Half-asleep on the bus between Barceolona and Valencia, Spain.

Listening to my music when ¨Run¨ by Snow Patrol comes on.

And then my phone rings.

My Nana passed away at night (it was 5am in Toronto) and my Dad called to give me the news.

The girls were really supportive, but crying on a coach bus is rather embarassing. Thank god I had 2 more hours where I didn´t have to talk to anyone.

Thank you to everyone i txted that day that offered their love and support. To my family. To Monica, Jen and Michelle. And to Nick and Emma and Gavin, who although they were many many miles away (and in Nick´s case, even farther), were there for me the whole time.


Light up, light up
As if you have a choice
Even if you cannot hear my voice
I'll be right beside you dear

The rain in spain is in my head.

So after getting home from the lakes last night at 11pm, Michelle and I had to pack up all our stuff for Spain, shower, and then leave for the bus from Victoria at 2 am... Our plane flew out at 630 am! So basically we got about 1 hour of sleep before jetting off on our next adventure.

After a long long way to get to the airport, we clamboured aboard a lovely Ryan Air flight (yeah right) that took us to Barcelona! Well, more specifically, Girona Barcelona.. 1.5 hours outside of the city centre. We got in, then took lie a 45 minute travel to our hostel (very nice hostel though) and met up with Jen (who had been here for one day already and will be traveling the rest of spain with us).

Now we were exhausted, but also hungry... and since our hostel is in the outskirts, we ventured into a little cafe where NO ONE spoke english (well, except for a like 14 year old boy who helped us out a bit). Now THIS is a traditional traveling experince... one that I had actually never came across before because normally SOMEONE speaks English. Basically, we relied on Michelle´s awesome grade 10 spanish, the broken words of a 15 year old barcelona boy, and lots of miming and bringing out dishes off other peoples tables to show us what they were!!

Somehow we ended up with some delicious food. I had some grilled chicken (super salty) and chips (err, fries) and Mon-Jen-Michelle had some rice with warm gespacho and an egg (?). They also gave us a free bottle of water, bread and then some yummy ice-cream dessert. All for 5 euros... which was cheaper than we thought. They were SUPER nice and it was amazing to interact with locals... and made us realise how awful we are at spanish.


...now for the unpleasant news.

My Nana is not doing very well. She has been sick for the past little while and now is back from the hospital, in pallative care, and such. My sister wrote me a msg explaining it better than I can so I´ll just copy it here:

¨She’s now refusing to eat anything or take her meds and she’s only drinking sips of ginger ale occasionally when her throat is dry or she coughs. The doctors think there is probably actually something going on in her body that is making her not want to or unable to eat but she has kind of given up her will to fight/live anymore so there isn’t much they can do anyways. She’s under palliative care now which means that they won’t send her to the hospital for anything but they can administer what the doctor orders which is good bc that means she can stay in her room (which is all she wanted when she was at the hospital) and they’re making sure she is comfortable.

Basically, I feel really guilty. How can I have fun and be on bloody holiday while my family is in so much pain! How can I go and drink sangria when my nana is so sick. I feel awful. I cried a bit here in the hostel and talked to my sister a bit so I know there is nothing I can do. But I just feel guitly. I won´t be flying home because of the logistics and timing, and it doesnt make much sense for me to fly home for a few days and then fly back to London when I´ll be back in under two months. But still. I feel pretty shitty.

The rain in spain is in my head.

But I know my Nana and my dad would want me to push on and enjoy my holiday. The girls know (monica is telling them) so they understand if I´m a little quieter... but the most I can do is love the life my Nana has always wanted me to have.

It´s still pretty awful to deal wtih all this without my family right by though.

Love you all.

The Lakes are lovely (said in a british accent)

I had a wonderful weekend up north.

My night in Manchester was a blast. Met up with Dave (one of the british exchange students that lived with us in Bates in first year), had some pizza, played some drinking games, and headed off to a club to celebrate his roommates birthday. Craig met up with us too which is always a pleasure. :)

On Saturday, we (did I mention Michelle - a friend from Toronto - is visiting?) along with Dave and his gf, drove up to Dave´s childhood home in the Lakes District. He lives in Ambleside... and the town is as cute as its name implies. A small village in England´s national park. Surrounded by mountains and near the biggest lake in the lake district, it was out of a postcard of English countryside quaintness. Not to mention Dave´s family owns a toystore and THEY LIVE ABOVE IT. I have always had a dream of living above a store and this was pretty much my dream house, lol. We went for hikes and had picnics, wandered around the town (there are sheep EVERYWHERE), and enjoyed the local pubs and nightlife (although we had to travel to the next town for that). Then on Monday... we went on an alpine high ropes course in the forest. called ¨Go APE¨.. Basically, we got strapped to carabeeners and wires, climbed huge ladders and did all these cool apline tree things...like wobbly bridges, swings, jumping off the edge and flinging yourself onto a net... and ZIP LINES. I have always wanted to go on one and I went on FOUR. SO MUCH FUN. I had a blast there! Totally reccomend it to EVERYONE. There are about 18 different branches across England, so if you come visit, you should go here! ... unless you are afraid of heights. (monica)

Zurich Recap

So I have completely neglected my blog over the past two weeks and I apologize!

Quick Recap of Zurich:
- Clean, quiet, peaceful city.
- They have a trolly car that goes up a hill for only three minutes to commute the university students from the main street to the university up on a hill. I was very excited by this trolly car and made Gavin take me on it.
- Very pretty river and lakeside.
- Grossmunster church has very beautiful, but very "different" stained glass windows. No huge jesuses here... but cool art pieces.
- Gavin was a wonderful tour guide and host :) I will return the favour in July.
- Sprungli chocolate = AMAZING. Even better? these things: Luxemburgerli
- Gavin cooked me a wonderful dinner each night. Saved money AND was delicious.
- Went on an amazing hike up a steeeeeep hill to get a wonderful view of the city, Swiss countryside and far off Alps. Complete with celebratory half-melted ice-cream and beer at the top.
- Party scene in Zurich = dub-step club and student bar, not as wild as London, but not bad either... the walk home however, was VERY enjoyable.
- Naps on the grass in a park by the lake = a wonderful idea
-....and ASH CLOUD STRIKES BACK!!! A small eruption canceled my flight (mine was the ONLY one to London from Zurich that was canceled -- what are the chances!?) so I ended up crashing at Gavin's another night and heading home in the morning on Monday. Apparently London doesn't want me to return? Okay by me, I'll travel some more!

So there you have it... Three days in Zurich in a nutshell. It was great, I got a patch, and can check another country off the list.

Zurich!

Switzerland tomorrow!
More specifically, ZURICH tomorrow!

I'm heading to visit a guy I knew in first year (haven't seen Gavin in like 4 years, but we kept in touch via facebook!) and I'm really excited! Switzerland was unfortuently one of the countries we couldn't visit in our Eurotrip last year, so I'm glad I'm getting a chance to see it --- and with a local tour guide! Gavin is there studying geophysics or something crazy smart, but I'm stealing him away from his studies to tour me around (actually no I'm not, I lied. He has a field trip in the AM I arrive so I'm gonna let myself into his flat with a hidden key).

The only shitty thing about this trip is the flight time there. I have a 6:30 flight from Stansted airport, like an hour outside of London centre and even farther from the 'Shim (Monica and my new "ghetto white girl" nickname for our lovely little neighbourghood of Lewisham). I am catching an easybus airport transfer at 3:15 AM!!! So I am just going to head out to Sam's flat because she is right near the bus stop and hopefully catch a few hours of sleep. I'm rather nervous flying for the first time by myself, but at least I sort of know this airport (we flew out to Italy from it).

Anyways, the next time I blog, I will be 5 pounds fatter from all the Lindt I eat. Hahaha, jealous Dad?

Where are the mighty ducks when you need em??

I never thought I would be affected by a volcano in my lifetime, but....

f-ing Iceland.

Guess who was stuck in Bratislava for an extra two days?! And Bratislava is a lovely town... but not a three day worthy town. We did most of it in the afternoon of the first day.

We had a motto of "What Happens in Bratislava, Stays in Bratislava", so I won't go into much detail. Needless-to-say, our time there involved: men in manholes, attempts at authentic cooking, 1 euro beers, giant straws, and dinosaurs.

Yes, dinosaurs.

Did you not know that they are still around in Bratislava? In DinoPark? An addition of the Bratislavia Zoo? Oh yes.

We met up with another traveler who was stuck in Bratislava and trying to head to London. His name was Mark and he is studying overseas for a semester (he's 21 and from Denver or somewhere). He was nice, but rather quiet and we hung out with him for like two days, plus the 22hr bus ride.

Bus ride??? you say. Oh yes. 22 hours?? you say. Hells yes. We drove through 5 countries and now I can say that I have driven across Europe. The only reason we knew which country we were in was because my phone would send me a text message welcoming to "vodafone France" or "vodafone czech" whenever we crossed borders. When we bought our tix, the ticket lady did not speak any english so when we finally able to get a ticket to London (she was very frustrated with our lack of Slovak speaking skills), we weren't able to ask her HOW it got to London. All we knew was that we had to be at the station at 9 am and that it cost 80 euros.

They kept showing movies, but not in english or with english subtitles. I watched one. This movie where two divers get left behind in the ocean during a resort scuba diving thing and then they get eaten by sharks (spoiler alert). It was interesting because I had to rely totally on the visuals.

There was this guy behind us... Yeesh with a capital Y. He was drunk. and fell asleep leaning forward so his hands kept hitting us on the head. And then, about an hour after one of our pit stops, he threw up. In a bag allegedly, but also it leaked on the floor. We were able to pick up all our stuff without getting it on it, but still. GROSS. I couldnt' really smell it, but Lisa could. And the next pit stop wasn't for FOUR HOURS. So when we stopped, she mimed to the driver (who also spoke very little english) and it was cleaned up. No more throwing up from the man for the rest of the trip at least....

We finally got into the Port of Dover at like 8 am on Sunday. What a way to end the trip. Definitly a story I will always remember.

F-ing Iceland.

Singing in the Rain... In Vienna!

Small Rant: Make sure that you always buy the correct metro ticket when in another country... otherwise, you end up in tricky situations like we did on our way from the hostel to the bus station to go to Vienna. Apparently we had bought a 3 stop Metro ticket and were on the train for 5 stops... even though the number 3 shows up NO where on the ticket machine when you buy it (even when you ask to translate it into english). These three ticket checker ladies subsequently charged us 25 Euros EACH for not having hte correct ticket. But it wasnt like we were trying to cheat the system!! If we didnt have a ticket at ALL, I could understand, but no, they were having none of the "We dont speak your language and are poor student travellers." So long story short, we ended up paying a fare for those tickets that cost more than our two nights in the hostel.

Now back to the adventures of Lisa and Susan...

We took the bus to Vienna because it was cheaper than taking the train. Two other boys (An aussie - Paul and a kiwi - Steve) from our hostel were also going to Vienna that day so we took the same bus as them. They were super nice and helpful with getting us to the bus station and calming us down after those bitchy ticket ladies took our money. They are noth actually living in London too so hopefully I will see them when we get back from our travels! The bus ride was sweet. Comfy seats, free hot beverages, and they showed a movie (The Game Plan starring The Rock... I made it about halfway before falling asleep). Got to Vienna, went to our separate hostels (our new hostel is NO where near as awesome or nice as the Loft in Budapest) and then met up for drinks and dinner after. I had some schnizle and the boys bought us beer to compensate us for the ticket fiasco (so nice) and we headed back to our hostels around 1.

You know my family's travel motto? "Its not a trip til Susan pukes". Well, got that covered last night. Woke up in the middle of the night with a wicked bad sore throat and my stomach all in knots. :( Not to mention our hostel bathroom is GROSS. Took a gravol and passed out again. Lisa said her throat also hurts, so mazbe we picked up a bug somewhere.

We woke up today around 10, had a shitty hostel breakfast (2.80 for two rolls and a tea) and headed outside in the RAIN. ALl day it has been raining and COLD. No wonder we are getting sick! We also had nooooo energy so today has been kind of a lazy wander. We went to a museum on Music called the Haus Musik and learned all about a bunch of famous composers (Mozart, Schubert, Strauss, etc) as well as a modern, interactive portion (we acted as conductors using Wii technology!). We did that for most of the day, wandered around nachmarkt for lunch, and checked out a bunch of parliament and pretty buildings. We made grilled cheese at our hostel for dinner, then headed to a concert!

The concert was very small, but still impressive! We only paid 18 euros each for it so it was in our price range too. The first half was Mozart and the second was Strauss. There was an opera singer and two ballet dancers as well. It was very nice to pretend to be classy (in my hoodie and trainers...lol). Now we are calling it a night because we have more to see tomorrow before heading to.... BRATISLAVA!

Wonderful, Beautiful Budapest

I am in love with this city. I had heard it was beautiful and charming from about 10 people before I headed here and they were right!

We got in on Saturday morning to our very chilled out, amazing hostel. The atmosphere here is amazing. Totally relaxed, friendly people and it was basically like a small cottage to sleep in! The girl that works here, Jess, is Australian and very helpful and showed us all the sights to see on a map. The first day we did Buda (Budapest is separated to a Buda side to the left of the Danube and Pest on the right). Things we did:

- went to a market and had some paprika potatoes (they are all about the paprika here, I LOVE IT) and bought a little souvienier secret box.
- saw one of the oldest churches in Budapest, it was built into a giant cave!
- walked up a giant hill to the citadel to see a great view of the city
- crossed the green bridge and elizabeth (white) bridges
- went on some cool slides in a little parkette on the side of the hill near the citadel (I love foreign playgrounds)
- walked to the castle, wandered around a bit, then came back to the hostel for a nap
- had dinner (chicken stuffed with apples and cheese for me, fried cheese for Lisa... there are not many veggie options here)
- relaxed at the hostel in the evening and watched Tropic Thunder
- No rain!!

Day 2 (Sunday)
We finally were able to sleep in a little bit so we slept til about 10 am (hahah if you knew me, youd be like 10 am is SLEEPIN IN?? Oh how things have changed). Woke up and did the PEST side. We started the daz off bz going to the large synagogue and walked through the memorial garden. In that garden, over 2000 Jews who died during the holocaust / ghettos are buried in 12 mass graves. It was a very simple, nice memorial.Next was St. Peters Basicilica. Immense and very beautiful. Walked in during Sunday Mass. Stood around for a bit before deciding that a). we are not Christian so its no big deal and b). Cant understand hungarian. We also saw the Opera and went in the lobby (Very pretty).

Then we went to the "House of Terror" museum which was located at 6ö Andressy. This building housed both the Nazi Party headquarters in WWII and the Hungarian equivalent of the KGB in the subsequent years. Hungary went through two totalitarian regiemes and this museum was more of a memorial (than an artifacts) museum. It was pretty heavy stuff and I really did not know anything about that part of Hungarian history so I was very interested. They had recreated prision cells in the basement and it was very sobering to see those.

The afternoon we spent at the Thermal baths. IT WAS GLORIOUS. After having to walk all those steps in Amalfi and up the giant hill to see the Citadel the previous day, our bodies NEEDED that relaxation. You buy a little electronic watch/bracelet to open lockers and gain entrance to the baths. There were three main outdoor baths. One that was similar to the hot pool at VV (tempreature wise) with a little whirlpool you could swim around in. We started off there. Then there is a middle pool where you can swim laps in (we didnt go in there). Finally there is a giant hot tub where we spent most of our time. :) You were only supposed to be there for 2ö minutes... we were there about two hours. We ran into two swiss boys from our hostel so we hung out with them in the baths for alittle while before heading back to the hostel. Watched Clerks with our hostelmates before heading out to dinner with the Swiss boys.

We ate dinner on Raday Street with the two Swiss boys and I finally tried Goulash soup! It was very tasty. I also had chicken paprikash with noodles and a shot of Palinka, plum flavoured (very strong liqour that Kayt told me I HAD TO TRY). After dinner we wandered around the city to go to the main bridge with the lions (cant remember the name) and grabbed some milkshakes from McDonalds (the only way the boys would walk with us was with a milkshake they said). We wandered through a big crowd that was celebrating the Hungarian elections. When we were there, the orange was in the lead.... democrats?

Came back to the hostel and everyone was awake. Had a few drinks and talked to the rest of the people in the hostel before reitring to bed at 2 am. Overall, I LOVE this city and LOVE this hostel (I think its my favourite) and will try to come back. Its so cheap here! Today we are heading to Vienna in the afternoon.

Amalfi Coast = heavenly.

So I have maintained that Newschwanstien castle in Füssen, Germany, is the prettiest place I've visited... but that may now have changed. The Amalfi Coast in Italy is GORGEOUS. We stayed in Maiori, which was a small adorable town right on the mountains and right off the Medetrainian Sea (which I continually called the Ocean... whatever, I'm not a geography major!).

We took the train in from Florence and then a bus along the Amalfi Coast to our small little town. Maiori was gorgeous. I've never been to Cuba or anywhere, but I think this area kicks that beaches ass. I mean, it wasnt white sandy beaches or anything, but it was just so... peaceful. Maybe it was because it was such a drastic change from the hell that was Naples. But either way, imagine being in a little coach bus, winding up and down the mountains, dangerously close to the edge of a cliff that tumbles into the blue/green Mediterrain sea. Imagine houses and hostels carved up the mountain side where people hang their clothes out to dry outside and dogs wander everywhere with not a care in the world. That was Maoiri. It was a good thing we went in the off-season because I can imagine it being insanly touristy in the summer. As it was it was great.

Our hostel was actually a B and B. It was so cute. Wonderful, pretty rooms with a GREAT breakfast included and OUR OWN Bathrooms. :) However, it was 150 steps to get there! And we're all lugging huge backpacks! Needless to say, i have KILLER legs now. lol.

We basically wandered the town for the first day, had a late lunch on the boardwalk and then retired to our B and B. For some reason I have a thing with roofs and decided to climb up on ours (well, I was actually in search of my laundry which was apparently drying on the roof and I had no idea where that was). What a great view! Later in the evening, Monica Chris and I went up there with a few Peronis (Italian beer) and enjoyed the lights of Maiori.

The next day the girls went to another town about 40 minutes away but I elected to stay and explore Maoiri more. I wanted a chilled out day with no more running around. I hung out with Monica and Chris (it wasnt tooo third wheelish) all day. We had a picnic lunch, shopped in a market, walked on the beach with our feet in the sea, and had chocolatta (which was basically like hot chocolate soup). Unfortuently, due to our shitty flight time, LIsa and I had to leave Maoiri that evening to catch a train and bus back to Naples in order to fly out at 8 am to Budapest.

However, I would LOVE to come back to the Amalfi Coast and explore it more. I have also decided that I want to have my honeymoon in Greece because I imagine it to be very similar. So dear Future Husband, just a heads up. :)

Big Bad City of Napoli

Naples. was. terrifying.

It's definitly NOT a tourist friendly city. But much more of an 'authentic' italian experince I guess. Tons of vespas, creepy guys leering at us, and good food. We had a hell of a time trying to figure out the Metro and no one speaks english. Already off to a bad start. We went to a market, which according to Lonely Planet, was the best in Naples. But we felt differently.

Imagine THE sketchiest parts of Kensignton Market (Toronto), multiply that by a hundred, add in the fact that we stick out like sore thumbs and everyone hates us and thats what it was like. As we were walking down the market, someone in the houses above us threw dirty water on us, nailing chris right in the head!!!! Seriously. We lasted 30 minutes before running back to our hostel.

Our hostel on the other hand... is BEAUTIFUL!! Great bedrooms, wonderful terrace, free breakfast, good common room. Totally reccomend it if you ever come to Naples.... but dont ever come to Naples.

THe only good thing about this city was its Pizza. Pizza was invented in Naples and we went to the best pizzaria in all of Italy (according both to LOnely Planet and our taste buds). It was called Gino Sobilla. I had a gorgonzola, ham, and onion pizza. IT WAS AMAZING. I really reccomend it if you evercome to Naples.... but dont ever come to Naples.

Now we're headed out to the Amalfi Coast. Its beautiful waether here and its only going to get warmed another hour south. We have a b & b and its going to be good Ithink. I'll keep ya posted. :)

Roma Ro MA MA!!!

Roma RO MA MA!! That lady Gaga song has been in my head the whole time in Rome (because Rome in Italian is ROMA). The second day in Rome was insanely busy and a tad bit stressful! It was BEAUTIFUL outside, sun shining, hot and wonderful. We woke up super early to head to the Vatican in hopes of missing all the long lines. Well, apparently everyone else in Rome thought so as well. We waited for TWO HOURS in line to get into the Vatican. I'm not even religious!! Ah well, its something to say you have seen!

We finally got into the Vatican Museum and started walking around with about a bazillion other tourists. And in the Octagonal Room, I LOST MY FRIENDS. There were four of us and I couldn't find them. So I though, oh well, I'll meet them outside of the Sistine Chapel and kept walking. Got to the Sistine Chapel, saw the frescos and pretty celiing... but honestly, was a little dissapointed. You know this picture () well, its actually a very SMALL part of the celing. I mean, it was impressive that it took Michalangelo 4 years to paint it, but I was much more impressed with the Statue of David in Florence. Plus, having waited for like three hours by that point to see the Sistine Chapel (because really, that was what I was there for) was kinda a rip.

Remember how I said I lost Sally, Kim and Lisa? Well, I never found them. I waited outside the museum for about an hour and then after having a littl freak out (and calling my parents and therefore freaking them out too -- sorry!), I headed back to the hostel in hopes of seeing them there. I left a note for them in our room and at reception, but because it was a beautiful day and my ONLY day in Rome, I decided to head to the Collesium by myself because I really wanted to see that.

And man, am I glad I did!!! That was probably my favourite thing I've seen in all of Italy (maybe even more than David). I went on a tour (paid an extra 4 euros and skipped the line) and learned all about the gladitatorial games, the Collesium and ancient Rome. Did you know, for example, that the women had to sit with the slaves at the topmost tier of the Collesium? What a gip. Also, at the inaugeration, they filled it up with water and staged a naval battle? Too cool. The tour was full of all kinds of things like that and I was so happy to FINALLY learn something about the things we were seeing.

Being by myself on the tour was pretty nice actually. I didnt have to wait for anyone or stop for bathroom breaks (which happens A LOT when you travel as a group of 6 girls). I mean, i don't know if I could travel by myself for long periods of time, but for alittle bit it was a nice break. I felt like a true traveller, not so much as a tourist. :) I headed back to the hostel around 5:30 and finally reunited with everyone. Had a quick nap and headed to dinner with all 8 of us (Monica and Chris too).

I had the best pasta EVER. Bucatini All'Amatricana which was Bucatini pasta in a bacon, tomatoe, onion and chili sauce (I took a photo of the menu so I'd remember, LOL). It was amazing. :) After dinner we went to the hostel bar, had a beer, and played Pictionary (which I ROCKED at).

Roma Ro-ma-ma!

So we've arrived in Rome!! The Eternal City! Took a 6 hour train ride to get here from Venice. But ever since the summer, long train rides don't bother me! On the train, Kristin and Lisa randomly ran into some boys they met in Grenada at New Years so that was pretty exciting for them. I want to randomly run into someone I know in Europe!!

Anyways, we pulled into Rome around 4 pm and checked into our hostel. We had to split up into three and three so I am bunking with Sally and Kim. We met up with Monica and Chris who had already been here for a day and seen the Coliseum.

The group of 7 (haha) then went to dinner and found a cheap ristorante where I had a 5 Euro Lasagna. We then decided to go see some famous sites because we are trying to cram in all of Rome in one day tomorrow. So with my map in hand, I led the group around Rome. And I was a good navigator (so ha! dad). We went to the Trevi Fountain and threw a coin in to make a wish. Its absolutely beautiful. Oh and we also got Gelato again (this time: cherry and dark chocolate...mmm... plus a hilarious gelato man who served us our dessert). Next we walked to the Pantheon which was... can you guess? ...UNDER CONSTRUCTION. LIKE ALL OF EUROPE. We also saw a piazza which was very pretty. But it was dark and we were tired so we ended up just walking back to the hostel and here I am!!

As usual, Its now time for me to say goodnight. Tomorrow we're trying to go to Vatican City and then the coliseum on a walking tour. Early wake up call at 7am.... Then we're also having a night out and partying it up in rome. So you might get a drunken post from me. Ciao!

When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie....

Wow, I have done so much in the past three days it's hard to remember. I'm currently on a computer (circa 1993) in our hostel in Venice so I'll try to quickly hammer it out before someone else needs to use it!

Florence *Friday*
- slept in a little bit and had a 5 euro brekfast at the hostel. Had my first italian pastry and it was delicious (a doughnut with cream in the middle, mmm).
- The weather fluctuated from beautiful sun showers to cold rain. But the majority of the day was warm sun showers.
- Wandered around the city and looked at famous sites like the Duomo (didn't pay / wait in line to go up it and get a panaramic view of Florence though).
- Waited in line for an hour to see David..... and it was WORTH IT. The statue is immensive and impressive. The most impressive and beautiful statue I've ever seen. Michalangelo clearly was a master. :)
- Ate shitty pizza in a cafe. :(
- Walked some more and saw the square full of statues, including a replica of David.
- Watched a bunch of living statues even though they give me the creeps
- Stood in line for 45 minutes to get into the Uffizi, a large art gallery. Unfortuently, we were only there for 45 minutes before closing so we kinda just ran through it. BUutttt I did get to see Botticelli's Birth of Venus!!!!
- Great hostel dinner for 5 euros and ended up playing pool and cards in the dining room / bar area.
- Met three fun American boys and a Canadian couple and drank with them a little bit.
- Earned my Florence patch. ;)

SAN GIMINANGO *Saturday*
- I can never pronounce the name of that place.... but it was BEAUTIFUL. It was in Tuscany and full of old world charm. A little touristy now, but still THIS is what I thought Italy would look like. Narrow streets, tall sandy coloured buildings surrounded by vineyards and countryside. This town is about an hour away from Florence (and you have to take a train and then a bus to get there).
- Wandered around after checking into our adorably quaint hostel (basically like a B & B... without the second B)
- Ate a salad at a cute but expensive Ristorante.
- Ate worlds best (2006/07 Champions) Gelato... Cinamon, Dark Chocolate, and Raspberry flavours.... A-MAZING.
- Took lots of pretty pictures and fell asleep early. :)

VENICE *Sunday*
- Woke up at 6:30 am to catch the bus... that ended up coming an hour after it said it would. :( But slept on the train and arrived in Venice in the afternoon.
- This city is exactly how I pictured it. Gondalas, canals, tall buildings that are falling down / rustic looking. And very very expensive food / everything. lol.
- We went on a Gondala ride!!!!!!!! 15 Euros each for only half an hour but totally worth it. :) Our gondalier was adorable and sang to us while also spouting out various trivia about the buildings around us (which as you know I'm a big dork -- I loved). This was my favourite thing we've done in Italy so far even though it was very expensive.
- Walked around a lot and took forever to find the perfect Venician mask... but I did! It's blue and pretty and paper mache... Now I somehow have to get it back to London in one piece... The girls want me to wear it on the train tomorrow... and I might just do that.
- Had the best pizza :)

And that brings us up to date. There are people waiting in line so I gotta go. ROME TOMORROW!!! And I get reunited with monica (and chris!)!!! So excited to see them. It's felt like I've been travelling for a week but its been only 4 days... 12 more to go!! :)

I LOVE TRAVELING!!!!!!

Viva Italia!

I am now typing to you from our hostel in Florence, Italy! Day 1 of Italy - Eastern Europe trip complete!

We spent last night in the Days Hotel near Stansted airport because our plane left at 630 am today. WE includes myself, Lisa and Kristin (two girls I knew from McMaster) and their two friends, Kim and Sally. I took an airport shuttle bus from London to Stansted and even though it should have only taken me an hour to get there, it took TWO due to an accident on the M25. Bloody hell. Anyways, I met Kim and Sally and we hung out in the hotel room until LIsa and Kristin came a few hours later. In order to save afew bucks, we said there were 4 ppl insted of 5 in our room, so three of us ended up having to sleep sideways in a double bed! Needlesstosay, it was not a good nights sleep.

We woke up at4am and I had my first Ryan Air experince. Ryan AIr is a budget airline with very shitty customer service, but cheap prices. Our flight was about two hours and i dozed the whole time. We arrived in Pisa and had our first bus adventure. We tried to take public transit to the leaning tower, but ended up super far away and had to walk (lugging our backpacks) for like 20 minutes til we found our way to the tower. Tonnnnnnns of pictures were taken (trying to hold it up, leaning against it, trick photography, etc) and then we stopped for lunch at a pizzaria in view of the tower. I had an olive pizza that was delicious, except for the fact that there were very few olives. pizza in Pisa is very thin and very yummy.

We made our way to the train station and caught a train to Florence (Florinza). Our hostel, Plus Florence Hostel, was reccomended by Ve and seems more like a HOTEL!!! We are in an 8 bed mixed dorm that had three sleeping boys in it when we arrived at 3 pm. Havent talked or met them yet... Gorgeous beds, great lockers, and guess what.... A POOL AND SAUNA! Not to mention a rooftop terrace! Unfortuently, its a bit rainy so that terrace wasnt very busy.

After we settled in and explored the hotel, we decided to find some gelato. MMMMM. I had dark chocolate and mixed fruits. Super yummy. We saw the Duomo, but will look at it more tomorrow. We then went through a market. Italy, maybe Florence especially, is known for its leather so I bought two little braclets and..... A LEATHER JACKET! Real leather! I saw one I loved, but it was 180 euros and i couldnt afford it. After talking to the merchant, he found me one that was in my budget and I bought it for 60 euros!! I get so excited when I remember that I bought it. Lisa also purchased a stylish purple leather jacket. The merchant was awesome and kissed us on our cheeks when we left.

After shopping, we went to dinner (off the beaten path... I told them we had to walk for 5 minutes away from the market and do two zig zags before we settled on a restaurant so we weould get something more authentic). I had yummy but filling 4 cheese Gnocchi and white wine. We then came back to the hostel and chilled a bit before heading to the FREEZING cold pool (indoors). Luckily, they had a sauana too. I met some Americans and a Spaniard when the other girls left to go back to the room. The ppl I met arent gonna be FB friends, but we did havea great convo!

Now my minutes are almost up and its super expensive to use the internet at this hostel. Spending the rest of the day tomorrow in Florence and Ill post as soon as I can! Ciao!

Two weeks of boredom and then....

Both Jaclyn and my Dad scolded me for not updating my blog enough.

Well, the truth is... nothing exciting has happened really! I have had a cold for the past two weeks (slightly getting over it now --- which I am solely contributing to the fact that I fixed my good luck whale necklace that had been broken since the night before I got pneumonia) and a lot of my classes that I've been teaching have been hellish yr 5s. Two sundays ago, Monica Bao and i went to the Imperial War Museum (toured the WWI, WWII, and Holocaust exhibits) and I really found that interesting and enjoyable. That was my kind of history! And then on Monday night, I went to a pub quiz night at one of our locals (The Fox and Firkin) with Monica, Chris (he got here on Sunday), Bao, Steve Topp and his gf Karen. Btw, I would like to shout a internet CONGRATULATIONS to Steve and Karen who are expecting their first child! Crazy! The pub quiz was fun but very UK-centric and therefore we came in dead last (our name was "and in last place..." because we figured as much). I hope to continue going back there though, I really enjoyed it! The trivia / Jeopardy dork in me loved it!!

But now.... the next 16 days.... they will not be boring. There WILL be posts (hopefully every other day at least!) because..... I AM FINALLY GETTING SOME TRAVELING DONE! I'm going to Italy and Eastern Europe! In like 10 minutes, I'm heading over to the hotel airport (we grabbed a room for the night because our plane ride is freaking at 6 am). I'm going with six other girls, two of whom (lisa and kristin) I know from Mac. Monica and Chris are meeting up with us in Rome on Tuesday. Our plan of attack for Italy is:

Pisa -> Florence -> San Gimignano -> Venice -> Murano/Burano Islands -> Rome -> Vatican city -> Naples -> The Amalfi Coast!

Then on the 10th, Lisa and I are saying bye to everyone else, hopping on a plane and heading to Eastern Europe!

Budapest, Hungry -> Vienna, Austria -> Bratislava, Slovakia -> LONDON!

Should be a whirlwind 16 days! See you in Italy!

Cat-pocalypse!

I just woke up to the Cat-pocalypse.

I was sleeping soundly when all of a sudden I woke up to cats fighting very loudly. I was confused and then more than a little freaked out. The noises dulled a bit so I opened my door and went to the stairs. I turned on the light and saw fur everywhere. Now I'm sufficiently freaked out, no one else is moving around in this house and I begin to feel like I'm in some sort of bizarre nightmare. So I take my cell and text everyone in my house to see if they heard it too. Monica replied back, but understandably refused to open the door because it had happened right outside her bedroom. She eventually comes out and we marvel how in the heck Jonnie and Allen didn't wake up or get my texts too. I also tell her we need to check to see if Fred is hurt in the dining room / kitchen.

Armed with a flashlight (woo, what a great weapon... Monica and I decided we're going to each take one of Jonnie's golf clubs and keep it beside our beds in the future), we creep along the side of the hall to the dining room and I reach in and flick on the light. Nothing. So we move towards the kitchen (where the cat door is) and flick on the light. Nothing. No more fur here or in the dining room either. Monica is the worst horror movie investigator ever, she was like two feet behind me the whole time. lol.

By this time, Allen comes downstairs. He got my text but did not hear the cat's fighting. We wait around in the kitchen for about 10 minutes to see if Fred returns. He doesn't. We then start to joke about how the ghetto life of Lewisham is now getting to the cats as Fred has to protect his crib from the other cracker cats. We all retire to our rooms, but I am still WIDE awake (its now 4:30 am). I'm really worried about Fred. I hope he comes home soon and is not too hurt. :(


UPDATE: Fred got home at 5:30 and seemed alright, except when I woke up today there were splotches of blood on my covers from him and he's limping. Poor guy. At least I have a reason to buy my "own" new duvet covers....

I love going to the pictures....

'Twas brillig and the slithy toves
Did gyre and gimbel in the wabe.
All mimsy were the borogoves
And the mome raths outgrabe.

And so begins the Jaberwocky... a poem from Lewis Carrol's Alice Through the Looking Glass and one that we studied back in Grade 11 quite extensively as I recall. I went and saw Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland tonight and now I cannot get that poem out of my head!

Cinemas in London are much different than the multi-plex cinemas back home. For one thing, when you buy your tickets (your very EXPENSIVE tickets... £12.40 this time, and £14.50 when we saw Valentines Day) you choose where you'll be sitting! They have reserved seating so you don't have to rush in to get a seat. Some theatres have priority seating which you can pay an extra two pounds for and it'll give you "better" seats. Also, the theatres all have bars in them where you can order drinks to either be brought to your seat or you can bring in with you before the film starts. Similar snacks (popcorn, sweets, pop, etc), although they asked us if we wanted "salt or sweet" popcorn instead of "butter or salted?".

We've been to two different theatres. We saw Valentines Day at one of the Odeons in Leicester Square. This is where they hold all the movie premieres in London so this theatre was F-A-N-C-Y. It had a curtain and two tier seating. Unlike the cinemas back home, this theatre was only showing two films. Not every film is shown in every cinema and they don't all have similar times (like back home you can see a film at like 7, 9 or 11). The latest films are here start at 9. I think that's because the tube closes at 12:30. They show ads just like back home, but don't do that pre-ads slideshow. Anyways, I really liked this theatre, even though it was a bit more expensive than the other one.

Tonight however, we went to the "other one". We went to the Greenwich Picture House, which tends to show a mix of popular and art house films. For example, they were showing Alice in Wonderland, but also the Girl with the Red Dragon Tattoo and The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (an AMAZING silent film I studied in one of my film classes at Mac). This theatre is also the closest to us as it's only a 15 minute bus ride away. The screen was not as impressive (much smaller than the Leicester Sq one) but still adequate. Anyways, I think this is enough talk about cinemas. I keep forgetting that most people aren't big film geeks like me.

I went and saw the film with Allen and Monica and we had a great time. It was a wonderful end to probably the MOST stressful week of teaching I've had here. Remind me never to take a supply shift that's longer than one day. Because if its only one day and it goes bad, you can relish in the fact that you don't have to go back there tomorrow. But if its a three day cover no matter how bad the first day was, you still have to go back there for two more days. YEESH.

Full of cupcakes.

"And if your strife strikes at your sleep, remember spring swaps snow for leaves. You'll be happy and wholesome again, when the city clears and sun ascends"
- Mumford & Sons, Winter Winds.

I think I've played that song about 8 times a day for the past week.

Things have been picking up this week! Although it's been really cold the past few days, it hasn't been raining and I have FINALLY SEEN SOME SUNSHINE! I am also no longer terrified of teaching - I think it was a whole "ripping off a band-aid" (or "plasters" as they call them here) situation... I just had to get back into the swing of things by diving into teaching. I've had a pretty decent week but not been with one class for the full day. I had one day where I was split between nursery and yr 2, and then two half days (a yr 4 and yr 1 class). And I got 4 High School Musical stickers from the Yr 2 class for being a "cool teacher". :)

Tonight Monica and I FINALLY went to a museum. We hit up the British museum after work today. It's not really *my* favourite history (not too keen on egyptian / roman sculptures - I'm much more into 19th and 20th C history), but it was still very impressive. PLUS, I got to see the Rosetta Stone!! That was pretty f-ing cool for a history buff. When we came home we ended up having a lazy night of eating amazing cupcakes we picked up on Tottingham Court Rd, watching bad British TV (aka "Hotter than my Daughter" and "Snog, Marry or Avoid?") and playing Scrabble. I don't care if it's "lame", it was FUN.

Tomorrow we're going to Greenwich to see the Observatory, fix our watches and stand on 0,0. We're meeting up with a dude I met at the Albion during the Gold Medal Game (woo facebook friends!) and hopefully it won't rain tomorrow and spoil our fun! In the evening, it's either going with allen to see a friend's band play or finally watching Valentines' Day. Either way, I think we have a chilled out weekend planned.

P.S. I just wanted to shout out to the people that have sent me messages of cheer and "don't worry, you can DO it" encouragements. You know who you are and I really appreciate it. :)

Help, I'm alive

I tremble. They're gonna eat me alive - if I stumble. Can you hear my heart beating like a hammer? - Metric, "Help I'm Alive"

My confidence in teaching is.... nil right now.

I haven't been working for three weeks and today was going to be my first day back... but I made myself so nervous / anxious about teaching that I canceled. So instead, I spent the day doing NOTHING and feeling sorry for myself. Definitely NOT the attitude I should have.

I think I'm just scared of going back to a classroom and getting eaten alive and not being able to hack it. I feel like a rubbish teacher and I felt that if I went in the morning then the children would see I had no confidence and destroy me. So that was my reasoning for flaking out this morning.... So I should have taken this day off and gone to a museum or something. Instead I haven't left my room. I'm in a rut. Feeling pathetic about flaking out this morning and mad at myself for letting my consultant down. I had SUCH a good weekend too!!! Went out for dinner and saw Wicked (AMAZING) on friday with Monica. Then on Saturday we went to Oxford with Jen and toured around (saw the Harry potter dining hall!) and then Jen and I went to Jen's town Fleet to party with her boyfriend and his friends. Thennnnn the amazing gold medal game at a bar near St. Paul's called "The Albion" with Kyle and his friends and a bazillion other Canadian ex-pats. Great weekend, but shitty shitty day today.

I just need to get out of this funk I'm in. Monica suggested movies and dinner tonight so hopefully that'll work.

Not out of the Woods just yet....

So I'm not out of the woods just yet...

The doctor from the hospital called me and told me that my liver enzymes are above normal (not good) but that it may be a result of all the antibiotics that I've been taking. So naturally, being me, I got myself so worked up over it that I made myself so sick all day / night on Wednesday. Finally saw a GP this morning and I'm scheduled for ANOTHER blood test next week and follow-up appointment so they can tell if its the antibiotics or something more serious. Its such a pain to get registered with a GP here bc they need a proof of residency which I didn't have because I'm renting / had a green account with my bank.... anyways, its getting sorted out but its taking time now -- if you EVER come to work in England, get a GP RIGHT AWAY. They told us to and we didn't listen and look what happens lol.

Anyways, I've finally started eating again... It's gross, I've lost SO much weight (and not in the areas where you would want to lose weight haha). I've lost about a stone... which is like 14 pounds. I haven't been this skinny since I was 18. lol.

Today will be full of attempting to eat food and watching Lost (Monica is on Season 2 so I've started watching with her). Hopefully I'll be able to move around / have more energy by the end of the weekend!!!

Slowwwww Recovery....

So I'm finally out of the hospital.... Exactly A WEEK LATER!! I guess if I choose to do something, I go all the way eh? It was a frustrating week. I was poked with more needles than I have in my entire life; told I could leave and then never checking on me so I *could* leave; being bored and lonely in isolation (even though they ruled out H1N1 I was still quarantined); having an IV (and also determining that I love saline... I've never been so hydrated in my entire life. Monica reckons I drank more water this week than I have in the past three months) and generally having huge cabin fever.

I came home yesterday with a whack load of antibiotics. I have to take Clarithromycin twice a day and four Phenoxymenthylpenicillin FOUR TIMES a day for the next four days. It's a lot. And the Penicillin is not in a capsule, its like a dry tablet, so you can really taste the medicine-yness of it. Blah. Its like Banana medicine without the delicious Banana part.

But I'm feeling a lot better. They say it takes about three weeks before my lungs will be back to full capacity and I do get tired really easily. Hopefully I'll be able to take it easy the next few days, maybe see a museum with my parents, and back to work on monday (I might ask to do some TA shifts instead of full on teaching just to ease myself back into it). Jen is coming to visit today too which will be nice!

I just wanted to say thank you to everyone that has been concerned about my health and posting on fb or sending me messages... I really appreciate it. However,I would like to give some special shout-outs to a few people that really went the distance:

- My Parents: my mom was really worried and her boss said she could take the week off work and paid for thier flight over with aeroplan miles so my parents arrived on Sunday. It was so comforting to have them here. My mom helped me with my laundry and they spent Sunday/Mon/Tues with me in the hospital. I'm glad I'm feeling a little better so they can go and do some sightseeing now.
- Monica: She came every evening to visit even though she was working during the day. Brought me about a million little things I kept asking for (juice, socks, toothpaste, etc) and bought me a little potted plant (from Belgium bc we couldn't go this week bc I was sick). She was amazing.
- Sam: She lives pretty far away from me, but visted me a few times when I was cooped up. She even brought me a heart shaped balloon on Valentines Day and it really brightened my day. She was my Valentine! :)
- Johnny: The first night he came over as soon as he could with my computer and toothbrush. Johnny is 100% mr. Positive so he kept me laughing even when I was feeling awful. He also sent me a hilarious e-card. :)
- Rob: Even though he rubs it in my face everytime he wins backgammon (and never really explained the rules to me either!), i appreciate the fact that he played with me and chatted with me at night.
- Matt Turvey: He talked to me all day on Skype when he was at work AND played online Monopoly with me. He's proven to be an amazing awesome friend to me since I've been over here in England and I'll never forget it.

So thank you to everyone that has sent me wishes of "get well soon"... Hopefully I'll be back to exploring England and teaching in a week or so!!!!

Captain Trips?!

So some things I was expecting to experience in London... accents, weird food, wet weather... NOT a stint in the hospital!

I've been in Lewisham Hospital for two days and one night so far (just beginning night number 2). I was diagnosed with pneumonia and then when I developed a high fever last night they were afraid it was h1n1 so they isolated me and we've been waiting to see what's up with that. So here is my recount of my time in the NHS...

I had been feeling awful on Sunday morning, but I attributed that to a hangover after a great night of Poker the night before. I was sick and tired and generally felt pretty awful the rest of the day. I took Monday off work and still felt awful all day. I slept a lot, threw up, had a fever and felt jabbing pain in my side/back. I thought I'd give it til the morning to see if I got better. I'm so worried that I might be a hypochondriac but actually I think my immune system just really sucks. Well the next morning came and no improvement so I asked Bardy to walk me (basically carry me) to the hospital because I felt so awful. Lucky for us, Lewisham hospital is like 5 minutes from our house.

I was super out of breath when we got to the hospital and Bardy helped me register. He then had to jet out of there super quick because he had to catch a plane off to Australia. So I spent the rest of the time alone and terrified in the ER. I waited about an hour and a half to see the Triage nurse, all while getting more and more of a fever (and having two very very kind old ladies take pity on me when they saw me tearing up and said a prayer for me - super nice of them and actually DID calm me down even though I'm not religious, one of them reminded me of my Granny). Finally the rather crabby triage nurse saw me, gave me some Paracetamol (tylenol), took blood pressure/urine sample/blood sugar level and then sent me back to the waiting room. About 15 minutes later, a doctor came to see me and put me on a gurney in a little curtained area. She examined me and ordered a chest xray and an IV to get some fluid in me. The chest x-ray showed some grey areas which indicated a chest infection and she ordered me some antibiotics. I also got a schnazzy robe, lol.

Then it was time for the IV. Now I know most of you know that I am terrified of needles. Not that they hurt, but the sensation of it penetrating my skin is horrible. So the prospect of an IV - slightly scary. An IV in an ER room in a foreign country all by myself? VERY scary. She tried once in my wrist but then I heard "well, you're not going to like me very much but...". Apparently she that vein was blocked so she had to go again in arm under my elbow. Well, she did it, took two blood samples to culture and then gave me some antibiotics. I survived. Teared a bit later when I was alone again.

Then they moved me up to the Chestnut ward. It was almost 6! I arrived at 12:30! Yeesh! Monica met me in the ward and stayed with me for a bit but then went down to the clinic to get her throat checked out (turns out she needs antibiotics too). They put me in a room with three other old ladies, one nice one named Iris who introduced herself to us, one that didn't speak english (russian?) and another random one. I was so sick to really care. My fever had gone down but still feeling gross and found it hard to breathe.

Met the night nurse - very nice lady, but still felt awful. Then around 10, I developed a high fever around 103. That worried them because it came on suddenly even though i had told them it was fluctuating for awhile. Due to protocol, they had to test to see if it was H1N1 (WHICH WOULD MEAN that damn vaccine I took in Dec that made my arm hurt for a week did NOTHING) or just a regular flu. But they said they would have to get a blood test done and then move me to an isolated room. Well I was exhausted and feverish and really wanted some Paracetamol but they couldn't give me any until the blood test came. That happened oh... 2 hours later. Another two hours and I was finally in my isolated room. Now anyone that comes in has to wear a mask, apron and gloves - doesn't that make me feel comforted.


Rest of the night continued to be awful. They started me on tamiflu and either because of that or a combination of that and the fact that I had no sleep, I was sick to my stomach. But there is nothing in my stomach! So some dry heaves, then rest, then dry heaves, then around 4;30 I finally passed out for good. Slept about three hours until around 7 when they started waking people up for breakfast. Didn't eat my toast and continued to doze (you can't get a good sleep here - so many things beep!!! but at least I'm in my own room now). Woke up, took meds, then a team of doctors came around Grey's Anatomy styles and checked up on me. I haven't seen the same doctor twice, I have NO idea who my doctor is and my parents want me to find out more information but its hard because every doctor / nurse is always SO BUSY. (and a little slow. it takes roughly 15 mins to answer my nurse bell.... what if I was dying? I'm not hooked up to a machine. yeesh). Dear Emma and Ken, please when you become Doctors make sure your patients know that YOU are their main doctor and explain EVERYTHING to them. I'm still not sure what exactly is going on.

Felt a bit better the rest of the day, no fever, and my physio said my breathing sounded better. But I needed to practice shaking up the phlegm from my chest. Taught me some techniques and then left. Mostly I was all by myself. It's really lonely being in isolation. Around 3:30 Monica came to visit and bring me some supplies and then around 5 Sam visited with some magazines and crisps. Johnny and Allen texted to see how I was doing during the day. Now for some lists:

Test wise I have had: blood, urine, blood sugar, throat swab, nose swab, peak test, cough-into-this-cup test, and countless blood pressure/heart rate/tempreature tests.

Medicine wise: Paracetamol, gravol style pill, low dose of codine?, something that goes in an oxygen mask that I have to breathe in, antibiotics (oral and intravenous), and tamiflu.

Now here I am... ready for night number two. Let's hope NO MORE FEVER and SLEEP are in store for me. I'm sick of being nervous and scared. Thank you for those back home wishing me love, I need all that I can get.

Sushine and Smiles!

Today was full of sunshine and smiles (and all things nice)! Quite the opposite of my dismal posts of late! So without further ado....10 reasons why today I was listening to happy Motown music on the bus home today.

1. So close to feeling healthy again. I'm still a little sick, but almost getting better... One more day and hopefully I'll have nipped this damn cold.

2. Had a great day at work today. I was in a nursery class at a school I had been at three times this week (they told Protocol they LOVED me and wanted me back for Thursday / Friday). There were very few fights / tears shed during the day (which for three year olds, is pretty amazing), the children actually listened to me during storytime and I could read it without pausing to tell them to be quiet, and the staff likes me / talked to me during lunch in the staff room.

3. Bardy refreshed us on how to play poker last night in prep for Saturday's poker game. It was a lot of fun! I'll miss him when he's gone. And I'm excited for Saturday night and meeting new people!

4. The SUN was shining today!!! There were blue skies! I was out on outdoor play duty and got to play with kids in the sun! I'm already sick of the rain if you can't tell, haha.

5. Turvey mailed me a heating blanket!! I finally received it today in the mail from UPS! I was complaining about being so cold in this damp house to him over skype and he mailed me one so I would feel better! It was so thoughtful and nice. What an awesome friend! :D

6. I got a valentine in the mail from my Mom (and Dad)... with 15 pounds in it! Monica and I have planned to see that new cheesy romcom "Valentines Day" on Valentine's Day as our date and the money will cover it!

7. I got paid!

8. Protocol told me that the school I was at last week (the year 5 class that I loved) really liked me so when they need someone they requested me! This is so nice to hear after the complaints I had at the beginning.

9. I'm going to make some frozen Bangers and Mash tonight for dinner. I hope its good. But it should be! Then Monica and I are going to spend the night watching TV in honour of our lazy friday night traditions.

10. We just bought tickets to see Wicked and are in the process of planning our trip to Amsterdam / Belgium / Vimy Ridge for our midterm holiday. And Jen (PJ 4 / teachers college friend) lives in Fleet which is near Stonehenge so we're going to go visit her at some point to go to that. And I'm probably going to Switzerland in March to visit with Gavin! YAY for travelling!!

:)

germs, germs, germs....

Being sick sucks when you're in a different country. All I want is my mom, my bed, and some home videos. I have zero energy and appetite, sound awful, and look like someone from a George Romero film.

I woke up today and told work I wasn't coming in, and slept the day away. Watched one episode of Dexter, had some tea, and I finally got the energy to go to Argos to buy a heater and toaster.Remember those Consumers Distributing stores in Canada when we were little? Where you would order from a catalogue and pick it up in a wharehouse store? yea that's what Argos is. Anyways, I was gone for about an hour and.... I'm donezo. Completely exhausted. Guess it was a good thing I called in sick eh? Imagine dealing with a rambunctious year 2 class right now - helllllllls no.

But on the positive side of things:
a). Bardy brought my a cup of tea when he heard me hacking up a lung upstairs. So nice! I'm sad he's leaving in a week.
b). I HAVE A HEATER NOW. NO MORE SLEEPING WITH TWO LAYERS OF CLOTHING UNDER TWO LAYERS OF SHEETS. YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS...

Also, please comment on my blog... I feel like I am writing to a ghost world and no one reads it!

Wine-oh Fridays!

I think I may develop a casual drinking personality here in London. Because after this week, all I wanted to do was curl up with some wine, HIMYIM and relaxxxxx. On Wednesday I had one of the WORST classes here (although no one tried to stab anyone with a pencil like they did on my first day teaching) and it started to make me question if I should be a teacher or not. I was losing faith in my ability to control children or even to get them quiet for more than 3 minutes at a time.

And then today happened....

The best day I've had teaching so far. :)

I was teaching a Year 5 class (I've determined I like the junior grades better than the primary ones) and while they got a bit rowdy at the end of the day, they ACTUALLY LISTENED WHEN I WAS TEACHING. I taught them symmetry in mathS (they call it MathS not Math... wierdos), recounting in Literacy, 'why we have seasons' in science (totally butchered that lesson, pretty sure I just confused them more than taught them), and then read them The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales while they were alternating out for P.E.

I came away from it realizing that yes, I do enjoy teaching and this is the job for me. Its just 95% of the classes in London are full of hellians, not children.

Tonight? Pizza, Wine and HIMYIM with Monica and maybe we'll see what the boys are up to. Tomorrow? Camden in the afternoon with Jen Thur (PJ 4 represent) and then off to party it up with Derek's brother Kyle and his friends.

TGIF!

Snapshots of Teaching (6 days in):

- Kids here are so much louder than Canadian ones. They talk ALL the time. I feel like putting up your hand to answer a question is a novelty here and they kinda look at me like I have three heads when I ask them to do so.

- Little kids in peacoats = ADORABLE.

- The teachers shout a lot at the kids. We were taught a more patient, reward positive behvaiour type management strategy in teacher's college as opposed to just screaming at the children. But at a few schools, the TAs / other teacher's did just that. Plus, having other teachers yell at your kids for you totally undermines your authority as a teacher -- very frustrating! I went to a Behaviour Management Professional Development course put on by Protocol tonight and it was SO RELIEVING to know that it's not just me and the students / other teachers treat other supply teachers just as poorly!!!!

- They say "bin" instead of "garbage" and have no clue what I'm talking about if I accidentally say garbage. Same with "queue" and "line up" or "hot lunch" and "school dinners".

- I've had about 8 different kids tell me that my necklace (my whale's tail / BFF Emma necklace I wear 24/7) is beautiful.

- I hate reception (kindergarten), but adored Nursery (pre-school). Favourite grade so far has been Grade Year 5

- When I was getting ready to leave to take the bus home, a student saw me put on my running shoes trainers and after I told him that I was wearing them because I was taking the bus home, he said "You take the bus home to Canada?"

- I have zero experience teaching phonics and it is hilarious to see the students sound out words using phonics and hand signals. "The cat goes ck-ck-ck-at"

Places that students think I am from (because of my accent):
- America
- New Zealand
- Jamaica.

ya, mon!

tubes and corn

"The Circle line is delayed due to a body under the train. Service will resume shortly" ......... say WHAT? Monica and I looked at each other and couldn't stop laughing. There are some things they do in England that are VERY different than in Canada.

Take for example, their food court vendors. Whilst walking through a Canadian mall, you might smell the delicious aromas of Cinnabons and NY Fries. In the Lewisham Shopping Centre? It's "Magic Corn"! All you smell is corn-on-the-cob and melted butter. They sell you Styrofoam cups of corn and then put some flavouring in it. When I asked for a "regular version" the man looked at me like I was crazy and suggested I take the most popular option: Cheese. He the proceeded to pour some powdered orange cheese on it. LIKE KRAFT DINNER CHEESE. Now I have been craving some KD for the past week (mostly because you if you do find it here, its super expensive) so this definitely satisfied my craving. I thought it was very delicious. Monica didn't really enjoy hers though, so she will not be buying it again. Me however? It's nutritious (somewhat) AND delicious. :)

~*~

This past weekend has been very busy and fun! On friday, we spent the night in because we were pretty tired from teaching all week. We decided to make it a wine-and-movie night. I jetted to the store to pick up the supplies (four small bags of chips---errr "crisps", some chocolate and white wine) and when I went to the cashier, the shopkeeper looked at my purchases and asked me: "Sweetie, are you okay?". Hahaha, apparently buying crisps, chocolate, and wine automatically makes me a candidate for "Bridget Jones 3". Priceless.

Laxmi (old giftie / LHS friend) was in town for the weekend so we met up on Saturday and did the stereotypical touristy things. I took them on the same route that James I went on when we visited in July. We saw Big Ben, Westminster Abbey (but unfortunately not inside - next time!), St. James' Park, Buckingham Palace, and Trafalgar Square. It was nice to see Laxmi and spend an afternoon with her!

At night we went out to Clapham with Jonny, his girlfriend Bethan and Bethan's friends. Clapham is a stereotypically "Aussie" area and since Tuesday is Aussie Day, there were a lot of things going on in Clapham that night. Apparently the thing to do in London is bar-hop (another thing different than Toronto), so we started off at a pub (I was sick there though so I ended up just drinking water and nursing the beginnings of a headache), next we went to a bar (great music, good mojitos and Allen, our other housemate, joined us) and finally ended up at a club called 'The White Room'. I had an okay time at the club, but I've come the conclusion that I only like house music in small doses. After awhile it feels like I'm dancing to the same song over and over again, and all I want to hear is some Biggie. We took a cab home and after some drunken skyping (its replaced my drunk dials apparently!), passed out.



Solid weekend in London town. :)

Welcome to England!

Well... here i am. I've been talking about it ever since I came back from my Eurotrip in July and found out I had to be superwoman to get in the TDSB, But... I'm here.
In England.
Living.
Teaching.
....and Blogging?

I thought an England blog would be a much easier way to keep in contact with everyone and let them know about my adventures. It would also be a nice way for me to remember everything and to differ from my livejournal ramblings that have nothing to do with teaching. So I don't know how often I'll post, but knowing me, it'll probably be a lot. :) I am very ego-centric, you know.

Monica has a blog at Cheers Londonand she started it the first day we got here, so if you want a run-down of the first week, check it out!

OH and the reason for my blog name? Top up Tube? Well, its a combo of two words that you don't normally come across in Canada but you hear EVERYWHERE in London. "Top up" is a phrase you hear all the time around here. From "topping up" your cell phone minutes to your oyster (transit) card to... well, just those two things so far, but i had never really seen the phrase used in Canada! And the tube... well since i'm supply teaching, the tube/DLR (light rail transit)/National Rail/Buses are my best friend. Put them together and you've got some great alliteration. :)

Tower Bridge