hello all! so today consisted of running around campus to various meetings and meeting with different people to switch out of a class. not too much fun but whatev.

tomorrow im off to brighton with some of my friends! and we're taking the train, how quaint.

good afternoon. so i was thinking that i forgot to mention some cool things that i did with my friend mary tuesday afternoon and evening when we went into central london. we were able to get cheap balcony tickets to see avenue q and before the show started we went to the london portrait museum (i love how museums are free!). once we arrived at avenue q they told us that the balcony was closed so they upgraded us to the bottom section right in the middle - the seats were so great! she show was also hilarious.

so yesterday i took it easy and slept. a lot. today i feel a little better, but this cold is still lingering. i have a department meeting today at 3 for the english and comparative literature department (im taking the class european culture and society). after that im hoping to get my goldsmiths id card, however the cue is epically long, so im not sure if thats goign to happen. as for this evening, im not sure whats going on yet, but it should be fun!

it has also been fun to watch my freshmen counterparts this week - theyre all going crazy still. my american friends and i are taking it easier because i guess we got it out of our systems or something (partying hard every night this week and being hungover the next day isnt all taht appealing) (maybe im just getting old or something haha). anyways, thats enough from me. peace out

today has probably been the least exciting day that ive been here. the only big thing i have done today is enrolment, which mainly consisted of standing in really long cues with other students trying to get paperwork in (although the only thing i had to do was turn in one paper). after that i went back to my flat and crashed - this cold is beating me up today. so i took a nap for a few hours which was nice. and now im at my favorite internet cafe in new cross. tonights activities will probably consist of me taking it easy and watching a movie or something so i can try and knock this thing out of my system. cheers

hi all! ok here is a brief update on what i have been up to:

sunday:
i left portland for london in the morning and we arrived in new cross (in east london) around 3 to move into our dorms, or flats rather. heres a little funny story: when we arrived a student from goldsmiths got on our bus to explain things. he said to find a woman in an orange shirt who would give us our keys, then to find a person in a blue shirt to help us move, and finally to direct any questions we have to students in the black shirts. then from the back of the bus came, 'and if a person with a red shirt tags you, you lose the game and have to start over.' hehe my friend mikael is funny.

ok so i am on the 4th (so top) floor of the dorms here. i am living with 6 other people, 4 brits and one other american girl (jen) who is from boston and goes to northeastern. there are two boys (guy, who is goign to be my new george o'mally friend (note: watch greys anatomy hes the friendly roommate) and lucian who is cool as well) and two other girls (amy and claire). its weird because all of the british students are 18 and freshmen. so yah, theyre all going crazy - theyre cute and all but im kind of over it (as are the rest of the international students, but its cool). that night we went to the union (so the student union, not the awesome pizza place in occidental) where there was a big dance party, open bar (what?! at a school function?? neat! ill have a gin and tonic please), and lots of crazy freshmen.

i have to say its fun saying 'im from california' because everyone here gets wide-eyed and a little excited to hear that. i have had a few conversations about 'the oc' and if i go there or see the actors there ('you have family in the oc, woooow')

monday:
some of my american friends (mary and drew) and i met up for breakfast at my flat then we went grocery shopping, yay! we went to sainsburys which is a 3 minute walk away. its like safeway, so you can imagine my excitement. after that we took a double decker bus ride down to try to get to tk maxx (just like tJ maxx in the states) but we ended up at pound slasher. and wow it was cheap.

after that mary and i went into central london (oxford street) to meet up with my friend mike from camp. it was so great to see him! we had lunch, walked around, went to a pub - it was great. after mike left mary and i stayed in that general area and had dinner then caught the tube home. last night i finally had time to unpack all of my stuff and move in to my room. my room is small but thats fine - theres a bed, a good sized desk, small closet, adn a small bathroom complete with a shower (which is almost over the toilet, but whatever). after i moved in mary came over and we had some quality greys anatomy time (since we're both slightly obsessed)
today:
i woke up with a sore throat and a head cold, so im fairly drugged up on sudafed and tylenol cold right now. so that was kindof lame.

i went to my first meeting for classes. this was the politics department meeting where i found out where the good libraries are and when my european politics class is going to be (tuesday afternoon).

mary and i (and hopefully drew is goign to join us as well) are going to go into central london in about an hour and find a cheap box office so we can try and see a show in the west end tonight. we are also goign to take advantage of the free admission here for the museums (im not sure which one we'll go to yet, maybe the tate) anyways, im off to make some lunch with a side of day quil

good evening friends

so i would like to start off by sharing a general item with you: i dont like english food (nothing here is fresh! everything is covered with gravy, mayo, butter, etc). which is unfortunate because i like food, a whole lot - i cant get enough. and if i dont get enough i get cranky, shaky, gross, etc. so yah, 6 days in and thats where i stand. but starting tomorrow i move into the dorms (!) so then i can fend for myself....yay pasta!

so today we were awakened by a phone call from graham (crazy old drunken smoking man with a few teeth) saying that the tail end of a hurricane is coming through so we wouldnt be going out on the boat today (only because the coast guard said so aparently...what do they know...). this opened up my day completely, so a group of us decided to go into the town of weymouth which is on the mainland. and luckily i was able to persuade brogan to accompany our group of american students (she rather quickly became a very popular 12 year old).

we walked around the downtownish area of weymouth which also leads to the beach. dispite the hurricane, the weather was beautiful except for the strong breeze. walking along the beach reminded me of a very posh santa cruz beach boardwalk in a weird way - which made me crave a burrito. woah dang.

instead we went to a cafe where i had a sandwich with prawn and other stuff (i thought i would try and branch out, but it wasnt good, so i pretty much ate the salad garnish on the side). however, i did have an eventful lunch where i learned about synaesthesia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Synesthesia) which 2 of the girls have here. i also received an education on the gypsy group 'pikes,' aka brad pitts character in 'snatch.' needless to say, if youre in spain (or anywhere else in europe) and you see a baby being tossed through the air, run the other way. dont save the baby (yes, its a real, live baby), run. or else you will get mugged. what the heck? babies are expendable aparently. these people are sick.

emily, brogan, and i caught the bus back to portland and had a bit of nap time which was great then we had dinner (traditional fried chicken). i really like hanging out with this family at meals and all, theyre so entertaining. after dinner we all went to jo and lesleys favorite pub on the island, the cove inn. jo introduced me to having a beer (stella artois or however you spell it) topped off with lime (it was alright). other than that we all have been hanging out and watching a bit of tv. and outside there are the occasional flashed of lightening which is pretty cool.

on a sidenote: you know that feeling after you step off of a boat and you still feel like you're swaying? i've been feeling that for 4 or 5 days now, and i havent been on any boats. fun stuff

ok whatever, i had a great day, i hope you did too!

stay tuned: ashley arrives at uni tomorrow.

so the weather here in england has been beautiful ever since we arrived. in london it was in the mid 70's and that warm weather carried over to portland yesterday as well. as for today, not so much. it rained once i woke up until mid afternoon. which is fitting because old-chain-smoker-missing-half-his-teeth-always-has-a-pint-in-his-hand graham scheduled a 2 mile walk around the east side of the island. we started the walk in the rain and after about 30 minutes we reached 'ye old duncans drainpipe' or something to that effect - a trail leading down to the ocean that is very narrow and steep, with a 400 foot drop or something. most of the group decided to opt for the 15 minute walk back to town and have lunch and tea, myself included.
my friend kat and i went to a little coffee shop and had tea, then we wandered around town for a bit (still in the rain), and then finally ended up in the new inn pub which is across the street from the punchbowl (our sketchy meeting place for everything). after this kat and i decided to go back to my family's home (which is 4 doors up from the pub) so she could check her email and i could take a nap. when we got up to my room, emily and her friend were there along with lewis (the 17 year old boy in my homestay family). the guest room where emily and i are staying doubles as a computer room for the family. kat waited to use the computer from 2-3 while lewis bummed around on the computer listening to gangster rap music (brogan says he wants to be the new 50 cent, then she laughed. a lot.) and checking out cars on ebay then switching over to watchign pointless comedy skits from some website. kat decided to leave since he aparently wasnt leaving. emily started watching lost on her computer and i tried to take a nap (amidst the comedy skits, with the volume turned up)(keep in mind that the only area to walk around in here is about 6 feet by 4 feet with luggage, so with people in here its hard to move) for the next hour and a half lewis kept his post at the computer while i tried to sleep (wouldnt you notice if someone was trying to sleep in the same room??) and emily watched lost. anyways, out of the 2 hours i had to sleep, i probably got 20 minutes. lame. im only complaining because i woke up with a scratchy throat and my energy is shot - i think im fighting a cold (no worries though mommy, im using zicam)
so then we had dinner and lewis had a friend there (the one who was looking forward to meeting american girls) which was entertaining mainly to watch lewis, his friend, and his mom interact (theyre so funny and sarcastic, its great)
after this a group of us went to the local theatre in town to see 'arsnic and old lace.' i dont think i have ever left a play at intermission....until now. it was pretty bad. so there goes £8.
so between the rain, lame nap time, and the theatre today wasnt superb, but its cool. i talked to weitzel (who is in florence being cool) and aaron today on the phone which was pretty fantastic. and simply getting to walk around town today was pretty awesome too.
as for tomorrow we are going on a boat ride along the coast where i might die because its fast and there are big waves. oh and we get to wear water proof suits and life jackets. sweet.

see ya

today our group left the thistle hotel, which is about a half of a block off of kensington high street, and drove for 3 hours to portland. here is a bit of information given to us about the area:

"the isle of portland extends southwards from teh resort of weymouth and is approached by a causewawy running from teh mainland, parallel to the world famous chesil beach...portland, itself, is a large wedge of limestone rising to a height of 500 feet, which has, for centuries, been quarried for its superb stone...the bill has 3 lighthouses (which i visited today, one of which is now a bird observatory."

the homestay program that arcadia goes through it called experiment in international living (EIL) eil.uk.org . our representative here is an elderly man who has half his teeth and chain smokes. hes pretty funny

its really beautiful here - i wish my computer was able to be online so i could put up pictures (luckily the family im staying with has a computer set up in the room im staying in). so anyways, i am staying with the rudds who are an awesome family. the mom joanne has been showing emily (my fellow american friend who is in the same program and is staying here also through sunday with me) and i around all day along with brogan their 12 year old daughter. brogan is hilarious. she is like one of those campers that you get occasionally who has a mature sense of humor and who goes on and on about everything. she speaks her mind (to the point of being terribly blunt) and if she were at camp she would have all of the counselors wrapped around her finger. the fathers name is lesley and the son, who is 17, is named lewis. lewis, being a teenage boy, is very quiet when he is with his family although he has his moments when he comes out of his shell.

so yes, today jo drove emily, brogan and i around to various places (brogan was bored out of her mind since she lives on the small island of 12,000 people, "we're going there, i haaaaaaaate it." then naturally she would show us around) where we took too many pictures of the amazing surroundings. then this evening the 15 arcadia students who are here had a meeting at the punchbowl, a pub which is across the street where our old EIL representative hangs out. jo and lesley couldnt say enough things about the place (oh we never go there, its so dodgy, there are nicer places in town, why does graham take you there??)

and now im back at my family's home (an 18th century cottage which they recently rennovated - its beautiful) and going to bed. i am tired.

peace out

ps probably next week i will start posting pictures on here or on a different website (or maybe both)

a

hello all
so once again im back at the internet cafe.......

we had our last day of orientation with arcadia today at london imperial college which consisted of sessions on our homestays, the different way of teaching/learning/grading here in england, and then we met with the people within the program who are going to goldsmiths. the grading scale is weird here - a 70% is an A, dont expect to get any higher than that, and a 50% is a B (Bri would die here)

im going to the isle of portland tomorrow through sunday for my homestay with a few other goldsmiths kids. portland is about a 4 hour drive southish from london.

tonight we are seeing the producers so that should be great and last night two of my friends and i figured out the tube (the circle line is definintely confusing - which way is east and which west in a circle?) and wandered around leicester square for a few hours.

today i bought a cell phone (!) from virgin mobile and its great - i was able to call my good friend Mike who lives in east london that i met at camp 2 summers ago. it looks like he and i will be hanging out on monday! and soon i will have to call tom (another camp kid) who currently lives in south london.

anyway, that's all i have for you all today, buenos dias!

day count: 2

so yes, i have been in london for two days

sunday i left sfo at 4:30 pm and arrived at 10:30 monday morning. and then i hit the ground running. as i walked out of customs i saw a large group of college students with lots of luggage leaving, so i assumed they were the group i was with and i caught up with them (luckily i was right) we all got on a bus and went to our hotel in kensington. the hotel is practically right in front of kensington gardens (which i was able to have a picnic lunch in and walk around with my new found friends). at 4 we had a brief orientation where they gave us binders full of papers and other useful items. after that a group of us wandered around the park again (we saw the italian fountains, the palace where princess diana used to live, and the royal albert hall), then cailin (from cu actually) and i met up with a few other people from arcadia at a pub down the street and had a pint. i thought it would be more exciting to be able to get a beer and not be carded, however i was so incredibly jet lagged and exhausted i didnt really take much notice. after that i called my mom (after a few problems with my calling card, i think the receptionist doesnt like me because i kept calling and having problems) and went to bed around 11.

this morning we all met up in front of the hotel at 9:45 and walked to one of the colleges in london that is nearby (i forget the name of it right now). there we met the team in charge of running operations for the arcadia london office and a few other british folk. the guy in charge of arcadia here talked to us about culture shock, then we had a policeman from notting hill talk with us about safety. he was hilarious because he pretty much made fun of americans - so all 60 of us. then we had lunch in the cafeteria (which was definitely different then colorado dining halls)(im still not sure how i feel about it). our final session included two people from parliament leading a discussion about the current political sistuation here in the uk and they answered some of our questions. the woman was from the house of commons, she is part of the labor party, and she has been in office for 19 years. the older gentleman (who spoke the 'queens english' quite nicely) used to be in the house of commons for x amount of years, and now he is currently in the house of lords. he let us know that he could say whatever he wants because he cant be taken out of office. they were both entertaining (since we cant vote for them, they could speak freely) and quite intelligent. after orientation ended we all went on a boat tour of the thames, then went off to high tea at the hotel. my friends and i just went shopping for cell phones (we'll be getting phones tomorrow) and now we're in an internet cafe (yay internet!).

and now im off to get dinner, peace out.

"The time has come," the Walrus said, "to talk of many things: Of shoes and ships and sealing wax - - of cabbages and kings."
- Lewis Carroll, "Through the Looking Glass"


Or, rather, the time has come for me to go on an adventure.
Granted, I am a bit apprehensive and nervous currently, although I definitely am excited, it's easier to be nervous though (I guess I think too much). And I think I have good reason to be - this experience (which technically hasn't actually started) is laced with anticipation and it is overwhelming. But I'm up for the challenge.
These are my sentiments this week.

Truth be told, I'm not a big fan of blogs - I feel like they are places for people to openly complain about their lives to other people, in hopes that their friends will comment on their problems. That being said, I am going to try to keep this blog concise and to the point to let you know what I am up to during my travels.

Have a beautiful day!
Yours truly