Have I really been here for 2 and a half months?

Hello all! So I have been extremely busy lately having a ton of fun with a lottttt less work than play. I just handed in my one and only essay of this entire term, and now I'm done with classes until September. My month off begins tomorrow, then I have a month and a half of "revision term..." which is when I will do all the work I haven't done yet and take exams.

Last week was St. Patrick's Day, which was a ton of fun. We decorated shirts with puffy paint which is always necessary for this holiday. Then we went off to Dublin for the weekend on Friday, which was an absolute blast. I only slept from 11 pm until 3 am on Thursday night because our flight was at 6 am. I was really mad because I forgot about the liquid rule when I packed and brought a really nice bottle of Victoria's Secret perfume that I've hardly used and they took it! Grrrrrr. I almost cried and begged on my hands and knees but then I realized that would not really be classy, so I bit the bullet. Still a touchy subject. Once we arrived in Dublin, we met up with Katharine and she showed us around the city. I really love Dublin because it's so easy to walk everywhere, the people are really friendly, and the city isn't as crazy and intense as London. It's definitely my kind of place. We stayed in a really nice hostel with great service, and it was nice because Kath's flat was only a 10 minute walk. She cooked dinner for us the first night, which was amazing, and then we went out in Dublin. The second day there we went to a park in Dublin and went on a tour of the Guiness factory, where I had my first Guinness ever! At the top of the factory they had the Gravity Bar, which was where you got a free Guinness and got to look out over the entire city of Dublin. The weather was great the whole weekend, so it was a really beautiful sight to see. On the second night we went out to a traditional Irish pub that is known for being the oldest pub in Dublin. They had a band playing too. Going to that pub really made us all feel like we were in a movie and experiencing the real Ireland.

That's about it for now, pictures to come soon, Paris this weekend until April 1st!

xox

Amazing

SO it has officially been over two months since I have been here in England. I have really liked being here up until now, but over the past week I realized how much I really LOVE being here. This past Wednesday was Dirby Day, where all sports teams competed against another Uni in England (UEA). The entire day was basically one huge party and a really good time. We watched the men's hockey team, volleyball, and boxing...which was intense. We ended up winning the competition against UEA...I'm not sure exactly how points were tallied, but obviously we won more games!

Friday we left for our tournament for the Trophy Cup in Sheffield, England. We squeezed about 16 people in a tiny bus for a four hour drive. After arriving on Friday we went to eat at a small Indian restaurant and then went back to the hotel and hung out until 2 am...waking up at 645 was NOT fun. The boys played first and lost, and we played later in the afternoon and also lost. We did, however, get free jerseys and lanyards! And I bought a sweatshirt from the tourny. Saturday night we went out to a party at a club in Sheffield for all the teams that had competed that day, which was a blast. Sheffield is a really cool town, and is a lot bigger than Colchester. Our hotel was unfortunately a 20 minute drive from the town, so cabs were expensive. Once again we had a difficult wake up in the morning, but somehow we played better than ever and won 3rd place in the tourny! I am in love with the volleyball team. Being a part of a team has made me appreciate going to a University that has a campus life instead of being in a big city. It is amazing being able to hang out with people from all over the world and playing with them. On the bus that went to Sheffield we had two Americans, three Germans, one Pakistinian, three Italians, one Brazilian, one African, one person from Japan, two from China, two Norwegians...I know I am missing a bunch but this just gives you an idea of how ethnic it is on this team! Not even one Brit! Now it is completely normal for me to hear Italian or German in the middle of a previously English conversation. I was told by an Italian that the sound of American accents is like a melody...that's a first. It's amazing that people are able to speak so many languages over here, and it makes me feel very uncultured. Each person on my team speaks at least two, if not three or four, languages fluently. People act like Americans are strange, like zoo animals. They are fascinated by us. I had a girl at a club come up to me and tell me she is obsessed with Americans and wishes she was American.

Lots of essay writing and reading tonight, St. Patrick's Day Wednesday and Dublin this weekend!
Love from England! xx

Week 8

Well well, it's been a while! I've been very busy and everything seems to be a blur at this point. Just to recap, we had our first volleyball match last Wednesday, and we won! So this weekend we are going to a tournament in Sheffield, England. We leave Friday, and if we win Saturday, we stay till Sunday. This Wednesday is Dirby Day, which is a huge celebration for all the sports teams all day. Girls vball does not get to play, unfortunately, because apparently every person on the team we were supposed to play is injured...which is weird. But oh well. All day we will be going to all the sports games and then out on campus that night. It's pretty much the equivalent of Dolphy Day at Le Moyne...but obviousssssssssly not as amazing. Oh, and the picture up on the left is of me overlooking my beautiful campus!

Emily came to visit me last Tuesday! Tuesday she came and watched our practice, then we went out to eat. Wednesday we went into town and did some shopping and Em got to experience her first English fish and chips. The owners of the shop we went to LOVED Americans and gave us samplers of some different things. We bought costumes for a "mime" night out in town while we were out, BUT we never made it to town that night because nine of us were trapped in the lift for an hour and a half, which led some people to actually get sick while we were stuck. It was terrible. Thursday we took a walk through campus by the pond, which was beautiful because it was so sunny! Then we made our way into London that night, which was a complete blast. Friday night Katharine came from Dublin to visit us! And we all went out to Sports Cafe in London, which is notoriously an American Bar. Saturday night Colleen and Julie got here, and we went out with most of our friends that went to Mercy and McQuaid in High School...there were about 30 of us that went out total. During the day on Saturday we went to the Tower of London, which was amazing. We got to sit in the church where Henry VIII's wife Anne Boelyn lies and see the spot where many of his wives were beheaded. Sunday we went to see Big Ben (again for me), Westminster Abbey, the London Eye, and then we just walked around Picadilly circus. I got great food while in London and had the best burrito I've ever had. I absolutely love London, but I like having a campus here in Colchester and being able to be involved in school activities.

Tomorrow night I have volleyball practice, Wednesday Dirby Day, Thursday volleyball, then I'll be gone all weekend. I'll try to update again next week! Until then, cheers and love from England.

More pictures to come soon, I can't get the rest to upload now!