Thu, 03JUN10 CO88741
ABERDEEN GB(ABZ) 7:00AM MANCHESTER(MAN) 8:20AM
Thu, 03JUN10 CO101
MANCHESTER(MAN) 11:30AM NEWARK EWR(EWR) 2:25PM
Thu, 03JUN10 CO328
NEWARK EWR(EWR) 6:05PM CHARLOTTE(CLT) 8:06PM
So I am leaving Aberdeen at 2 am SC time and leaving Manchester at 6:30 am SC time. Be home soon!
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
finished
So classes are done, exams are done. They went well, and they're over now so that's all that matters. My first exam was divinity, I had to write 2 short answers and 1 essay. My 2nd was sociology, 3 essays and my last one was anatomy/physiology 100 mc questions. That one was by far my hardest. I'm not sure when I'll be finding out my grades
Last week, I spent the week traveling with Trey's family. We went to Isle of Skye, Isle of Mull/Iona/Staffa, Fort William and drove a lot. The countryside in Scotland is the most beautiful countryside ever. It was a great way to spend my last trip in Scotland just seeing the country that I've called home for 5 months. The drive to Isle of Skye was beautiful. I got to see the Eilean Donan castle finally, absolutely breathtaking. While we were there a fighter plane flew between the mountains. SO COOL! We stayed in Kyle of Lochalsh, saw 2 double rainbows. Went to Skye Thursday morning. Stayed in a really cute bed and breakfast in Portree. We went around both tip corners of Skye, my favorite was the Uig bit, SO BEAUTIFUL. The Dunvegan bit was pretty, but not as pretty... Friday morning we made our way to Isle of Mull. We got on 2 different ferries to get across. Trey and I played Cluedo on one of them. Isle of Mull was pretty. We ended up staying in a B&B with a very needy cat that loved Trey's bunk bed and went to Iona (where Christianity started in Scotland) and Staffa where i finally saw PUFFINS! Not as close up as i wanted too, but they were flying around and they were precious! Saturday after we did Iona and Mull, we made our way to Fort William. Fort William was so pretty! I would love to go back and visit there again. Sunday, we made our way back to Aberdeen. We passed by Ben Nevis but it was too cloudy to see all of it :-( I was sleeping most of the drive, but what I did see near Loch Ness, the forests were wonderful. We stopped at some falls and hiked down to them, they were pretty as well. We made it back to Aberdeen on Sunday afternoon.
Yesterday, I sent Trey off on his last megabus ride to Edinburgh, where he spent the night at the airport and now he has made it to London. His flight leaves out in about an hour to leave for Dallas. It's a 9 hour flight. He'll make it back to SC around 10 tonight, 4 am tomorrow morning. Which is about when i'll be getting up to get a taxi and head to the airport myself.
This has been beyond one of the most amazing experiences of my life. I have laughed, I have cried, I have been scared and nervous, I have been reminded of the wonders of God's beauty, I have made life long friends, I have lived. I want to thank everyone who has played a role in this experience for making it amazing. I am so thankful to have had this opportunity, I have truly grown as an individual and I have enjoyed every minute that I have been here in Scotland and Europe. I am beyond thrilled to get home and be with all of my family and friends but I am still sad that I have to leave. I am bidding Aberdeen, Scotland, Irn Bru, Haribo, haggis, and many other Scottish things goodbye today. Until we meet again!
Last week, I spent the week traveling with Trey's family. We went to Isle of Skye, Isle of Mull/Iona/Staffa, Fort William and drove a lot. The countryside in Scotland is the most beautiful countryside ever. It was a great way to spend my last trip in Scotland just seeing the country that I've called home for 5 months. The drive to Isle of Skye was beautiful. I got to see the Eilean Donan castle finally, absolutely breathtaking. While we were there a fighter plane flew between the mountains. SO COOL! We stayed in Kyle of Lochalsh, saw 2 double rainbows. Went to Skye Thursday morning. Stayed in a really cute bed and breakfast in Portree. We went around both tip corners of Skye, my favorite was the Uig bit, SO BEAUTIFUL. The Dunvegan bit was pretty, but not as pretty... Friday morning we made our way to Isle of Mull. We got on 2 different ferries to get across. Trey and I played Cluedo on one of them. Isle of Mull was pretty. We ended up staying in a B&B with a very needy cat that loved Trey's bunk bed and went to Iona (where Christianity started in Scotland) and Staffa where i finally saw PUFFINS! Not as close up as i wanted too, but they were flying around and they were precious! Saturday after we did Iona and Mull, we made our way to Fort William. Fort William was so pretty! I would love to go back and visit there again. Sunday, we made our way back to Aberdeen. We passed by Ben Nevis but it was too cloudy to see all of it :-( I was sleeping most of the drive, but what I did see near Loch Ness, the forests were wonderful. We stopped at some falls and hiked down to them, they were pretty as well. We made it back to Aberdeen on Sunday afternoon.
Yesterday, I sent Trey off on his last megabus ride to Edinburgh, where he spent the night at the airport and now he has made it to London. His flight leaves out in about an hour to leave for Dallas. It's a 9 hour flight. He'll make it back to SC around 10 tonight, 4 am tomorrow morning. Which is about when i'll be getting up to get a taxi and head to the airport myself.
This has been beyond one of the most amazing experiences of my life. I have laughed, I have cried, I have been scared and nervous, I have been reminded of the wonders of God's beauty, I have made life long friends, I have lived. I want to thank everyone who has played a role in this experience for making it amazing. I am so thankful to have had this opportunity, I have truly grown as an individual and I have enjoyed every minute that I have been here in Scotland and Europe. I am beyond thrilled to get home and be with all of my family and friends but I am still sad that I have to leave. I am bidding Aberdeen, Scotland, Irn Bru, Haribo, haggis, and many other Scottish things goodbye today. Until we meet again!
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
homesickness and stress is not a good combo
I'm writing this as I sit in MacRobert's getting funny looks from girls at other tables because I am crying because I miss my home. One thing that most of these people will never experience is having to be away from home for such a long period of time. I am so glad and thankful that I had this opportunity to do this and that I actually did it. I thought it would be easier having Trey here, but it's only seemed to make it harder. I thought it would be nice to have my best friend around, but it's proved to be even more difficult than it has been worth. It was nice having a travel buddy and to have someone to share these experiences with, but I don't enjoy having to miss home and have the one thing that can help me not miss home so much refuse to be there. This is probably going to be a jumbled mess, but oh well, I need to get my feelings out somewhere. I can't wait to go home because that means I will finally have trey back and he won't feel the need to act like an immature child and we can have a summer together without people stopping it. I can finally be with my friends and it will be so nice to see them. It will be sunny and warm and sunny and warm and more sun and more warmth and i can go swimming. I just want my best friend. I want someone to be there for me and be willing to put something else behind for a second and realize that if they love someone they need to be there. i want my best friend and i want him now.
i honestly cannot wait to go home. it'll be the happiest day of my life.
i honestly cannot wait to go home. it'll be the happiest day of my life.
Monday, May 3, 2010
Just some thoughts...
It was quite an adventure home to say the least. I can't wait to go back to Europe one day and see different places in Germany and France and then to go to Spain. For now, I think I need to spend my last month and few days seeing the rest of the country I've called home for the last 5 months.
I can't wait to go home and it will be so nice to be back on American soil, but it is also sad to think about leaving here and how I'm so used to seeing all the people I've seen here everyday and how I've grown accustomed to being in a completely different culture. I am very surprised with myself that I actually did this and proud at the same time. This was probably the hardest thing I have ever done in my 20 years. It has helped a lot that Trey has been here and that the girls that I live with are experiencing this as well.
I love Aberdeen, it's such a beautiful city and it's been my actual home, where I sleep and eat most of the time but Dundee is definitely more of my home because I feel more at home with the people there. That's probably the big reason why I spend most of my weekends in Dundee and I go down on Tuesday nights to go out with Trey's flatmates because they make Scotland more home than anyone in Aberdeen ever can. I'm not sure if they read my blog at all, but I will just say how special and unforgetable they've made this experience for Trey and I. Although I didn't exactly live with them, they took Trey in and when I'm down there, they take me too and it just means a lot to me. I seriously don't know what this experience would have been like had Trey not lived in West Park. So if you are from Dundee and you are reading this, thanks for taking me in and making me feel like family and I've seriously enjoyed every moment I have spent with you guys.
As for the rest of the semester... last week I had 2 papers due... one on monday for divinity and one on friday for music. Both were turned in on time. I got a 16 (which is a B+) on my sociology essay. Friday night, I went to Stacey's apartment for an Ann Summers party, then to the Bobbin for drinks, Number 7 then Liquid. Liquid was crap, but I had fun on my first night out in Aberdeen. Saturday and Sunday I didn't do much. This week I have a midterm in Anatomy on Wednesday. I might be going out one day this week with the flatmates. I will be heading to Dundee this coming weekend (mainly because I miss home and Trey helps me not miss it as much and he has an exam next Tuesday and doesn't really wanna leave Dundee). I have 2 more weeks of classes left (PRAISE THE LORD). My bathroom and kitchen on my floor will open on Wednesday (WOO) and then after the midterm the only other thing is a presentation for music on May 14. I have 3 finals, may 24 Divinity, May 25 sociology and June 1st anatomy.
May 7-9 Dundee for the weekend
May 11 Dundee for the last Skint most likely
May 14-21 is my week of revision and I will be in Dundee
May 16 Trey and I are going to Rosslyn Chapel and stuff for a day trip
also that week I'll probably go to Edinburgh to hike Arthur's Seat
May 23-June 1st Trey's family is coming and I am going to try to meet them after my exams to go to Isle of Skye and such
Trey also moves in with me on the 22nd of May
June 2- Wes should be arriving and we'll be hanging out with him from then to the 11
June 12 HOME
I can't wait to go home and it will be so nice to be back on American soil, but it is also sad to think about leaving here and how I'm so used to seeing all the people I've seen here everyday and how I've grown accustomed to being in a completely different culture. I am very surprised with myself that I actually did this and proud at the same time. This was probably the hardest thing I have ever done in my 20 years. It has helped a lot that Trey has been here and that the girls that I live with are experiencing this as well.
I love Aberdeen, it's such a beautiful city and it's been my actual home, where I sleep and eat most of the time but Dundee is definitely more of my home because I feel more at home with the people there. That's probably the big reason why I spend most of my weekends in Dundee and I go down on Tuesday nights to go out with Trey's flatmates because they make Scotland more home than anyone in Aberdeen ever can. I'm not sure if they read my blog at all, but I will just say how special and unforgetable they've made this experience for Trey and I. Although I didn't exactly live with them, they took Trey in and when I'm down there, they take me too and it just means a lot to me. I seriously don't know what this experience would have been like had Trey not lived in West Park. So if you are from Dundee and you are reading this, thanks for taking me in and making me feel like family and I've seriously enjoyed every moment I have spent with you guys.
As for the rest of the semester... last week I had 2 papers due... one on monday for divinity and one on friday for music. Both were turned in on time. I got a 16 (which is a B+) on my sociology essay. Friday night, I went to Stacey's apartment for an Ann Summers party, then to the Bobbin for drinks, Number 7 then Liquid. Liquid was crap, but I had fun on my first night out in Aberdeen. Saturday and Sunday I didn't do much. This week I have a midterm in Anatomy on Wednesday. I might be going out one day this week with the flatmates. I will be heading to Dundee this coming weekend (mainly because I miss home and Trey helps me not miss it as much and he has an exam next Tuesday and doesn't really wanna leave Dundee). I have 2 more weeks of classes left (PRAISE THE LORD). My bathroom and kitchen on my floor will open on Wednesday (WOO) and then after the midterm the only other thing is a presentation for music on May 14. I have 3 finals, may 24 Divinity, May 25 sociology and June 1st anatomy.
May 7-9 Dundee for the weekend
May 11 Dundee for the last Skint most likely
May 14-21 is my week of revision and I will be in Dundee
May 16 Trey and I are going to Rosslyn Chapel and stuff for a day trip
also that week I'll probably go to Edinburgh to hike Arthur's Seat
May 23-June 1st Trey's family is coming and I am going to try to meet them after my exams to go to Isle of Skye and such
Trey also moves in with me on the 22nd of May
June 2- Wes should be arriving and we'll be hanging out with him from then to the 11
June 12 HOME
Sunday, May 2, 2010
Adventure Home
Wednesday morning we got to the train station around 12 and sat around soaking up the sun. We saw the buses parked by the station and waited around in that general area. Around 1:45 we headed over to the buses because they said to meet there at 2. One very British lady showed up and that was it and we were like hmm this isn't right. So Trey ran over to where other buses were meeting and found the group of them. We went over there and they basically told us the drivers needed more rest and we weren't going anywhere until around 5. So Scott, Trey and I found a nice spot in the grass at the park that we were by and waited for about an hour and a half, I got fried, it was great.
At 4:30 we started loading the bus. There were 3 buses for everyone going. Thankfully, they put the families with children in one bus and everyone else into another. A lot of older couples on holiday and a group of students from the unni at Leeds there in Milan for design week. We got on the road about 4:45. We ended up stopping in Switzerland for a break before we went through a 17 mile long tunnel. Everything is so expensive in Switzerland. Don't go there. While we were in one of the many tunnels we had to go through, the other bus pulled over so we pulled over as well. We almost got hit by 3 different 18 wheelers. Scariest thing ever. We still don't know why the other bus pulled over. I was asleep for most of the time. I do remember hearing that instead of going across the French border we went into Germany for like a minute then back into France. Trey and I joked that we did our whole trip backwards, me excluding Amsterdam. The next thing I remember we had pulled into Calais, France about 8:30 the next morning. The ferry ride took about an hour and a half. We got to Dover, UK and then took the coach into London. We arrived into London around 12:30. We actually had a news anchor for BBC with us, most the people on the bus got interviewed (we decided not to talk because we weren't British haha). The whole trip from Milan to London only costed 60 euro, which was about 3 to 4 times cheaper than how many of my flatmates got home.
Once in London, we said bye to Scott (he wanted to get home ASAP so he paid 130 pounds for a train). Trey and I opted for a 15 pound bus ride from London to Dundee at midnight that night. So Trey and I spent the day exploring London. We found a Krispy Kreme and ate a whole dozen. We then went to Picadilly Circus, Westminster (which was closed AGAIN, we missed it by 15 minutes), London Eye (28 dollars to ride in a giant ferris wheel) and then the globe theater and abbey road. All in all the second trip to London was a success. I hope to do Westminster before I leave though... While we were on the bus ride back from Abbey Road, we stopped at a bus stop, and then we didn't move for like 30 minutes. Trey and I figured we should start walking to the metro and when we got out we saw that the street was blocked off and then the metro was closed. We went through a shopping mall and as soon as we walked in the alarm went off and they kicked everyone out. Come to find out a bomb had gone off in the Foot Locker on that square... At this point, I was like okay so we're never going to get back home. We asked a cop which metro was working and walked to the metro on the central line. We got to Victoria and got off and got Subway for dinner before getting on the bus.
The bus ride was a blur mainly because we slept the whole time. I woke up in Glasgow and I knew we were in Scotland because the sun had disappeared. We got to Dundee about 10:30 that Friday morning. It was such a long trip, but it was nice to finally be home. I stayed with Trey in Dundee until Saturday, so we could do laundry together and I could take a break from being in a bus for over 30 hours.
At 4:30 we started loading the bus. There were 3 buses for everyone going. Thankfully, they put the families with children in one bus and everyone else into another. A lot of older couples on holiday and a group of students from the unni at Leeds there in Milan for design week. We got on the road about 4:45. We ended up stopping in Switzerland for a break before we went through a 17 mile long tunnel. Everything is so expensive in Switzerland. Don't go there. While we were in one of the many tunnels we had to go through, the other bus pulled over so we pulled over as well. We almost got hit by 3 different 18 wheelers. Scariest thing ever. We still don't know why the other bus pulled over. I was asleep for most of the time. I do remember hearing that instead of going across the French border we went into Germany for like a minute then back into France. Trey and I joked that we did our whole trip backwards, me excluding Amsterdam. The next thing I remember we had pulled into Calais, France about 8:30 the next morning. The ferry ride took about an hour and a half. We got to Dover, UK and then took the coach into London. We arrived into London around 12:30. We actually had a news anchor for BBC with us, most the people on the bus got interviewed (we decided not to talk because we weren't British haha). The whole trip from Milan to London only costed 60 euro, which was about 3 to 4 times cheaper than how many of my flatmates got home.
Once in London, we said bye to Scott (he wanted to get home ASAP so he paid 130 pounds for a train). Trey and I opted for a 15 pound bus ride from London to Dundee at midnight that night. So Trey and I spent the day exploring London. We found a Krispy Kreme and ate a whole dozen. We then went to Picadilly Circus, Westminster (which was closed AGAIN, we missed it by 15 minutes), London Eye (28 dollars to ride in a giant ferris wheel) and then the globe theater and abbey road. All in all the second trip to London was a success. I hope to do Westminster before I leave though... While we were on the bus ride back from Abbey Road, we stopped at a bus stop, and then we didn't move for like 30 minutes. Trey and I figured we should start walking to the metro and when we got out we saw that the street was blocked off and then the metro was closed. We went through a shopping mall and as soon as we walked in the alarm went off and they kicked everyone out. Come to find out a bomb had gone off in the Foot Locker on that square... At this point, I was like okay so we're never going to get back home. We asked a cop which metro was working and walked to the metro on the central line. We got to Victoria and got off and got Subway for dinner before getting on the bus.
The bus ride was a blur mainly because we slept the whole time. I woke up in Glasgow and I knew we were in Scotland because the sun had disappeared. We got to Dundee about 10:30 that Friday morning. It was such a long trip, but it was nice to finally be home. I stayed with Trey in Dundee until Saturday, so we could do laundry together and I could take a break from being in a bus for over 30 hours.
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Verona: home of Romeo and Juliet
We arrived in Verona Sunday afternoon. We had to take a taxi to the B&B because we had no idea where it was at. We waited for about 4 hours (with a lunch break of pizza) in between for someone to finally let us in. We actually snuck in once and got yelled at by the neighbor because we apparently weren't allowed to do that. We went to the payphone and called them once we got the number and finally the cleaning lady came and let us in. She had just started working so she knew nothing about the place. We had a really nice room and thankfully free internet. Trey and Scott went on an expedition for food and drinks while I stayed in the room and figured out options of getting home if our flight got cancelled. When they came back we decided to check to make sure we could get the B&B for an extra night. So we had to go back out to the pay phone and ask. We also called the British Embassy (Brembassy from now on) to see what they could help us do. That night we decided to go to McDonald's for dinner and go to the store one more time for more drinks.
The next day we decided to tour Verona, just to see the place. We saw Juliet's house, Romeo's house, a collessium type thing. We had lunch at a place called like hipopotomaus or something, and they royally screwed up Trey's order. We also got gelato.. which was more like a coldstone.. I had nutella and oreos in vanilla. There was SO MUCH nutella, I couldn't even eat it.
That night was the night we had the bed and breakfast to ourselves. The owner wasn't around and neither was the wee cleaning lady. We decided to drink out on the balcony, which we snuck into the kitchen through by moving the rope that was blocking us out of the kitchen and climbing in and out of the bathroom window. We talked a lot of home, just so Scott would know all about American football and how amazing it is. After that we realized that we were alone. So we decided to move the keys around to the different doors (because they left the key to every room in the door?) play hide and seek and play with their masks. It was great fun.
Back to the Brembassy....because Trey and I were with Scott (a British citizen) the Brembassy decided to help us get back. They had planned a coach to leave Wednesday at 3 from Milan. It would go from Milan to London. So we had booked a hotel in Milan (which ended up being an hour or so outside of the city) so we didn't go there and ended up paying 60 euro each to stay in a hotel closer to the station. I'm sad that I didn't get to see as much of Milan as I had hoped...
The next day we decided to tour Verona, just to see the place. We saw Juliet's house, Romeo's house, a collessium type thing. We had lunch at a place called like hipopotomaus or something, and they royally screwed up Trey's order. We also got gelato.. which was more like a coldstone.. I had nutella and oreos in vanilla. There was SO MUCH nutella, I couldn't even eat it.
That night was the night we had the bed and breakfast to ourselves. The owner wasn't around and neither was the wee cleaning lady. We decided to drink out on the balcony, which we snuck into the kitchen through by moving the rope that was blocking us out of the kitchen and climbing in and out of the bathroom window. We talked a lot of home, just so Scott would know all about American football and how amazing it is. After that we realized that we were alone. So we decided to move the keys around to the different doors (because they left the key to every room in the door?) play hide and seek and play with their masks. It was great fun.
Back to the Brembassy....because Trey and I were with Scott (a British citizen) the Brembassy decided to help us get back. They had planned a coach to leave Wednesday at 3 from Milan. It would go from Milan to London. So we had booked a hotel in Milan (which ended up being an hour or so outside of the city) so we didn't go there and ended up paying 60 euro each to stay in a hotel closer to the station. I'm sad that I didn't get to see as much of Milan as I had hoped...
Naples and Pompeii
We left at like 6 am on Friday and got to Naples around 8 or 9. I was not impressed with Naples, the people there were much more nasty there than in Rome. Which is saying a lot. We figured out how to get to Pompeii, bought our ticket for that then went to buy our ticket to get back to Rome then to Venice. When we got to Pompeii a guy sold a tour guide book that had information about every little stone and piece of ash that was there. We decided on the two hour tour that took us way more than 2 hours, mainly because we got lost like 10 times. We did see Ash people, and lots and lots of ruins. It was actually really cool especially because all the stuff I had learned about it from elementary school. And also because a volcano was currently spewing in Iceland. We got to see basically everything we wanted to see in Pompeii and headed back to Naples where we tried some famous Napolean pizza... which wasn't that great at all. Of course we had to go to a place right next to the train station to make sure we didn't miss our train.
We got to Venice, bought a 48 hour ferry ticket and went to our hotel. We unpacked and stuff and had a roommate who was stuck because of the volcano from getting to Spain. We were going to buy alcohol and stuff to drown our sorrows because of our concern about getting home... but we never found a store and we had to go to the train station to figure out how we were going to get home. We waited for about 3 hours to figure out what we were going to do. Basically at this point we didn't know whether our flight was for sure cancelled so we just had to book our tickets to Verona just in case.
Saturday we decided to head to Murano, to see the glass blowing. It was actually super cool. The guy made several vases and a horse. Afterwards they gave us a discount, so Trey bought a gamecock, I bought a penguin and Scott bought a horse. We had crap lunch there, basically because it was super cheap. I don't really remember what we did that night, probably because it was an overall gross and rainy day. So I'm sure we just sat in the room and talked about how doomed we were at this point about getting home.
We got to Venice, bought a 48 hour ferry ticket and went to our hotel. We unpacked and stuff and had a roommate who was stuck because of the volcano from getting to Spain. We were going to buy alcohol and stuff to drown our sorrows because of our concern about getting home... but we never found a store and we had to go to the train station to figure out how we were going to get home. We waited for about 3 hours to figure out what we were going to do. Basically at this point we didn't know whether our flight was for sure cancelled so we just had to book our tickets to Verona just in case.
Saturday we decided to head to Murano, to see the glass blowing. It was actually super cool. The guy made several vases and a horse. Afterwards they gave us a discount, so Trey bought a gamecock, I bought a penguin and Scott bought a horse. We had crap lunch there, basically because it was super cheap. I don't really remember what we did that night, probably because it was an overall gross and rainy day. So I'm sure we just sat in the room and talked about how doomed we were at this point about getting home.
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