Life in Photos

If I even began to describe how busy I've been over the last few months it would take up far too many pages for anyone to read. So, to get back to blogging, but also not sacrifice too much of my time, I'm going to try to simply update through pictures of the last month/month and a half :) Enjoy! 

I received the most wonderful care-package from my parents at the moment I was feeling most homesick. It would so wonderful and uplifting just to have something that feels like home. And it's funny...most of the things I miss/asked for aren't things I normally eat...just things that seem to be very American. What a happy girl I was when all this arrived!

On the way to pick up my package, which wasn't delivered properly, I cam across
this most BEAUTIFUL display of Fall colors!

Christmas is everywhere in London now. This is at Covent
Garden.

Covent Garden Rudolph!

 Covent Garden candy canes!

Ice Skating at Somerset House (aka also--mostly-- park of Kings College!)

Discovered this INCREDIBLE bakery in
Notting Hill with a friend... it's French and OH so good!

I cannot ever get over this sight. 

This is the sight that always makes me catch my breath though...reminds me I'm in London...
you feel SO small in front of it. It's awing.. and so beautiful when lit at night. My favourite
signt in London for sure.

Time to be American! My friend Ames and I made
Mac n Cheese and Pumpkin Pie! Ok, so we burned the pie crust just a bit...but was still So good :)

I went to Holland during out "reading week,"
which is essentially a week "off," except when
you have double the reading and a paper due
upon your return...it isn't really a week "off."
But I managed to sneak in a few adverntures
anyhow!

I got to spend Friday in Amsterdam catching up with my dear friend
Hester, who I was like family in Bologna. We had the best time!

Then I went to Utrecht, which may now be
my favorite Dutch city; it was SO beautiful
and lovely, a smaller and less crowded
than Amsterdam. There I got to spend a
few days with another dear friend, Dide!--
also part of my "family" in Bologna. It was
absolutely the best weekend I could've
wished for! I ate delicious food and
drank the best coffee of my life
all weekend long!!

Upon my return from Amsterdam I boarded a train straight away to spend a couple days being very English with my friend Camilla, who is on my same course. We went to the small town of Lewes for the the oddest, craziest celebration I think I've ever been a part of--Bonfire night!...aka Guy Fawkes day.

There was a processional through the town which made you feel like you were part of the conspiracy gone out to kill "the beast" in Beauty and the Beast. A tiny little English town with people hanging out of windows and watching from rooftops as this processional went on for hours of all kinds of fire and explosions. Here is Guy Fawkes..oh his way to be burned...and at random moments the crowd would yell "Burn him!!!" 

After the processional you go to a "bonfire"...although very different from any bonfire I've ever been to. The actual bonfire can be seen on the left. There are crosses burning on the right, a man dressed like the Pope with "bangers" being thrown at him on the right, and fireworks going off dead centre. Madness! But also one of those moments where I paused every now and then and realized this was such an English experience, and something I will always remember--no matter how crazy it seemed to me!

The two lovely girls I got to spend this evening of avoiding "bangers" and exposions with! :) 

Camilla then took me to her BEAUTIFUL hometown
of Eastbourne on the South coast! We had such a lovely day, beginning with a tour of the stunning coast, then a proper English breakfast!! Finally!.. some incredible cream tea and scones at an adorable tea house in a tiny little village called Alfriston--reminded me much of the Cotswolds. We ended with the BEST French dinner I've yet to have here (and since we were outside of London it was about half the price!!). I had duck and banoffee pie (thick layer of biscuit sort-of crust, toffee, bananas, and cream!)...and it concluded the most wonderful 5 days off I could've wished for!

 A visit home is quickly approaching!! I cannot wait for some nice relaxing time to spend with my family, see my friends, drive my car, go to my old gym, go to my hairdresser, and fill up on plenty of good Mexican food and Mom's home-cooked meals :)...sometimes all the familar things just help you to relax (although I'll be writing two 20ish page papers!).

However, I have hardly begun to think about the trip home because SO much is going on here, as always. For the most part classes just dominate all of my time..well not classes, but what is required outside of them. I've got more to read than I could ever finish..ever, and additional papers coming up and a presentation, etc. But I'm surviving it, making it to the gym every so often, spending time with friends to keep my sanity, and still baking! On top of everything else...there were some "complications" with my living situation, and I'm moving this upcoming weekend! Crazy...but actually I cannot wait. I'm moving in with a really lovely English girl, and the flat is just immaculate...clean, new, beautiful, spacious...plenty of room for me to cook/bake, and I've got my own bathroom...and there's a living room!! (no common area in my current flat). I absolutely cannot wait...and it's in a VERY lovely area of Pimlico.

SO much coming up in the next few weeks...but hopefully I'll have time for another update from good ol' Texas!!

Merry Christmas (season) y'all!! ;-)

Falling into Fall

Oh dear...it has been too long since I last wrote something here.

I've been consuming book after book after article after theory after book after play..after a couple more articles. Or, rather, it feels more like they've been consuming me. I don't mean most of this in a pleasant way.

The focus of my classes is sometimes disappointing, because it isn't really what I came here thinking I would study. I supposed it is good to get a more overall picture of London in the nineteenth century, but I miss reading novels.

I did have one week where I was just on cloud nine, the whole week about/relating to Oscar Wilde, the Wilde Trials, The Picture of Dorian Gray, and a bunch of theory/critical texts to go along with it. I'm fascinated by him, his works, the trials, the fin de siècle period (1890's) and so much that was happening at that time. That was a fun week.

My beautiful home away from home <3

I remembered recently how I came to be so clean and tidy, and to love cooking/baking. It is all a mode of stress release to me (with a hint of procrastination!). So, I've been cleaning like crazy, but that didn't satisfy me enough. There is only so much one can clean before it's all just..clean! I then decided to go on a search around the city of London for some holiday cheer (and by holiday I do not mean the European meaning of vacation, and by holiday I do not mean Christmas. It's only October, y'all! Let's first celebrate fall!).

A beautiful view of the fall leaves outside my window.
Perfect view for studying. 

They don't do any of the fall festivities that we have (as far as I've gathered from observation and talking with my English friends) like picking out a pumpkin at a pumpkin patch, haunted houses, hay rides, corn mazes, or eat anything to do with pumpkin (pumpkin bread, pumpkin pie, pumpkin-flavored-everything-else-you-can-think-of). There is no pumpkin pie spice to shake on things or flavor foods with. If you love Starbucks (or even if you don't you've probably at least gathered this from others) you know that the day the Pumpkin Spice Latte is back at Starbucks is almost a more official marker for the beginning of fall than the actual date on the calendar. It is SO exciting, and SO delicious. Well, the UK is doing a "trial-run" of the PSL this year for approximately four weeks. Most people haven't heard of it it seems...except by other Americans raving about it. I had about four or five, worried that it would end any day, but the sad thing is only one of them really tasted like a true PSL. And when I asked the barista (is it baristo if it's a guy?) if he knew where I could buy some pumpkin pie spice like he was shaking on top of my drink he--through his broken English, because not many people who work at coffee shops and the like are English-- said "No! Not for sale!"...and that was the end of that. Luckily my loving parents sent a loving care package with TWO containers of pumpkin pie spice, mulling spices for apple cider, and all kinds of wonderful tastes and smells to remind me of home. It should arrive any day now.

The leaves are falling!

So back to the topic of my baking craving... I luckily have made friends who like to eat too. One night a friend came over and we baked the most heavenly cupcakes. They were especially special because I'd found a little, over-priced American foods store just past Notting Hill, and bought yellow cake mix!! As heavenly as they were supposed to be, they weren't quite perfect, as adjusting fahrenheit (it's embarrassing that I have to stop and google fahrenheit every time I use it just to remember how to spell it) to celsius doesn't always work properly. They were a bit crispy, but nevertheless proved profitable. Literally. My friend sold one on the tube on the way home! We should start a business together.

The next week I really got my fall-fix. What was supposed to be a night at a really cool wine bar, turned into an even better night (thanks to a day of relentless rain, wind, cold, and just pure yuckiness) of wine, pumpkin bread, and a movie. This loaf was especially good too (and had to be considering I paid about $7 for the box, again at the over-priced American foods store). In fact, it was so especially good that there was none left by the end of the night. And a great night it was.

Unfortunately, to continue to satisfy my fall cravings I realize I cannot go on purchasing pumpkin bread mixes for $7 each, so I went on a ravenous search for canned pumpkin...and success!! at Harvey Nichols! They have such a fun little food court on the top level, and a small cart with about 4 shelves all dedicated to American foods! and there it was...beautiful cans of Pumpkin :) Only about $4 each. I have to add other ingredients, but that's doable. I bought two. One for a pumpkin pie, one for another loaf of pumpkin bread, but I have a feeling I'm going to have to return very soon for some more, after discovering a gagillion new pumpkin recipes on Pinterest!



 I mustn't close this entry without including my proudest baking moment so far... cake balls! They definitely don't look nearly as perfect as they do on Pinterest, or in Starbucks (cake-pops), but I tried my best, and it was my first time. Here's what I did:

Found Betty Crocker cake mix at Tesco!
Heavenly!

Baked the cake, let it cool, added 1/2 can of frosting, mash together!

Made cake into balls, refrigerated them for a bit...

Dunked the balls in melted white chocolate..and decorated!

yummmm!

London is getting grayer and wetter and colder by the day. However, I've got some exciting things coming up to look very forward to!...a trip to Amsterdam to visit some of my wonderful friends I met while I lived in Italy, a trip to the countryside to be super English and celebrate Guy Fawkes day!, and last but definitely not least, a trip home for Christmas!!

Classes begin!

I feel as though I am always doing something, going somewhere, busy with something. At the end of each day here I'm exhausted! Therefore I never know how to condense these blog posts, as SO much has happened since the last, but I'll try.

Last week classes FINALLY began! On Monday I went to the first class for my optional module (we take one optional (that we've chosen), and one core (that everyone must take). Unfortunately, I hated it! While the title, 18th Century Writing, Gender, and Culture, seemed like something I would really enjoy, the material-- mostly obscure articles, letters, diary entries, criticisms, etc.-- were all completely obscure, with no "real" text to read along side them. The professor spoke barely above a whisper, with no linearity to what she spoke about over the two hour class period at all. She merely pulled random thoughts from there air, and whispered about whatever obscure thoughts came to mind. The eighteenth century is not my favorite, and I really have only briefly studied few, very specific subjects, within it. Therefore, I felt completely lost during nearly the whole two hours of random 18th century disorganization. (Additionally, the paper which gave our required readings gave no suggestion for how to locate these random pieces of text--be it letters, articles, or whatever-- and had no separation even between the names of texts; they were simply all one GIANT line of text). My brain which lives on organization just wanted to die.

I must thank my mom (several times this week) for teaching me to recognize that feeling inside that tells you when something is really right or really wrong for you, and to go with it, trust it. I thought I might be able to kill myself working for this class, disagree with the professor a lot, and spend copious hours simply searching for the texts before even beginning to read them, but I decided to fight my way out of that class, and into a different module. To simplify the story by a lot of back and forth communication with the English office, loads of stress and anxiety, I'll just say that by Friday I was changed to a module that I cannot wait to begin! It is called Colonial and Post Colonial Women Writers, taught by Dr. Zoe Norridge, who, should you google her, is quite the impressive, young woman herself! She already has communicated with me ten times more than the last professor (and I haven't even been to her class yet!). The class seems to consist of reading one novel per week with a few pieces of criticism alongside. PERFECT!

Ok. Enough of classes. I'll have to elaborate on the other one at a later time.

The rest of the week was spent doing a lot of reading, running lots of random errands, getting to know some friends better, eating a delicious nutella and caramel crepe, and going to church again. I really cannot say enough good things about this church. I'm so excited for the service every week, and last night's sermon was absolutely incredible. I've got some wonderful people to go with, and some exciting things coming up to get involved with there, including a Wednesday night student's Bible study. I can't wait!

Today is a jam-packed day, but I'm kind of beginning to realize that every day in London is, and sometimes just because with the way one has to travel here (as in not zipping around in my cute little jetta), things take a LOT more time than they do back home. Today I've got to exchange a book from my old module for one for my new module at Waterstone's, then head to an AKC (associate of King's College) lecture at King's (It's a pretty cool thing! ...http://www.kcl.ac.uk/aboutkings/principal/dean/akc/index.aspx). Then I've got to go to the V&A Museum with a "worksheet" of pretty in-depth questions to ponder while there for my core module. Then I'm going to hit up a highly-overpriced American foods store I found online yesterday (am feeling quite homesick for the feel of autumn in Texas, the smells, the foods...) so hopefully I can find some apple-cinnamon scents, pumpkin flavors, and a few other things to remind me of home :) and THEN I get to make dinner at a friend's. It's going to be a great day...but if I stall here telling you all about it any longer I'll never get it all done! So thanks for reading my not-always-interesting accounts of my weeks. See you soon! :)

GIANT Dutch pancake I had for dinner last week!

One of the most incredible crepes ever.. <3

(I'll try to take a few more pictures that aren't just of food for next time!)

Getting it Right This Time.

Well, I suppose it's time for another blog entry, isn't it?

Because of all the tube closures I had to "alight" at Westminster
and walk back home to Victoria. I have to admit it is hard to stay
in a bad mood when you come above ground to this view...

Sunday, I must mention, was the worst day I've had in London thus far. It began around 50*F, and gradually dropped to closer to 40. It was raining--quite hard--and my umbrella blew inside out three times, although I've begun to observe that this is a regular occurrence on the streets of London. I had to journey way north to Primrose hill (beautiful area though!) to pick up a printer I bought on gumtree (craigslist), then back to Victoria, then out to the Docklands for a voice lesson which was, disappointingly, anything but enjoyable. And all this with nearly every tube line that I needed to use closed for "planned engineering works." On this glorious day I also happened to witness a man fall of his bike and crack his head open, had a massive apple fall on my head whilst my umbrella was stuck inside out, my White Mocha at Starbucks (which, at the end of the day was meant to be perfect, reliable, and make all my problems--and cold, wet shivers--melt away) was mostly hot milk with bitter espresso...until I reached the bottom and found ALL the white-chocolate syrup concentrated there-- quite undrinkable.

All Souls Church

I live right near St. James's park and finally took a stroll
through the other day!

After being out nearly all day in the most miserable weather I've yet to see in London, I FINALLY reached my bed and dived under the covers with a hot cup of tea. Perfect, right? Wrong. In just 15 minutes I needed to leave for church. I was SO close to skipping and staying in this perfectly warm and dry bed, but thanks to some friends I met at orientation, the incredible things I'd heard about All Souls nudged me out of bed and into the misery of London weather yet again. But I'm SO glad of it! The service was incredible. There are people from so many different nationalities and backgrounds, all coming together as Christians, and it is a wonderful, inspiring sight. We sang all kinds of songs, one even in another language to express the global community of this church. After the service many, many people went downstairs to have coffee and chat together. I spoke with a few people who were all so kind and welcoming; I cannot wait to get to know many more!

This week the English department's induction for post-graduate students has begun. Yesterday there was a lecture/meeting for all MA English students, and then specifically for my pathway, 1850-present. We were given readings for the first class next week, and given an outline for the year (for the core module at least). It is going to be a fascinating class, but, as they have already warned us, the most challenging class of the MA as well.

St. James's Park-- Looks like Autumn to me!

I choose to view everything about my experience here as a chance to do everything right that I did wrong or didn't get the chance to do before. When I first went to university I chose Purdue, a school I really knew nothing about, that was in the-middle-of-nowhere Indiana, with people I couldn't relate to, and a major that I didn't like. Then I transferred mid-year to SMU, an undeniably cliquy school, where I had a really difficult time making friends or fitting in for years. I joined a sorority during their "informal recruitment," with only a handful of other girls, and therefore didn't have a pledge class I belonged to, or a group of girls that I felt like I was a part of. I didn't know how to get involved in anything, and I didn't do much outside of my comfort zone. I never got involved in my church because I was too intimidated my the young adult group that was already there, who had been meeting together since high school at least. I didn't really feel that I had good friends until my last semester at SMU.

There are so many things I wished I'd done differently in my undergraduate years, but now a whole new opportunity has been given to me, and I'm determined to do it all right...not to mention I'm living in London, somewhere that I've felt for so, SO many years that I was meant to be.

St. James's Park again-- Buckingham Palace is at
the end of the water.

My undergraduate experiences taught me that I had to be aggressive in finding friends. Now I have been more so than ever before. I've put myself out there, decided to be rid of shyness, and as a result have met SO many incredible people already, and I've only been here a month! I've found a church I love, and am already finding more ways to be involved. Honestly, though, I must say the thing I'm most proud of is that I am auditioning for musicals! I have NEVER been brave enough to do this before. I always had excuses: I'm not good enough, I have no acting experience, I can't dance, etc. Most of these may still be true, but so what! I LOVE musical theater, and how will I ever become more experienced if I don't start trying? Now, I don't expect anything to come of these auditions really. They are for the King's Musical Theatre Society at school. There are two different musicals they are putting on, and while I would love to be a part, any part, of either, there were tons of much more experienced people in the waiting rooms than me. However, I personally think my audition went really well, my voice sounded great, I read the script well, and even remembered most of the dance routine! I'm just proud of myself for going, and the most important thing is that I had fun :)

A few more auditions, English Lit. induction events, new friends, new food, and LOADS of reading to fill the rest of this week... I can't wait :)

Orientation, Views, and Food

This week was International Student Orientation at King's College, which consisted of mostly various workshops/seminars on topics regarding studying here as an international student. It did begin with a lovely dinner in a very elegant ballroom somewhere near Covent Garden. Free Salmon dinner, wine, and apple crumble dessert was a great start!

We had one talk about safety at which a few police officers quite thoroughly frightened everyone, and if I don't have my handbag or mobile stolen at some point this year I will count myself extremely lucky. I'm not in University Park anymore, that's for sure. 

There was also a "culture shock" talk, which ended up being more of a vocabulary lesson. I'm still working on saying "trousers" instead of "pants," which is the name for underwear here. The other night I was out in Soho with a friend and a man walked by with insanely bright colored pants (trousers), and I said "wow! did you see that guy's pants!?" to which she replied, "I should hope not!" ...But I'll catch on to the lingo one of these days :)

However, I must say the best part of the orientation was getting off at Embankment tube and walking across the Waterloo bridge in the morning, and back in the evening. Big Ben and Parliament don't even look real to me yet. They look more real when you're a tourist standing in front of the London Eye looking across to take some touristy pictures. But as the background of my commute...I just couldn't believe my eyes. It looks more like a backdrop on a stage. It may also be that there is nothing in Dallas that isn't brand new and modern, so to see such architecture and history, with Westminster Abbey just behind it, is just unbelievable. I nearly started to cry, happy cry, as I walked across, looking all around me, and blasting the new Glee version of New York State of Mind, with Lea Michele singing her heart out about a city that is not only a place to live, but a whole way of life, a part of one's heart, a state of mind.

The great thing about the orientation was the nobody knew each other, and everybody was so open to getting to know everyone else. There was a group of us who all had no plans for the night on Friday, and so all just decided to go out to eat together. As I've mentioned before I think, London has SUCH a huge selection of interesting and authentic foods from all over the world. I don't know how I'm going to try them all, especially with the prices here, but I would so love to! It's so nice to walk into an Italian restaurant to find all Italian cooks/waiters, and the same with all the other restaurants and their ethnicities. Anyway, the group of us came upon this WONDERFUL Mexican restaurant (which the Texan in me was SO happy with). I had Chipotle Chicken Quesadillas, and Grilled British Steak Tacos. It was very well priced, authentic and insanely delicious! Fellow Londoners, check it out! http://www.wahaca.co.uk/flash/main.html

 I've got to start getting creative with ways to live cheaply. I finally got the time (and serious craving!) to have something home-cooked last night, which always helps a bit with saving money as well. I'm lucky to live in a flat that is already quite well stocked with most crockery and cutlery-- if I may be so British-- that I'm able to cook quite a bit. Finding the incredients I'm used to having at home can be a challenge, especially since the closest store, Tesco, is about the size of the bakery section at Walmart or Kroger. However, I managed to find some great veggies and chicken, and created a spectacular pasta! ....more to come :)

..and the journey begins!

Time to start blogging!

I think the best place to start is just before I left for London.

My friends threw me a little going away party. It was the most perfect night I could've asked for, surrounded by all the people who are so special to me, with wine, pizza, and cake :)

Upon arrival in London I began ferociously looking for a place to live. It's hard to believe that is how it's done here, but alas, everyone else I met was doing the exact same thing. It took 5 days to find the place that would be my new home, although it felt more like a month or two of serious anxiety, stress and no sleep. Nonetheless, I found my home and LOVE it. I live near the St. James's Park tube (yes, there are really two s's, not my grammatical error) which is so lovely and quiet, but close to the ever crowded and bustling Victoria station should I need more extensive transport connections. I also live about a 5 minute walk to the Wicked theatre, which just makes my soul happy. I'm only 3 tube stops to school, but am far enough away that it's lovely and quiet, rather than overtaken by tourists (which I am no longer! woo-hoo!).

Finally, once I knew I would not be homeless in London, my parents and I had some time to relax and explore. We had so much fun discovering different areas of the city. It was the first time we didn't stay in a hotel and see purely tourist attractions, so it was a whole new experience. We stayed near Marylebone High St and Regents Park, and explored so many areas like Soho, Bloomsbury, Sloane Square, Victoria, and more. It was most incredible to us how many different kinds of food, and totally authentic, one can find throughout this city.  We also saw The Lion King, visited my new school, had afternoon tea and much more. Here are a few photos:

 

 The International Student Orientation, which is three days long, begins tomorrow. I can't wait!... more to come :)