alk3punkgurl

     I am a huge procrastinator. See? I'm doing it right now..... of course, I'm supposed to be writing a philosophy paper. It's not even a long one -- just 3 to 4 pages, which is probably why I'm holding it off 'till the last minute. I guess now that I've written about half a page, it looks a bit less formidable, and so I've chosen to instead do menial tasks such as updating my facebook (or livejournal) in order to have something to do that isn't my paper. It might be the idea that if I did it all at the last minute it would all just spew out of me at once -- I don't know. But then again, it might be because I was drinking a caramel machiatto while I was reading the textbook for info. and then after I was done reading the caffeine wore off and my thinking skills went down, since I haven't slept yet. Of course, that's what the term 'all-nighter' means, anyway. See how none of this makes much sense? At any rate, I guess it's nice that I'm updating, since it's been months.

Things that have happened since my last post:

- The Swine flu pandemic!!!!!!! AGGGHHHH!!!! (no, I havn't had it, i'm just saying it's a big thing at the moment)
- Bea Arthur *tear*
- Farrah Fawcett
- M.J. *tear* <3<3<3<3<3
- Billy Mays
- Patrick Swayze *tear* <3<3<3<3

WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON AROUND HERE?!!!?!?! This is a pretty bad year -- the planets must be misaligned or something.....

Anywhays, things that have happened to me:

- ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!!!!

It's been uber boring, with me now on my 3rd year in college, my family suddenly migrating from El Paso to Austin, and me continuing to miss London every day of my existance. Trust me, you're not missing much (but I am *tear*).

HOLY CRAP!!! I need to work on my paper!! I'm getting sleepy!!!!

Wow, I'm finally 20 years old, though it's still a little hard to believe. I mean, I don't feel older. It still feels like I'm 19, and it's weird to think that I'm fully an adult now. I mean, of course I was an adult already, since I had turned 18, but now I can no longer be considered a teenager. At any rate, I hope that this year will be full of changes (good ones). I suppose I just need to give it more time to sink in, though.


Some things that have happened since my last post:


- I've become absolutely addicted to the show 'Supernatural' -- I mean, what's not to love about it? Especially Dean (he's the greatest!)
- I've finished my 2nd year of college with decent grades
- I've turned 20 (duh!)
- I've realized that even many (much older) adults still don't know what they want to do with their lives, so I shouldn't fret so much (even though I still do, but I'm trying!)
- I read this REALLY REALLY good book called Nation by Terry Pratchett (which I highly recommend to everyone!)

I picked this up from someone else's journal, but figured I try it to see how many of these I've seen. Probably the majority....they're the top 100 grossing movies of all time (you're supposed to bold the ones that you've seen)

( Top 100 Grossing Movies )

What I've learned: I've seen way too many damn movies.

I'd have to take all four seasons of Doctor Who (the new series), and maybe Pride & Prejudice.

Wow! I never even mentioned my return to the States or anything!!! Too much has been going on, I guess -- especially since Spring semester started. Boy, do I miss London. I keep reading the news regularly for over there, and it just makes me miss it even more. I can't believe that it actually snowed over there, right after we left! We were all hoping for snow the whole time, too, and all we got were a few small flakes, on 2 separate days, and none of it stuck or lasted long. *sigh* I definitely need to go back. I really do miss it, and I want to get the chance to see the rest of the UK as well. I didn't even get to go to Wales.... But I guess I can't complain -- I'm just so happy that I got to go in the first place. It was all so amazing!!!!

I saw Hamlet on Saturday!!! David Tennant was absolutely amazing!!! At first, I thought he was ok, but he really got into the role, and I just couldn't believe what a perfect Hamlet he was -- he was Hamlet. Patrick Stewart was good, but David Tennant really brought out my emotions with his acting. It really is indescribable. I know I got my ticket on eBay, but I can say that it was definitely worth every penny. All I can do is recommend that you see it for yourself, while it's still on. Hamlet is my favorite play by Shakespeare, and has been for the longest time, but getting to see it acted out with so much justice really made me happy. Pennny Downie, who played Gertrude (Hamlet's mother) was also amazing. Her emotions were very good. This was a MUST SEE!!!!!! HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!! I swear, David Tennant is my favorite actor. If you haven't seen anything with him in it, you should give it a try. He's brilliant in Doctor Who, but he also plays a very good Casanova.

I haven't mentioned this before, I don't think, but one of the basic necessities to have while living in London is your Oyster card. It's needed to ride the tube (train), as well as the buses. I'm glad that the cost of it for us was included in the trip, since I've been using it almost everyday to get around. I love the simplicity of it all, and the fact that I don't have to go through the hassle of buying tickets -- I only need to swipe the card over the reader, and I don't even have to bother taking it out of my wallet, because the reader can read it through the wallet (something I recently discovered)!!! At any rate, I'm very pleased with the system, and pretty much with the London public transportation system as a whole.

I love how easy it is to take the tube, even though I thought that the map of the underground looked too complicated to ever understand, at first. I love the double-decker buses, and the crazy way they're maneuvered by the drivers sometimes. I also love night buses, which allow you to find your way home at three in the morning, when the tube is closed. Did I mention that you also don't have to wait forever for the buses to come, since they come rather frequently, for the most part? It's so amazing, it's almost impossible not to go anywhere.

( Other Things I Love About London )

Random thought: I find myself really wanting to go to Japan, Korea, and Taiwan now. I also find that I want to study the languages more, though the only one I can somewhat use to effectively communicate is Japanese. I'm so far behind!!!

I was reading an article yesterday in one of the free newspapers they pass out when entering the tube (I think it was "Light"), and it talked about how a 28-year-old man (a banker) was mugged, and punched in the face so that the mugger would have access to his wallet. Sadly enough, the facial blow had done so much damage that the young man had to be put on life support, and later taken off, when no hope was left -- so he passed away.
It's just a really sad thing to hear -- he was so young, had a good job, and his whole life was ahead of him. All of this ended because of one stupid mugger, and one punch to the face. He never could have known his life would end so suddenly. Is a damn wallet worth that much to someone, that they could actually do that? I mean, the mugger may not have intended for the guy to die, but it's no excuse. I guess I;m just surprised at just how sudden life can be taken away. I feel so terrible about it, and so sad for his family -- I hope they'll be okay.

Okay, it's obvious that daily posts haven't been working for me. There's just been so much to do, and I've just never felt like posting or even writing it all down. I'll try to post what I can, but I don't want it to become a hassle. I recently (finally) finished watching those boring Naruto fillers, and have gotten to the Shippuuden episodes, and I have to say, this series is the shit! I love it!! I feel I haven't been doing to well in my Japanese language studies, since I haven't been studying it at all since coming to London. That really needs to change. I just wish that the class would be available again at school, but so far, it doesn't look like it. If they don't have it next year, I might just take beginners Mandarin Chinese, and discipline myself to study Japanese more on my own.

( Some cool things that have happened since I last posted )

OMG!!!! I just took a 3 or 4 hour nap after our trip to Kew Gardens, and I had the weirdest (yet strangely wonderful) dream!!! I knew everything that was going on, and remembered it all! Here goes....

We're (me and 2 friends -- I think one might have been Marcela) looking at drink prices, and I see this big thing of coconut water for, like, £5. There just so happens to be two guys near us (who I guess were those guys who came from Florida State) who complained at the high price. We (just us girls, though can't figure out who the other girl was or what she looked like, I just felt she was there) kept walking until suddenly, we found ourselves in a closed dress shop.
I manage to find the most beautiful dress in the place, and they insist that I try it on, even though I complain that I'm too big and that it would never fit. But it does, and suddenly I'm smaller than I was, and lovely.
Then, for some reason, I still don't think I look good, and I suddenly shout out in distress that someone as wonderful and brilliant as David Tennant would never even notice me, but it just so happens that he's walking by, and stops dead in his tracks when he hears me, looks my way, and shouts, "S'cuse Me?!" and I freeze and turn all pale. All of a sudden he's quickly walking toward me, and I'm trying to run as fast as I can, because I think I look terrible, and I don't want him to see me, but he run's after me.
All of a sudden, the scene changes, and I've found myself on set with David and some others -- apparently we'd become good friends since that dress incident, though I don't know what happened for that to be so. Anywho, I walk onto the set at the start of the scene and burst out laughing, and during the retake, I still start giggling. So, to stop myself on the next retake, I shout out something really loud and weird, and am able to walk in the scene with a serious face, but now all the others burst out laughing really hard because of that.
All of a sudden, the scene changes and I'm walking towards some really big school of some sort, and I'm passing this rather short red-haired guy (whose hair is closely shaved, but tightly curled still) who's boasting on about how he's 6'1", and I look at him and shout. "SIX-FOOT-ONE?!?! YOU DON'T EVEN LOOK FOUR-FOOT-TWO!!!!," which makes him angry, so he starts running after me.

Then I wake up.

I caught up again!!!! Today was AWESOME!!! We went to Kew Gardens as part of Dr. Pohlmann's class, and it was absolute beauty!!!!

The day had started out a little bad, because Marcela and I were late in meeting with the others, and we all got lost at the train station, but we managed to get there. I swear, the area around Kew Gardens was like a dream. It was my dream neighborhood!!! The shops, the houses, the atmosphere, the way the houses looked, the leaves changing colour and falling from the trees -- all of it.

Of course, the Garden was lovely too. We didn't get to see all of it, but Marcela and I still got to see the Temperate house, Evolution House, the Queen's Cottage, the Lily Pond, a peacock, and a few other things. I took about a million pictures, and so did she. Sadly enough though, my camera battery died. At least it was towards the end.

Plus, on our way back to meeting the others at the tube station, we saw this awesome little food shop, and it had vegan food!!!!! I bought a slice of vegan chocolate cake, some spongy vegan dessert whose name escapes me, and a vegan calzone (which was delicious!!!). I also got a vegetarian guide to London at a bookshop.

I honestly wish to live in that area, or one just like it. Unfortunately, the houses are way too expensive. I could always dream, though....

Marcela was still sick, so she stayed in, but Martha and I each felt that we had to make up for our laziness yesterday (she had stayed in and slept), so we went with Miguel to Harrods. I swear, that is the most expensive shop I've ever been to. It was huge, but even the key chains were too expensive for me (£9 -- YIKES!).

It took FOREVER for us to look around, since we were trying to see everything. The pianos were beautiful -- absolutely GORGEOUS! But, sadly enough, I could never afford one. =(

At one point, we saw a memorial set up for Princess Diana and Dodi Al-Fayed (there were many memorials for them set up there), which had a book that people had signed. After the tedious search for even a centemeter of space for me to write in, I got to sign the book!!! Martha did, too.

Before we left, I caved and bought a black Harrods purse, because it was only £14, and I didn't want to leave the store without buying anything. I really like the purse, too. Plus, I get to say I went shopping at Harrods. How cool is that? ^^

I swear, I didn't do ANYTHING. Well, I did go to class. And well, we did have that weekly mandatory meeting. But other than that, NOTHING. I just worked on my paper for Amen, which for some reason kept me and Marcela up till 4 or 5 AM.

I actually went exploring on my own today. I had wanted to check out that Doctor Who shop, so I went off and took the tube to Charing Cross Station, at Trafalgar Square. I saw the shop, and got a magazine. Then I bought some syrup/medicine for Marcela because she was really sick. I also went to the nearby park to eat some tofu curry with rice (I swear, I'm addicted to curry.)

I don't remember what else happened that day. I really should post on time....

Ok, so this was the second day of the Mayor Thames Festival (and yes, I'm behind in posting yet again). Today, EVERYONE decided to go together, so this time we ended up going to the opposite side of where we were yesterday. This time we were at the HMS Belfast and the London Bridge. We still ended up breaking into our own little groups though, so it ended up being me, Marcela, Erica, and Laura.

It turns out that we were all the way at the end of the festival, so we walked the other way (it was pretty cold). We ended up passing Shakespeare's Globe (beautiful!) and made it eventually to where the Night Carnival/parade had been going on, in time to see the end of it, really. We ended up seeing Martha there, since she had stayed behind at the beginning to wait for Katrin. We all went to the bridge to see the fireworks show, and it was even colder than before.

We even ended up playing 'I Spy,' followed closely by '20 Questions' for entertainment, since we had a long wait, and because we didn't want to think about the cold. Finally, the fireworks had started, and they were beautiful. I had never seen an actual fireworks SHOW, I don't think (only random people shooting them off randomly for 4th of July), and seeing them over the Thames was definitely lovely.

Afterwords, we went back home to metrogate.

Behind again....darn. Well, today it was me, Marcela, Erica, Martha, Miguel, and Katrin, and we were heading to the Mayor Thames Festival. For some reason they all got on the wrong train at first, and I had to tell them so that they could run off and we could get on the right one. It turns out that the right one was already there, so me, Erica, and Marcela ran onto it, but the doors closed right after, so we yelled out to the others to take the next train to Green Park, where we'd meet them to get on the Jubilee line.

The festival was cool, with tons of shops, food, and entertainment. We had separated into two groups once there (me, Marcela, and Erica; then Miguel, Martha, and Katrin), but we met up at around 4:30 so that we could see the Weasley twins (yes, THE WEASLEY TWINS!!!!). Oliver and James Phelps, who play the Weasley twins in the Harry Potter movies were there, and they were so much cuter in person (and with their hair cut)!!!!

After that, we split into our two groups again, and I went with Marcela and Erica to go and check out the area. I found a Doctor Who store, which I vowed to return to since it was closed, and about a million Starbucks every few feet along the way -- they were practically one right after the other. Finally, after getting back to Metrogate and resting a bit, we (this time me, Marcela, Martha, Miguel, and Laura) went for a walk.

We were supposed to go to Piccadilly Circus, but we ended up somewhere in Putney instead. Obviously, we had no clue where we were, but we just kept walking. Thank goodness for the night buses, which were our way back to South Kensington. By the end of the night, our feet hurt like hell for wearing the wrong shoes (Martha wore heels, I wore dress-shoe flats, and Marcela was wearing some very thin-material flats). I'm never making that mistake again.

Yes!!! I'm finally caught up!!! Ok -- so, today was the day we started our British Life & Culture class, which is the only class we're taking that's actually taught by a British teacher. He's really cool, too, and funny -- I enjoyed the class.

Afterward I finally picked up my FIE ID card, and went with Marcela, Martha, and Miguel for more shopping -- only this time we actually went to the mall, which we were planning on visiting yesterday, but had gotten sidetracked by the other shops. The mall was nice enough, and I ended up buying 'North & South,' the BBC mini-series, on DVD at HMV for only £10, which I thought was a good deal. I know it's region 2 PAL, but my laptop will be able to play it until I get home and can *hopefully* get a region-free DVD player.

I ended up watching the DVD with Marcela later in the Metrogate common room, and as of now, I'm in our room, lying on my bed and typing this. I'm glad I've finally caught up. ^^

FYI -- I know these posts are all being posted on the same day, but that's because I never actually got around to posting them...

Anywho....

Today was ok. We had the History of Science class today, with Dr. Pohlmann. His wife's birthday was today, so after doing a bit of shopping, me, Martha, Miguel, & Marcela tried to navigate the underground in order to reach their flat in Chelsea. We made it, and met up with some of the others while on the way. It was nice there, and we even got to see Professor Amen's flat, which had a nice little 'balcony' that I went out to explore with Martha, Caitlyn, and Marcela. The view was good.

Once the get-together was over, all of us (or the good majority of us, at least) made our way down to King's Cross, in order to take photos of ourselves at Platform Nine and Three-Quarters. It was fun, but we all were worn out after that and went back to Metrogate, were I watched Shaun of the Dead (one of the coolest movies ehvah!!!) with Marcela & Erica.

So today was the Sports in the UK class, which was also with Professor Amen. She invited us to meet her at one of the local pubs (I think it was called the Gloucester Arms) for tonight's game, which was England vs. Croatia (I was cheering for England, of course). The pub had no seats left, so we missed the first half of the game to eat at a little Indian restaurant next door (me, Amen, Marcela, & Katrin). I had vegetable curry w/ white rice (yummy! -- curry rocks!).

We went to the pub for the second half of the game, and it was completely packed, with hardly any room to stand. *TONS of cute guys were there! XP* It was loads of fun cheering. England kicked Croatia's bum, thanks to Theo. Too bad Beckham didn't get much play time -- there's talk of his career as a footballer coming to an end soon. :(

Here's a pic of the Gloucester Arms:


By alk3punkgurl

We didn't go anywhere today. I had my first class from 2-5pm, which was the World War II in London class with Professor Amen. At 6pm, we had a meeting with the professors, which we'll probably have once a week, just for information. Afterward, Martha came over to the room I share with Marcela, and the three of us started planning out the countries that we hope to visit.