I got to spend over 3 weeks at home, and weather-wise, that was ENOUGH! After getting home, I decided that I wasn’t going to leave the house until the frigid weather was over, and that people were just going to have to come to me. That lasted not even a day. I wasn’t just being a weenie, either. To give some perspective, the governor of Minnesota cancelled school statewide on the 6th of January due to extreme cold: 25-35 below zero–not including windchill. That’s in Fahrenheit, in Celsius that would be -32 to -37. Temperature did vary a lot over my time at home, but it was still something like the 18th coldest December on record. Despite this cold, I did manage to snap a few pictures. I might embellish with pictures from a warmer Christmas a few years ago just for aesthetics, but I’ll indicate which is which!
Back in the city! (a week ago)
Well I’ve been adjusting to being back which is why this post is late, but my arrival back in London was even a bit delayed, thanks to weather on the east coast a couple of weekends ago! I was supposed to arrive 2 Saturdays ago, giving me almost an entire weekend to adjust before classes started. Instead, I got in on Tuesday, so I missed the first two days. I sat in the airport in Minneapolis for HOURS on Friday, as our flight was delayed, delayed, gate changed, then FINALLY cancelled. Since so many flights had been cancelled those couple of days, I couldn’t get out until Monday! So I called my sister, who picked me up after I waited almost an hour for my checked bags to be tracked down. Exhausted, I had a quick dinner then went to bed!
My extra couple of days near home gave me a chance to see family I didn’t get much time to see over break, and my wonderful boyfriend jumped at the chance to drive a few hours for some extra days with me! 🙂 I have had enough of airports for a while, so I’m glad to be back, settled, and knocking this semester outta the park so my wonderful boyfriend (mentioned earlier) can come to Europe for almost a month of travel before my exams! You’ve been wanting the juice on European destinations, so don’t worry people, it’s coming! I think we’re planning on focusing on Italy and Greece, instead of doing a topical whirlwind tour of tons of countries. Will keep updated! I’ll also write a post about the white (and way below freezing) Christmas back in Minnesota!
Ever the procrastinator, I saved a paper from last term for my return, thinking I’d get back on Saturday and have plenty of time to write before Thursday. In reality, I got back Tuesday and (surprise) the paper was due Wednesday morning! So I spat it out as best as I could, and at least it’s not a zero! 🙂
Christmas Vacay, Finally!
After much hassling from my uncle, eager for updates even though now I’m home and he can see me whenever he wants, I figured I’d write a bit about the last few weeks! The final couple of weeks were moderately stressful, but not near as stressful as for the students studying abroad for only a semester! They had to fit in final papers and tests among class attendance, QMUL only does finals in the summer so all of the study abroad kids had special arrangements! I did have one exam, but two classes I have to wait until spring to re-learn everything and get tested on it! So for now I’m between semesters, with only one paper to write over break. 😦 but it could be worse! On to more exciting things after the jump….
quick update from the midst of procrastination
Well it’s been a hectic few weeks here in London! As the semester comes to an end I have few projects, but those few are worth large portions of my grades! I’ve completed most of them, so the only academic things, apart from classes, separating me from flying home for Christmas are one ~3,000 word essay and one exam, both for the same class, and making up my entire grade for that class. Suffice to say that’s a little nerve wracking! I haven’t gotten the chance to do too many exciting things recently, though a week and a half ago I did go to…
Took a train to go see some big rocks! (Stonehenge)
Wow, have I been neglectful! At the end of my reading week, with not quite as much done as I had planned on (somehow that always seems to happen) I took off towards the southern part of England. My goal: Stonehenge!
Wednesday Adventure & Halloween!
(Greenwich Market decor)
About darn time I’m blogging about this, sorry for the delay! I know you’re all dying to know what I did last week! Without further ado…and you paid for your whole seat, but you’ll only be using the edge………
Zoo Field Trip!
We had our last field trip for biology last Friday: a trip to the London Zoo! I’ll tell you one thing, it sure beat lecture!
My Life as a London Tour guide: Round 1
Some great girls from UMD, studying in Worcester for the year came down to London on Wednesday to visit the big city! They invited me along on their adventure, so I met them downtown when they arrived–miraculously, we arrived at the station within minutes of each other and had no problem finding one-another!
time to get real!
Well, the ‘study’ part of ‘study abroad’ is finally setting in. Just punched out my first actual, for a grade, paper tonight! Yikes! It’s more than a little nerve-wracking that it’s already almost half way thru the school year and I have no grades to show for it! For those who responded to my request for help with a survey- THANK YOU! I do appreciate it. I have (I think) decided against doing a survey for time (and my sanity)’s sakes! Back to the fun side of things, I get to go to the Zoo on Friday!!!!! The only bummer about that is I have to do research there and write a report later, but let’s focus on the here-ish and now-ish: ZOO!!!!! I have emailed my paper to myself in every format imaginable and am going to try to figure out how to print it now.
CULTURAL DIFFERENCE BONUS: US standard sized paper (8.5″x11″) is NOT the standard here! Here it’s A4 (8.27″x11.69″). Why? Because the British system, that’s why! Also likely having to do with metric system stuff.
P.S. I went on an adventure with some Minnesotans visiting from Worcester today! I got to play tour guide!! I will update about that once I’ve gotten pictures from my fellow adventurers! 🙂
Adventure Wednesday/London Raining on my parade!
I don’t have class on Wednesdays, so I thought that would be a good time to seize the opportunity to explore this large city I live in! I used Time Out London to find some attractions around town. Side note: it would be convenient from a catchy naming standpoint to have Tuesdays (or Thursdays) off, so I could call them Time Out Tuesdays/Thursdays. Shame. Nonetheless, I found 2 galleries (and a shopping area) to visit.
Across the Pond 