Day Thirty Nine: I skyped Meg and Sand!

I did not do much today, i had a weird dream about jumping... i was being hunted or something. I was so tired from my dream that i tired to stand up i fell back down, haha.

Today... I got organized I guess. Worked on a little more creative writing.

Then I skyped my parents and then i skyped meg and sand and that was fun. hahaha... yeah for another awesome day. I am going to wales next weekend so i am going to have to really get working on my school work.

<3

Day Thirty Eight: Almost Slept Through Class

PICTURE: I made this picture on a whim today, because I suddenly got a new idea for a children's book on my way home from class. I will let you figure out what is going on here, haha. I used photoshop. And no, I have not finished the illustrations for my last children's book, maybe that can be one of tomorrow's tasks.

I woke up this morning at 9:39am, exactly 21 minutes before I had to be in class. It is a thirty minute walk. I guess what I did was rather then set my alarm, I reset my actual clock. So, I was a bit confused when I woke up, haha. I made it to class only ten minutes late and as I was sitting down she said "Okay who needs to recite." I was supposed to recite last week, but she was sick so I did not get a chance to recite it. Anyway, I managed to get through it swimmingly, I remembered the whole thing! This is what I have managed to remember for two weeks:

"Years later, Orno Tarcher would think of his days in New York as a seduction. A seduction and a near miss, a time when his memory of the world around him - the shining stone stairwells, the taxicabs, the sea of nighttime lights - was glinting and of heroic proportion. Like a dream. He had almost been taken away from himself. That was the feeling he had looking back. Smells and sound. The roll and thunder of the number one train, the whistle like a flute through the deck rafters of the Empire State Building, the waft of dope through the halls."

Look I remembered it again!

Anyway the rest of the day I was mad at my creative writing class and how I can never keep up with it because... well lets just say my tutors organizational skills are not prime. So, rather than doing the work they may or may not have assigned me I went back and began taking their tips from class onto my own stories. While they are unorganized in their assigning of school work, they still give really good tips. I ended up remapping and outlining my rom com (romantic comedy) and did two character sketches. That was a lot of creative venting, so i feel much better now.

For dinner i made chicken, which i covered in flour and then cooked in a pan. I then put pasta sauce and cheddar cheese on top, so it was kind of like chicken param without the pasta. For a side i made a salad which i added dried apricots and more cheddar cheese too and it was delicious. It was all delicious. I am an awesome cook, but I cant wait to not have to cook again.

Good night! <3

Day Thirty Seven: Work Load

I spent the day trying to catch up with my school work and i succeeded. Then i went to class, and now i have even more.

Wooooo

<3

Day Thirty Six: Oceana the Club (built like Titanic)

Today I had class, went grocery shopping and then to a club. I am far too tired to write in detail, so I will just do an update on this blog entry tomorrow! But I had a lot of fun tonight! I love dancing like a girl from central New York world: aka, sprinkler anyone? Grocery Shopping? Yea.... I am smooth.

Tell you more tomorrow!!!! <3

UPDATE: I did get some really good food yesterday, i am trying to cut some sugar out of my diet. I have become addicted to it, major sweet tooth, so i get dizzy when do not have it, hahahaha. Oh man, what England has done to me. It is nice to sink into the comforts of hersey's chocolate they do not have here.

After doing a bit of work, Allie and I headed to a local club called the Oceana which is in the center of Kingston. Wednesday nights are student nights and if you get there before ... 9:00 i think ... you get in free. So, we met at 8:45ish and went it. They charge 1 pound 50 pence (which is about 3 dollars) to take your coat and save it for you. After checking in out coats we went into a pub that looked like it came straight out of Canada or Upstate New York, there was cabin siding and even a fake moose head.

Let me describe the grandness of this place too you. It was designed to look like the inside of the Titanic. From my discovery of last night, there were 2.5 dance halls (one dance hall is also a very modern looking bar). I found at least 4 or 5 actual pub rooms and a karaoke room.

After warming up in the moose-head pub (just made that up) we went to one of the dance halls which was crowded and the music was not that great. Other people i was with really enjoyed the music, but i was just having fun dancing. There were some other American Foreign exchange students where there, but they were hot hot hot messes. They were really embarrassing, and i am beginning to see where our bad reputation comes from. One girl was flailing everywhere and kept hitting people with her arms and head and you could tell by the look on people's faces they were not pleased having her there in the small space we were dancing in. She stepped on my foot with her pointy little heal and now i have a horrible bruise. Yeah, i did not appreciate her, haha. Anyway, it gets better!

We then went to the next dance floor, just because my new friend Stacie wanted to show it to us. However, i really liked the music there and the dance floor was much bigger and there was more space so i asked if we could stay, and we did. We got some water before heading down. That dancing was much more fun, there was more room to really have fun with the music and basically everyone there was more like i was with dancing. You know having fun rather that the more modern lets look really whoreish and pretend we are dancing. SO, i had more fun there. It was a really good night and i enjoyed myself a lot.

So that was my night as Oceana, and it was a lot of fun! I will be there next Wednesday i am sure! Oh and don't worry i was very safe.

<3

Day Thirty Five: Sustainable Design

Good news about class, i understand more what i do not understand. It makes sense to me, do not worry about it. There will be two things my grade is based on, 20% on a presentation and 80% on a final exam. That will be intense when it comes down to it.

Allie made a cake for Phillipa's birthday (which was today) and it was delicious. She did break a bowl and i mended her with all my bandaids and experience handling wounds. It was a great cake.

I basically relaxed today, cause clearly i have been doing too much so. Wow, i literally have nothing else to say.

Day Thirty Four: FULHAM (Futbol game!)

PICTURE: I did not take this picture, but this is a few members of the team that i saw play tonight; Fulham (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-560112/Fulham-midfielder-Bullard-warns-Get-ready-nail-biting-finish-relegation-battle.html)

I did homework earlier today and went through the last bowl of cereal in my cereal box. I am going to have to get more before breakfast tomorrow morning, because i do not have eggs either. I am also going to get bagels, cream cheese and some type of meat (hot dogs, hamburgers or chicken) tomorrow afternoon, perhaps after class.

More importantly i went to a Futbol game today! It was loud and exciting. Our seats where in the excited fans who cheered loudly for their teams. They kept singing the songs for Fulham but i could not understand a word they said, but it was fun to listen to them anyway. I did not bring my camera, i forgot it, but i wish i had remember so i could have taken pictures of them. They stood for the whole 90 minutes cheering and singing and yelling, they were not a bit silent for the whole game.

Our team, Fulham won against Hull City, so that was great. It really made me miss my team back home, and want to play. They make it look so easy and graceful. I am going to try and find a ball and play tomorrow. See how much of my skill i have forgotten.

Miss you all!

UPDATE: I forgot to mention that i had a foot long hot dog there, and it was delicious. That gross fast food hit the spot, mmmmmmm.

Day Thirty Three: I went to Oxford Yesterday

PICTURES: 1) The Great Hall in Hogwarts, aka: the dining hall at Christ Church in Oxford. 2) The Pub where JRR Tolkien and CS Lewis spent their time. 3) The Library, well part of the library, they have over 50 million books. 4) One of the dorms. 5) A view of Oxford.

I am going to write about Oxford so early in my day because i am going to try and get schoolwork done today. I am going to a Futbol (soccer) game tomorrow night (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) so I will not want to do school work then. Anyway, on to Oxford...

I woke up at 7 for the third day in a row (ew) and got ready to ride a bus an hour and a half to Oxford. Allie and I got there thirty minutes early, do to a short cut i found, and do the fact that we ended up walking really fast. We used that time to explore the area where one of my campuses is, and found a really cute cafe. If you get a coffee to go (any kind of coffee) it is only 1 pound, so that is the cheapest coffee i have found so far. I ended up getting a mocha and it lasted half way to Oxford. The ride was beautiful because we went into the country and also because we were on a double decker bus and Allie and i sat up front on the top so we could see everything.

We got to Oxford and the first thing that was pointed out to us was the Eagle and Child, the pub that JRR Tolkien and CS Lewis went to while they worked and lived in Oxford. I do not think it has sunk in yet, but... damn they were real dudes and, just saying, a huge part of my influence to be a writer. I think i will call myself KE Bergene when i publish. We were walked into the "center" of Oxford. I do not know if it was really the center, because the place was so big, but it seemed to be a fairly middle location. We were given thirty minutes to do whatever we liked, toilets, coffee, shopping, ect. I ended up not moving when i was unable to make a decision as did a girl from some oriental country and realizing we were the only two left we went window shopping. I think her name was something like Am-knee (thats how it sounded), but i am horrible with names unless they are like Jack or Bob... you know, one syllable deals.

We found all of our, well my friends, who had sprinted off the to toilets in a panic and then wandered into the depths of Oxford. This place was beautiful. It can be dated back to the 8th century when it got its name. Are you ready for this? Are you ready to know what this great internationally famous Oxford, whom produced the most brilliant minds like JRR Tolkien, CS Lewis, Lewis Carroll, the guy who invented Penicillin, countless politicians, the men who settled: Pennsylvania, Delaware, Georgia and one other state, and has been the filming ground for HARRY POTTER. It was named do to the convenience of the low depths of the Thymes river so the OXEN could cross. Just saying, it kind of humbles the whole idea of Oxford for me. Good times.

The city is full of history and old buildings. It was in existence when the Romans came through and you can see their influence on the city. It was beautiful, look at my pictures and you will be able to see what i mean. It is really hard to select just a few to put on here, and i cannot wait to share all my pictures with those of you who cannot go on facebook and see them.

An important thing to note is that Oxford includes about 40 colleges. You would apply to the campus at Oxford while listing your top three choices of colleges that are in Oxford. There are about 18,000 students which attend this elaborate system. Each college works specifically in one topic area, for example you would apply to Oxford's college of _________ in English. Each department, has a few tutors who take on very few students. They do anywhere between 1 and 3 students in a tutor session. This is why during the mandatory interview process they are the ones asking questions. We went on a tour and the tour guide told us they ask questions such as "why do plants not wear hats" and the students have to rationalize it. She told us about one student who walked in and without looking up the interviewers told her to take a seat. There were three chairs in front of the desk; a milk stool, a normal chair, and a throne. The student had to explain why see took the seat she choose to the board. So, ladies and gentleman, if you want to go to Oxford you betting study your logic, rationalizing, public speaking and conversational skills. hahahahaha.

After the tour we had an hour and a half before our allotted time in the Christ Church campus, which was the only one open yesterday. It is matriculation day, which is when all the students dress in their black robe attire and meet the dean to be enrolled. They have to swear into the campus promising to do their work and be awesome students in latin. We decided it was time for lunch so, we walked all the way back to the Eagle and Child, but it was far too busy to sit nine of us. We walked across the street to the... Lamb and something, which was the other pub that JRR Tolkien went to, but that one was also busy. It was less busy, but still too busy to seat this. We walked back into the more central region of Oxford and found a very less busy pub and were able to sit down and eat. I had a chicken and mango... something (it was like mango jam) paini. It was absolutely delicious, I had the bartender pick it for me because i could not choose and he did an excellent job. I also got a pint, because i had not had one yet and i seemed to unknowingly owe lots of people back home a pint, so i debt has been paid, haha. Also, lets just say i felt it.

After lunch we wandered back to the Christ Church and got ready to go inside. It was so beautiful i cannot imagine going to class when surrounded by so much history. I would be so distracted on my way to class by looking at things. I was so distracted then, and i got left behind a few times, haha. The most important part of the tour, which i am surprised that no one really offical talked to us about was that their dining hall for the Christ Church campus is the one used as the great hall in HARRY POTTER. I walked in and was starstruck by a building. It was the great hall, it was... literally the great hall. The table for the professors was up at the other end and the lined up tables for the students was all around us. For a moment i just stood there, excited beyond belief and then i started taking pictures. Halfway around we ran into an official who began talking to us about Harry Potter. He did not say much i didn't know but he reaffirmed the fact that the cast had actually been there and this is where they had actually filmed the scenes. Also, he pointed up on the glass window where there is a little Alice and Wonderland character in the scene in tribute to Lewis Carols novel. And that was my afternoon in the land of Harry Potter.

One more note on the dining hall. If you go to it in the first session, it it casual, but if you go to the second round it is formal ware.

Also, outside of the dining hall is a large stretch of land which is used in the filming of The History Boys, if any of you know what that is all about.

On this little campus they also have a very beautiful church with descriptive windows and wood carvings.

After our tour of the Christ Church campus in Oxford's set of campus' we wandered about again. We ended up finding scarfs, and i bought one because our next step was ice cream and i did not want to get cold. It was a little chilly. The ice cream was great, and it hit the spot after that day.

That was my adventure to Oxford. On the bus ride home i made better friends with a girl name Ruthie and then i came home and curled into bed and yeah. I made pasta later on... and an avocado (because i love them).

Miss you lots