something is scratching its way out.

So…I haven’t written in a while. Hmm…what key events have passed since I last wrote?

1) My 21st birthday!

2) Holster and Crum’s arrival

3) Cinque Terre

I’ll write about those next. First I’ll write about the BBQ while it’s still fresh in my mind.

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Second Quasi Bi-weekly Annexe BBQ

Yesterday we held an Annexe-wide BBQ, American-style with an American football, a funky frisbee that Brandon NM and his brother found, a volleyball and tennis balls. Some of the guys, under Steve’s direction, brought out couches and set up the grills — two seemingly hand-made grills with only stones, coals and the grill thing itself as the materials. Very handy!

And it worked brilliantly!

We sat on the couches at first and munched on chips, then the girls played volleyball. Then all the balls came out and were being thrown everywhere with everyone pretty much just throwing what they got. It was fun :o) Then the day wore on and people started putting things on the two grills.

Elizabeth had gotten chicken for the both of us and marinated it in French dressing. It was pretty good! We ate it with BBQ sauce too. There was a lot of fruit and chips and things. We also smoked Hookah on the manor’s stoop and talked a lot.

One hilarious tidbit was that Stephan got help from someone and removed Aussie Tom’s door from its hinges, and they tossed it into the bushes on the other side of the yard. It was too funny watching them lug that bright turquoise door out of the Annexe and across the lawn!

This may sound like a harsh prank, but it isn’t considering the history behind it. The night before, Tom had a tire–don’t ask me where from because I’ve no idea–and was throwing it against Stephan’s door late, late one night after going out to a club, and if that weren’t enough, he was yelling out profanities against Germany! Haha–and on the third or fourth time, Stephan marched out of his room and apparently looked like he was going to crack skinny Tom in half. Garrett too apparently came out of HIS room and told Tom to keep it down and what in the hell did he think he was doing? But apparently another community assistant lives in the Annexe just down the hall from Stephan and came out and scolded Tom or something.

So that was a bit of a disturbance and an annoyance for Stephan, but not only that–his door frame was cracked and his door looked like it was going to cave into the room from the force of the tire against his door! So…that seemed to call for Tom’s door being throw into the bushes outside.

Quite hilarious.

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Eurovision, a seemingly first dive into the true European experience since I’ve been here

Later in the evening I went with Anders and his Swedish friend Mike to The Edge to watch Eurovision. It’s essentially a step further from American Idol, European style.

Apparently these 25 countries choose one artist/band to go to Eurovision, and some countries have extensive qualifying rounds to choose the lucky artist/band to represent the country. Some of the countries seemingly chose the most ridiculous performers. It was pretty hilarious and ridiculous most of the time. Russia ended up winning.

Anyway, it was interesting walking to The Edge with the two Swedes because they would talk in Swedish, and then they would switch back to English and talk to me. We were talking about Swedish gingerbread, which is apparently delicious, and whenever they conferred to clarify something about it, they’d revert back to their language once more. It was odd not understanding and being sort of an odd-man-out.

Sure, I’ve noticed before that the majority of the people in the Annexe are American, but I never really realized how it might feel to the other students from other countries. I thought everyone fit in quite well, we all seem to mesh together easily and I was just recently talking to Amy about how we sort of feel as if we’ve all reached a point of comfortability with each other–we can all hang out in different groups or all together and feel comfortable.

But walking with Anders and Mike, it was sort of fun and strange at the same time to feel as if I was disconnected. This, I supposed, was what it would feel like if I were to study in a non-English-speaking country. Rather cool!

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Being a minority, nationality-wise

THEN we got to The Edge and met up with Gazaleh, who is also from Sweden, Rosa and Marta, who are from Barcelona, and Flora, who is from France. It was truly an international table. For once, I was the only American present, and the only naturally-English-speaking person present! What an experience!

It took me a minute to realize it because I was talking to them all about how they were ranking all of the contestants on loose-leaf paper, and about how well each country that’s already performed did. But then everyone sort of mini-grouped up: Rosa and Marta, Gazaleh, Anders and Mike, and then Flora on her own. It was interesting to listen in on conversations and not understand a word! The Swedes would speak Swedish, which is a fantastic language to listen to, by the way, and Rosa and Marta would speak in Catalan–which I could understand only a tiny bit of, and Flora and her two French friends that showed up would speak in rapid French! It was also very odd because everyone else was speaking a different language and sadly enough, I was the only one there who could only speak one language.

As I looked around, I realized I had no one to comment with on being the only American at the table! There’s usually an excess of Americans everywhere because there are so many of us in the Annexe that we normally seem to be a majority in any group that goes out.

This time, however, there was only me, and it was strange! But very COOL! I was a bit excited, but I tried to contain that. I’ve realized that my excitement tends to bubble over too much and perhaps tends to scare some people.

Anyway, it was funny watching all the performers on the plasmas and the big screen at the bar, and it was hilarious when the Swedish woman (a cross between a serpent and a transvestite) performed. Everyone cheered for Sebastian Terrier, the French performer, as he was rather good and Flora was all for him, and we all commiserated for Spain when their performance was over-the-top ridiculous.

A wonderful time was had by all, I think :o) I did get a bit sleepy during it and my attention slid over to the other projection screen where there was some sort of motorcycle drift-racing going on–it was incredible. Absolutely amazing! Sweden did very well.

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Then we got back and Anders and I wanted to watch The Godfather! And then he said we should watch it outside on the couches! Which was an amazing idea I wish we’d followed through on, but then other people wanted to watch, but not outside, so we watched it in my room on Anders’ Swedish computer with his Swedish CD. We only watched part of it though because we all got tired. Teja watched some then headed to bed early as she’d been feeling under the weather all day, and Holly stayed only to chat a bit before the movie. That left Anders, Amy and I. We finished it this afternoon. Wondrous movie.

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Anyway, more on Steve and my birthday and Holster and Crum and Cinque Terre later. I don’t think those will be terribly long at all as I don’t think there’s that much to say about the birthday.

:o)

Before I go into yesterday (Crum and Holster’s arrival and our night out, which turned into a frightening and fun adventure), I’ll recap a bit about the week.

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Carlton Banks and the “It’s Not Unusual” dance-off

On Monday we went to the club Embrace to see Alfonso Ribeiro, aka Carlton Banks from The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. YAY! Haha–brought me back. We all got dressed up because this is the big club in the city–five floors and different rooms for different types of music.

Some people were drinking a bit in the common room beforehand, and they started making fun of my one bottle of VK blush and blueberry and how I’d brought down TWO of them. And then they started talking about Heat’s birthday and my state then, so I ran away lol

We finally left and took a cab there to be greeted by a long line. It didn’t take long to get in, however, when we finally figured out which line we were supposed to be in (as we already had tickets). The place was huge and played a large variety of music. It was vibrant, had a life-sized figure of an androgenous figure doing a karate kid sort of pose with the arms up to the sides and the one leg bent at a 90 degree angle, and it was essentially a disco ball, though they had many disco balls strung up on the ceilings as well. The place was complete with flashing lights, a balcony/second floor, and a stage area of the balcony, which overlooked the main dance floor on the first level.

Alfonso, who we shall henceforth call Carlton, eventually came on to the Fresh Prince theme song, and everyone went sort of crazy haha! It was tons of fun–there was a dance-off between three guys to the song “It’s Not Unusual,” and that was hilarious. Two of the guys were rather horrible, but fun to watch, and the other guy was dressed up as Carlton and had the moves down pat.

Hilarious to see that guy (the winner) and Carlton do the dance together.

Overall, very cool place that I wasn’t expecting to enjoy that much for some reason–probably made it so much better because I had low expectations. I’d love to go back :o)

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Holster and Crum!

So Emilie and Alicia were to arrive while I was in my seminars. I got a 64 and a 63 on my essays by the way, which translates into a B-B+ grade in the States!!! I was so nervous the entire day and during each class until we got them back, and now I’m so utterly relieved!!

Anyway, I raced back to the Annexe after my last seminar because I was so worried that they hadn’t been able to make it to my room in one piece, and then they’d be lost in England! But I opened my door and there they were! RELIEF.

So great being all together again. It’s been so long since we spent so much time together, about a year really!

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Thursday night turned into a while night

We all went out to Abuellos, the delicious Mexican place we finally found the night after the Wales day trip. It was fun hanging out with everyone and introducing Crum and Holster.

Drinks were rather expensive there, so we headed to Spar where some people got some drinks, met up with the rest in Varsity, and then wen to The Cavendish. We pretty much took up the patio outside and lined up about five of the tables together to make a long line. What else were we supposed to do then but play flip cup?

There were about 10 people to a side, and it was so much fun! We were, however, probably acting the role of the stereotypical Americans with our loud cheering and jeering and all-around rather obnoxious boisterous-ness. But it was so fun and making a ruckus because we were all having a great time just added to the fun. Everyone pretty much reached a good point alcohol-wise, and that was great :o) The group also attracted a bit of an audience with the 30 or so games.

Our group also ended up singing The Star-Spangled Banner, America the Beautiful, and more. It was funny and silly.

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Ghost Busters!

Then we all skipped/ran/stumbled to Padrino’s to get food, and then continued back to the Annexe where we wanted to continue the night with a stoop party until someone said, “Let’s go into the haunted mansion!”

So we did.

And what a great idea it was! Though a bit terrifying because I, along with all the rest, still had a bit of a buzz–but that just made it so much BETTER. Someone tore off one of the wooden boards on a window and we all climbed in. Steve used his phone to light our way with the flashlight it has on it.

The house was utterly humONGous, dilapidated, creepy, and so very exciting! Somehow Catlett and Pearson wound around the manor in sneaky ways and scared us to death!…TWICE. Lots of screaming could probably heard from outside the manor. So much fun! There were so many rooms and the basement was so scary–it looked like a dungeon or a prison! Stone walls, drippy, still water, little knooks and crannies and holes with tiny spaces enough to fit two coffins in, for whatever reason. Not that there were coffins in there, but there could be. And two could fit.

Then we hung out on the porch where some people smoked hookah. And then someone said (I think it was Catlett), “Let’s go into the abandoned garden’s shed!”

I forgot to mention that as we left, Catlett was texting someone and lagged behind. And we got out and called for him and he didn’t answer for forever and went missing and raaaaaaaaaaaaaar!

I was talking to Steve on AIM a bit ago and we were reminiscing about yesterday and part of the conversation went like this:

STEVE: That place was HUGE!!

MIKA: I KNOW! It was so creepy and EXCITING!

STEVE: And Catlett almost died!

MIKA: Yeah! I was pissed about that.

STEVE: Hahahaha!

Anyway, there were holes in places and broken glass and possibly GHOSTS that could have eaten him or something, and I was very jumpy after being in there with asbestos and live wires and broken glass, which didn’t bother us too much while we were in there, except it did because things like that are freaky and dangerous (and exciting…kind of), and he didn’t answer, and what if he had DIED?

And that was annoying. I was rather pissed. And I punched him multiple times, but I learned yesterday that my hardest punches don’t hurt. I’ve never punched anyone as hard as I could, but yesterday I was trying to punch Brandon NM’s stomach and it wasn’t hurting him at all, or so he said, and now I’m very disappointed in myself.

But anyway, we stood there at the window calling his name over and over and then decided to see if maybe he got out earlier, though I was certain he didn’t, and later while we were on the porch, Catlett came running up from the complete opposite direction. Then punching ensued, which didn’t seem to faze him, and disappointment was felt by Mika, and then he said that he was exploring on his own. Loser.

And then he said, “Let’s go into the abandoned garden’s shed!” And so a few of us went, he ducked out early because it bored him or something, but Steve, Miriam, Teja and I crawled in through a crack in the garage that the other girls pulled open. We forced ourselves past the nettles of a thorn bush right beside the opening and crawled into the shed’s garage to find…BOATS!

And there was a sign that said something about washes–like car washes…but perhaps boat washes! And then Steve pointed out a red light in the adjoining room and we became paranoid about booby-traps, so we left. Haha!

We hung out on the porch a bit more and then headed to bed after talking for a while (the musketeers I mean). Both said they had tons of fun and loved all my friends :oD

Overall, a great night! And what an adventure! It’ll be rather hard to top it on Steve and my birthday tomorrow!!!

It’s funny because it was supposed to be a chill/relaxing night–we were just going to eat at the Mexican place, get margaritas and mohitos…but it was expensive there so we wandered an then it got crazy with the flip cup and haunted manor exploration!

Awesome though. Great night :o)

So on Tuesday we took it easy and that night we hung out at the beer garden. That was a nice, chill night–weather was very nice as well.

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Heat’s 21st birthday!

Wednesday was Heat’s birthday. Frannie got her the Smirnoff and limes/lime juice while I got the balloons and pastries from Cooplands. Cow and I blew up the balloons and taped them to her door, and I put a sign up there as well.

We had a picnic out in the Botanical Gardens and everyone and their mother showed up. We bumped around a volleyball, ate our sandwiches, chatted and then headed back. Catlett got pretty drunk during the picnic, which was good because he couldn’t be too out of it as he had a 9am on Thursday, though we got back pretty late I think, and I believe I was to blame.

That night we went to The Cavendish for karaoke, and it was fun–though I think I drank way too much. Well, I’m sure I did because I don’t remember much of the night (for the first time EVER, kind of), but I do remember drinking my vodka mixer bottle, and then at least five Absolute Vanilla and Diet Cokes. Apparently I poured my heart out to not only Cow and Catlett, but also to everybody else. And couldn’t stand or do anything and oh how horrible! I’m so embarrassed. I was apparently embarrassed that night as well, and definitely the next day!

Cow had to leave on Thursday, and that was a very rough day. I was still feeling drunk and wobbly and we had to lug her bags to the station. She missed her train and then plane and then we lugged it back. I had to go to classes and then Catlett took her to the station so she could go to the airport. Poor Cow! I feel just absolutely awful because she came all the way here to hang out and then she missed her plane! She apparently thought it was an hour later than it was, so even if she’d caught her train, she would’ve missed check-in.

Took it easy that night. And all of Friday. Watched P.S. I Love You on Friday with the girls and Catlett haha. It was funny because he said 20 minutes into the movie he could already hear sniffles from all over.

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Northern Wales and Snowdonia

Then…went to Wales on Saturday!

It was so pretty there. I wasn’t expecting to be impressed or anything because I figured it would be like England. However, I haven’t really seen much of England.

The Sheffield Union rep didn’t show up so the driver took us to Conwy, went to information and found the guide we were supposed to meet up with, so it ended up going well.

Wales ended up blowing my mind. It was so pretty and looked so untouched! The Conwy Castle was fabulous and so old, like a ruin, that it pretty much made my dream come true of going to a castle. I know, I’ve been to Edinburgh’s castle, but this one was smaller in a quaint, little town, and so dilapidated that I felt like it was so legitamate! Don’t ask me to be reasonable. I am a notoriously irrational person.

We ate at a little pub–ate nachos, go figure. And then got back on the bus. Stopped for a short break in the middle of nowhere by a gorgeous lake/stream/river. Then moved on to Snowdonia where we hiked up the side of a quarry in the slate country. So beautiful and interesting–listened to the tour guide’s information and that was just the best day ever.

Catlett was in his element and said that he rather liked this sort of stuff more than looking around at buildings.

Loved Wales to death. Wish I could go back again.

Got back and it took forever to find it, but we eventually found Abuellos, the Mexican Troy had been telling us all about. It was delicious and lively, vibrant and had great, funny music by Shakira, Enrique Iglesias, and Ricky Martin. Great place that we plan on going back to on Thursday.

Then we hung out outside with everyone. It’s been so gorgeous every day!

Oh my, it’s been a terribly long time since my last post. I have been incredibly lazy, the weather has been gorgeous, and Cow came and went.

I’ll post pictures up later–I forgot to put them up on facebook!

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Cow came!

She came on Friday and it was Sheffield BeerFest so before she arrived, a bunch of us were at the Interval and Bar One beer garden drinking. I had two Ruby Tuesday ciders and it was delicious! I proceeded to fall asleep for a bit, but then Catlett and I left to pick up Cow from the train station. We had a quite interesting talk on the way.

Cow had trouble getting off and on the train so she was a bit late coming out of the station, but we eventually got there. We ate dinner at the Interval with Elizabeth and Amy, and then hung out in the common for a bit, introducing her to people.

I really wanted to go to Space that night for some reason; I suppose I got my second wind after that nap in the middle of BeerFest, but oh well. Cow and I ended up talking through the night–we only had about three hours to sleep if we had gotten to sleep anyway before we had to get up to get ready to catch our 5am train to London.

We three caught a cab that morning and passed out on the train until it we got to London and dropped our things off at our hostel-Clink Hostel.

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Clink Hostel, Portobello Market, commons, Golden Lion gay bar

That place was humongous–we were in a 12 bedroom, but I think the place seriously held about 600 people. It used to be a courthouse and a police station, and we spent a few hours in the internet room, which used to be a courtroom (awesome!) while we waited for Teja, Miriam and Holly to meet us.

Then we went to Knotting Hill/Portobello St. Market. It was a gorgeous day out and the market was of the antique variety. The beginning of the street was lined with pastel-colored townhomes and we even saw George Orwell’s house! Lots of vintage clothing and accessories as well as fruit stalls and international foods.

We lost the girls halfway into the market so afterward Catlett, Cow and I went to Tower Hill to catch the Old Town Tour, another of the free New Europe tours. This one, however, was not very good. The tourguide had an odd way of talking that was also forced and awkward and rather annoying, I thought. I’m glad the other two felt the same so we broke off early and went to find dinner. We found a place close to our hostel for 1.50 pound 7″ pizzas–yum! And cheap! Exciting.

That night we hung out in the common room and played asshole and kings with these guys from UofM who were travelling around Europe after their graduation. Very nice people. Afterwards we went out looking for a pub or club and came across the Golden Lion. Really, the mascot of a lion head with its mane more like flowing hair blowing in the wind and the rainbow colors on the drinks special board should have tipped us off that it was a gay bar, but it wasn’t until we approached the men at the door that we realized it was a gay bar.

And then only because they were so flambouyantly gay. Catlett seemed to have said something that put one of them off and so they talked a bit and eventually we all went in and the put off guy ended up flirting with poor Catlett the whole time and really just seemed to be making Catlett uncomfortable. The man was rather old too, and a bit forward I think, despite the fact that he had a partner named Andy. He kept touching Catlett’s head and oh this is so uncomfortable to write! I felt rather violated for him, so I can’t quite imagine how he felt, though he himself was pretty drunk. And then the guy tried to kiss him and Catlett did well with fighting him off, though the guy got to plant one on Catlett’s cheek. :o( Poor boy! The girls were taking videos and pictures, but how awkward and uncomfortable!

After that…we went back.

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British Museum, Camden Market, Covent Garden, commons pre-gaming, Oxygen

We went to the British Museum, which was free and very cool! The Rosetta Stone was there, which is cool. I got tired and hung out at the cafe listening to James Taylor while Catlett and Cow went around more. And then I missed Dad a lot because songs by artists like James Taylor and Chicago are his songs, so I texted him and then he called and it was great talking to him :oD

Then we headed to Camden Market, which was HUGE and seemed more geared toward punks/goths, at least the clothing was. There were a lot of bongs and stuff for sale too, which was interesting. I bought a scarf at the market though!

After that we went to Covent Garden. We were dragging our feet by this time though, but even then this may have been one of my favorite places. When we arrived off the tube, we saw a huge ring of people around a performer who ended up being the most boring and unsuccessful performer ever. One girl got into the middle with him and chased him around for a hug and he wouldn’t give her one and it was just so pathetic and sad that I was very annoyed with him for being such a terrible performer haha. Oops.

We walked around there a bit, saw a side street with bright colors that was wonderful, and lots of stores that were all closing down by this point. It was nearing 5pm or so, and we later headed back. Catlett had a lie down while Cow and I talked in the common a bit, and then we got dressed to go to a club. We pre-gamed in the common with a game of electricity/connections and Hannah drank an entire bottle of wine! It was insane and utterly amazing! What a trooper!

She was really wasted that night haha — we went to a club called Oxygen and it was a three floor place in what seemed like the ghetto which sketchy people. Not worth the 5 pounds the girls paid to get in, not to mention the 10 that Catlett had to pay. Urgh.

Cow was dancing with this guy that wasn’t great-looking, and because she was so drunk, no one knew if we were supposed to let her keep dancing/kissing/whatever with this guy and finally I went to the restroom with her and we were there for about an hour-an hour and a half talking. I didn’t have my phone so the others were all worried sick, expecially Catlett who, unfortunately, apparently has a very paranoid mind. Cow couldn’t tell me what she wanted or what she wanted to do, and when I suggested getting up to find the others, she said she was really dizzy and didn’t want to move.

Anyway, we eventually made our way down and saw the others outside waiting, and we went toward the bus stop. Cow threw up in front of a casino/restaurant and this amazingly nice guy from inside asked if she was alright and would I like him to get a cup of water for her? I was so astonished by how nice he was as my friend thre up against his restaurant! It’s so wonderful when people do nice little thingsAnyway, after I returned the pint glass, we made our way home with Cow sleep-walking/passed out on my shoulder and soon we were back at the hostel.

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Sad guards, Nottingham House for the match, Wicked

The next day Cow was so hungover and sick! Poor girl! We woke up to do the free tour of the Royal sector and ended up leaving halfway in. It wasn’t really that great.

We did get to see the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace though! That was very exciting. They look so great in their uniforms! After that we saw the two guards who guarded the gate into the complex where the prince lives or whatever, and they were so much younger than I thought they’d be! Perhaps around our age, but maybe even a bit younger.

It was so odd seeing them stand so stoicly when, after a policeman told the crowd staring at the guards what they could and couldn’t do to them, people postively raced toward these two boys to get pictures with them, to try to get them to crack by whispering things in their ears, and it was all just mayhem around the two guards that I was a bit sickened, to be honest.

For some odd reason (though I don’t feel it’s so odd because it really did just look this way), it was as if they were zoo attractions–literally humans to be gawked at and it was very disturbing. I came to England wanting a picture with one of them, even to poke one’s nose just for kicks, but that thought was immediately discarded when the first woman made a mad dash toward one of the guards as soon as she was allowed.

Anyway, after we ditched the tour group, we went around on our own. The parliament building from Westminster Bridge was a fantastic sight and may be one of my favorite views in London. Just gorgeous and so majestic-looking :oD We also passed by the Globe Theater and sat out front for a bit to relax.

Then…we went to get food and Cow went to nap until it was time to get ready for Wicked. Catlett and I went to Nottingham House, a pub filled with cute, old people to watch the Newcastle-Chelsea game. After Newcastle lost, we went back to the hostel where I began to get ready and Catlett left to hang out at a pub until it was time for him to go home.

Cow and I went to WICKED and it was the MOST AMAZING THING ABOUT THE ENTIRE LONDON TRIP AND I WAS SO HAPPY!

I’m still so happy when I think about it. Catlett says I’m enthusiastic about things and reach a point of happiness that he thinks he’s never achieved, which he now calls Wicked Happy. Fitting, I suppose. Though he did mention just yesterday he may have reached the closest point to Wicked Happy than he ever has when thinking about the USA-England friendly coming up.

Anyway, the Apollo Victoria Theater was wondrous and the set was just so well done and imaginative. Fantastic. Elpheba had an incredible voice and Glinda was hilarious! Fiyero was humongous, but very good as well, and Madame Morrible was creepy. It was so well done and after the first half, I already wanted to start over because I never wanted it to end. Just lovely!

First, today COWWWWWW comes to visit!

Ok, now a recap of my week :o)

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Thursday, and Weekend Fri. April 25 – Sun. April 27: Squash-ing

Didn’t do crap.

Thursday we watched City of God–utterly depressing, good, but utterly depressing. Dad’s kind of movie I think. I don’t like to see children get shot and psychologically tortured beforehand.

Heat left for Edinburgh and Frannie left for Newcastle.

Friday…I can’t remember what went on Friday. Catlett went off on a boys’ roadtrip with Garrett, Steve and Stephan to Edinburgh and apparently they all had a blast! The boys, with the exception of Stephan (the only one with good sense in his blonde, German head), went swimming in the North Sea. I’m beginning to see a trend here with Catlett and Steve. Water was apparently cold. I’m shocked.

Saturday: I was a lazy bum, I think. Watched Charlie Wilson’s War with Pearson–I liked the movie a lot, actually! Tom Hanks is super, that funny guy was, surprisingly, funny, and it was a learning experience about the Cold War. Had some insightful messages about the repercussions of intervention toward the end.

Sunday: Man, I can’t remember. But I don’t think anything exciting happened.

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Mon. April 28: Fancy Dress in the Common and then Population

Monday was Freyah and Alex’s birthday celebration. It was a fancy dress party, which in England means costumes! I had no class so Stephan and I went down Broomhill in search of accessories and costumes. I was a ragdoll and bought a large dress at Oxfam for 4 pounds, while Stephan was a cowboy, and bought a hat and a sheriff badge. I liked that idea because it struck me as funny. It seemed to strike other people too, but more on that later.

Then came back and began my outline for my paper due on Wednesday. Wasn’t supposed to go out on Monday, but I hadn’t done anything all weekend and wanted to get out of the Annexe. Frannie didn’t come out because she had to do work before her brother got here on Wednesday.

Got dressed and then went down to pre-game in the common room. Teja, Miriam, Holly and Gazaleh were Trolls! Like old-school gem in the belly button Trolls! Their hair was luminescent and crazy cool. Alex was a black Jamaican, Freyah was a cavewoman, Heat was a safari girl, Craig and Luca were soccer players, and Ashley, Tami, and Elena were six year old girls. Lots of people were nerds and Hawaiians. Freyah’s friends were lemmings. Then we all headed off to Population for a fun night of dancing and silliness.

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Wed. April 30: Frog and Parrot

On Wednesday we went to the Frog and Parrot. Frannie’s brother Andy arrived then.

Pearson started drinking vodka and cranberry juice before we left and everyone thought that was rather funny because we were going to the pub to try the 12.5% beer they brew there. She was MIA for a bit as we were leaving and when she finally appeared, I made a joke and said, “Oh, I’m glad you’re going to make it out with us tonight!” Haha, everyone says I’m being corrupted. It’s just too easy after Nice though!

Stopped by The Edge to pick up some of the guys who were watching the Chelsea v. Liverpool re-match. Went to Frog and Parrot ahead of everyone else, they followed though, and when Frannie asked the bartender for a pint of that 12.5% beer, he said that they’d stopped making it three years ago! Apparently everyone’s tour books of England are a bit out-dated!

Well, that was a bit of a downer, but also rather funny. We just drank some other stuff and hung out there talking anyway–still tons of fun! Was a relaxing, chill night. Ended up being me, Frannie, Andy, Heat, Elizabeth, Pearson, Steve, Troy and Anders. Troy and I got kebabs at Devonshire…Friery? I can’t remember the entire name. YUM.

Got back and Troy, Pearson and I were going to watch Seinfeld, but Troy’s computer wasn’t working and Pearson didn’t show up, so Troy and I talked with Tom who showed up with his pirate’s pistol and saber. Then I went to sleep.

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Yesterday, aka Thurs. May 1: Baby Pub Crawl

Jay came yesterday!

I kicked a ball around with Miriam and Craig came a bit later. I’m so out of it and have bruises on my ankles from either kicking the ball stupidly or not having proper shoes…probably both. It’s nice to have marks from exercising though!

It was just so nice out!

After I showered, Amy, Catlett, Troy, Garrett and Brandon and I all met outside to hang out with the people going on the small Physics Pub Crawl. Gazaleh said she was getting wasted that night, and that seriously just cracked me up! She’s so funny and nice!

They were all drinking and being crazy there on the steps of the Annexe, but we soon headed off down Broomhill in search of a pub we could just hang out in before we watched a movie. That was the original plan–watching a movie.

The boys were crazy and silly on the way to The Place, the first stop of our very own baby pub crawl. It was kind dead in there except for a few people, but not bad. There was a couple sitting behind our booth, and I think Catlett and Troy thought the girl was cute? Anyway, the guys dared Catlett to buy her a drink over her boyfriend, and Troy and Brandon swore they’d buy him drinks every Friday until the end of the semester. This was all so funny and a bit awkward, really, as the couple was right behind us and could probably hear every word.

Catlett and Brandon kept yelling out, “Canada is great” and blah blah blah moose, cold snow…just to make it look like we were all Canadian so America wouldn’t been seen in a bad light lol — poor Amy is Canadian and they were teasing her a bunch.

Anyway, the couple left after a bit without Catlett making a fool of himself.

We then went on to The Harley where it was even more dead. We all used the restrooms, the boys laid down on each other on the table, probably wigged out the girls on the other side who were sharing our table, and then we headed to West Street.

Went to Bia Hoi, a very expensive and chic-looking bar with a big Buddah statue. The drinks menu didn’t have any prices, except for the rails ont he last page. Because there were six of us, we each put in a pound and got a rail of shots with Kahluah and vanilla voka and some other stuff. Very yummy. It tasted like candy–according to Troy, like coffee-flavored jelly bellys, which was right on the mark.

After that we headed to The Cavendish where the guys got more drinks–we hung out and talked a bit, and then Catlett and Garrett started talking to the girls at the table next to us. Brandon and Troy were laughing because Catlett was talking a lot to the one guy the girls were with because there’s this ongoing joke about how, whenever he goes out, he ends up getting guys’ numbers.

He did, however, make all that ok when he told us that today, one of the girls facebooked him, not the guy. Apparently, though, the guy was from Newcastle and was talking about the match this weekend. Can’t fault him for talking to the Jordie, I guess.

Another funny thing was how Garrett kept busting out little ghetto phrases! He’s so gangsta-fied now; it’s hilarious!

Then we ate food–Amy and I ordered delicious, thin fries with salt and tons of ketchup!

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We came back to the annexe in a cab, though Catlett and Garrett disappeared after our food run, I think to find a toilet. They walked back. We were going to watch a movie, but didn’t.

Um…interesting night.