only American around all British people for a night and really getting to hear about all the pop culture they talk about. Of course though, I couldn't understand alot of what they were saying as they were all talking collectively really fast in their accents and one of the guys had a thick Scottish accent. It was funny because of that, I was tuning them out and just sitting there. I then got bored and started dozing off and falling asleep...

Well what do you expect when one stays up until 5 am the night before to write a huge essay and wakes up at 7:30 am to hand it in? This on top of averaging 5 hours of sleep every night that week?

...It also doesn't help that I was wearing a hot pink satin strapless dress with black tights and heels at this pub while dozing off. Hey! In my defense, no one told me where we were going, I thought it was some fancy dinner, haha.

What I have noticed about Autumn (Fall to us Americans) in Great Britain.

- The leaves go from green to yellow then brown. Not spectacular compared to back home in New England where right now the leaves have gone from green to yellow and are now orange/red :(
- There aren't really any Halloween decorations anywhere. No Jack O'Lanterns, scarecrows, candy corn (I LOVE candy corn!) or anything much Halloween related as they have JUST started to embrace the "American" holiday. They don't even serve pumpkin spiced lattes at Starbucks or Hot Apple Cider there! (I also LOVE Hot Apple Cider from Starbucks every Fall. haha)

Well, I'm pulling an all-nighter and staying up until 5 am to catch my flight to Madrid, Spain for our mid-semester break this week! I'm so excited! I still need to pack as we have less than three hours to leave!

Cheers!
Farida

The Confessions of an American in Paris

I should be working on a paper due on Thursday, but I'm not...

This weekend was exactly what I needed to get away and relax. It took a while for it sink in that I was actually in Paris, but I wouldn't trade a minute of it.
To me, I already felt like I had been to Paris before as I have been to Montreal where all the signs and everything are in French. But it had the old buildings look of London. I was surprised how dirty the streets were.

On Saturday, our Eurostar train was delayed for an hour while we were on it, and then we had to wait forever at the train station, Gard du Nord to get metro tickets, but I didn't care because I was Paris!

Here's how getting my first crepe went down:

We were in some sort of area with food vendors everywhere in the St. Germain de Pres neighborhood and I really wanted a Parisian crepe. My friends were in some boulangerie (bakery) getting baguettes and stuff and there was a vendor making crepes from scratch where they put the batter on a surface and roll it onto a circle. but the line was about 20 people deep. I didn't care. They looked good.
The line barely moved as I was still on the end, and we only had a 1/2 hour to meet our group for a tour to go up the Eiffel Tour.

I didn't wanna make us late, so I rushed to a food vendor across the street that had no line. There were a couple of guys working it. The main guy was about my age, so I told him what I wanted.

Crepe guy: You have beautiful eyes.
Me: Thanks, can I get a nutella crepe?
Crepe guy: Ok, how old are you?
Me: 22. *thinking um can I have my crepe now?*
Crepe guy: I'm 22 also!
Me: oh Happy Birthday! *thinking okay, still waiting for my crepe*
Also me thinking: *ok this guy is full of crap*

They didn't even have fresh crepes! They were old ones just sitting there already made and he haphazardly puts on nutella. Not the Parisian crepe experience I imagined.

Seriously, can a girl get food in Paris without being seriously hit on or picked up?

The next day, I go to the same neighborhood for a gyro. There were pigeons EVERYWHERE. I am they were flying in every which direction and flying so close to my head. Me + pigeon phobia = no good. To me, nothing is worse than when pigeons flap their wings and fly.
It's hilarious, actually. In fact, the Italian guys in front of me thought the same thing laughing and being all, "We'll protect you."

When I finally get to order, the Middle Eastern guy was so sketchy. He was all, "Do you want to get a beer? What are you going at 6 pm tonight?" grrrrr. I felt like saying, "At 6 pm tonight I will be at the train station heading back to London while eating my gyro you're supposed to be making for me."

It's not even safe walking down the street without being obviously ogled at by creepers and getting cat calls. On my way out of the metro station, a guy was with his friend and tried to grab my arm as I walked by. Guys are so aggressive in Europe!

I guess that's my only issue with Paris. Other than that I love Paris and I WILL be back to spend more time than 28 hours could ever have afforded me.

Over the weekend I saw/did:
-Notre Dame Cathedral
-Went up the Eiffel Tower and saw a huge spectacular aerial view of Paris (the Eiffel Tour had lights sparkling all over at one point)
-ate a late dinner at La Marmite in the Montmartre district (and tried escargot for the first time... it's actually really good!)
-saw the Jardin du Luxembourg (I won't lie I only went there because it was featured in that Olsen twins Paris movie lol)
-Saw the Sorbonne while pretending I was smart enough to attend such a prestigious European institution
-Frantically searched for the Mona Lisa in the Louvre (I didn't have much time to spend in there you see) while getting lost on the way to the Louvre
-Saw the Arc de Triomphe and that circular roundabout where all the streets converge
-Window shopped on the Champs-Elysee

All in all a good, but short weekend!

Cheers!
Farida

The One Where We Teach British Blokes How to Play Beer Pong

SO MUCH has happened in the last week I don't even know where to begin!

Last night, our flatmate Katie had a British friend John who brought over a bunch of his other British (and Portuguese) guy friends for a huge dinner at our flat. This was exactly what I needed after not being around too many British people (not to mention British guys) yet. They were so much fun, I mean a total blast! They didn't know the old American drinking game tradition of beer pong, so we set up a make-shift table and manged to get a ping-pong ball and party cups (it's hard to find these things in England surprisingly) Let's just say whenever the ball would fall on the floor, there were many jokes about "Where are my balls?" coming from the Brits.

Last Saturday, half our flat had gone to places in Europe for the weekend so the rest of us girls went to Portabello Market, one of the most famous markets in London. They had everything from fruit, to cheap clothes, to antiques... it was pretty amazing how cheap everything was in a country where I cringe looking at price tags as I mentally multiply by two, and thinking "Back home, those used to be dollar signs!"

Tuesday was notable as we got to go to a taping of the UK version of "Who Wants to Be A Millionaire?" I've already been to "The Tyra Banks Show" so I already knew the protocol for being a part of a studio audience. The set looked identical to the US game show but was surprisingly very small! We had VIP status so we got to chill with the host and contestants after.

The host of the UK one is Chris Tarrant... apparently some huge deal here and he's always in the papers (a.k.a tabloids) for flirting with other girls, I totally got to talk to him and flirt with him as well, but he's waaaayy too old for my tastes! I liked being in the studios though, as the girl who got us the VIP passes works for them and was telling me all about the TV industry and stuff which I think is a possible career path for me so that got me excited.

Thursday we got to go to Kensington (a fancy culturally-rich part of London) for our Geographies of London class. We saw the Victoria & Albert Museum (very interesting and I'm not a big museum person) Natural History Museum, Science Museum and the Albert Memorial in Hyde Park all to study Victorian London.

After the gym that same day, I managed to catch the Olympics Parade as all the people from the Great Britain team in were featured. I figured this would top watching the Olympics at home last summer on TV (which I failed to do because I was so busy.) I mean what better than to see all the athletes of Great Britain parading around in the future site of the next Olympics in 2012?

...Oh and early tomorrow morning we are taking the Eurostar train to Paris for the weekend! I'm so excited!!!!!!! I've been dying to go to Paris my whole life and see the Eiffel Tower!

Cheers!
Farida

The One Where I Stand in Line for Five Hours Straight

Today I faced a dilemma. Do I attend class and meet my Geographies of London class at Trafalgar Square, or do I try to make it in line for the book signing at Piccadilly to meet my idol, Cheryl Cole and her band she's in?

I chose the latter option, much to my professors dismay.
I have never skipped a class in high school and not really anything in my past three years of college, mind you.

I figured meeting my idol, whom I traversed 3,000 miles across the Atlantic was a good enough excuse to finally rebel.

Here's how it all went down:

After waking up at 8:30 this morning to walk the 1/2 hour all the way to the center of London to go to the gym, walk the 1/2 hour all the way back, eat lunch, shower, meticulously blow dry and then straighten my hair, I finally leave the flat at 1:30 to get to Waterstone's book store in Piccadilly.

I reach there at 2:00 pm and see a ridiculous line wrapped around like two streets. I finally reach the end and ask the girl if it was the end. (I find out later she is ticket #299) The security guard comes up to me and says:

"Before I give you a ticket, you need to buy the book."
He directs me to the back entrance of the bookstore and in about 10 minutes, I come back with the book.

By then, a party of three take my would-have-been spot. It would have been ticket #300. The security guard tells me:
"There is a chance you won't get to meet the girls, but you are welcome to stay here anyway. 300 is the magic number. Sometimes they will accept more people."

I. was. crestfallen.
If only I had gotten out of bed this morning and rushed to Piccadilly Circus instead of doing my Thursday morning routine.

I wait patiently 5 hours anyway. In that time, 200 more people show up behind me, making the total line count to 500. The whole five hours I was worrying about not being able to see Cheryl and girls.

At around 7pm, the time our part of the line reached the bookstore entrance, they had just let in everyone up to ticket #300.

Then a lady comes out: "We're very sorry. It's 7:00 pm and the girls have to leave. Everyone has to go home."

Not only did I sacrifice the class tour and my relationship with my professor (who happens to be our chaperone/advisor for the whole time we're here) but I didn't even get to physically see Girls Aloud. :(

I know every could has its silver-lining, so I will say that:
1. I got to be around people who were as crazy for Cheryl and her band. A respite from having to explain who they are to other Americans.
2. Piccadilly Circus looks amazing at night.


Cheers!
Farida

The One Where I Nearly Get Run Over

One thing I have learned in London: People don't get the right of way, cars do.
Yep, that's the big difference between the US and the UK.
Friday, I was walking to class near Bloomsbury Square, when a pigeon comes into my trajectory. Yes, a pigeon.

Pigeons freak me out, no really they do. Spiders, bring them on! I'm not afraid. But pigeons? No I'd rather get hit by a double-decker bus than touch one.
As I was avoiding this pigeon, a motorcycle comes within like 2 inches of me. Whatever, no big.
Getting nearly run over/honked at by annoyed drivers as I jaywalk or prematurely cross in the crosswalk is routine in my life now.

Another thing I have learned in London:
We are all stars of a little soap-opera called the CCTV. No but seriously, Closed-circuit television records people in every public place anywhere. This is put in place instead of having the police follow your every move.
I have first hand-experience in the US on what it is like to have the police stalk you. This summer, I got a ticket for speeding, then three days later, a ticket for "failure to stop at a stop sign" These are the only two tickets I have gotten in my twenty-two years of existence.
I'm BFF's with the police.

However, the most important thing I have learned in London is how to interact with fellow British American people.
Yeah, that's right, in London I am learning more about how to interact with natives of the US. No typo.


Living such small quarters with the same people small group of people was a refresher course in life lessons such as:

- Miscommunication, although inevitable causes unnecessary drama.
- It's important to focus on the good qualities of others.
- No one (In particular, myself) is perfect, however, we all mean well (especially true of myself I have come to realize this week) and are all good people.
- We cannot focus on past events, but look at the fact that today is NOW.
- Communication is the key. If we do not articulate how we feel to the other party, problems will not be fixed ("sorted out" *Insert British accent* as the Brits would say)
- You should NEVER think to compromise who you are in-order to have other people approve of you.
- Once words leave your mouth, you no longer have ownership of them.
- There's a reason three is an odd number.

Cheers!
Farida