The Roaming Gnome

Feb. 14 Valentine’s Day!!! I can honestly say that this has been one of the best days I have had since I got over here. I spent the day in Brighton with Lee --- we had a friend date and then I had a girl’s night out…..so fun! I gave Lee Bailey’s truffles and two chocolate Lindt eggs and he gave me a teddy bear, a toblerone, and a card. We met up a little before lunch to catch the bus into town and we went to the museum at the Royal Pavilion. It was really neat, some part of it were a lot better than other though and there was a lot of stuff so we didn’t really get to see everything b/c we got hungry after about 2 hours. Lee had picked out some ... read more

Feb. 13 So today I had my Communication Skills for Management presentation. It went well. Everyone thought that it was a little bit corny b/c the people in the audience were supposed to pretend we were with which ever company the group was presenting from. Either way it went off with out a hitch and I think we got a really good mark on it. I also made friends with some of the people in the class between presentations. There were long breaks for people to set up computer stuff and hand out things, etc. So we would all talk and some of the guys were asking me all sorts of questions about being an exchange student. It was kinda funny. They invited me to go to East Slope with them after class but I didn’t ... read more

Feb 12 I had to give my Spanish presentation on Pablo Picasso today. I was really nervous about it b/c I hate talking in front of that class. Things almost went badly too b/c I couldn’t find a printer that would work so I could print out the paintings that I had planned to talk about. Fortunately I was able to find one in tech services in time. Also my friend Jamie came over and checked over my speech so I felt a little better about it. The speech went okay I guess….. I have never been so nervous about speaking in front of a group before. It was like I was trying to sing or something. Its over now though…….I survived. I went to salsa class again….I’m still having a good time with that. The ... read more

Feb. 11 So today is Sunday…..we got back from Amsterdam this morning. I feel like from Friday night to this morning was just one really long day…..possibly the longest day ever! I had class Friday morning then Monica and I went into town to get some snacks from the grocery store. We were going to be in the bus for about 9 hours each way…… some junk food was going to make that a little bit more enjoyable. Monica, Whitney, Alison, Lee and I went and meet the rest of the people going on the trip at Falmer bar around 9 and then the bus left around ten. We rode for a few hours to Dover where we caught the ferry to Calais. We actually had to wait in Dover for about 2 hours before the ... read more

Feb. 8 So this week was fairly uneventful I suppose…..or actually I’m just excited about my trip this weekend so nothing else really seems that grande. Alison and I did take a really nice walk on the Downs on Wednesday though. The weather was so nice. We wandered out across this pasture and up a road on the other side……we came out on top of a hill that looked out across some farm land and you could still see the town off to the side. It was SO pretty. We had planned to keep walking but we just climbed the fence and sat on it for about 20 minutes before we turned around and headed back. Anyway, today I have been working to get my homework done before we leave for Amsterdam. I know I’m going ... read more

Feb. 5 So today I was fairly tired from my rousing evening of football last night……or should I say early this morning. The worst part is that I dragged myself out of bed earlier than I needed to be for my lecture so I could met with my Communication Skills presentation group…………….when I got there only one of them actually showed up. Fortunately the project is fairly simple and we get individual marks on the whole thing b/c it’s about impossible to get them all together. Things will come together I’m sure. Anyway, I also watched the latest episode of Grey’s Anatomy today. We’re all hooked…… it is terrible really. I think I cry every episode---- I’m nuts. I went to a salsa class today and it was lots of fun to dance again. It had ... read more

Feb. 4 It football time!!! Actually football time is over……but it was the super bowl today and it was great. Not perfect though ----- none of the actual super bowl commercials were broadcast over here. Can you believe that?! I really did have a good time though. We all got over to the bar at like 8 and by “we” I mean a huge group of girls. The guys choose not to show up until much later……yes we made fun of them for that. The game didn’t actually start until 11:30 so we watched a rugby game for a while. I really don’t understand that game at all. We watched really closely but about the time we thought we had a pattern something different would happen. Then we got distracted from our search for a pattern ... read more

Feb. 3 Today I went on the trip to Stratford on Avon with the school. Just Alison and I went from our little group of friends. It was a neat trip….I didn’t realize that the bus ride there was going to be 3 hours when I signed up and that was a little obnoxious but it was still lots of fun. When we got to Stratford that first thing we did was drive to the outskirts of the town to see Anne Hathaway’s house…….not the author of Princess Diaries, silly……she was Shakespeare’s wife. The house was so interesting to look at. It still had an old thatched roof and the whole thing looked just like a fairy tale house - like maybe where Rapunzel’s parents would have lived. We got to walk through and look at ... read more

Feb. 2 So I talked to my Spanish teacher today about me changing out of the class but he seems quite sure that I need to stay with him…….he says I’m not doing near as badly as I think I am - which is good news. I was telling him how I get frustrated with the class a lot b/c I always think I’m making mistakes but he told me not to worry b/c simply trying is a big part of my grade. Anyway, something happened today for the first time on my trip to England…..I was bored. Scary --- I know, but seriously…I was. Whitney left for Paris; Monica and Paul went shopping at Asda (which is easily a 3-4 hr. task); Brian left for Amsterdam; then Lee, Alison, and Matt went to dinner but ... read more

Feb. 1 So today I have been in England for a month. I can’t even believe it……I really feel like I’ve been here for ages already but when I look back at it I realize that its just been a few weeks…..4 to be exact. I actually got a little homesick today --- not b/c of the month thing but it is an odd coincidence. Actually it was talking to mom (sorry if it makes you feel bad- I love you)……she was just telling me all about seeing TC at the Fox and how he did so well and she was also telling me about OYP doing Millie. I really was happy to hear that everything was going so well…..I just couldn’t help but feeling like I was missing out on a lot of things. It ... read more