CANADA PARTYYY

OMG SO TUESDAY ME, SHIN, VARUN AND CRYSTAL HOSTED A CANADA PARTY IN MY KITCHEN!

I figured it was one of the only times I could legit show my Oiler pride. <3 I made pancakes with syrup and attempted to make bacon but the cuts are different here so it just ended up annoying me & I gave up. Shin & Varun made amazing poutine and Crystal made a cake with a maple leaf on it. 

Everyone had a great time (at least they told me they did) and for flip cup & beer pong  Drew unscrewed his closet door and put in on an ironing board, I was impressed. Everyone helped clean up after & took out the garbage bags and recycling, I was really grateful for all the help! <3

Wednesday my friend Skye from Australia came over and died my hair! We were both a bit nervous cause she was doing highlights with proper foils and everything. It took us over two hours but it was soo worth it , and it was great bonding time. This picture is just for you Skye <3 So we let it sit for a long time and were worried it wasn't lifting but then when I washed it out I saw it was fine and looked really good. 


I may or may not have ordered Arwen's evenstar necklace off eBay when I was feeling homesick, but it made me feel loads better. I'm stoked to get it.


My friends left me for Amsterdam over the weekend, =( But it was a good time to get work done and I finished one of my papers, only 4 to go now! It was a lazy weekend, in a good way. I watched a lot of sports but England lost to Wales in rugby, and then the Oilers lost their game the same day. Sigh. But I've decided I'm going to marry number 10 on England, Owen Farrell. My friend got the NHL live streaming so he'll start loving hockey as much as I do and that means I can actually watch games over here!  It was pretty funny watching hockey with the guys from the UK. I got a lot of questions like "why is it even on ice, that makes it so complicated, why don't they play on a field with a ball like regular people??" and "wait, was that a goal?" and "why are they jumping over that little wall, do they just join in whenever they feel like it? What do you mean they take shifts are they that lazy?" It was a good time. And we had Chinese food which made it even better!

 Sunday Monica had us over for Norwegian night! Her boyfriend came and brought food & chocolate, I loved it but I know my thighs were mad at me, it was all so good! They had bread with pate and then things that were similar to cinnamon rolls and just pure chocolate. It sounds really cool when they speak Norwegian, even though I have no idea what they're saying.

Turns out Kristine (blue shirt) likes sports just as much as I do so she also watched hockey with me and we're going to go to a football game together in two weekends!! This Saturday though (March 3) I'm going to Edinburgh to visit Katelyn Clarke, who I know from high school <3 it will be nice but odd to recognize a face from back home over here. Less then a month till my parents & Mariah come to visit me!




                                               =)

Carlisle etc

 Saturday Emma and I went to the butterfly house. To get to it you have to go through this really pretty park that is the perfect place for a picnic when it gets nicer outside. The butterfly house had turtles and fish and it was awesome. There was also a bird house and a "mini beasts" house with spiders and snakes and really gross things.

After the butterfly house and lunch we went into town and watched football/ rugby with Brian & Jon. I really liked it it filled a bit of the hole in my heart left from not being able to go watch hockey at Hudsons or something.

Monday Elise and I went to see the Vagina Monologues.. It was really funny but just outrageous in some parts. That night I went to Elements with some friends and it was soo much fun the club reminds me of something out of gossip girl. I love the free buses that take us back to campus! 

Tuesday was Vday! So I tried to give all my friends their valentines.. most Europeans had never had one like the one I gave them but I know they loved them ;)

So Wednesday I did larping. Except the UK people didn't like it when I called it larping. I had a shield and wooden sword and everything, it was awesome. It was really funny and so much fun even though I have some major bruises now.

FRIDAY I LEFT FOR CARLISLE! I got on the train at 7:30 and got to Carlisle at 8:20 ish. I met up with  Andy and we walked to his car and I walked around to the drivers side by accident. We drove to town and what did we get for dinner? Fish & chips of course. We got to his house which is out in some farmland and down a bunch of narrow windy roads and the first thing I see when we park are the stables right beside his house. I must have died and gone to heaven. We went inside and I met his parents, siblings dogs and cats and was soooo happy. I stayed in his sisters room and the duvet felt amazing compared to the one the Lancaster gave me. We went to the Lanercost cathedral which is half ruins and it was really really pretty.

It was noticeably colder in Carlisle then in Lancaster.. I know I really shouldn't be complaining about being cold all but it was really chilly! We went to different parts of Hadrians Wall and to a few Royal Army museums. They were cool but there is only so much time you can spend looking at rocks that used to be a wash house or a tower. Most of the rocks from the wall were scavenged so there's not much left.

We went to Carlisle castle and I'm really glad I have good insulation in my flat. Andys house is so nice and the area around it is beautiful. His house in on a hill and in the back is a creak.

 When we got back from doing touristy things on Saturday his dad was watching rugby. I was so happy to sit there with them watching (not necessarily understanding) rugby and cricket.  His parents were so nice and they said it was because they were "paying back everyone who was hospitable to Andy when he was in Canada". I wasn't going to complain! I hope they adopt me... =)

Sunday we drove up to Newcastle Upon-Tyne. We went and saw the Angel of the North which is the largest angel statue in the UK... It was different looking.

We went to the Life Center which was this really cool science place.

That night I had dinner with his whole family and just hung out. It was really good to have some sort of family time. 

<3

Awesome

So Monday my care package came... I was so excited it was by far the best thing I've ever recieved. My flat mate Adam opened it with me and put up with my excitement over everything in the package, brave man. I loved everything in it and am way too excited about 3 boxes of KD.

I'm going to savour the kd like crazy. My flat mates really liked the seventeen magazine. It's surreal to see things that are normal at home in my Lancaster kitchen, they feel like completely separate lives... I was talking to Brian, he was the first person I met when I landed here because we landed at the same airport at the same time and took the shuttle together to our hotel in London. We both agree that it feels like a lot longer then just a month ago that we met.

Monday was great because my friend Sarah had a Waitangi party, she's from New Zealand. They had these cakes that tasted like lemon meringue cookies that were amazing. It was cool because my New Zealand/ UK/ Australian/ Japanese/Norwegian/ everywhere other than North American friends had never had cinnamon hearts before so they tried them when I brought them to Sarah's party. I lovelovelove the days where I can see everyone=) I MET MORE CANADIANS. I now know a total of 6 other than me. Devon is the only other one from Alberta though, but still yay Canada!

Tuesday I had zumba and family dinner which were great as usual. Tuesdays dominoes has 2 for 1 pizzas. Wednesday we went to Sainsbury's and I looovee grocery shopping. Also on Wed there was the study abroad game night and it was fun but really hard to play sherades with people from different cultures, especially when some people had never heard of things like sleeping beauty so it was just pointless. The funnest was for sure after the games when we just chilled.

I've been trying to start on my coursework, I had to watch movies on football hooliganism for my football and society class (I know I can't believe it's a class). The movies were good but kind of depressing. It's so weird not having midterms, the paper I have to do on the movies isn't even due until March 5 and that's the earliest due date I have. I like all my classes, they're all really interesting thankfully. Don't worry mom & dad, I go to all my classes and everything, but blogging just about school would be really boring!

Thursday was Linzi's birthday!! So I got her daffodils =) and in return she gave me a massive hangover. We went out with her friends/ family and had way too much fun. My favorite part of the night was at Linzi's boyfriends house because they have a bathroom under the stairs. One of the guys went up the stairs above the bathroom, started jumping up and down yelling "wake up potter, we're going to the zoo!!" Best part of the night. For Lancaster being considered a small city there are a lot of places to go out. Not gonna lie I go a bit crazy every time I hear that one direction song when I go out. I lost Linzi and them at some point during the night but found my Eurolearn friends! There's a free bus home from Revs on Thursdays which me and my wallet loved. 

Friday I just caught up on my readings and went to Pilates a bit worse for wear. Jon, Dan and Brian watched tangled with me, Jon loved it, maybe because of all the beer he brought over... After I went to my friends flat just to hang out. Well hanging out turned into never have I ever and beer pong and flip cup that we played on his closet door that he took off the hinges put on an ironing board. I thought it was some good problem solving. I love the kitchen hangouts I always leave having made a bunch of new friends.


I still listen to the bounce online when I wake up. I still get confused at the light switches because here you have to flip them down to turn the lights on. I still forget sometimes (mostly depending on how not sober I am) that I'm not at home. I'll just forget where I am and look around hoping to see Mariah or broski or anyone from home. Then I see my UK friends and smile and remember that I'm so lucky to have people I love here and at home.  


                                                                                   <3

One month

So on Saturday it will be one month that I've been here. This week I went to Sainsbury's with some friends but we went shopping too and man I missed shopping, even if it's just window shopping. Wednesday night my flat mates invited me to go out with them to the pub to just chill and get out of the flat. Well we ended up finding 4 Jagerbombs for 5 pounds... I haven't had that much fun for a long time, love my flat mates <3

What made me most happy though was my flat mate Ash. We were both in the library and she told me to come find her because she was bored. I did and we just chilled and it meant so much to me to have people I can just go find when we're bored, just like i did at home.

I'm really excited I'm now a Lancaster model with my friend Elise!! =D It's going to be so much fun they do nice photo shoots so I'll have pretty pictures but they also plan really sweet parties where we get the VIP lounges and have awesome themes.

I didn't do any travelling this weekend but I saw a lot of people so it was okay. It's so much easier to be social here when the longest it takes to get to your friends flat is a ten minute walk. There's so much to do and so much to be excited about that I do kind of feel like a freshmen. Living on campus here is so different then only being on campus in Edmonton for classes. 

I also find that I may or may not drink more here, mom and dad just ignore this part. It's so much cheaper to go out that it's like may as well! Saturday night I went to Elise's flat before we went out and then to Devons. Dev lives in Calgary so you know we'll be friends for life even if she's a flames fan. Claire is going to Calgary for her year abroad next year so that will be amazing!

I can just tell that little things are different, like the days are getting longer. It doesn't seem to be getting any warmer but seriously if their winter is around 0 c everyday I can't complain. I find I stay up later just cause I have such an open schedule. I know I'll have to start my papers soon buttt not yet. I miss hockey so much, TSN has become my lifeline. There's a big rugby tournament going on now the Six Nations and I watched one game and am still trying to figure out what's going on but at least it's a sport I can watch that isn't on at 2 AM!

                                                                                <3