Awkward!!! Friday, October 13, 2006

Nerd Alert! Nerd Alert! Christine has just closed down the library on a Friday night.

Here I am on a Friday (the 13th) night sitting in my room, writing and having no life. It is sad but true. This week was less overwhelming than last, but I would still qualify it as terrifying. I am working on two projects (presentation poster and 4000 words essay) that are due this month and surprisingly I am not having the “time of my life”. Overall, everything is going well; I am just trying to refine the whole time management technique. The poster is going to be fine, but I cannot whip out a 4000 word essay the night before (been there, tried that, didn’t work so well). I hope to finish up the research and at least outline my paper this weekend. My professors make a HUGE deal of plagiarism, rightfully so, BUT it is to the point that I wonder if I need to add a reference after this sentence because someone could have written this or maybe because of something I read and I think this is my thought, but it really is not??? So this is funny because for my poster project we pretend we are the authors and pretty much copy and paste from the article to the poster (plagiarism); and then we write a 4000 word essay and if we do not pass the professor and plagiarism software test, we get a zero. I have about 4 of these essays to write over the semester and I have decided to title them, “How Christine’s Going to Change the World 4000 Words at a Time”. Don’t be jealous because I am going to spend every weekend at the library. Hahaha

Every Wednesday morning I attend Institute for my Church. This is on-campus and conveniently right before my first class. This year we are studying Eternal Marriage. Now don’t get any ideas, I am dating or getting married to anyone in the near future! I am taking it because I think I should and by the time I am ready to get married it will be too late to prepare. At least that is what I tell myself. Now to the awkward part…this class starts at 8 am and you would think you were asking people to be there at 5:30. The English do not start the day at 8 am, more like 9:30 am. So this week I was the first one there and praying that others would show up. The key word was others (PLURAL)! Yep you guessed it; it was me a one other guy and even better it was Chris and Christine. To put the icing on the cake the institute teacher sent out an email to everyone that personally thanked the two of us for being there. How embarrassing! I would say that is on the “Top 10 List” (Letterman, David 1993) for most socially uncomfortable situations.

Yesterday, the two German girls had Chinese food delivered. One had a duck dish and the other chicken fried rice. Susan, she had the rice, talked about her adventures in China and how she ate dog. Personally this is not something I would brag about, but that’s just me. Helen had the duck, and she loved it. Nadia, French girl, was really shocked by this. I have not really tried duck before, but it would not be my first pick from a takeaway Chinese restaurant. I might conduct a study of the duck population, mostly numerical, in the surrounding ponds and parks before ordering the duck. Anyway, somehow the duck dish came up again tonight and I found out that in France, the duck is considered man’s best friend.

I went to the doctor today to see if I could get refills on my medications or if I had to have them sent from home. The good news is that I can get them here, and the better news is that they are cheaper than in the states! The doctor apologized that the prescriptions were going to cost me about $12 each. I told him that was great, because they cost $45 each at home. Yet another great thing is that one medication is an “over the counter” med that only cost $8.50. The best news is that students can sometimes get medications and other health services for free. I am going to fill out the application and hopefully I will qualify; I love free stuff!

Every weekend they have stuff going on in town centre. When I went this weekend there was a bunch of inflatable slides and obstacles for kids. While walking through town I saw this cute old lady. She had her box out for donations, but I stealthily took a picture without her noticing.



Here is a picture of my DNA…how revealing??? (sorry that was beyond nerd).. I am in the lane farthest to the right. The first 5 samples on the right are ladders so we can quantify our DNA.

Oh My! Sunday, October 8, 2006

Where do I start? It has been about a week since my last entry and that should let you know how my week went. This entry will be composed of a bunch of random stuff that I jotted down during the week that was interesting.

Language barriers are interesting because usually every incident is totally different. One guy in my course speaks English as a second language and he does not understand some of the vocabulary that I use. I know that I sometimes use slang words, but I try to explain myself when appropriate. So…we were all doing an exercise in the lab and I called this guy a nerd because of something he did. He asked me what a nerd was and I told him someone that was really smart, liked school, and clarified that we were all nerds for studying DNA profiling. He sent me an email later that day stating, “thank you for the name you called me ‘nerd’, another English word I didn’t know but know I do. Have a nice weekend.” I replied back, “a compliment in all respects.” I didn’t think much of it, but the next day when I opened my email I received this interesting reply from him; “it is non of your business though. No hard feeling.” What does that mean? I could not figure out why being a nerd was none of my business and why there was a possibility of hard feelings? I did not want this to go on for the whole semester so I just asked him what he meant. He said he went home and looked up nerd in the dictionary and it said nothing that was good. I told him that it was not an offensive term and sometimes society puts an alternative meaning on words. It was like he didn’t believe me! He went on to say, “so you are telling me the dictionary is wrong?” I said that it could be used that way, but that was not the way I used it. Why would I insult myself? Anyway, it is all good now and I think next time I will just keep my mouth shut!

This week was a little overwhelming when it comes to school. It was my first week and I was not expecting it to be easy, but it was fine. BUT they were nice enough to give us all of our assignment for the whole semester. This can be seen as good or bad. It was good because we can plan everything out and start doing some research. The bad thing is that we have to start planning our whole semester and doing massive amounts of research. I really don’t like writing essays, and that is quite a large majority of my coursework. We currently have three 2500-3500 word (~10 pages) essays and one 5000 word (20 pages) essay for the semester along with other projects and presentations. I do not think I have ever written more than an 8 page essay. This semester is going to suck and I have no clue how I am going to do this. We received all of this info in two days, so everyone was overwhelmed. Our professors also gave us the plagiarism scare, over, and over, and over. I would definitely say that the highlight was when one of my professors told us that we need to spend about 90hrs of personal study outside of class. This pretty much wiped out any “social life”, scratch that, “life” I was going to have. This just seemed like a massive number to me so I did some math…
Total hours in a week = 168hrs
Minus personal study - 90hrs = 78hrs
Minus 8hrs sleep a night - 56hrs = 22hrs
Minus 18hrs of class a week -18hrs = 3hrs
That’s right folks, I have 3hrs a week for personal hygiene, eating, traveling to and from class, going to the bathroom, etc. Did I mention it is a 20min walk to class each way? I am already in the negative. My teacher is not getting 90hrs a week and I will not be getting 8hrs of sleep a night. Please remind me again why I pay to go through this???

Being the NERD that I am I bought a pedometer just to see how far I walk on the average day. Because I know you care…it is about 7500 steps a day which is about 2.5 miles for me. It is not a lot, but it is interesting to gauge. One day, this week, I had quite a few steps; I left my umbrella on the bus when I got off at the library and had to run to the bus station so I could get it back. I am cheap, and there is no way I was going to buy a new umbrella.

Speaking of being cheap, awhile ago I bought some chicken that was not cheap, $8 for 4 chicken breasts. I was going to use 3 of them this week, so I set them out on top of the stove appliance to thaw. In retrospect this was not the greatest idea I’ve had, but did not think there would be any problems. Wrong! A girl used the grill and that partially cooked my chicken and melted the bag to the chicken. I was calm, considering that I now spent $8 on one chicken breast. Oh well, I learned my lesson, mistakes happen, and I will not assume others will check the surroundings before using the stove.

I went to the open market this week, not scheduled into my “3 personal hours”, but I did not care. It was great! I did not buy anything, but found some good deals and lots of fresh fruits and veggies.



The best thing about school this week was our last lecture on Friday was cancelled. We were all so happy! We were having a guest lecture, but his lecture materials got taken away by the cleaning people. The question is who paid the janitor??? I felt bad for the speaker because he had his notes, books, CD-ROMs, and all of his materials in an evidence bag and the janitor took it away. I wonder why did the janitor grab an evidence bag? If it was not in the trash it should not have been touched? Our group was pretty useful with our “extra” hours and went to the library to do some research on the Human Genome Project (4000 word essay due at the end of the month).



I went to a baptism at my church on Saturday for a guy named Emerson. He speaks mainly Portuguese, but I talk to him in Spanish and we understand each other… for the most part. Anyway, it was great because the Spirit was so strong, so even if you did not speak Spanish or Portuguese, you could feel the Spirit testify to you.

First Day of School Monday, October 02, 2006

Today was my first day of class and I was somewhat nervous. I did not know what to expect; and thought I should have done some preparation for the first day, but I did not know what. My first class, at 11am, is Research Methods. Our teacher is interesting to say the least and somewhat scatterbrained. It was a relaxed atmosphere and I got a few good laughs out of it. At times I was bored out of my mind, but thankfully the class is only and hour long. I have a feeling that one hour is about 45min to long for most and don’t expect everyone to show up for that class every Monday. I almost forgot the best part…the professor loves cats and he used a picture of his cat as the background of a graph! Scary!

I thought we had a class from 12-1pm but found out that it is only a help secession for those who have questions or need help with the course work. This was really good news, because I have a class that starts at 1pm and was therefore not going to have a break from 11-4pm which would make Mondays even more horrible than present. My last class of the day is Forensic Genetics 2 Lab Practical. You would think that since we haven’t had a lecture we could not have a lab, but that is far from the truth. Today we went over machinery and not only did we stay 10mins extra, our teacher did not show up until 1:40pm !!! If I was still at Baylor I would have left 15 min after the hour. After we went over the very basics of the machine, our teacher informed us that we should look over the user manual and be VERY familiar with certain sections of the guide. F.Y.I. the user manual is 258 pages. At least now I have something to look forward to for the weekend???

Speaking of the weekend, I might go to the Lake District this weekend. Last week I joined the International Student Association; and they are hosting this trip. It only cost 8 pounds and I am really interested in going so hopefully I will be able. This will greatly depend on the amount of work I receive for the rest of my classes.

OH NO YOU DIDN’T! Sunday, October 01, 2006

On Friday a group of us from church had a surprise 24th birthday party for Josh. I had a good time and was able to meet some more church people from different wards. It was pretty relaxed; there was food, socializing, and “hating” on Americans. There was a bunch of Brits giving me a hard time, but it didn’t really phase me because I know I am the minority. One guy said his favorite American song was The Star Spangled Banner. I just laughed because he was trying to trip me up about American/English history; which supposedly others have fallen for before. I suppose his favorite American holiday is July 4th. Hahaha! I would say there is some definite harsh feelings toward the USA (aka: Former Europeans That Rebelled [FETR]) politically, but no one has told me they don’t like me because I am from the U.S.

In general, I like food and sweets. I have been eating too many chocolates since I have been here, so I decided that since school starts on Monday, so would my diet. It is a great idea, and I saved one last chocolate bar to eat this weekend. So Saturday night came around and I went to get my last chocolate bar (for awhile). That’s where the “Oh no you didn’t” came to mind. My chocolate bar was gone!!! I frantically searched the cupboards and my room, like it was a life-saving medication, but I did not find it. Who know you are addicted when one chocolate bar disappears and it ruins you whole weekend. Hahaha. I really hope it was my fault and I missed placed it, because if one of my housemates tells me she ate my LAST chocolate bar, it will be test of restraint. You don’t mess with a woman’s chocolate!

This weekend was General Conference for church. This involves a worldwide gathering, through internet, satellite, radio, etc. where we listen to talks from the Prophet, Apostles, and other leaders of the church. The time difference between Utah and England is 7hrs, so for us some of the secessions are rebroadcast. It is weird because the live secessions are from 5pm-7pm and then 9pm-11pm. I was not able to catch the late one, but I can watch it over the internet. Between secessions I was eating my lunch with 5 other women. Three were from Ireland and just visiting for the weekend. They were funny and told me of about 20 different places I “needed” to visit in Ireland. Being somewhat overwhelmed by the accent and the list of attractions, I don’t really remember many of the sights they mentioned. However, I don’t think I will ever forget one of the ladies. This lady was probably in her 70’s and as she was leaving she pulled this black rectangular thing out of her pocket. She asked me if I knew what it was; but I had no clue. It looked electronic, but that’s all I could come up with. It was a GAMEBOY!!! I started laughing. I could not believe this grandma had this toy and she went on to inform me that she also had a white one at home, a Play Station 2, and a laptop. I was shocked! I can just see her getting into it and probably making her grandson cry because he lost to his grandma…again. Hahaha. I never expected it, but she said she takes the gameboy everywhere; even to church.

Some thoughts from Conference:
“there is one who smiles on high when there’s love at home”
“do not limit the power of the atonement by not forgiving yourself”
“I will give away all my sins to know thee”
“God gave us memories that we may have June roses in the Decembers’ of our
lives”

Safety Thursday, September 28, 2006

Yesterday was interesting to say the least. Four of us (myself, Susanna [German], Nadia and her friend [French]) were eating dinner at the kitchen table last night. We were going over different English terms and Nadia and her friend inform me that they know all the curse words in the English language. They learned this through music mostly; thank you Mr. Fifty Cent. Well, to say the least, she demonstrated her vast knowledge of these terms. I cut her off and told her that we don’t use those words and she kept going. The funny thing is that Susanna is very naive and soft spoken and I thought that she was going to die, foreigners! Hahaha (wait that’s me shoot). The second reason why yesterday was “interesting” was because we had our first fire. Nadia was making fish and chips in a shallow pan using a gas stove. So far this sounds like a horrible idea. It was; some of the grease went over the side of the pan which resulted in some really large flames, followed by screaming, and running out of the kitchen. Now this happened just as I left the kitchen, but I saw it through the window. It must be that firefighter instinct, but as the girls were running out, I grabbed the extinguisher and ran into the kitchen. I did not have to use it because the flame went out just as I was getting ready to pull the pin. I will give Nadia some money next time she wants to have fish and chips. The only positive is that I did not have to exercise, because my heart rate was in the target zone for quite awhile. Hindsight, the funny thing is that I had just decided earlier that day that I was not going to get insurance for my belongings while I was here studying. Maybe this was a sign that I should think again?

Lab introduction today went from 9:30 – 4:30 and it was really good. I learned new things and brushed up on some of the things I learned in my undergrad (like it was a long time ago or something). We did some dilutions and ran a gel electrophoresis with a 23,000 base pair piece of DNA. Safety and precision were drilled into our heads and for good reason. One of the substances we are using is ethidium bromide. This substance allows us to visualize the DNA under UV light. It achieves this by intercalating (squeezing) between two connected strands of DNA. So if it gets on you it does the same thing to your DNA…that’s BAD! Therefore, it causes cancer because it modifies your DNA. We get to use lots of other harmful chemicals, but nothing I haven’t used before.



Today one of my friends had to go to the police station to pick up his passport. I did not understand why the police would have his passport and thought maybe I forgot to do something as a foreign student. The reason the police had his passport is because he has to register with them because he is from a “terrorist” country. This made me very sad because it seems really unfair. What a horrible feeling to be labeled that when you are innocent.

Just Relax Wednesday, September 27, 2006

I have been telling myself this all day; just relax…breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth…repeat. Today we only had two hours of lab intro, but I really felt that they were looking and talking to me the whole time. This could be good, but that’s not how I felt. The good thing is that everyone else felt the same way. I also was able to talk to Dave, part-time student in his last semester of the program, and he said everything will be fine and it was perfectly normal to be terrified, but it was unnecessary. The labs are on the smaller side for 8 people, but I sure it will be fine. Tomorrow we will be in the lab from 9-5, supposedly. I hope this is not the case, but I fear that it might be true.

I went to sign up for Club Volleyball, but no one was at the Clubs and Societies Fair today. There will be a meeting on Sunday, which is pretty inconvenient since I am in church. Hopefully I can join, but who knows? While at the fair, I also joined the International Students Society, which was only 3 pounds. They set up 1 and 2 day trips to different places in England at discount prices. This will be a good was to see sights in England.

Random: the smoking companies here have to put warning labels on the cigarette packages. But, they can’t make them fancy and blend in with the marketing of their package. Hahaha!!! There are a few different sayings, but it just makes me laugh when I see them because they are so blunt.



I found these cookies in the store and I thought of laxatives. I asked one of my friends what the name means, but they did not know. Also, I had fish and chips again (probably should come with a warning about being hazardous to your health), so all my housemates looked at me funny when I took a picture, freak!

geriatric cookies

Chim – Chim - Cheree Tuesday September 26, 2006

The past few days have been quite interesting. This past Sunday was fast and testimony meeting and as I was sitting in the congregation I wondered when they were going to ask me to give a talk. I did not have to wonder long, because after our first meeting, a member of the bishopric asked me to give a talk at the end of October. Now I wonder; what if I did not have that question, would I be giving a talk? Oh well, I knew it was coming sooner or later. I have not been given a church calling…..yet, although I was asked to be a substitute teacher for Relief Society.

After church all of the Young Single Adults (YSA) went to Matt Crowder’s house. His mom volunteered to feed all of us once a month. This is great! Their house is AMAZING! It is so huge, which makes it massive for European houses. Next month we are having a pot luck; so maybe I will make something American, if I can find the right ingredients.

Monday was rather blah. I just did a lot of running around with my friends Josh and Sarah. I did a lot of walking in town centre, and since Sarah runs on warp speed we were walking fast. In the evening, Sarah and I walked to her house from mine. No big deal except her house is a 45mins walk from mine. It is not that I mind walking 45mins, but she talked the whole time and I literally only said two sentences; which I had to interrupt her to say.

Today I woke up late as usual. I am really trying to get up early, but I am not finding any real reason to do so. I even tried leaving my curtains partially open so the sun would shine in and wake me up. This didn’t work; I just pulled the covers over my head and was lazy. I went to the library, health centre, and the financial building. At the health center I was going to get a (free) shot for meningitis C, but I have to wait until tomorrow. This afternoon I went to B&Q (hardware store) to buy a scale. I definitely need this, because I am finding lots of treats that I like; hopefully walking and workouts will cancel them out??? I found these things called flapjacks and I am pretty much addicted. They are composed of oats, syrup, butter, other good stuff, and then pressed into a pan and cut (like rice krispies but denser) and some are dipped halfway into chocolate…heaven! Today I went into a local pastry shop and had a meat and potato pie; it was also good. This evening I went to Josh and Sarah’s for dinner with a bunch of other people. They feed the missionaries tonight and they always fix the same thing, but it is good. It is a curry meat sauce over rice; filling and cheap. I took the bus home tonight, which was interesting because I really did not know which one. Luckily the elders had a bus map and helped me. Taking the bus is a learning experience and one day I think I will buy an all day pass and ride all of them just to figure out where they go.

When walking around I am often reminded of the movie Mary Poppins and the chimney sweepers’ scene. Also, I would have never thought that I would see tractors driving down these tiny streets or in England!

Tomorrow I actually have something to do for school so it should be interesting….or really boring.

Helping Hands Saturday September 23, 2006

I love doing service projects, and today, my church did a project in Avenham Park. This park is soooo beautiful and large. The park ranger said it was about 50 acres!!! There are various sections of the park, but the Japanese Gardens are really special. In this garden there are two plaques. Both are in remembrance of Latter-Day Saints in Great Britain. There is a river that runs along the side of the park; and at this one bridge is the suspected site of the first baptism in England. This was really cool, because there is a lot of church history in Preston and the surrounding area.




First LDS baptism in England July 30, 1837



Back to the service project…Our ward planted 1500 crocus and 1000 bluebonnet bulbs in the Wildlife section of the park, cleared walkways, and other gardening things. This only took about 2 hours and then we went to Newman College Park and helped the other ward with there Helping Hands service project. They had 23,000 daffodils and 8,000 crocus! It was crazy and my hands were really dirty, but it was fun. Helping Hands is an international LDS sponsored service organization, in which each year your ward can provide a service to the local community. This was the first time I have ever participated, and it was GREAT!

Some members gave me a ride home because I looked like rubbish and did not want to walk through Town Centre in my dirty clothes. It was also good, because it would have been a good 40min walk back and I was tired. I immediately washed up when I got home; and then caught the bus to ASDA. I think my mind thinks I am stronger than my body really is. I came out with a cart full, and I packed it all neatly, there was too much for me to carry onto the bus. Therefore, I had to return the Diet Coke, like 10min after I bought it. Hahaha I personally think the bus is expensive, so maybe next time I will walk to ASDA and then just take the bus home?

After unpacking the groceries and then packing them into my tiny fridge and freezer, I went for a jog. I really like jogging at Moore Park. The trails are good and it is a good distance. I went around 1 1/2 times and I was happy to get it done with! If I don’t join the volleyball club, jogging at Moore Park will save me $140 (school gym membership) for the year.

In the evening I went to Lea’s house, a girl from church, and watched a movie with others from church. When we were trying to pick out a movie, I was looking for the rating; since I don’t watch rated R movies. This was a bit confusing, because they do not use the same system over here, big surprise! In England they rate their movies on a scale of U=G, 8=PG, 12=PG-13 and 15= R. I am not sure if this is 100% correct, but it is what I concluded. The number system represents the minimum age the person viewing the movie can be without adult supervision. I wonder what they thought about President Hinckley’s remarks on R rated movies.

Dinero??? Friday September 22, 2006

Setting up a bank account as an international student is very difficult. Today I tried again, only to found out I have to go about it in a different way. Hopefully I can have it taken care of by early next week. Also, because I have no cash, I withdrew some from an ATM; those charges should be astronomical! I spent all of the cash to by my lab supplies. I got a posh (cool) lab coat that snaps up the side and across the shoulder (very official) and some tools. I had lunch today at Café Bar again, but by myself. I had the vegetarian risotto and a pint of diet coke. It was great minus the fact that they remembered that I was in the day before, embarrassing! I decided to go there because they accepted my debit card. I tried to go to KFC and Subway, but they only take cash.

I found some shoes I really liked today; flats surprisingly. I did not buy them, but I do not know how long I can resist. They are on clearance, and I really “need” some more flats because of all the walking.

This evening was quiet; I went jogging, did some laundry, and a girl from Spain came over. She might move in on Monday because her hall is really loud. She is very mature, and what an opportunity for me to work on my Spanish! Anyway, I can’t believe that I had to do laundry again. At Baylor I did laundry about once a month, so this is quite a change; but at least I do not have to pay for it. The girl from Spain said that in the halls it cost $5 per load to wash and dry, and I complained about $2 in Texas. I am really really glad that I live in this house, if only for that reason. Tonight for dinner I made vegetable stir fry with chicken and rice. It was really good (different from oatmeal) and there is enough for a meal tomorrow. Otherwise, not much happened.

A Mormon Who Has Tea? Thursday September 21, 2006

Today was rather relaxing. I awoke late, followed by not going jogging, and the rest of the day was just leisure activities. I went to a poster sale with Narges (my housemate from Ireland) and then to lunch with three girls in my program. Lunch was really great! We went to this place called Café Bar and it is tucked away down a side street off the main town centre. You entered into an open cobblestone plaza where you could eat and enjoy Italian music and the wonderful weather; it was mid 70’s today with blue sky.

I ordered pizza and a diet coke (again small and no refills) and it was “reasonably” priced. This lunch was not the typical meal I am used to though. We chatted and looked at the menu, then order. Talked some more until our meal came, occasionally took a sip of my drink (hahaha), and then sat around for about 30-45mins after we had finished our meal (without a drink!) talking about how we are terrified of this coming year. After lunch we went to the town plaza and had ice cream and talked some more. All of this taught me a few things: 1) we should really take the time to enjoy, I tend to inhale my food; 2) eating out is an event, not just something to do. My friends say that they usually spend 2-3 hours when they go out to eat, and they usually go out only a couple times a month. 3) as students you don’t tip, and 4) the meal is not about the food, but about catching up with friends and family. It was interesting because Courtney, the other girl from Baylor, and I told them that we usually went out about four times a week and it was an “eat and get it done with” kind of event. They were shocked, but we told them that that is just what college life is like in the States.

I came home after my relaxing afternoon out and started reading course and student handbooks, which put me to sleep. When I awoke, I went down had a snack and visited with a few housemates. The drama is already starting with the girls’ boyfriends and we haven’t even started classes yet! I started reading again and finally finished. It was quite boring, but at least it’s done. I do not have any meetings until next Wednesday, so hopefully I can finish organizing my room, get a job, and keep reading my textbook.

Something I learned today is that if someone asks you if you would like to have tea with them, most likely they are not literally talking about drinking tea, but about having a meal. This is good news because I was invited to have “tea” with a Mormon family and I was wondering about these sketchy Mormons in England.

A Two Chocolate Bars Kind of Day Monday September 18, 2006

At 9am I attended a Departmental Introduction. This involved all students in undergrad and postgrad studies. Dr. Lee Chatfield, head of the department of forensic science, said that UCLAN has the largest program in the world. That’s pretty cool. There are 3 undergraduate majors within the forensic science program and the school enrolled over 300 students for this year. At this lecture we just received general info, but most of it was for undergraduates. After this first hour, we then had an introduction just for the master’s students. It was scary. They pretty much said that if we just graduated that we were worse off than those who had worked because of what was expected of us. To make things even more “calming”, we split off in to just DNA profiling (all 5 of us) and that is where I really became terrified. What did I get myself into? Is it to late to go home? I am so worried about what they expect from me and if I will be giving enough time and effort to my studies. I know it will be hard, but I am not sure to what extent it is supposed to take over my life? We are not in class much, but I know that much is expected out of class. We got our timetable (schedule) today, although we do not enroll until tomorrow. Monday I am in class from 11-4 with no breaks. No class on Tuesday. Wednesday I have class from 9-11. Thursday I have class from 9-1 and then 2-5; not a fun day either. On Friday I have class from 11-1 and then 2-4. I do not think the university even has classes that start at 8? One of the course leaders apologized for having classes at 9; I guess this is incase you get plastered at the pub the night before??? No worries for me. Still very very terrified, just incase you were wondering.

This schedule does work out well for holding a part-time job. Tomorrow I am going to work on my resume and apply for a clerical position at a company that is not too far away from where I live. Hopefully it is not taken and they will want to hire me.

After my intimidating lectures, I went home had a small chocolate bar, worried about the semester, fell asleep, awoke and was still worried, ate another chocolate bar, and then worried a little more. I feel like I am so far behind and classes do not start until October 2nd. Next week though, we have a “lab boot camp”. This is a three day long event that will probably be miserable. Next Wednesday we just go from 1-3, which is manageable. Then on Thursday and Friday we go from 9-5. I hope we are really not going this long, because it will just be torture.

On a positive note I went to FHE at a members home tonight (Jordan, Claire, and their daughter Lela) and they had me over for dinner. Then we had a lesson on making our prayers more vocal, followed by dessert. It was great and I was really glad to get a free meal and get to know some people from my ward better.

Well I must go now because I was told that I need to know most things in genetics (haven’t really mastered that subject yet) and probably should finish reading one of my textbooks, before classes start, so that I might have a clue what they are saying the first day of class. AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!

Wahooo! I saved! Wednesday September 20, 2006

I just hate it when I am supposed to go to a “mandatory” lecture and it really has nothing to do with me. That is what happened today; I went to a lecture on the Department of Science and Technology, and it was pretty much useless unless you were a freshman. That is how I spent my first hour on campus. I timed the walk from my house to campus and it is 20min. This is not too bad, but it will probably take longer when it is really cold, rainy, and windy. The whole day, I was just running around from campus to my house then back to campus then into town centre, back to various locations on campus, and finally at 5:30pm I came home. All this hustle and bustle was well worth it because I saved about $900. This was possible, because when I finally got internet access today I found out that some of my other loans had gone through and I did not have to pay some of the admin fees and received a $600 discount. J I guess in the long run it does not seem like much, but every penny counts. Also, with all my outings today I tried to set up a bank account; what a hassle! One bank will give me a card to withdrawal money from the ATM with no minimum deposit, but not a debit card. If I want to get a debit card, I need to initially deposit $10,000. What student has this just laying around? Now the other bank, I get a debit card, but I have to pay $100 for a 12 month account. I will probably pay the $100 because, I don’t like dealing only in cash.

Tonight for dinner I had this canned pasta dinner…there is a reason why it only cost a $1.20. I should have known, but I’m cheap. I had dinner with two other girls at the house, but I feel bad, because one girl wants everyone to eat together. I really want to tell her she is out of her mind, but she is so naive. She also wants to pull money together so that we all share some food stuff, but I will not participate in this. I have lived with people before, and sharing food just causes problems.

Last week I did laundry and it was interesting to say the least. For laundry soap you have two choices: biological and non-biological. I don’t know why you would choose something that is less environmentally friendly; they both cost the same price? First of all the washer is very very small. I put a few things in and picked the cycle labeled “fast colors”. No clue what “fast colors” really means; but I know that it does not mean that the cycle is fast. I went to my room after I started the washer and an hour later went down to switch over the laundry to the dryer…it wasn’t done! Ninety minutes later, the wash cycle was still not done. Finally, two hours later, washing was complete. The dryer was fine, but I do not think dryer sheets are very popular here. This is evidenced by the fact that 40 dryer sheets cost $4. I think my clothes will be just fine without the use of a dryer sheet.

I live in an all girl house, and sometimes the toilet seat is up in the bathroom??? Well, it is not that boys are visiting, but it has to do with the French girl. After she goes to the bathroom, she fills up a water bottle, lifts the seat, and pours it in the toilet. Now I only know this because I can hear her slam the seat up against the lid and pour the water down the toilet. I don’t know much, if anything, about French culture; but this is quite bizarre.

Something strange, is that one of the people in my program is actually a doctor! I have no clue why he is back in school; but I tried to ask him, I just didn’t understand through his thick accent.

Lastly, yesterday I did not write, because I went with my friends to Southport. Josh is a bobby there and he had to go into work so a few of us were going to walk around the city. This sounds great, but actually it was BORING. When Josh told me he had to go into work, he made it sound like was going to be for about an hour. What he really meant was that he had to work from 6pm – 11pm. So four of us spent 5 hours walking around and really seeing nothing! I’ll have to get more details next time.



Pictures of Southport


the ocean ??? /not the best lighting for the church

The Bus Sunday September 17, 2006

Today was my first day to take the bus believe it or not. I took the bus to church, and thankfully one of my friends was there to help me. It was interesting to say the least; because here I was in heels and you walk to the door of the bus before it comes to a stop and then I have my purse and scriptures to balance, beside myself. What makes it even better is the fact that bus 6/7 that runs on Sunday does not drop you off right near the church (bus 5/105 does Monday – Friday). So from the bus stop, you have to walk on an asphalt path through this meadow area and cross the round about to get to church…in heels. If I take the bus next week, I will probably wear flip flops and then change shoes at church. We had a fireside afterward in the Chorley meetinghouse, which is right next to the Temple. There were quite a few people, about 50-75, and after we registered for institute. Elder Eyring spoke on having the gifts of the Spirit and how we should be careful as to our desire for wanting the Spirit. We need to make sure we want the Spirit for doing the Lord’s will, and not for our own selfish reasons. For the refreshments, we had this drink called splash, or so I think??? It is concentrated juice that you mix with water or fizzy (carbonated water?). It is interesting, but everyone drinks it. It reminds me of Tang. After all was said and down Matt Crowder gave me a ride home and we figured out that gas here cost $6.82 a gallon; that sucks! He is an American that has been living here for ten years because his dad works for Boeing. His mom has volunteered to feed all the young single adults in our ward (~12 of us) every fast Sunday, I love free food.

A new girl moved in the house today, and she brought pots and pans. I have forgotten her name, but she is really cool and her home is less than an hour away. She is studying sports therapy and is really into football. This is great because now I have someone to go to a football game with, awesome!

Not much else happened today, but I did find out that there is a Costco just 30min away which I am now on a call list for the next car trip down there. Other random stuff is that Velveeta does not exist here, either does mac & cheese (maybe at Costco). Also, I thought I was going to fit in with my pasty white skin, but there sure are a lot of “fake n bake” people here. I see a lot of orange people, but not as many as in Texas. Last random thing, is that a family invited me over for FHE tomorrow and for tea. I really hope “tea” is dinner, but I just said sure and it will be a surprise.

Here are some pictures of a building on campus. At first glance I would say it was a church, not only because of the architecture buy also because of all the grave stones around it. But it is not so, the building belongs to the art department and is use for a renovation/preservation class…I think?

DIY, I DON’T THINK SO! Saturday, September 16, 2006

Saturday equals football with the missionaries. Just a friendly reminder this is “GOALLLLLLL!!!” football, not “touchdown” football. J Anyway, I went to Moore Park to play, but I was the only girl. This is usually not a problem, but I have never really played football, and did not want to look any worse than the American elder playing. I just observed and talked with one lady that was there whose husband was playing. After the game I went for a jog, since I did not get any exercise playing football. It was really nice, because it was about 12:30 and it was not hot and miserable outside. I would venture to say that it is about the same temperature throughout most of the day. Moore Park is really huge. It has basketball courts, football fields, a couple playgrounds, lawn bowling, a cricket field, and who knows what else. It is about 4 miles around the park and I only saw half of it. Next week I think I will play.

I went to Town Centre today to return an alarm clock. Amazingly enough I did not find anything I wanted to exchange it for, shocking! “Whilst” in town, I wanted to buy another set of bath towels. I went to all the major stores to look for the sales, which I found, but it still was a fortune. To get a set of towels that were not paper thin would have cost me $24. The cheapest that I could find overall, disregarding quality; was $16 for a set. I need to start working so I can spend 1 Pound as a British Pound and not as $2 American.

Speaking of shopping, remember that great deal I got on the 3 drawer chest? In retrospect, it wasn’t. Do It Yourself projects really suck sometimes. I was not thinking when I bought this “project”. It only cost $30 (regularly $100), which is a great deal compared to the other shelving that was going to cost me $40 (can you say penny pincher?). BUT, it is really hard to hammer nails or drive screws if you don’t have a hammer or screwdriver. Hard to believe, but it’s true. So I had to buy some screwdrivers, which surprisingly cost me…$10. Now you must remember, not only is my “great deal” insignificant, but I also was able to spend my Saturday night putting together this lovely piece of crap, I mean dresser. It was pretty much all down hill after I figured out that I needed to buy a screwdriver, followed by a few screws flying when I opened the bag (smallest ones of course), then a piece of particle board breaking (luckily it was still useable…I hope it was), and finally using the end of the screwdriver as a hammer (rounded objects just don’t work as well as flat ones). And just think, I could have connected some metal polls and been done, what was I thinking? Also, I had IKEA d.i.y. crap to assemble as well. The lamp was super easy, but the little make-up box has 44 nails to hammer; I think I’ll wait until I find a friend with a hammer. Overall, the dresser is nice and looks better than the metal shelving, but it was not worth the time.



Today two new girls moved in to the house. Narges is from Ireland is doing her undergrad in Forensic Science. Her dad is with her and he is not too impressed with the condition of the house. Side note: today I put my finger through the window sill, not a good sign. Susanna also moved in today and she is from Germany. I am really happy that everyone is from somewhere different because it makes life a little more interesting with all the different cultures under one roof, but also because it will help me with my travels.

I wish I had more to talk about, but d.i.y. projects took up all of my fun time.

FYI instructions on leaving a comment

i just wanted to let everyone know how to leave a comment. this is mainly for those of you who do not have a blog. when you click on "post a comment" a different page will pop up and then you write your comment and let me know who you are. then you have 3 identity choices, click anonymous if you don't have a blog, and this will allow you to leave a message without any problems.

Have It Your Way Friday September 15, 2006

Today I went down to the school and registered with the Health Centre. While I am here, I receive free health coverage, courtesy of the National Health Service, for prescriptions, doctor visits, any hospital care needed. This is great!!! All medication is at a fixed rate of $12.40, which is not as good as the $5 copay but better than the medicine that is not covered. It was interesting because in the next building over, there was a company that was selling health insurance, and acted confused when I talked about being covered because I was going to be in England for a year. Good thing I did some more research.

My friends and I went to IKEA today, it was AMAZING!!! I love that store. I purchased about $70 worth, but I was able to find exactly what I was looking for. I bought a lamp, clock, some kitchen stuff, make-up container, and wire baskets that suction to the mirror. I was also able to find a 3 drawer chest at a store called B&Q. It is like a downsized Home Depot, but they do have orange aprons. This chest was only $30 regularly $100; what a steal (but I paid for it of course). Now I just have to borrow some tools to assemble it and hopefully it will fit.



We ate at Burger King and it was quite different than the ones back home. I had a grilled chicken sandwich on a baguette, fries and a drink. The meals are served with a small drink and there are no free refills. I couldn’t believe that there were no free refills, bizarre! I can’t imagine a baguette sandwich in the states; talk about “having it your way”. My friends dip there French fries or potato wedges in mayo; and malt vinegar and salt are the only condiments publicly accessible.

There was a church dance in Manchester tonight and it was alright. One of the highlights was the ride there, where we could see the Preston Temple from the motorway.



There were a lot of people there, but the dj was horrible. He talked through most of the songs, inserting his own comments or singing along as he wished. I wish he would have just kept quiet, and the dance would have been more enjoyable. Also, he played all fast songs and then the last three of the night were slow songs, what a horrible option! Hopefully he does not dj another dance that I attend. Some of the “dancing” styles were “different” to say the least, but overall there were quite a few good dancers. The dance was enjoyable, and afterward we went to ASDA to get some food.

At The Bridge, the student employment center, I found a clerical job that is only minutes from my house. I am going to visit them on Monday, and hopefully work something out. It only pays minimum wage, but every little bit helps. I ran into Nicole Hahn (girl who is graduating from the program) at the Student Union Building and she said that the body of her thesis was about 30 pages; that’s doable, right??? She also said that they help you pick out a topic if you don’t have one of your own, wahoo! Today I also found out that I pick my classes on Tuesday; it is about time!

Coca Colahhhhhhhhhhhh!!! Thursday September 14, 2006

Today I awoke later then expected, but no worries I had nothing pressing to do. I got ready and my friend Josh took me to ASDA. This store is pretty cool, but they have a different selection of items than I am used to. Everything just costs more here (except Subway) and it is hard to fathom paying so much for something that cost so little back home. For example, I paid $20 for an alarm clock, $8 for four chicken breast halves, and $3 for a frozen dinner. Slightly on the ridiculous side for pricing, but I don’t really have a choice. Anyway, let’s get to the real shocking “deal” of the day. For those who know me know that I like diet coke and drink about 3 or 4 sodas per day. At home I drank caffeine free diet coke (~$6 for a 24 pack) and expected to do the same in England. Well, that’s not going to happen. A six pack of caffeine free Diet Coke cost $5.76!!! Now a 10 pack or regular Diet Coke cost $5.96 and they were on sale today, two 10 packs for $6. I do not know how these prices make any sense, but I bought two ten packs and will be cutting down on the soda consumption drastically. Now bottled water is not exactly cheap either. I paid $5.28 for 12 bottles; usually 3X that much at home for the same price. L

Besides shopping, I did not do too much today. Did some more reading for a class that I have not enrolled in and don’t know when it starts. I also cleaned up a little bit and will have to do laundry in the near future. I am starting to feel the coils from my mattress in my side when I sleep. Since I have not been cold at night, I sleep with only the sheet; I decided to use my down comforter as pad for my bed. It’s working out great! Today was the first good rain since I have been here, it was wonderful and helped keep everything nice and cool. Well, this is pretty short, but if you don’t do anything, I guess you don’t have anything to say about the stuff you didn’t do.

There is a God! Wednesday September 13, 2006

Today started off a little ruff with me being late to the start of orientation, but it was no big deal because most of it was useless info. Unfortunately, I thought the most important secession would be about the Health Centre, but the speaker acted like he just found out about the orientation 5min before he was supposed to present. He had no visual prepared and his thoughts were scatterbrained (I can’t believe that last one is a real word). I did learn about getting a job, if my visa allows it (hopefully), and the student union. The student union building is like the size of the cafeteria at the Baylor SUB. One piece of useless info that I learned and I quote, “contraceptive is free…so have fun”. Que Lastima! This “necessary” info took most of the day but I still had some time for fun.

This afternoon I bought my first textbook and it is written by a Mormon, what’s the probably of that? Oh Boy! I am not sure when classes start, but I just read the first two chapters anyway. Now, at least I can say I was off to a good start??? Hahaha. I also got temporary (like 10mins) access to the internet in which I realized that the computer keyboards here are different from the ones is the U.S. This was shocking because I thought computer keyboards would be a universal thing. Speak of computers; our library has over 300 flat screen computers on the third floor alone! And, speaking of the library, if your cell phone goes off you will be charged a $10 fine the first time and the fine is increased $10 for each following violation. HARSH!

I went shopping with my friend Josh to buy a present for a girl, for her birthday, in which I was not invited to the party (reasonable, just met her Sunday). This was a unique experience. He doesn’t “like” this girl but he got her some perfume and a gift certificate to The Body Shop (like an upscale version of Bath and Body Works). He was going to give her chocolates also, but I convinced him otherwise (Hello! Buy me some chocolate…he did it was good). We then went to buy some drinks and a cake for the party. We went to this store called ASDA. Finally, an answer to my prayers, an affiliate of Wal-Mart in the UK, it is kinda big, and is open 24 hrs/day J Wahoo!!! I do have to say though that the choices for cake mix are VERY poor. You had your choice of Devil’s Food or…and vanilla frosting. Well with all the selection, I going to have to bring some back after Christmas break. The bus has a stop at the store and also has a stop about a block from my house. Would it look weird if I brought my carry-on with me to haul stuff? It will cost me $4.20 to take the bus or if I speak some kind words and I could get a ride from Josh…eh its only $4.20 j/k.

Small World Tuesday September 12, 2006

Today was the first day of waking up to an alarm clock; I remember now why I do not like them. I went to hear some people talk on various subjects concerning student life at ULAN. Some of it was informative, but almost half was for non-native English speaking students. I did learn a lot about the library and a little bit about the sports centre. I really want to join club volleyball, but one out of the three times they meet is on Sunday (maybe I can just skip that day of practice?). The total lecture lasted less than two hours, so I had the whole afternoon to do whatever.

At the end of the lecture, Jackie Maudsley (International Support Team) introduced me to someone I would have never guessed………..a BAYLOR student! It was crazy! I can not believe I am living about 4200 miles away from home, across an ocean, in another country, on a different continent, and I am going to school with someone that went through the forensic program with me. It is a really good thing that I met her (Courtney Haddox), because she had a lot of very valuable information like: we don’t get our classes until Monday, that the next 11 months are going to SUCK, that I really only need to buy one book out of the 20 they tell you to buy (that’s a really good one), and that I might only be home for 10 days during Christmas break.

I am really starting to get scared about my studies at ULAN. I don’t think I will be able to have as much fun as I was expecting (good times in Waco), although I know I am here to study and not to see the world. I just wonder if I will be able to do it; did I prepare enough in my undergrad for this, who knows? I plan on having fun this week, because next week it’s over. Nicole Hahn (the girl that started last year) is still here and leaves Saturday, but she did not go home for Christmas. That scares me a lot! I also found out that it is not an internship based thesis, it was just that some people went other places to collect their data. All of this new information makes me very doubtful, but I am now REALLY happy that I “know” someone that will be going through the same situation.

Today, I bought a mobile (cell phone). I found the cheapest one I could (free!) and have a “pay as you go” plan. I can not have a contract plan, because you have to have lived in the country for at least one year. My cell phone is so basic; it looks like the one I got in high school (7 years ago). But, it calls, sends text messages, didn’t cost a thing, and that’s all I really need for a year. This weekend I am going to IKEA so I am sure I will get into trouble there.


Random Thought/ Sights
Õ On the back of an ice cream truck…
Õ “I like Americans, but your President is a prick”
Õ a restaurant called “Eat at Doughnuts” they don’t serve donuts
Õ there are 32 million known books in the world. It is suspected that all will be electronic in 20 years
Õ some streets have crosswalks with yellow bulbs, and supposedly you can just cross at anytime and the cars will stop (not really going to take that chance)


Õ it is a long walk from town centre to my house when carrying 35lbs of groceries
Õ I think I am the only person here who sweats, without working-out! Everyone is wearing sweaters and jackets; I think tomorrow I am going to wear shorts.
Õ It has only drizzled once since I have been here (knock on wood)

The Grand Tour Monday, September 11, 2006

Well, today I got the grand tour of the campus and city. We first walked the campus and then we walked the city. The city tour was very beneficial because it gave me some other options for shopping. I was able to find some bigger stores and was informed of the open food market on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I do not know if I will be eating a lot of meat over here, because I am scarred that by the time I walk home it will not be any good. I also found many restaurants and a “mall”, it is different but it works.


one of the many entrances into Town Centre

I was able to find some good deals on kitchen knives and scissors. In all the other stores, I was finding that a pair of scissors cost about $7. There is just no way I would pay that, but today I found 3 pair for $2 in the clearance bin, and they work! I also found a good deal on bottled water, but I can only buy a few bottles at a time because the store is about a 35 min walk from my house. Two things I found that were astronomically priced were 1) a plastic 3 drawer container, $40. I was shocked! They only cost $10 or $12 in the States. I decided not to buy it and instead found a 5 shelf metal thing I can build for the same price. I did not buy it yet, because my friends and I are going to IKEA on Saturday. 2) Before I left I really wanted this one perfume, but I did not buy it because I thought that it would probably be the same price here. Boy was I wrong. In the States it cost about $40-$50 but here it is $60-$100. Oh well, I will just wait until Christmas. Subway was about the only thing that was consistent with the U.S.; although, they do not have yellow mustard or oil and vinegar. Weird!

My best find today was not a single item, but a whole store…T.K. Maxx, it is like TJMaxx, but just with a K. Here I found a watch, and an alarm clock; hooray! My watch was still $26 but it was the cheapest one I could find. I also bought a blow dryer and straightening iron this afternoon. They were somewhat reasonably priced. Shopping pretty much sucks because even a “deal” looks bad in American dollars. L

Tonight my church friends (Sarah, Josh, and Olaf) came over and we went and got some pizza. The food was good, different from oatmeal, and we just sat around talking about various topics. I learned that Josh goes to school and is a volunteer bobby (policeman). He has the same authority as a paid officer, he just works for free??? Olaf is a software programmer and Sarah works at McDonalds and is preparing to go on a mission.


Josh the bobby crazy police cars

Sometimes I find myself slipping into the British accent and I have definitely changed certain vocabulary choices. I hope I just don’t sound too stupid.

FYI: So a few days ago I complained about paying to use the cart at the grocery; well today I found out that when you return your cart you get your money back…hahaha

The First Sunday September 10, 2006

Since I still do not have an alarm I just prayed that I would wake up in time for church. I did. I awoke around 11am, and had plenty of time to get ready, since church starts at 2pm. These showers sure are small and they make shaving your legs like qualifying for an Olympic sport. I have no blow dryer or flat iron yet, so the hair just went into a ponytail. I got dressed and I was pretty much good to go. Sister Winter, the bishop’s wife, picked me up and off we went. The church is not too far, but far enough that I would not want to walk. I might be able to catch the bus, but we’ll see. The church building was structured differently then the ones back home. Here, the chapel is at one end and then just a straight corridor to the other classrooms. The chapel is small and also functions as the cultural hall. There are no pews, just chairs linked together, like the ones for relief society. There were only four of us that met in the young single adult class today, but supposedly there are about 5 more coming. Everyone is friendly and I understood most of everything said. Josh, my new friend because he has a car, and Sarah are brother and sister and are from Germany. Olaf, Felix, Lea, and Shawn are all from England and Matt is from US/ England (also my new friend because he has a car). After church everyone went to Josh and Sarah’s house for food and FHE. Dinner was interesting, with a concoction of rice and minced meat (ground beef) in curry sauce. Well, I am not dead yet, so I guess it was ok.J We also had bread and butter; and to drink, a mixture of orange and apple juice with some other type of juice…and I’m still alive! Sarah did something interesting, she got a tomato out of the fridge and started eating it like and apple. Overall dinner was good, but I really need to slow down. I was the first one finished, no surprise, and was waiting quite awhile for the others to finish their meal.

The elders came over after dinner and we had a lesson on the Plan of Salvation and they compared it to leaving home for school; it was “creative”. One of the elders was from Utah and looked like he was maybe 13 years old. After that we played some games and had “German Waffles”, these are just regular waffles, Sarah just made them from scratch. I then found out about where to get a “mobile” phone and other good shops. Josh took four of us home and Olaf only lives like a block away form me. This is great, because if Josh comes to pick up Olaf then there is no excuse not to give me a ride also. Previously we had been talking about cars and they asked me what I drove back home, I replied, “a small truck.” On the way home we got behind a “small truck” and they thought it was huge! I just laughed. Josh drives a “Ford Fiesta” I have never even seen one of these in the states, but it is smaller than a Ford Escort, and it is considered a spacious ca! Well, with five people in this car we were pretty cozy, but it was better than walking home. One funny thing is that we were all getting into the car and I got the front and the three boys were in the back, I waited on the right side of the car and could not understand why Josh, the driver, wasn’t moving? It took me about 30 seconds to realize that I was on the wrong side of the car. Hahaha J

I did not go to the social event tonight because I did not want to walk home by myself in the dark, and because I did not get home until 10pm. Tomorrow we take tours of the library, city and campus. There are two secessions, one at 12 and another at 2, so I shouldn’t miss them, again, the alarm clock thing. Also, tomorrow Nadia’s brother goes home, so it should be interesting to see how we communicate. It is still just her and me in the house so hopefully more people will show up this coming week.

A New Roommate Saturday, September 9, 2006

I thought I could beat the jet lag thing, but I guess it beat me. Yesterday, I went to bed at 1:30am (or today I suppose). I should say, “I TRIED” to go to bed. It didn’t work out so well, but I finally went to sleep between 3 and 4am. Then around 10am the doorbell rings and I tell myself, “You’re not getting out of bed yet.” But, I went downstairs, somewhat presentable and found that the people who knocked had let themselves in already. Great I thought, out of bed for no reason. Pam, my hall advisor, was showing a student an available room for her study. She just showed up from France with no place to stay! Hey Mom and Dad…I don’t even procrastinate that much! Anyway, I probably looked horrifying, but they took the room regardless.

I finally got out of bed about 2:30pm. Pathetic I know, but I could not help it. I did a little bit of arranging and made a list of some things I needed from the store. My list was somewhat long, and I knew that I would not be able to get it all. I found a grocery store today and I went to pull a cart out of the cart area and was shocked to find that all of them came towards me. I could not believe it, the store charges 1 pound to use the shopping cart (yet another good business investment). Heck No! I will not be charged $2 to use a shopping cart that’s ridiculous. I figured that since I had to carry what I bought back to my house I wouldn’t need a cart anyway. So there I was, a cheap American, only buying what I could balance carrying. I bought some bread in an aerated bag, some fruit and veggies (all small and prepackaged), and paper towel. Oh! I almost forgot, I also bought 2 plastic bags for carrying my groceries home. Can you believe it; you have to pay for the cart and the bags! TINSTAFL (there is no such thing as a free lunch [12th grade economics]). Next, I went to a small store (like Walgreens) and bought a laundry basket (good for carrying stuff) some hangers, and Diet Coke. It’s true guys, they have diet coke, but is not very cold and sold in small bottles (500mL). Everything is bigger in Texas, everything in England is smaller. The walk home pretty much sucked but I will either have very strong arms by Christmas, or have a very good friend with a car.J

So back to the new roommate, Nadia, I mentioned that she was from France, but did I mention that she really doesn’t speak or understand English very well??? Thankfully, her cute French brother (luckily I looked like crap when I first met them this morning) was here and he speaks English well, but he leaves Monday, and I am really scared for this girl. How is she going to understand what is going on in class? On a positive note, I might learn some French. Tonight we went to eat some fish and chips, just about 30yrds form the house, and it was great! We had cod and chips and it was packaged in butcher paper. I really wanted to take a picture of my first fish and chips experience in England, but decided not to look like a freak in front of my new friends. There will be plenty of other opportunities for me to look like a freak, and to take pictures of me eating fish and chips. After dinner, we watched the movie, Shall We Dance. We watched it on Nadia’s laptop in her room, so we were in somewhat crammed quarters. Nadia and I were going to sit on the bed while her brother sat in the desk chair, but somewhere in me asking where she wanted to sit, she scooted over on the bed and made a place for me to lie down next to her. Now I know the French have a reputation, but you could say I was a little shocked. I politely said I would sit on the corner of her bed and her brother laughed, she really has to work on the English thing.

Well, here I am, writing. I plugged in my laptop today. This was scary because of all the “connections”. I first plugged in the surge protector, followed by the US converter plug, then the two to three prongs converter, and finally my laptop. As a daughter of someone who works for the fire department, four plugs out of one socket just doesn’t look safe, but the computer did not explode and it charged. Hooray! Most of my day was wasted sleeping, but maybe tomorrow will be better. It is now 12:30am and I am not sleepy, but after I read my scriptures maybe that will change.

California to England 7/9/06 - 8/9/06

Well it all started Wednesday when I realized I was not packed. I had set out everything I was taking, for the most part, and that was about it. In case you did not know I am somewhat a procrastinator, but I really thought this time I would turn over a new leaf, but I didn’t…oh well. So Wednesday afternoon I start to pack and things are going kind of slow, I finished one suitcase and realized that I had only packed jeans and t-shirts. This meant that I had sweaters, non-jean pants, other tops, coats and sweatshirts, sportswear, toiletries, computer, bedding, and most importantly SHOES still to pack. Let’s just say it was all down hill from there. I went through about 4 filter cycles to reduce the amount of “essentials” I wanted to bring; so that it would finally/barely fit into two full size suitcases, a very large duffle bag, a carry-on and the largest backpack I owned. You are correct in thinking, “how the heck is she going to manage all this going from plane to train to taxi?” but I did not care, I had already “sacrificed” about a whole suitcase of “essentials”. Packing went on for a very very long time and morning came very quickly and very early. After 3 hours of sleep, I woke up and realized, “oh my… I am really leaving… shoot!” Don’t get me wrong, I was excited, but in about 20 hours I was going to be halfway across the world, in another country, where they speak English (different from American or Texan), the US dollars value sucks (50cents), and NO CELL PHONE ahhhhhhhhhhhh!!!


my first step…in England we are not worthy of a terminal

Those crazy Brits let me into their country, believe it or not; but probably because they knew I would look like a stupid American who knew nothing about world travel. After clearing my passport, I grabbed my bags (one suitcase handle broken) and I was off to the train station. Luckily I had a cart (for free) to push all my crap to the train station, which is connected to the airport. I bought my train ticket (10.60 pounds/ $21), at which point I realized that the currency place gave me Euros not British Pounds. Luckily for me, I exchanged currency twice and had some pounds to purchase the ticket and was one step closer to Preston. Loading luggage SUCKS! The train ride was beautiful; I was able to see the city, track homes, and some country side. Everything just looks very old…probably because it is old.


train station train view

train view train view

Now you must understand that I have never taken a taxi by myself. I had no clue what to expect and did I mention that they drive on the other side of the road. I told the driver that I needed to go to the Marsh Bldg. on Marsh Lane to pick up my keys. At first he took me to Marsh Lane. This might not send up any red flags at first, but HELLO!, I had luggage totaling a weight of approximately 210lbs, and I guess he just thought I would walk to the Marsh Bldg from some point on Marsh Lane…I DON’T THINK SO! He took me to the driveway of the Marsh Bldg, and waited while I got my house key, then took me to my apartment. He was very nice, helped me unload my luggage and taxi ride cost me 7.60 pounds (~$15). This was no “Rachel Ray $40 A Day” special, but not too bad.

The house I am living in has 10 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms, that’s right no typo there, 10 girls 2 bathrooms…a man’s design definitely! The house smells damp, my room is small, and my wardrobe for all 210 lbs of attire is about 2ft wide. There will be some DIY storage building going on here. All the appliances are small, dryer and washer (located in the kitchen), stoves, and this house has 4 “dorm room sized” refrigerators (located in the living room???), it makes no sense to me. I am the first one here so it will be interesting when the others arrive. There is only one phone (a pay phone) in which you pay by the second (weird). I have probably already lost 2 pounds… of money… because I 1)inserted the wrong coin, 2) it does not give any change (good business investment), or 3) thought I would be talking longer. Other unique aspects of the house are that every room is protected by a fire door, which means you can’t/shouldn’t leave any doors propped open. I have to enter the study area to go through a door to the kitchen then exit two more doors to go out back. I have to enter a door at the top of the stairs that opens to a hallway, where I have to open another door to exit the hallway, and then enter the door to my bedroom. This gets real old real quick, like after you do it once! One good thing about my room is that, because it is on the second floor, I can open my window and not have to worry, too much!





Because I brought mostly clothes, I had a few things to buy; but because the store I found is about a mile from my house, and I have to walk, I didn’t spend a lot of money. Also, most shopping places close at six! So there go any late night trips to the store, because I forgot something (good memories of Super Wal-Mart). I did not find a food market today, and did not want to go out for dinner and walk home after dark, so I had oatmeal. Not your ideal first European adventure meal, but it was great because it was the only thing I had eaten since breakfast on the plane.



Today was different, and at times (which are unknown because I had no cell phone or watch) I wondered if I had made the right choice in coming to England to study. At the closing of this day I feel better and have hope that with each passing day I will feel a little more comfortable with my new surrounding. I’m in England!


backyard view from my room


front door, only the middle lock works