London Day 3

This is a floor plan of most of the people's rooms that are in my group. Notice that these rooms are decent sizes

This is the floor plan for the basement where Jami and I are living. Our room is that little odd shaped red one in the upper left corner. Go figure.

This is Kieran. You can't see him very well but I promise to post the picture on Jami's camera that I took of him. It was awkward because the flash was supposed to be off but it definitely wasn't. So awkward. But the reason I was taking the picture-- he looks like Riley from National Treasure. Really truly and he has a lovely accent

This is a toilet. Obviously. Wait, where do you flush?? You just push one of those huge buttons on the wall. The buttons are not always so huge but we have yet to figure out why there are 2...
Last night we went to our first London show.... Les Miserables. After the first act during the intermission I started getting up to leave. Honestly I thought it was over and had the lamest ending of all shows. But then it kept going for another hour and a half. It was good but kinda a strange show. The music was fabulous. Because I bought my tickets in advance I got the seat H11 which is row 8 right smack in the middle on the floor. Could it get any more perfect? Yes. It only cost £20.

This is a statue in Trafalga square by where some of the theaters are. The little guy on top is like a little angel. Liz, our tour guide said that it's not cupid but I can't remember what exactly she said it is.

Again in Trafalga square. Every road in London leads to this square. It's the whole enchilada of everything. Well, not quite of entertainment or party life but the whole enchilada of almost everything

I went on the group tour again with the second group that came in so I got to visit lots of the places for a second time without worrying about transport. This is me again at St. Paul's

The sad thing about going a second time is that when I went Westminster Abbey was closed so we didn't get a chance to go in but we will be going later. For the second group it was open so I was shunned from the group for and hour and a half while they were at WA but I took the opportunity to take some shots of the House of Parliament, Big Ben (which I guess is part of the House of Parliament), the London Eye, Westminster Abbey (of course) and the Thames River. Seen above is the house of Parliament in case you didn't catch that.

Across the street from Westminster Abbey and the House of Parliament is a "demonstration" that has been going on for about 3 weeks now. It's a whole bunch of protesters from Sri Lanka but it was a rather small group yesterday since the leader over in Sri Lanka is supposedly dead or captured or something to that sort. There were probably 3x as many "coppers" as protestors though which I don't really see as necessary. Oh and my tour guide also mentioned that they polled the bobbies to see if they would rather have a gun than just the batons that they carry and they said no because they get more job satisfaction when it takes more than one shot to take someone down. But that is just what my tour guide said. She has an interesting sense of humor although I must say I laugh at most of what she says.

These were some wooden wall plates that a vendor was selling and I don't think he appreciated me taking a picture but I bought one similar to these and a postcard so he can't complain.

Here's a tour of London's fashion. Not really London's but some of the tourists. Londoners are boring. They all just wear black. Black slacks, black suits, black spandex, black shoes. Not very many people wear jeans and if they are wearing tennis shoes they are not like the ones you would see people running in here. They don't really wear t shirts either. I suppose they think it's too cold although I'm wearing a short sleeve shirt today and am perfectly fine. I'll have to get a picture of the typical London male because if they're not in suits they wear sweaters and look like their hair just exploded in a blow dryer.

Another lovely example of a failure at style. This woman in the dress also had on bright red Converse shoes.

This one was a doosy. She's the reason I took out my camera and started taking pictures of these people. I mean, I like the balloon shorts style for materials that are a solid brown or khaki or something but a large bold print? I don't think so.

A lovely picture of me. Some random lady from I would guess Sweeden or something took it for me.

Chase likes this picture. Whoopie! I've always wanted a shot like this. Hopefully my next picture of this building will be at night when it's all lit up.

Some lady who does not speak English took this picture for me. It was an awkward situation but I have yet to realize that lots of the white people here don't actually speak English. There are approximitely 150 languages spoken in the streets of London.

The entrance tower to the House of Parliament. It was supposed to be the grandest part of the building but then they built Big Ben. Fact-- Big Ben is actually a bell tower inside what we usually refer to as Big Ben.

The lovely Big Ben that is not quite really Big Ben. I got to hear it chime 3 times. Amazing? Well yes it was pretty cool.

Here's a side view of the House of Parliament. I kinda felt like some kind of creeper paperatzi (sp??) since I took it through the fence but who cares?

We're going sightseeing today since this is our first whole day off. Tomorrow is an Oxford daytrip. Love you all.

London Day 2

I don't think many Americans know this but the British have an infatuation with cutting off heads and then placing them various locations. This is the head of King Edward I and he is positioned facing the statue of some guy named Charles or something who murdered him. I guess to make a point, once Edward II became king after 10 years without a king had passed and this Charles guy was ruling, he had Charles beheaded and then put his head on a pole on top of the House of Parliment. Weird.

Here is a pidgeon from St. Paul's church. Yes a pigeon you know.... 'Feed the birds... tuppence a bag......'

And here is a picture of me not feeding the birds because they are "demonic and violent little things" as my tour guide would say

Here's another picture of St. Paul's

This is where they are guarding the door to Westminster Abbey so we couldn't get in. We had tickets or money or a check or something but for some reason something needed to be fixed so we will go later

Here is the back of Westminster Abbey. Well not really the back but a connection from the back. it's called something else. My memory fails me. I learned too much information to contain today.

This is what is on the revolving door at St. Paul's. I am rather fond of it

London does have many odd signs and billboards though..... ya know the kind you walk by and then do a double take because they're so abnormal

Here is one down by the tube. Think they want to get their point across?

There's a shop by where I live that carried bathtubs and sinks. We didnt go in but I am in love with this one. I have always wanted to bathe in a bowl.

This was my delicious dinner tonight. Minus the mango juice. The smell of it made me sick

My feet were a bit dirty from walking all day while wearing flip flops so what did I do? wash them? course not.

I tried on my new socks instead. Lovely aren't they? They're the only thing that I have purchased that was not from a market or takeout place. they're supposed to go past the knees but they barely cover mind. curse long legs

So you think that my socks are weird? oh dont you worry weird clothing is constantly worn in London. People running are almost always wearing full body spandex. Heck, even people who are not running wear spandex. And skinny skinny jeans. I've already seen 3 pairs of purple ones.

Even my tour guide has on an interesting outfit. leather jacket, weird dress shirt (and by dress shirt I do not mean that it was fancy) black skinny jeans, and brown boots. Adorable!

Here is a picture of Westminster Abbey. above the arch right above the ugly van are 10 martyrs of the church or something. One in Martin Luther. this part of the church was only added in the 1990's but the rest of the church is much older and includes the bodies of Winston Churchill, many royalty, and in an extremely hilarious and ironic way, Charles Darwin. hahaha

Here is my tour guide again. I don't know her name but she is very entertaining. I tried to pick a picture of her without funny lips but that picture does not exist. She also likes to embarass people. She named one guy in our group Mr. Muscles 'cause he was wearing a tank top and is buff and tan.

But the worst of all of her humor...... We drove past a building called "Sex Shop" and I repeated it to Chase who was sitting next to me (see below in blue hoodie) and our tour guide overheard and made me being interested in a sex shop into a little joke. It was kinda hilarious. Especially since I was the last person you would ever catch being interested in a sex shop


Homework time now.... yay?? Except false. :)

London Day 1

Well I am alive and sort of well. I just barely ate my first real meal here and if you would have asked me an hour ago if I could have kept it down I would have told you no. I'm not sure if it was the chicken chow mein I ate for dinner

or maybe it was the mango juice I decided to brave from the market

or possibly it was just from freezing last night with my single white blanket and the window hatch open.

whatever it was, first thing I did this morning was pop an asprin and tylenol to ease the pain.

Last night after we arrived in London we had orientation and then were free to wander as we pleased. I first went straight to the library to check my ASU grades and guess what?! I passed and managed to retain my scholarship! After that I went looking for dinner with Kate and Kassie (I think those are their names) and after an hour or more of walking we finally arrived at a Chinese take out shop and ordered some food. There were other places to eat but unless you're buying the cheapest burger at McDonalds you better plan on going broke awfully fast. We did actually stop in at one of the many local pubs but there wasn't really anything on the menu that appealed.... They even offered Bloody Mary ketchup. Yum, right?

After dinner we dropped off our stuff and leftover food and went over to the closest supermarket (I think that's what they call them here. They have cycles instead of bikes so they might as well call them supermarkets) The supermarket we went to is called Sainsbury but everytime I try to remember the name I think of salisbury and get a little hungry.

Once we got home from Sainsbury's it was around 10pm which I guess is only 2pm in AZ but I had only gotten 2 hours of sleep in the past 36 or so so what did I do? sleep? no. Course not. I took a long shower! Long not being so long though because the showers are rather small. BHAB showers come off as large compared to these.

But you think the shower is miniscule? Check out my closet.

I apologize if my making fun of my small rooms comes of as complaining but I am not at all. Let's just refer to them as the quaint little apartment. My kitchen is just the perfect size for all of my food needs.

It's rather funny though because the bathroom is about half the size of mine and Jami's bedroom. I thought it would be smaller.

And in case you were wondering, yes that is yellow toilet paper.

In case you are deathly curious about the rest of my apartment here it is:

Yeah that's it. I promise.

Well yesterday I spotted my first European car and was very jealous

But then I realized that they're all like that. I guess it costs £8 a day to drive in this area since it's downtown expensive Kennsington and £25 to park. No wonder all of the cars are brand new with emblems like VW and M3 and BMW...

Last night while we were walking around we spotted a police station (??) and took pictures with it since supposedly it is some kind of time travel device.

We also spotted a whole bunch of telephones but it turns out they all have straight up porn plastered on the inside of them so I just stood outside for the picture.

Today though I did find one that was clean inside and decided to step inside for a picture. Oh wait, did I say clean? Whoops someone peed in it so I guess visually clean?

This morning we went to Hyde/Kennsington Park which is only about a 15 minute walk from our living area. The thing I wanted to see most in London is the Peter Pan statue in Hyde Park but guess what?

It was under construction. I guess I will have to come back later.

Just a couple more pictures from this morning:
Kill the ox!

Serpentine River in Hyde Park

Queen Victoria

The park bench by the pond in Hyde Park where Riley and her lover talk during Winning London

Chloe bench.... how cute. awww... tender!

Some rich palace place.... hmmm

pretty tree

cute old couple holding hands in the beautiful park setting....

More later. I have to catch a tour bus in 20 minutes!

-In London and loving it

Serial Killers

Ya know how you watch all of the crime shows on television (well maybe not all of you) and they show these psychopaths who do things that you never in your dreams had imagined yet somewhere, these people really do exist? What motivates them you may ask.... anger? revenge? Obviously if they have deluded their minds the reasoning would not be something as simple as money or worldly gain but would be something more on a personal level. The need to prove themselves, the desire to be loved, an attempt to gain attention, the fear of being alone.... The comical (although not at all funny) image above jokes about spotting these psychopaths but in reality it is not at all a simple thing. These people do exist. They could be random people you pass on the street or someone as close as your best friend and/or boyfriend (and i guess girlfriend). It happens. Just ask yourself.... what if.....?

Go Live

Today I randomly pulled out my rollerblades and went rollerblading around my neighborhood for a half hour or so and while doing so I thought about the good ol' days back when I was young[er] and used to live and breathe the outdoors. I remembered the days playing street hockey, climbing trees, making magical potions, playing marbles, and things as silly as performing fake marriages. Now I look at my life as I daily devote most of what I do to school. School comes first and when the needs of sleep and food arise they are taken care of and the schoolwork continues. What happened to the fresh air? The magic spells and the perfect happily ever afters? Oh they're still out there but not quite as accessible as adding another tab on your laptop screen to join the world of Facebook or read about someone's life on a blog such as this. We need to stop flipping through out mindless daily activities and habits and go outside and live again. Roller-skate... climb a tree... sleep under the stars.... We can still live and appreciate life similar to how we did as children but we must DO it. You are not going to magically teleport outside while you are surfing through flair or reading the latest scoop from your favorite celebrity or while you are refuting a liberal column in the news. So get off your rear and go do something. 

'Til Death Do Us Part?!

Yesterday in my Human Event class the topic of transhumanism was discussed and my teacher posed the question that if we had the option, would we choose to double our life span? Without getting into any detail I'll move on to what puzzled me the most. My teacher pointed out that doubling our life span would double the time that we were married to the same person which would end up most likely being a period of 100 years of more. The class's response surprised me. A majority of the students groaned at the thought of being married to the same person for over a hundred years. WHY?! Is this world so screwed up that people have lost the meaning of marriage? The whole reason you marry someone is because you want to be with them forever because you love them more than anything else in the entire world. Why then would you not want to be married for 100+ years? Marriage is not a long-term dating relationship that you flirt with for a few years and then move on to someone new. Excuse me people if you have a marriage like that then you sure as heck better get your life straight because I can see major disasters down the road. Whether you believe marriage to last until death or last forever the idea is still that you want to be with this same person for as long as possible. I hope our world can understand that again and someday not groan in a class situation like mine. I worry though that such will not be the case. 

"Geez I'm such a creeper. I think it's hilarious." 

Yes these lovely words did come out of my mouth. I've realized lately that I do indeed enjoy stalking people. Sounds freaky but really it's rather fun. You just have to get past the block in your mind that tells you it's something you should not be doing. So who cares if it's weird? Um not me! I'm not obsessive or stalkerish to an extreme but the occasional stalker act does bring me joy. Know that if I stalk you.... it's only because I love you.