Busy Bee!

Hey all! This week has been insane. I've been so busy doing schoolwork. But, I've only got 3 weeks of classes left! It is so crazy to think that! This week, I had to write a paper for art. I chose to write about portraits of 3 famous monarchs: Elizabeth I, Victoria, and Elizabeth II. Here is a quiz: name the 3 actresses who have played these queen's in these respective movies: Shakespeare in Love (Elizabeth I), The Young Victoria (Victoria), and The Queen (Elizabeth II). Answer in the comments section! Speaking of royalty, on Thursday morning, our history class met at the Churchill War Rooms which is a museum and exhibit dedicated to the rooms in which Churchill and his advisers met in during the Battle of Britain during WWII. While we were waiting outside, we saw a bunch of cops on motorcycles and in town cars drive past, and in the back seat of the awesome Bentley, we saw two older looking ladies who looked like they were Lizzy II's besties. Anyways, it was really cool to see something that you normally only see on the news right in front of you!

The actual Churchill rooms were amazing. A lot of them are still intact, but without their original furnishings. Dad, when you come back to London, you have to go! You would love it. Anyways, after that, me, Liz, and some of the freshman in our class went to grab lunch at a pub, and then we had art class in the National Gallery. We spent the class learning about perspectives and how to draw. I am so artistically challenged, and I found that whole afternoon very embarrassing. But, oh well, that's life.

Other than that, I've just been super busy with school work. I'm about to start working on a paper for history class on David Lloyd George, who was PM during WWI. Thrilling right? I also had a meeting today with the company I'm going to intern for at the end of the semester. It's called B3 creative, and there are only 2 full-time employees there. I was blown away by how much they have on their plates, and they do an amazing job. I'll be working from 10-4ish everyday, and they are super casual. I'm really excited to start there soon! Julia is in Whales seeing a friend from high school this weekend, so I'm going out with Naeem, Mike, Liz, Leslie, and Peter. Should be fun! I also bought a theater ticket to see Les Miserables! I'm so excited.

I'm also really excited to announce that my brother Adam is coming to London on November 3rd! I could literally not be more excited to see him! It's been way too long, and I miss him! Hopefully, we will be able to go to a really high end, and expensive Chinese restaurant and make my parents pay for it hhahahah! Sorry mom and dad. I would also like to wish my cousin Erin a very happy birthday! Love yah!

Here is a quote from one of my fav shows, the Office:
Jim: Does that include 'that's what she said'?
Michael: Mmmmm, yes.
Jim: Wow, that is really hard. You really think you can go all day long? Well, you always left me satisfied and smiling.
Michael: Mmmmm... THAT'S WHAT SHE SAID!

Cheers to the frickin' weekend everyone!

Living the true English life

Hey everyone! Hope you all enjoyed the week. I've been very busy with schoolwork (blahhhhh). It's really hard for our teachers because they have to condense a 14 week semester into 10 weeks because we have 4 weeks for an internship at the end of the "semester", so the work has been piled on a bit. But, I can handle it. Anyways, this week was pretty uneventful, except for Friday. We took a field trip for the day to Oxford and Stratford. This was a ton of fun! We took a tour of Oxford, which is an amazing college town. The buildings are so old, but the city is full of young people. It's a little odd. And for all the loyal Harry Potter fans out there, this is where they shot some of the scenes from the first film. We saw where they shot scenes in the infirmary, and this is also the building where they got the inspiration for the Great Hall. Unfortunately, we didn't get to see that (boo!). Leslie and I were very disappointed. But, after that, we had some time to wander, so I wandered into the school bookstore, and bought some Oxford gear. Now, whenever I go somewhere, I can tell people I went to Oxford, and I wouldn't be lying. I really went there. Get it? Haha. After Oxford, we got on the bus and rode an hour to Stratford. For those who don't know, Stratford is the birthplace and resting place of Shakespeare. He was that guy who wrote some of those plays and stuff. Honestly, I had never heard of him before going there (HINT: SARCASM). What was that one play he wrote that was really famous? Romeo and Ethel the Pirate's Daughter? Name the movie reference in the comments section! Anyways, we saw the house he was born in, which is pretty much still standing. Then we walked through town a little, and made our way to the church where he is buried, but we couldn't go inside (bummer). Then, we went to grab dinner, and then went to see an adaptation of Romeo and Ethel the Pirate's Daughter (a.k.a Juliet) at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford. It was really sad because the adaptation was of an old married couple, and the character of Juliet is suffering from a stroke and is slowly dying. I have to admit, I did fall asleep through 10 minutes of it (thanks Mike for not waking me up), but it was good. The 2 actors who played Romeo and Juliet were very good. I recognized the woman who played Juliet, and when I researched her, I discovered that she was in a Harry Potter movie. I said to Leslie that I have an amazing HP Radar haha. She played the character Mrs. Figg in the 5th movie. She helps Harry escape the Dementors that attack him and Dudley in the alley near Privet drive. I know, I'm a dork. I promise I will stop. But, it really is hard to escape the madness of Harry Potter when people in England love it as much as I do. After the play, we made our way back to London, and went to bed. On Saturday, I went to Camden Town, which is a very hippity-hoppity neighborhood in London. I had to buy some new jeans, and then I went to Muswell Hill, and got a lot of work done. Last night, Julia, Audrey, Naeem and myself went to grab a drink at a pub, but it was pouring rain, and a bit of a miserable night because of it. But, today, I slept until 11:30, which was awesome. I'm currently back in Muswell Hill at the Starbucks I was at yesterday doing more homework. I'm almost done, which is why I took a break to talk to you nice folks. Anyways, that's all for now. Going to go back to work so that I can watch my beloved Bills tonight!

Here is a quote from one of Shakespeare's Sonnets, 116:
Love is not love which alters when it alteration finds.

Cheers guvnor!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Berlin and Stockholm!

Guten tag (Hello in German), Hallå (Hello in Swedish)!!!!!!!! I made it back to London safe and sound yesterday, but I never got to post about Berlin and Sweden. 

Berlin was a little boring for me. Can you believe that an amazing city like Berlin is boring? Well, after being there nearly two weeks earlier, it was a little repetitive, but still incredible. We saw a lot of the stuff that me, Liz, Alex, and Leslie saw on our study tour, and we ate like kings yet again. The rest of the group seemed to like Berlin more than Paris, especially Mike, who adopted a pretty good German accent haha.

After our Easy Jet experience from Paris to Berlin, it was nice to fly on a real airline like Lufthansa. The flight was half empty, and I had an entire row to myself! As we came into our descent into Stockholm, the sun was setting and we were flying right over the Swedish countryside, which was one of the most beautiful things I had ever seen. It was one of the best flying experiences I had ever had. When we landed, we went to our hostel, which was one of the coolest things ever: IT WAS ON A BOAT! Now, the boat was docked, but it was still amazing. I'm not joking about this. You may think that this was silly, but it really was awesome. 

On Friday, we all took a bus tour of Stockholm because we didn't really know what cool things there were to see in the city. Our first stop was at the royal palace, which was beautiful. I promise I will post some pictures on Facebook as soon as I have time! Funny enough, while we were at the palace, we were right in the middle of the changing of the guard, which was really cool! After the palace, we went to the Nordic Museum, which is basically a museum of Swedish culture. But, in the lobby, the museum was hosting something called the Chocolate Festival. Again, THIS IS NOT A JOKE! There were hundreds of people and hundreds of booths where you could try free samples of a ton of different kinds of chocolate. This was probably the greatest thing ever! 

Friday night, Leslie and Liz showed up. They spent the week in Falun, which is where Leslie's family is from. On Saturday, I walked around the city by myself for a while, which was nice. I met up with Leslie and Liz for a bit, and Leslie and I spent a while looking at all the ski equipment in the sporting goods stores. It really made me want to go skiing! I know I'm going to miss it this year, especially if it doesn't snow in Collingwood this winter. Saturday night we all went out for a nice dinner at a restaurant on a boat. I'm assuming by now that you are discovering the theme of Stockholm. I ate Reindeer. For the last time, THIS IS NOT A JOKE! It was soooooo good! Then, we went back to the hostel to get ready to go out.

Sunday's travelling was pretty easy, other than the fact that the branch of the underground that we need to take to get back to our house was closed, so we had to take the bus. But otherwise, everything went really smoothly. This week is going to be very busy, because I'm going to go to the gym everyday to work off all the deliciously, horribly bad for you food I ate over the break, and also because I have a few assignments due. Besides that, life is treating me well!

Hope everyone is enjoying life! Here is a quote on traveling:

Henry David Thoreau: Not until we are lost do we begin to understand ourselves 

Paris!

Hey everyone! So, right now I'm in Berlin! But, we spent all day Sunday and Monday in Paris! We got to our hostel late on Saturday night. It was in the area called Monmartre, which is very into nightlife, which made it difficult to sleep on Saturday, but it wasn't a big deal. On Sunday, we decided to go to Versailles! That palace is unbelievable! We spent nearly the whole day walking all around the gardens and the inside of the mansion, and it was sooooooo cool! Then, we went back to Paris, and walked around the city! We saw the the outside of the louvre, the place de la Concorde, the champs élysées, and the l'arc de triomph! We ate dinner at a restaurant near the arc, and then made our way towards the Eiffel Tower! We saw it lit up at night, and it was so beautiful! We spent some quality time looking at it and freaking out when it started to flash haha, anyways, the weather was great and it was a perfect day!

Monday wasn't as perfect. It rained all day long, and never stopped. We went to the top of the Eiffel Tower in the morning, but you couldn't see a thing from the top because of the mist. The, we got a little lost trying to find the war museum, to which a nice and very attractive Australian man helped us find our way. We walked over 6 miles to get to the louvre in the hopes that we could go in, but the lineup just to buy tickets was crazy. So, we made our way to the musee dorsay, which was closed. We gave up and went to a cafe, where me Julia and Audrey proceeded to drink some very tasty wine. After getting a little buzzed, we went back to the hostel, grabbed our stuff, and made our way to the airport. At the airport, Audrey and I had some struggles. We were told our bags were too big to be put on the plane, and that we had to check our bags. If we did, we would miss our train and not be able to check into our hostel. I started to get really mad at the lady at the desk, telling her she lost a customer, and that this is no way to treat people who are paying for your services. As we were walking towards the plane, Audrey and I tore the baggage tags off, and got on the plane with our bags anyways. I was not in the mood to take crap from anyone. You would be so proud mom! It was a mad dash to the hostel on Berlin, mostly because there were no trains to the stop we needed to go to, so we took a detour, and luckily someone was still at the front desk checking people in.

Today, we are just going to relax and hang out, and maybe walk around a little bit. Everyone is a little tired from yesterday, so we will see what we want to do. For now, that's it. And again, sorry I can't post any pictures!

Here is a quote from a song by Wilson Phillips:
Things will go your way! Hold on for one more day!

Danka! Enjoy life!

Bonjour Paris!

Hey everyone. This week has been so busy! I had a few papers and a quiz this week, so I haven' had time to post anything new. But, here I am. On Thursday, our history class went to the Imperial War Museum, and it was amazing! We saw a ton of war artifacts from both WWI and II along with an exhibit on the Secret Service and Intelligence agencies in Britain. After that, we had art class at the Tate Britain and the Tate Modern. It was such a long day! Today, me, Julia, Hannah, Audrey, and Mike are going to Paris until Monday, and then we are making our way to Berlin. Our last stop is in Stockholm, where we will be meeting up with Liz and Leslie. I'm going to have my iPad, but I won't be able to post any pictures from my trip. I promise I will post about what we are doing. I'm really excited, and I hope everyone enjoys their mid-semester break, and Canadian Thanksgiving. Au Revoir!!!!!!!!!

Bridesmaids: 

Gil: Well, she can't work. She is here on a tourist visa.
Brynn: Yah, so technically I'm only allowed to tour. I have no way of making money. Unless I just go and prostitute down on the street. "Hello fellas. Here I am. Would you like to put your American sausage in my English McMuffin?"
Annie: No, No, No!!!!!!!!!

Enjoy everyone!!!!!!!!! I'll miss you!

Also, here is a fun video that Leslie made on our trip to Berlin:

Berlin!

Hello friends! I had the most amazing weekend! As I said in my last post, me, Liz, Alex, and Leslie went to Berlin from Thursday until Saturday. We were asked to see a ton of historic sights, but also to get a sense for the "vibe" of the city, and to try and understand the character and culture of Berlin. Y'all ready for this????

So, we struggled a lot on Thursday night trying to get to our Hostel. First, when we got off the plane, the money exchange counter was closed. This was a problem because none of us had any Euro's. This meant we didn't have any money to buy train tickets to get to Berlin. Luckily, I had 10 Euro's that Sammy gave me before coming to London, which was just enough to buy the tickets. We hopped on the train, and realized that our hostel stops checking people in at Midnight. It takes an hour to get there by train, and it was already 11:15, so we all started freaking out. We were so fortunate that the lady working the front desk waited for us, because she knew we were coming! We then settled into our room, and immediately went to find a place to eat. We were all starving. But, we had no money, so we spent another 30 minutes looking for an ATM. Thank god we found one, to which we gorged ourselves on burgers and fries. We went back to our hostel, and passed out.

Yummy!

Leslie and her beer!

Museum Island

Me at Brandenburg Gate

Holocaust Memorial at the Jewish Museum

My favourite destination, Checkpoint Charlie!

Friday was so eventful! We woke up and went to Alexanderplatz, which is a popular area just outside the city centre. We went there and were greeted by a huge open plaza, filled with authentic German food. We all got Brotwurst ("When your day is the worst, have a brotwurst" said the nice man who served us), which was unbelievable. Then, we went to an area where they had a "mini Oktoberfest" set up. Here are some pictures. Then, we bought tickets for the hop-on-hop-off city bus tour, which took us to the most important places, such as Brandenburg Gate, Museum Island, Checkpoint Charlie, and the Jewish Museum. We saw all of this in one day! Here is a picture from all of these places! The Jewish museum was very interesting, but looking through the area that is dedicated to the Holocaust was really hard. They have a beautiful memorial outside, called the Garden of Exile, but they also have something called the Holocaust Tower, which is a massive concrete room, that is dark and empty. It is supposed to symbolize the horror and death that occurred during the Holocaust. I went into this room alone, and I started to cry. I can't describe it, but all I know is that I felt 6 million souls just pushing on me, and I have never felt more connected to those people in my life. Alex, Liz, and I talked about the museum afterwards, and we all agreed that our generation will never be able to comprehend anything that happened. It was a very difficult part of the day for me. But, afterwards, we went into the gift shop, and I bought a bracelet with a Jewish prayer on it. It's Shema Yisrael, which means: "Hear, O Israel: the Lord is our God, the Lord is one". That whole museum gave me a new perspective on life, and that is that I am probably one of the luckiest people on the face of the Earth.

After the Jewish museum, we went to Checkpoint Charlie, which is the surviving checkpoint for entrance into the former East Berlin. It was controlled by the American's until 1989, when the Berlin wall was taken down. We went into the museum, and it was filled with everything you could want to know about the Cold war and what it was like to live in East Berlin, which was controlled by the Soviets. It was amazing, and the whole time I was thinking about how cool my Dad would think it was. Trust me Dad, Berlin is one of the coolest cities ever! After this, we were exhausted and hungry, so we went back towards our hostel, and found an authentic German restaurant. I got Schnitzel, and Liz, Leslie, and Alex got sweet and sour beef, but I forget the German name for it hahah. After dinner, we went out around our neighborhood, but there weren't very many places, and we got a little lost, so after a while we just gave up and went to bed.

Me at the Berlin Wall

The Holocaust Memorial

The group at the Memorial

Me, Liz, and Leslie planking lol!

My little piece of the wall!

We woke up on Saturday, and had until about 6 PM before we had to go to the airport, so we went back to Checkpoint Charlie to buy some souvenirs. I got my passport stamped 6 times with authentic stamps from the actual checkpoint area, and I also bought a few pebbles from the wall. After this, we went to the see what is left of a big portion of the Berlin wall. Here are some pictures. After the memorial, we went back to Alexanderplatz, where we just hung out until we hopped on our train to take us to the airport. We didn't get home until about 1:30 last night! It was an amazing trip, and one that I will not forget. Today, I'm doing homework, and relaxing. I'm getting family dinner tonight, and the Bills-Pats game is on! LET'S GO BUFFALO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Here is a quote to finish:

Elie Wiesel: For the dead and the living, we must bear witness.

I hope I didn't make you all too depressed with all of this! Enjoy life!

Yay! Berlin!

Hey everyone! So, today I got some very exciting news! Me and my Study Tour Group (Liz, Leslie, and Alex) got our travel info and itinerary for our weekend trip to Berlin. We leave on Thursday and come back to London on Saturday, and we are going to see some amazing things, like the Berlin Wall, The Jewish Museum, and the Holocaust Memorial. Alex, who has been to Berlin twice and speaks some German, which will definitely come in handy, told me that the Holocaust memorial is breathtaking, so I am really excited. This week hasn't been too busy so far, but I've got a few assignments piling up because mid-terms are coming up (can you believe it?) I have a History mid-term quiz next Tuesday, and a journal for Art class due on Friday, as well as a 5 page film analysis. So, things are starting to add up! But, once it's all over, I get to go on an amazing fall break!

Later in the week, I'm going to buy theatre tickets to see Les Miserables. I've always wanted to see this show, so hopefully I'll be able to buy tickets. Also, Mumford and Son's (a folk/indie/soft rock band) is playing at the O2 in December, and tickets go on sale on Friday, so I want to check that out also.

Tomorrow is Yom Kippur, which is the Jewish holiday in which we fast for one day in remembrance of those who suffered. So, I will be cranky all day haha. But, when it comes time to break the fast, it will be a ton of fun, because Naeem will be coming with me to a pub called Five Bells, which is literally 100 feet from my house. At this pub, they have what is called the "Flaming Food Challenge". I will not be attempting this, but Naeem will. Here is what it entails:

• Two 12 oz. beef burgers
• Two breaded chicken breasts
• Melted cheddar cheese
• Bacon
• Onions
• Onion rings
• Spicy beef chili
• Chips (what you American's/Canadians call french fries)

Crazy right? If you eat it all, you get your picture taken and get placed on the wall of fame. I think I'm just going to get a steak or something, but I think it will be fun to watch Naeem try to take this down. Anyways, I'll blog again later this week about Berlin!

Here is a quote from the book I just started reading, On The Road by Jack Kerouac:

Sal Paradise: "The air was soft, the stars so fine, the promise of every cobbled alley so great, that I thought I was in a dream."

Keep in touch! Stay classy!