wow. I guess it's been awhile since my last update. Life at TASIS is incredibly busy, but I absolutely love it! I got off to a bit of a rocky start, typical Erin, wanting to do new things all the time but then freaking out once they begin. To my surprise, I have been able to completely handle my issues with anxiety in a way unlike the past. Never once has anxiety gotten kept me locked in my room when I really wanted to be somewhere else. I have not pretended to be sick or made up some lame excuse at the last minute about being tired. I'm not sure if it is because I feel the people at TASIS are an extremely supportive group or if I have been too disappointed by what I have missed out on in the past, probably a combination. All I can say is I am extremely proud of myself and hope that this summer is a preface to how I will handle new events in the future. Maybe I finally won. Maybe.

We just had "changeover weekend" at TASIS, meaning that the kids from the first session left and the kids for the second session arrived. It was a pretty crazy weekend. It was actually more than a weekend-- the madness started on Thursday afternoon. All the kids who were leaving had a supervised packing session where my lovely co-resident and I walked room to room and yelled at girls who were not packing. We also had to make them clean everything in their rooms. The real challenge to this task was the fact that the ever exciting riverboat disco was that evening and all the girls wanted to be showering and getting ready. Luckily, Monica knows how to run this stuff since she has been here for 7 years. We banned them from entering the bathroom until they were done packing. After that madness, I got changed to chaperone the riverboat disco. The kids had a banquet and awards ceremony on campus prior to leaving for the disco. I went for awhile and ate dinner, but then left early with the van that was taking the sound equipment into London. I went with 3 guy TA's who did all the heavy lifting. I carried the lights. The funny thing about this was that we left early so we could get everything set up on the riverboat before the buses of kids got there. We got stuck in traffic and all the buses beat us, so we just ran through masses of dressed up children carrying the sound system and then banned them from entering the boat until everything was ready. Once again, the guys set up the stuff. I plugged in the lights. After that drama, kids were crammed into the riverboat and we took off down the Thames. The cruise lasted about 2 hours (I think...) and the kids danced, hungout, made out, cried, and were dramatic teenagers. Pretty standard. I was one of those teachers chaperoning a dance that I remember thinking were lame at all my dances. We all had a good time though. I was entertained by mocking the outfits with John, James, and Monica. Some of the girls are seriously slutty for their age. I definitely did not wear miniskirts and 3 inch heels at the age of 14, but I also wasn't from Milan nor did I have a limitless credit card (or any credit card, for that matter). I think alot of these kids come from a totally different teenage world than the one I grew up in. My favorite quote was from John (about those short dresses that are poofy and then get really tight at the bottom that are trendy right now) "are you comfortable in your bag with leggings?". We all ended up dancing for awhile and had a good time. The end of the disco was pretty nuts. As soon as it ended everyone started bawling and saying goodbye to their friends while we tried to shove them off the boat and direct them back to their buses. Our van got lost on the way home, so we drove around in circles for awhile, which was fine because it was city center London at night. I sent a text to Monica saying we were lost and she responded by saying "follow the signs to sexy bitches and you'll find us" which was my entertainment for the ride home. We got back to TASIS around midnight and some of the coaches were still unloading. Bedtime for me? definitely not. We had to check all of our girls in for the night and then make sure they were not planning on escaping. On the last night the kids apparently sneak out of dorms, get drunk, etc. There is supposed to be one dorm resident in each dorm awake until at least 2:30. Monica stayed up while I went to bed because I had to get up at 2:30 to make sure one of our girls made it to the bus for the 3AM airport run. After she left I went back to bed until 7Am. Then I had to get everyone else (and all their stuff) out of the dorm by 8:30. I can't complain, because I actually got a lot of sleep in comparison to some others. Everyone at TASIS was basically a zombie on Friday. 

Friday was airport departure day. I had the last trip of the day, 6:30 PM. I went with Evan and everything seemed to start off great. We had a bus of 14 Brazillians and 1 Saudi. They were all pretty good at first. Half of them were flying British Airways and half on some other airline I had never heard of. We each took a group to their check in line. I was with BA. I got them up to the counter and the lady keeps asking if they are already checked in. I keep saying "isn't that what you are going to do now?"she explained that the flight was overbooked and the kids probably wont get seats because they should've been checked in online 24 hours in advance. This is when Evan stepped in, which was awesome because she definitely knew how to handle the situation better than I did. I took the group that didn't have problems through security while Evan stayed at the BA desk. There were 8 Brazillian kids bawling in the check in line and screaming at her. I was not envious, although the kids screamed at me the entire way to security because their friends were crying and we wouldn't let them all stay together. I was a bitch and shoved them through the security line anyway. To make a long story short, we dealt with a lot of drama, a lot of stress, and a lot of waiting. FINALLY, BA got them on 50 minutes before the flight took off and we had to run them through check-in and security. Then Evan and I got a well deserved beer while we waited for our ride back to TASIS. 

Saturday was pretty low key because there were only about 70 kids still at TASIS and they went on trips. We didn't have any job responsibilities for the day so I went out for pizza and to Mama Mia with a bunch of people. Then, we went to Waitrose and bought several bottles of wine and proceeded to go to Kim's flat and drink them on the patio. Then we went to the Red Lion for dinner and, what else? More drinks. There was a lot of Karaoke and crazyness. We even got free glow bracelets from the DJ. 

Sunday was arrival day. I was a little hungover and seriously tired from the night before but I managed to tough it out. It was worth it since the night before was so fun. I spent the morning as a greeter in the registration room and then went on an airport run to Gatwick with Kim. We picked up 6 Italian kids. Pretty painless. 

Monday was Windsor orientation. After letting the kids loose for the day I had lunch at Wagamama's and then hungout with Monica and Laurie. We spent a good amount of time reading greeting cards and laughing which made me miss Sarah Hanneman and our amazing Walgreens adventures of yesteryear.

Now it is back to the regular routine. I am TA-ing in 2 TELP (English) classes as well as my photo class of 6-weekers from last term. Of course, I also still pick up attendance cards with Julia. We are currently trying to get our time below 15 minutes from start to finish. This Saturday I am chaperoning a Jack-The-Ripper tour in London with Monica, Laurie, Colin, and Heather. Creepy fun. Sunday I am going to Oxford with a bunch of people and Julia is going to be our tour guide since she is from there. 

Basically, time is going TOO DAMN FAST. I have to force myself to not think about how soon we'll all be leaving. I really want to be here again next summer. I do have fun things to look forward to in the near future though. I have finally started to get where I want with my research project which is great. Unfortunately, I think that it will be scattered through the whole two weeks so I wont have time for travel to anywhere outside of the UK. I am planning on getting to Liverpool and Brighton. Maybe some other places in England as well. Sarah Hatcher is coming for a few days and we are going to hangout together which will be fun. I'm also excited for my internship with ACS in the fall, but also feeling like I am completely not ready to be an adult when it ends in December. Right now, I would really like to get another 6 month student visa and work in London March-June and then come back to TASIS June-August. I would have to fill the gap in Jan. and Feb....but I could figure that out somehow. We'll see how the fall goes. I have this idealistic idea that maybe I could make some public health job connections and get offered a permanent job somewhere in the UK. Unlikely, but I can dream. I also still want to apply to the Peace Corps MPH program in Seattle, and...I sort of want to ask Brooke and Ashley about their jobs teaching English in Thailand, because that would be cool. My mom is going to love reading this blog about my murky, wandering, unsettled future. I just feel like I have so much time when I'm older to get a job, settle down, and live in one place that right now I want to do things that teach me things and allow me to learn, travel, and meet new people. I'm realizing that probably no one cares about this, but it feels pretty cathartic to write all my jumbled thoughts down. 

On another note, I have been a huge book schizophrenic this summer. I finished Eat, Pray, Love but am currently reading The Great Gatsby, In Defense of Food, 1984, and In The Hot Zone. I really have to just pick one to finish at a time. 

Hope everything is well with whoever is reading this. I'm great. My life right now is filled with great people, adventures, and laughter. I really can't believe I'm being paid to have this much fun. 

Spilling coffee, losing phones, can't take me anywhere.

This past weekend was my free weekend. I went into London and stayed with my cousin on Saturday and Sunday night. I caught a ride into the city on Sat. morning with one of the TASIS field trips. I didn't have a plan for what I wanted to do, but Covent Garden seemed like a good tube stop. I wandered. Ended up in Trafalgar square because I heard music and commotion. Turns out it was a gay pride festival. It was great weather for an outdoor festial. There was a band setting up on stage and tons of vendors handing crap out to the festival-goers. There was a sign up that read: "Trans, Lesbian, Mayor of London". I'm not really sure if there was a message I don't understand because I am not a native Londoner, but I took it as the whole idealistic "we're all equal" thing. I like equality.

I hungout for awhile and then went into the national gallery which is right at Trafalgar sq. Whenever I go into art museums I feel like I am "supposed" to start at the "beginning" and see everything in the "correct" order. I'm really glad I have started to overcome this horrible anal tendency I have to follow nonexistant rules. Who makes up these rules I seem to think necessary to follow when I travel? This time, I made an out of order beeline for the impressionists. It's been quite awhile since I've been to an art museum and impressionism is my drug of choice. I felt so giddy, I was holding myself back from skipping through the rooms. Sometimes when I am in art museums I want to start doing pirouettes because the wood floors and open spaces remind me of dance studios (and because impressionism makes me crazy). Somtimes I feel I'm an art museum sell out for favoring impressionism. I wish I could be one of those people who looks at some darkly colored picture of yet another knight from 1472 and sees the beauty. I just see a knight. I often find myself wanting to dive into impressionist paintings and swirl around with the colors and lines (similar to an acid trip, I imagine). I saw two really amazing people in one of the impressionist galleries. As I'm sitting there, looking at Seurat's Bathers At Asnieres, contemplating the advent of divisionism, I am distracted by....first...SILVER SEQUINED PLATFORM ORTHEPEDIC SHOES. Worn by an old woman who is shuffling through the crowd. I was so distracted by her shoes I can't remember anything else about her. Touche for making old lady shoes fabulous. My hat is off. Second, there was a guy wearing a pink T-shirt that had "Space Robots Future Is Now" printed on the back. WHAT DOES THAT MEAN? I was so curious I almost asked him about it. I was working up the courage to interfere with his discussion about impressionism, divisionism, or where to get lunch with his female companion when he disappeared into a different room. I'm open to anyone who reads this blog (really, who DOES read my blog?) letting me know what they think this t-shirt was all about. Are the space robots an up and coming band? Does he believe that there are metallic beings from Jupiter on their way to Earth right now destined to clean our houses like that robot maid the Jetsons employed? (what was her name? Did the Jetsons pay her, considering she wasn't human?). Maybe this t-shirt is the latest trendy screen print by the English branch of Abercrombie and Fitch. Thank-you to the Harry and Carol Djanogly Room for this amazing experience with impressionism and wardrobe pizazz.

I was leaving the impressionism section, a little downtrodden because there were no more paintings to keep my high going. Addicts always keep looking for more and more of their drug of choice and keep paying more for their drugs. This was me when I saw a special exibit advertised called Radical Light. Italian impressionists experimenting with adding light to their paintings after learning about how the eye and brain work together to create an image. Woah baby. Impressionism, enlightenment, knowledge, anatomy and physiology. How could this get better? I definitely paid the extra money to see this exhibit. After all, I am an addict. Luckily it was only 4 pounds with a student ID, so my habit is a cheap one. These paintings were fantastic! I really thought maybe someone turned a light on or something. Radical.

I left the gallery after this exhibit, feeling that anything else would be a letdown. Perfect timing. I walked out looking for a place to buy iced coffee and ended up at the gay pride parade. I didn't know there was going to be a parade with the festival. It just kept getting better. Lots of rainbows, costumes, music and facepaint. Wooooo!

After the parade, I actually got iced coffee. Guess where? Drumroll.....CAFE VERGANO 1882. The place in Leister Square, mentioned in my very first blog that Sarah and I are in love with. I found it! The iced coffee was just as good as I remember and the chocolate cookies were pretty fab. as well. Leister Square was packed and so was the tube station, but I made my way back to Stoke Newington to see Amy. We had dinner at her flat and hungout.

Sunday was not good weater. Rain. Cold. Dreary. I jumped a bus to the big flower market and wandered around wishing I could buy a bunch of flowers and then magically not have to worry about carrying them around all day without water or bringing them back to TASIS on the train. I did have a glitch with my morning when I drenched myself in coffee while trying to walk, drink, and read the London A-Z map all at once. I am really hoping the stain comes out of my Seattle hoodie that I love so much. I also got some on my white shoes. Who lets me buy light colored clothing? It started to rain more, I walked. I like rain. Eventually I sat in a Starbucks drinking tea and reading a copy of The Great Gatsby I found in the TASIS faculty room before heading to Camden Market. When I got to Camden it was raining pretty well so I darted from tent to tent while tiny rivers formed on the ground. Once again, the white shoes took a beating. I bought a blue pashmina and thought about the last time I was at Camden with Sarah and we got pashminas and then proceeded to think up a multitude of different uses for them. I also bought a dress that looked cute at the time, but now I'm second guessing....I hate when I do that. (I'm not sure if I'm referring to buying things I dislike later or the second guessing that results, but they both suck)

Sunday evening I met my friend Shantalie for dinner near Oxford street. We caught up over Pizza. It was a good time. I decided to sleep at Amy's on Sunday night at catch a 7:20AM train back on Mon. morning. I made it just in time to pick up attendance cards in the rain. I was so tired alllll day. Also, I dropped my cell phone in the cab I took to TASIS from the train station and got a call to come pick it up in Egham (town about 2.5 miles away). I convinced a TASIS co-worker, Ben, to go on a run there with me on Monday afternoon. It started thunderstorming about 10 minutes into the run. It was refreshing and disgusting at the same time. We were completely waterlogged and cold when we made it back. At least it was a successful trip in that I got my phone back.

It's definitely 12:27AM here which means bedtime. Sianara.

Polar bears and baby prostitutes.

Things are still going well here in Thorpe. The week has gone by incredibly fast, setting the tone for the entire summer, I'm sure. On Monday, I am getting switched out of my TA duties in the SAT class and helping in a computer class instead. I don't mind he switch, since I am basically useless at helping with the SAT subject matter. I like the teacher and the students in SAT though, so I will miss them. I think my favorite duty is wandering around in the mornings collecting attendance cards with another TA, Julia. So far the weather has been good so this job is basically taking a nice walk after breakfast with a cup of coffee. The TASIS campus is really beautiful which makes attendance walk even better. In my photography class, I still feel pretty useless, but I'm hoping I don't get switched out because I pretty much get to take the class with the kids, which is fun. I wish I had brought my old film camera so I could develop pictures with the kiddos. I randomly subbed in for an ESL teacher this morning. I basically had to give them an assignment and then make sure they were doing it, but it's fun to say I taught a class. Sort of.

I had to flex my authority figure muscles on Wednesday night when I was on duty. This is when we are assigned a variety of campus-wide tasks between 4-10pm. During study hall, I was assigned to go through the girls dorm and make sure that everyone was in their room doing their homework. They aren't supposed to be talking or doing anything else. Yeah right. By the end of it, I felt like I had been beaten up. I ended up dragging three Russian girls to "supervised study hall" which is basically detention. They are already notorious for being trouble makers. I kind of chased them around the dorm before I got them into study hall. Please take into account that one of these girls responded to a prompt in ESL class by saying she would like to "kill everyone". Another one dresses like a baby postitute (and actually ran around in her underwear on the first night). Some of the other girls were really big brats as well. I'm dreading the next time I have to do this.

I didn't get assigned to chaperone a Saturday trip this weekend, but I'm probably going to grab an extra seat on the bus going in to the Tate Modern because I love that museum. Two other TA's Julia and Meg, and my co-resident Monica, are chaperoning the Tate trip so I'll have people to hangout with there. I was hoping that my cousin would be in the city this weekend so we could meet up, but she is in Coventry working. I have to chaperone a Sunday trip but it's nothing exciting. We are going into Staines which is a neighboring little town that has stores and restaurants (which Thorpe lacks). The kids have the option of going to Staines Monday-Thursday after sports so it's not a big deal of a trip but I think there will still be a good amount that go on Sunday because when you're that age you really just want to go hangout. Maybe it's also more fun to go shop when you have an unlimited amount of money from your parents to shop with like these kids do.

My free weekend is in a week. Some people are traveling to Paris for the weekend, but I'm not feeling the hectic scramble to get somewhere and back in such a short period of time. I'm probably just going to go crash with Amy and Christian for the weekend. Julia is from Oxford and is probably going home on Friday night and said I could come with her if I wanted to. I might do that and then go to Amy's on Saturday morning. We'll see. I'm a big fan of playing things by ear these days.

I have finally gotten a little more contact about my research. I hope it continues so I can get it finished quickly and travel for a good amount of time. I'm still undecided about where I want to go, but we'll see...my mind is on Prague right now.

Something that really stresses me out here is the amount of styrafoam cups I go through. I'm pretty sure Dr. Duquette told us in environmental health that styrafoam is one of the worst materials ever. In fact, all the cups are disposable at meals. It probably is alot of work to wash regular cups, but I just saw an article about how the North Pole might be ice-free all summer. And what about all those polar bears that keep drowning? Do you think it is worse to use all those cups or use a bunch of water and environmental toxic soap?

I'd say I miss you all....but I don't have time to miss anything. Except peanut butter, which isn't allowed in the cafeteria due to allergies.

Orientation makes me feel disoriented.

Wow, life has been pretty hectic since my arrival at TASIS. I got here on Tuesday afternoon and have been attending meetings and training for my job, which really begins tomorrow when 252 students between the ages of 11-18 arrive on campus. I am on a floor with 15 15 year old girls from the countries of Dominican Republic, Korea, Spain, Montenegro, Brazil, Russia, Italy, US, and Turkey. I am working with my co-resident Monica, who has been here 7 years and teaches English. She is originally from South Africa, which of course, made me really excited and she knew both of my cousins when they worked here. I just found out today that I am a TA in the photography class and the SAT prep class (which should be interesting considering I never took the SAT...) I am also an administration TA, meaning I wander around during first period and collect attendance cards. I also work with the 9 other TA's to plan fun programs at night time. We have been working on a color wars thing that will go for the first 2 weeks where the dorms compete with eachother during scavenger hunts, realys, etc. If this is anything like my time in the res. halls at LAX, no one will show up, but alas, we must plan anyway. I am bit sad that there was no TA for dance, because that would've been so fun. We just got done with our last big group meeting and have the afternoon free, which means the TA's finally have time to meet....after that we have a kickoff "champange reception" and buffet dinner that we are getting all dressed up for. I have to be at a van at 5:55AM tomorrow to get to the airport to greet kids when they get off their flights. I work from 6AM-12PM and then come back to TASIS to meet my dorm girls and hopefully catch a nap! On Sunday, the entire school goes into something called Windsor where they go shopping....so we will be busy again. Then Monday, classes start. We also have to sign up to chaperone a trip every Sat. and possibly Friday nights and Sundays. These are all day trips, but there are some long overnight trips to Paris, Liverpool, Wales, and Cambridge/Oxford. We have to apply to chaperone those because obviously, alot of people want all expense paid trips like these...my first choice would be the one to Wales because they go kayaking, rock climbing, surfing etc. Lots of fun outside stuff, but we'll see. I also would like Liverpool, becuase of the Beatles :) I need to find time to do laundry...I'm running out of pants!

Dublin in fun-blin!

I have just returned from Dublin! I had a great time despite hardly hitting any typical tourist stuff. Here is the recap:

Day 1: my flight out of Gatwick was delayed so I sat in the airport talking to 2 girls from the U.S. (Rebecca and Amanda) who were on the same flight. They just finished studying at the University of Brighton for 6 months. We chatted a bit, and of course, I didnt really think I would see them again but when I walked in to my hostile in Dublin, there they were. We went out to dinner at a pub and I had my first of many pints of Dublin Guiness. Went back to the hostle and crashed. A girl in my room talked in her sleep in a different language.

Day 2: Headed to Kenny's rugby game with Rebecca and Amanda in the morning. They lost, unfortunately. We went back into the city and got lunch and saw Christ Church and Dublin Castle. The castle was weird and not that exciting. Kenny had asked me to stop by his second game so I grabbed a cab and went back out the the pitches, but I was late and I got there after it ended. Ooops. I stayed around the dorms and grabbed dinner with Kenny and his rugby friends and then we went to the The Temple Bar, where I proceeded to consume more Guiness.

Day 3: I slept at Kenny's dorm room so I got up and went to his morning rugby game. At this point I hadn't eaten much and was feeling like I was getting scurvy or something. After his game I headed back to the hostle to change my clothes but remembered that we were not allowed in between the hours of 11-2pm. Grrr. I had it in my head to do something touristy, but really, I found I just wanted to walk. I walked around Dublin for about 2 1/2 hours, randomly stopping for lunch or to look at interesting things/people along the way. I found my favorite Dublin sight on this walk. I don't actually know definitively what it is, but it was a statue of people with swans They looked like they were bursting out of the ground with serious power. The people looked peaceful and in turmoil at the same time. There was a reflecting pool in front of the statue and flowers and benches around it. There was a plaque by the statue that said:

"In the darkness of despair we saw a vision. We lit the light of hope and it was not extinguished. In the desert of discouragement we saw a vision. We planted the tree of valor and it blossomed.

In the winter of bondage we saw a vision. We melted the snow of lethargy. And the river of resurrection flowed from it

We sent our vision aswim like a swan on the river. The vision became a reality. Winter became summer. Bondage became freedom. And this we left to you as your inheritance.

O generations of freedom remember us, the generations of the vision."

It was really damp out in Dublin that day and has been misting as I walked around this statue. As I read the plaque I realized I was crying just a little, one tear from each eye. When I finished reading I turned around and, suddenly, the sun came out. For some reason it was an incredibly peaceful experience and my favorite Dublin memory.

After I walked forever I went back to the hostle and showered and changed clothes. I didn't want to spend my short trip not seeing the city, but I was so unbelieveably tired I felt like I couldn't stand anymore. I napped. I was supposed to call Kenny for dinner but we had communication issues so we never got in touch. Instead, I cooked dinner at the hostle with Amanda and Rebecca. Then we went to a pub down the street for a Guiness with another girl Marcella. It was definitely an older crowd. All I saw when we walked in was white hair. It turned out to be incredibly entertaining because there was live music that drunk old people like to dance to. Everyone was so happy in that pub, you couldn't help but leave happy.

Day 4: I got up and went to the rugby pitches in the morning, eventhough I wasn't planning on it, it was going to the only way to get back in touch with Kenny since our phones were being cruel. I got off the bus and walked for a while because I was early. It was a cool Sunday morning in a residential area. Lots of people were walking their dogs or getting breakfast or going to church. I just kept walking. There were little kids playing in a field hockey tournament. I stopped to look at a church and really pretty gardens. Once I made it back to the tournament I located Kenny and found I had arrived just in time for his team's kickoff. I stayed and watched. I actually began to enjoy rugby while I was in Dublin. After the game we made plans for the evening and I headed back into the city for the afternoon. Once again, I had it in my mind to go do the typical tourist stuff, but I just didn't want to. I wanted to wander again. I found myself feeling guilty about this decision because I felt I should be doing the stuff the guidebooks told me to do. I stopped and really analyzed that guilt while I was crossing the River Liffy. Who's vacation was this anyway? Mine. I wanted to wander. So I did. Guilt free. I did stop by Trinity College to see the book of Kells. I went back to the hostle to check out and then took my stuff over to Kenny's. We hungout for awhile and then went into the city for dinner. We never actually got to dinner because we went in to a bar for a pre dinner drink and discovered that the soccer match between Turkey and the Czech Republic was just about to begin. It was a really awesome game. Turkey was behind almost the whole time and then made an awesome comeback at the end to win. We drank Guiness and chatted and watched soccer. Some of my favorite things, so I was content. After the game ended, we headed to a closing party for the rugby teams but first stopped off to buy whiskey to hide in my purse and sandwiches for the road. The main glitch of the evening--the party was exclusive for just the guys on the rugby teams which lead to an interesting chain of events. Kenny went in for just a couple minutes to see if he knew anyone inside and I hungout on the street, two bottles of whiskey in my purse, and talked to another friend of a rugby player who was banned from the party. His name was Mark and he is a gay Austrailain flight attendant who is living in London right now. Really nice guy. Kenny came back out with his friend Victor and the four of us drank whiskey on the street for quite awhile. The cops came over and asked us to put our whiskey away "when we weren't drinking it" then they laughed and walked away. I love the Irish. We decided to attempt to sneak into the rugby party from a back entrance in an alley. We got chased by a security guard who was not happy with us. We decided it was time to leave. We went to a nearby bar for awhile and hungout. Then we went to a club. By the time we got to the club I had definitely drank my weight in beer and whiskey. My body was begging me to drink water and pass out, but I put on a brave face because I wasn't going to be the stupid girl who drinks too much and gets annoying. The night became a blur at this time. At some point Kenny decided it was time to leave. On the way out I kept telling him that we didn't have to leave if he didn't want to. He kept repeating, "Erin, it's a gay club". I think it was not until this time that I realized I was surrounded by all males who were all over eachother. Interesting. Anyway, Mark gave me his e-mail and number in case I ever wanted to go out in London this summer and Kenny and I caught a cab.

Day 5: I wake up. My head hurts. Something is beeping. My phone alarm from the day before. The first thought through my head: "crap, I'm hungover". It was a rough morning. Once Kenny and I woke up around 11:30 we watched Gilmore Girls and One Tree Hill. I'm pretty sure Lorelai Gilmore has a dubbed voice in Ireland. It was freaky. One Tree Hill is even more ridiculous than I remember it. I drank a gallons of water and tried not to think about sitting on my cheap, cramped flight. I left around 1:30 to go to the airport. Goodbyes to long distance friends are sad. I always have a horrible feeling of melancholy because I don't know when I will see them again. I felt really sick at the gate, not from the goodbye, from my hangover. I managed to hold it together though. Once I landed at Gatwick I got lost about 100 more times. I couldn't find the train platforms, then I didn't know what train to get on, then I took one that was a longer than necessary trip, then I got off my bus too early and had to get directions from a schoolby with a giant mole to get back to my cousin's flat. Whew. I felt as though my backpack had gotten twice as heavy in three days despite adding only a new shot glass for my collection. Now I am back at Amy and Christian's getting ready to re-pack my bags to drag out to Heathrow tomorrow so I can meet my ride to TASIS. I am excited to meet people from my job and see what it entails. I have a feeling I'm going to be nervous in the morning, but right now I'm too tired/excited.

So. I told you all I would be embarrassed about the cannonball thing. I am. I was strolling around London after posting that yesterday and realized, that of course, it's a cannon. Please blame jetlag and lack of food for my mental blockage. I really just couldn't think of the word.

Anyway, I had to go to the office that gave me my visa today for this weird orientation session. It was boring. I also forogt to take my passport so I have to scan a page of it to show it got stamped at customs. I need to find a scanner. or a fax machine. I also tried to go to the Macmillian Cancer Support Center, but I couldn't find it. The road ended before the adress came up. That was confusing. I am back at my cousin's flat now. Tried to convince myself it was a good idea to go do something entertaining, but I am so damn tired I can't move. I'm packing for Ireland. I have to make sure my bag is less than 10 kg. Which is "about" 20 pounds, otherwise Ryan Air is doing to charge me per extra pound. Normally, it wouldn't be a problem, but I'm taking my laptop, which is heavy. I wonder if I can just wear alot of clothes on the plane....

I'm not really entertaining today. I need a nap.

My First Blog

I was asked by a few people if I was going to blog this summer to keep everyone in the know about what I'm doing. I always said I would never write one of these because it seems a bit self-centered to think people want to sit around and read about you, but, since it was requested, I aim to please.

I got in to Heathrow around 11:30AM, collected another stamp on my passport and headed to the tube. I left my luggage at Kings Cross and have been wandering a bit. I just bought a cell phone to use over here for the summer. It was free when you purchased 20 pounds of talk time and let me tell you, it is a beauty. Red and metallic with weird circular patterns. It sort of reminds me of something that you would buy in the Target dollar spot at Christmas to put in a little kid's stocking. I love it. Here is a typical Erin move--I walked an extra couple of blocks to go to a different phone store because I liked the name better. I could've stopped at Vodafone, but that is a boring, generic name. Let's be a little more creative, people. I bought my phone at The Orange Shop. The inside of the store was painted Orange, it was obnoxious, and it won my heart. Also, I took note of the fact that when I want to add more minutes to my phone, it's called "topping off" your phone. Or...are you "topping off" the minutes? I'm not sure which. Bonus to going to The Orange Shop, there is a tiny retro coffee shop across the street with organic iced lates and free wireless internet. Guess where I am right now?

I am not sure what I am going to do with myself for the next few hours. I can't go over to my cousin's flat until 7:30 tonight, meaning I have 4 1/2 hours left to kill. I do want to go find place to buy maps of London and Ireland. For those of you who don't know my last minute change of plans--I'm headed to Ireland on Thursday and getting back on Monday! I decided at 1:00 AM the morning before leaving for London. I have no clue what I am doing there, I just know I have a flight and a hostile that includes linen. My friend Kenny (from Cape Town) in playing in a rugby tournament in Dublin next week so I will probably go watch a game. I also feel it will be necessary to tour the Guiness brewery.

Tomorrow I will be in London for the day, might try to contact someone about my research, which has come to a roadblock. Macmillan Cancer Support Center---if you read my blog please call me. I want you.

Ok, I know we already approached this subject, but this coffeee shop is seriously cute. I wonder if they would mind of I napped on the couch. next to my table is record player that has a metal statue of a.....crap, I can't remember the name for it. What are the things that shoot cannonballs? Cannonballers? I'm going to be embarrased when I remember what those are called. Whatever. Along with the cannonballer is a cactus, a tiny little stained glass lamp, and an old fashioned telephone. The walls are teal and red and there are musical posters hanging everywhere. Cafe Eterno is my new favorite place.

Sarah Hanneman---I got off the tube at Leister Square and hunted for the coffee shop that was voted 2005's best coffee place. You know where I'm talking about. Anyway, I couldn't find it! what was it called? I'm pretty sure it was named after a year--1885 or something.

Wow, apparently I am a natural blogger because this is getting long. I would have a knack for it since I ramble when I talk and tell lots of random stories.

I feel like stores that sell maps might close kind of earlyish here...maybe I should go do that.

Here is my cell number incase anyone is interested in calling me over here. It might cost you a kidney, I'm not sure. 07530861204. I think there is a country code you have to dial before the number but I don't know what it is. Google it.

The weather here is PERFECT, not like the crap I left in Wisconsin (AKA severe storms and an abmormally cold summer) It is sunny and around 70 degrees.

Ok so long for now!