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.