Maybe that title isn't as fitting as I thought...all IS well I suppose, I still love it here but unfortunately i'm sick :-( word of advice, dont get sick in a foreign country. Thank the Lord they speak english... I felt a cold coming on a couple days ago and woke up with severe sinus pressure (typical for me). I mean, really? Don't you think i've been sick enough this semester?! I have a weak immune system still from "glandular fever" aka mono and there was some dude next to me on the plane blowing his nose every 5 seconds so I guess it was inevitable. At least I got sick while im with family and not at work, especially because it was quite easy for me to make a run to the town doctor here...btw they still do make house calls! Im on antibiotics now but didn't feel well enough to make the trek up to London to meet up with Matt and his cousins to go out tonight; i'm bummed. One more day of rest and then Ill be up there tomorrow with the rest of the gang (Denise, Taylor and Tyler). Is it wrong for me to pray to get better so I can go to the pubs?...my mom is rolling her eyes right now (shout out to my Mum, miss you!) haha Anyway, not much to update except for that I finished the second of the Twilight series an hour ago. WHEW I'm living on the edge. The countdown for the mayhem begins! T-minus 24 hours.
TTFN (ta-ta for now)
-V
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
The Jetlag still sucks...but England doesnt.
Wow. So I haven't even been here a week and I'm already obsessed! I'm out in the countryside staying with my Dad's cousins, Richard and Marion, who are absolutely adorable! They've been so hospitable and have taken me around much of the countryside thus far and their house is gorgeous! The shower has jets blasting you from all directions and I kinda wish I was a guy because a lot of the bathrooms here have urinals on the ground, they look like mini toilets. Kinda weird. Richard and Marion used to live in Houston, TX for three years and it certainly rubbed off on Richard, he's absolutely HILARIOUS. He wears a button up plaid shirt, jeans with a big belt buckle and cowboy boots...I wish I would have brought my boots because that would have made for a great picture! To top it off, I was sitting in my room reading the other afternoon and next thing you know I hear Toby Keith being blasted from the next room over. He reminds me a lot of my dad with the way he talks and acts, it's pretty funny. They took me down to this beautiful seaside town 10 minutes away a couple days ago which was fun to walk around. All of the villages look the same and they're so adorable it literally makes me sick to my stomach, I seriously can't handle it.
Yesterday we went over to Salsbury to visit my dad's other cousin, Martin and his wife Maggie who are a hoot. Maybe I think everyone is hilarious over here because of their accents, I don't know, but they have such a great sense of humor. Plus, they all laugh at my jokes, which is a good thing. Although, I have to say i'm holding back a bit...I'm not sure they'd understand my "that's what she said" jokes, which is killing me because the opportunities are endless, especially with all of their funny words. Salsbury is gorgeous (I need to start finding some more adjectives for that because obviously i'm finding everything to be beautiful here...) and we walked around for a bit. It's a nice place to shop but unfortunately the only store I went into was the pharmacy to get some plasters (bandaids) for my blisters :-( We visited the cathedral, which is located in the heart of the city and is surrounded by a large circular gated area of historic "houses" (I think they're mansions) that closes at night. After walking around a bit more we returned home for a spot of tea (as usual), wii and then dinner. The drive through the countryside still scares the crap out of me. In the last post I mentioned how narrow the roads were...well that was in the city. The countryside is a whole other story. I'm not even kidding you one lane in the states is TWO lanes in the country. Down all the roads they have very tall shrubbery lining the streets so you can't see around the corner or over the side and its not like they go slow!! They zoom around the bends as if theyre the only car for miles, yet, they manage to not get into car accidents. We "survived" the drive back to the house and ended up playing some wii after tea. If you ever need a good laugh, try playing wii with a room full of Brits. SO FUNNY! I had gone upstairs to take a quick nap and I suddenly hear, [read in British accent] "Go on, take a good whack at it!" coming from downstairs...wii tennis, of course. I'm ashamed to say that Maggie was actually better than me but I guess she gets a lot of practice. After dinner, they showed me a lot of old pictures that they've kept from when my dad was young...its so funny to see him without gray hair (sorry dad, its true!). Richard and Marion had whole scrapbooks of them and I got to see my grandad and GREATgrandad from when he was he was back in the war. It's crazy to hear stories and see pictures of family that date back that far.
It's finally raining today so we may go tour this historic house (more like a mansion, once again....they call them houses but they look more like castles to me)...I think it used to be occupied by royalty at one point? Not sure... anyway, tomorrow i'm playing in some badminton tournament, which I used to play with my dad all the time so i'm hoping to dominate :-) we'll see. And then friday is some holiday so I think we're going into town to partake in whatever festivities they have. It's been a nice, relaxing week thus far...nothing too ridiculous but i'm saving all that for when my chappy mates arrive later this week...that's when the real mayhem starts! I may or may not come back with a British accent (if I come back!!) it's just too fun. Anyway, i've got to finish up my tea here and get ready to go out for a drive. 'Till next time!
-V
Yesterday we went over to Salsbury to visit my dad's other cousin, Martin and his wife Maggie who are a hoot. Maybe I think everyone is hilarious over here because of their accents, I don't know, but they have such a great sense of humor. Plus, they all laugh at my jokes, which is a good thing. Although, I have to say i'm holding back a bit...I'm not sure they'd understand my "that's what she said" jokes, which is killing me because the opportunities are endless, especially with all of their funny words. Salsbury is gorgeous (I need to start finding some more adjectives for that because obviously i'm finding everything to be beautiful here...) and we walked around for a bit. It's a nice place to shop but unfortunately the only store I went into was the pharmacy to get some plasters (bandaids) for my blisters :-( We visited the cathedral, which is located in the heart of the city and is surrounded by a large circular gated area of historic "houses" (I think they're mansions) that closes at night. After walking around a bit more we returned home for a spot of tea (as usual), wii and then dinner. The drive through the countryside still scares the crap out of me. In the last post I mentioned how narrow the roads were...well that was in the city. The countryside is a whole other story. I'm not even kidding you one lane in the states is TWO lanes in the country. Down all the roads they have very tall shrubbery lining the streets so you can't see around the corner or over the side and its not like they go slow!! They zoom around the bends as if theyre the only car for miles, yet, they manage to not get into car accidents. We "survived" the drive back to the house and ended up playing some wii after tea. If you ever need a good laugh, try playing wii with a room full of Brits. SO FUNNY! I had gone upstairs to take a quick nap and I suddenly hear, [read in British accent] "Go on, take a good whack at it!" coming from downstairs...wii tennis, of course. I'm ashamed to say that Maggie was actually better than me but I guess she gets a lot of practice. After dinner, they showed me a lot of old pictures that they've kept from when my dad was young...its so funny to see him without gray hair (sorry dad, its true!). Richard and Marion had whole scrapbooks of them and I got to see my grandad and GREATgrandad from when he was he was back in the war. It's crazy to hear stories and see pictures of family that date back that far.
It's finally raining today so we may go tour this historic house (more like a mansion, once again....they call them houses but they look more like castles to me)...I think it used to be occupied by royalty at one point? Not sure... anyway, tomorrow i'm playing in some badminton tournament, which I used to play with my dad all the time so i'm hoping to dominate :-) we'll see. And then friday is some holiday so I think we're going into town to partake in whatever festivities they have. It's been a nice, relaxing week thus far...nothing too ridiculous but i'm saving all that for when my chappy mates arrive later this week...that's when the real mayhem starts! I may or may not come back with a British accent (if I come back!!) it's just too fun. Anyway, i've got to finish up my tea here and get ready to go out for a drive. 'Till next time!
-V
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Day One and jet lag sucks...
I'm finally in London! I was picked up from the airport by my cousin Sam around 9am...a bit weary because I chose to stay up all night before I left. I slept on the plane but ended up taking a 7 hour nap once I got to Surrey BUT the good news is when I woke up at 8pm Britains Got Talent was on GO SUSAN BOYLE. Tomorrow i'll be on my way to Devon to stay with some other relatives until the start of my program on June 1. Everything here is gorgeous, we passed by a castle on the way to the house which was insane to see and the houses are super cute cottages. The streets are ridiculously small and so are the cars...not a lifted truck in sight! Driving on the left side of the road is throwing me off and I tried to get into Sam's car in what I thought was the passenger seat...oops. Anyway, not much excitement today since I slept the whole time but I'll be writing more later! Wine & cheese time :-)
Au revoir mes amis,
-V
Au revoir mes amis,
-V
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