A Day In the Life of KaRe^BeAr @ Leeds

This is going to be my last entry here in Leeds. I'm excited but I'm also sad. Excited because I've been looking forward to this day since I got back from Easter break. It feels like I've been here forever.. but it also feels like I just got here. I have a lot of stuff going on for the first week or so when I get back home.. after that it's a little shady. But it's enough to get me excited to go home :)

But then there's that part me that wants to stay. I've been living in this little Leeds-bubble for the past 4 and a half months.. and I feel safe here. Not that I'm running away or hiding away from anything.. but it was just a completely new and different world and I felt so distant from my life at home. It was like a got a fresh start.. new school, new flat, new friends. Everything has gotten to be so routine and England began to feel like home. And now I have to leave.. go back to the life that I had left. I know it's gonna be different. Things change fast... and people have been though a lot. Sometimes when I hear stories about things that happen I feel left out. And in feeling that way.. I have a feeling I might feel awkward around people when I get back. Partially because everyone's changed. I still don't know the extent of how much I've changed. I'm sure I did... I'm not sure how. I just hope this period of "reverse culture shock" is brief...

My last few days have just whizzed by. I didn't do much.. just shop (again! no money! oh no!). 2 nights ago Sandy and I managed to bake 3 loaves of bread! haha! They turned out pretty good :) Ah.. funny what bordem drives you to do! Last night I went to the HiFi club with a group of people remaining in my flat. It was live music night.. played a lot of funk and jazz. It was awesome and it was free!! I had a great time! Today.. Sandy and I just wandered around downtown Leeds for one last time before we head home. I'm really gonna miss the shopping...

Well.. this is it! It's done.. my best/funnest term ever.. done. just like that. I'm going to miss England.. no anything specific.. just England as a whole. But I will be back! There are so many places I did not get to go to. This has definitely been a life changing experience for me. I learned a lot about myself during this exchange. I'm so glad I did this.. I would have regretted it if I didn't apply. Thank god I did!! It's just sad I won't be able to do another academic term abroad.. ever.

Well, off I go. My flight leaves from Manchester and I have a stop over in Chicago (I'm flying United.. pray for me! hehe). Around this time I'll be on the plane from Chicago to Toronto.

Goodbye England!! :)

I arrive sick.. I leave sick :( oh man! I got sick yesterday and now I feel like crap cuz I didn't get any sleep last night. Not only that, I had to write a final this morning! My last final! I left early cuz my brain was not functioning properly.. all the words started to blur and I was in this complete dream-state. It was an essay exam. I don't think my essay made any sense.. oh man!

Now I'm just plain bored because I have absolutely nothing to do. I can shop.. but it's not fun shopping when you're sick :( I tired going back to sleep after my exam and for some odd reason I couldn't fall asleep! So right now I'm stuck in this zombie state that I can't snap out of! I hate being sick :(

The last few days have been... sad. Everyone left! Brenna left for Scotland yesterday so I won't see her until I get back to Waterloo.. Megan and Lilly left this morning for home so.. I'm all by myself :( so lonely back in my flat! These past few days have been a blur.. I'm not too sure what went on.. just people kept leaving! hehe! Oh I need more sleep......

Sandy came back Tuesday night.. scared the crap outta me cuz I thought she said she was coming home on Monday night.. and after recieving a text about her hitch hiking in Scotland.. I got a little worried! Thank God she was alright!

4 more days... just 4 more.... :)

I've had a lot of fun for the past 2 days dispite the fact that I am in Leeds. After I left the computer lab the other day Maisie and I headed over to the Day & Nite to look for brownie mix because we wanted to bake (we didn't feel like going out). Dummy.. they didn't have any! the only thing we found that would be worth making was sponge cake and instant custard. So be bought it! haha! We thought we would do a little experiment! :) That night we chilled and baked! Hehe.. surprising enough it turned out pretty good!! We were surprised! haha!

The next day (yesterday) I went down to the Granary Wharf with Karen and Maisie. There wasn't much there so we ended up just going back to the city center to shop! I bought a scrapbook from MUJI (this wicked Japanese store and sells pretty much everything from stationary to clothes.. the stuff there looks so nice!!) and some toffee flavored tea (can't leave England without buying tea!!)

That night I headed down the the Leeds Millieum Square with Lilly to catch the Queen's Jubilee festivities. They had a stage set up with live music, and near the town hall they had set up this stage for this act called Storj (pronounced 'Story'). They pretty much do an act similar to Stomp. It was kewls! they even had Rolling Stone impersonators playing Stone's songs.. Lilly and I spent our time singing, dancing and taking pics.. it was so much fun! We even got to watch the concert at Buckingham Palace on this big screen they had set up! Later that evening we met up with Maisie, Karen, Jason and Fazel to watch the finale of the festivities :)

This morning Maisie left for home. I was so sad.. I actually cried! I hate seeing people leave.. especially if it means the end of something. Seeing her leave made me realize it's all coming to and end. So sad :(

7 more days!! ah! i'm still excited about going home!!

Ah! These past few days I've been nothing but tired! I feel so lazy!!

Well, I'm down to one more exam! That's this coming Friday! Man.. I don't want to study! I just feel really lazy!! My last two exams went pretty well. After my food processing engineering exam on Tuesday I headed downtown with Jimmy and Sandy and went shopping!! It felt good to shop.. even though I don't have any money!! That night, I didn't feel like doing anything social (Sandy asked if we wanted to go to the Eldon.. I just didn't feel like it!). So what did I do? Me and Jimmy went to the Day and Night store and bought a pack of cards and a bottle of vodka cooler and played drunk poker. It was fun!! But unfortunately, we were supposed to go to Whitby the next day and we (fine.. I) was too drunk to wake up the next morning. So we missed the early bus. That's ok though! hehe!

Since we didn't go to Whitby, we decided to walk up to Kirkstall Abbey. It was pretty nice! It's an Abbey ruin in a park. The walk there was nice (we didn't use a map... I used my navigational skills :) I was surprised we found it too!). I was a beautiful day so just walking around was nice :) It took us a while to walk there.. I didn't know it was that far! Too bad I forgot to bring my camera.. so I've got no pics of that place! We headed back home around 4:00 (after dropping by this massive huge Morrisons! ah! It was kewls! haha) and I studied until 9:00. That night, me, Jimmy, Maisie, Lilly, Meghan, Karen and Brenna went to the Cafeterie (the place that Maisie and I went to that friday night for drinks). It was meant to be a flat outing.. it was probably the last time all of us could hang out. Awww :( It was fun.. but pretty sad. The guy working there was a bit strange...

Friday, Jimmy and I got up really early (6:30 am) to catch the 7:15 bus to Whitby. I was soo tired! It was a 3 hour bus ride!! ah! Insane! Whitby was nice. It's a small town and there wasn't too much to do. Did you know that Whitby is the setting for Dracula? :) We ended up going to the Whitby Abbey (which is a ruin site.. what's with the british and abbey ruins??). We spent 2 out of our 4 hours there. It was quite interesting :) Before we left, we had fish and chips. Apparently they are suppposed to be the best fish and chips in the world! hehe!

The next day, I got up bright an early for my exam. Blah. I did well considering I didn't study an awful lot (taking a day trip before an exam is totally unheard of in Waterloo). It's ok though.. it's not worth a credit anyway. After that, Jimmy and I headed downtown again and did more shopping! It was his last full day in Leeds and he wanted to buy gifts. We spent quite a lot bit of money that day :) Ah.. I should stop shopping! That night we went to Creations with Maisie. I was so tired that night .. I'm surprised I stayed past 12! I'm getting old..

Saturday (yesterday) I took the bus to Manchester airport to see Jimmy off. It was a bit sad.. but duh! I'm gonna see him in 11 days! I'm such a tard! Anyway, After dropping him off I headed to Manchester and walked around. i was just sooo tired that I really didn't want to walk around. I spent most of my time in the city center where they had this fountain. I watched kids play in it. It was an increadibly hot day so I was really contemplating whether I should join them. But no.. cuz I'm old :( Watching them play made me feel old. It sucks I can't do stuff like that anymore. Anyway, I got really tired of walking around Manchester so I headed back to the bus station an hour before my bus was to depart. But just my luck.. when I walked in this guy was yelling "bus to Leeds! Anyone else for the bus to Leeds?". Ah! I ran and asked if they had any seats left and they did! So I went home early!

That night I went out to Maisie to see Star Wars. Yep.. I went to see it again. But I really liked that movie so I didn't mind seeing it again. It was just as good as when I first saw it. I think I'm gonna buy that movie when it comes out.

I just came back from a full day of shopping with Maisie. Well.. I tired looking for a jean jacket but no luck! Oh well... saves me some money! We also went to the Royal Armouries but.. haha.. we were so tired and lazy we looked around one floor and decided to leave! haha! We ended up heading to Starbucks for an frappacino (it was hot and humid today!) at Boarders and read magazines. I like that... a semi-cheap way to have fun and kill time! I must do that again sometime this week.

Wow.. I have only 8 more days til I come home. The countdown is on!

Why am I annoyed?? Studying is annoying me.. what else is new eh? It seems that all i complain about is that i hate studying. but then again who does huh? i was actually looking foward to my mom calling me (she calls me every sunday) so i could just whine and whine about how i hate studying. but she never called. i guess it could be because i did that last week.. she got sick of me whining! i feel so unloved!! haha!

I feel so scatterbrained! I keep forgetting stuff! Like the fact that I went to see Star Wars last monday after my first exam. Good movie.. and I would definitely want to see it again.. but.. that dude that played Anakin Skywalker. man.. he bugged the living crap outta me! good looking guy.. but.. the way he portrayed the character.. *thumbs down*. i don't know why. haha! I've been trying to figure it out for days! anything to get out of studying!

Friday night was pretty fun. I did study.. but I thought.. "Eh! it's Friday night!". I bumped into Maisie back at the flat and we were talking about how we missed cafes that opened until late at night (they seem non-existent here). We knew there had to be some around, so we decided to walk up to Hyde Park corner and check it out. On our way there we saw two of our friends on a date :) hehe! But anyway, we ended up finding this little cafe right across from Hyde Park. Sweet! We each got a drink, sat down and just chatted for 2 hours! It felt good to do that again! Havn't done that in so long!!

And that was the extent of my weekend fun. I spent most of my time in the library where Sandy peroidically threw paper at me.. or texted me... haha ! just dumb stuff! but it made my studying less painful! I had my hard-ass exam today. and man was it hard! I couldnt' do anything! but i did enough to pass :) well.. i hope i did! haha! I was just so frustrated.. that in the end.. I just sort of looked over my paper.. saw that I possibly had enough marks to pass and just chilled the rest of my exam! Ah... felt like waterloo! :)

And now. I should be studying yet again. I have an exam tomorrow! but i'm just tired of studying. but it's ok.. it's a "how much can you bullshit in an hour and a half" kind of exam. loverly! funny enough, I bumped into Sandy who just had 2 exams today... she stumbled into the library.. drunk! haha! so funny!

gotta head on home. man.. I didn't eat dinner yet. My dinner consisted of 2 cups of tea. yes.. tea. i'm in that phase again. *sigh* Btw.. thanx to all you guys that wrote me personal emails this week! really made my week (considering I didn't get any personal emails in about a month or so!) *hugz*

This exam period is driving me up a wall!! Already I'm sick of studying and finals have just begun! I have 2 under my belt already but.. that's 2 out of 6!! oh MAN!! remind me WHY I decided to take 6 courses?!? haha! I really should be studying right now but I'm finding every possible procrastinating activity to fill my day. I might as well get all these activities out of the way and concentrate on some wholesome, full-concentration studying! Yea! haha!

My week was consisting of studying... studying and more studying! well.. actually not really! I got really hooked on this book I borrowed from Maisie (It was a true story about a woman growing up in China and her experiences during the Cultural Revolution) and I couldn't put it down! I must have spent more time reading than studying! man! But that's ok!! My first two exams were pretty easy! My "Numerical Methods" exam (which is a course that consisted of OAC algebra and 1st year calc! oh man!) was the easiest exam I have ever taken and my Mass Transfer one was just regurgitation of some of the class problems he did in class! oh man! But my next two are gonna be the hardest ones! :(

I think the most eventful day of my week was yesterday. After our mass transfer exam, Brenna, Sandy and I sat in my kitchen and chatted for a bit, then we headed over to Rachel's house for a small dinner party. Rachel lives FAR up north in East Moor. It was a nice day so we decided to walk up there! It took us 1 hour and 15 minutes (with a 10 min break to go into the Safeway up in Headingly). Man! But it was a nice walk.. it was good to get out and get some sort of exercise! It was a little party that consisted with finger foods and tons of alcohol! They refused to serve non-alcoholic drinks.. so needless to say, everyone was very social that night :) We left around 11:00 to catch the last bus back into Leeds (no way we were gonna walk back at night!!). When I got back I was pretty tired. But retarded thing is... I couldn't sleep! I tossed and turned for a bit, then decided to start reading a book Brenna had let me borrow (How To Be Good by Nick Hornby). I finally was able to put myself to sleep around 2:30-3 am. and I woke up to my phone beeping cuz I got a text msg. It was from Jimmy. Jimmy went to London yesterday for a few days so I'm off on my own for a bit. he wrote that he broke his camera. oh no! Poor guy!

Alright.. I'm heading to the library now. no more procrastinating!!!

Agh! one more week til finals and guess what I've been doing? Everything BUT studying!! haha!

Hm... where did I leave off? Oh yes.. last Saturday night.. hm! that was interesting! I ended up getting pretty drunk that night... it was something I wanted to do for a while anyway (get drunk that is... I hadn't gotten drunk in a long time) and I sorta had an incentive to do it anyway :) Poor Sandy had to take care of me! What a way to begin a busy week!!

Sunday Jimmy came in the morning :) I picked him up at the Leeds bus stop around noon and.. haha! we pushed his suitcase back to my place. It was fun! We got a lot of weird looks but oh well :) I took him grocery shopping.. good 'ole Morrisons :) Gotta love that place!

That week was crazy! why? I was trying to organize our trip to Paris, book my plane ticket home, study.. and party.. all at the same time :) I was pretty stressed. The Paris thing totally stressed me out because we couldn't find a place to stay! Grr! I did book my plane ticket home.. I'm comin home on June 11th guys!! :) Anyway, after a week of just stressing out we decided to abandon the Paris idea and go to Edinburgh, Scotland instead :) So much easier to plan!! On friday, I went shopping.. bought 2 new shirts! yea! It felt so good to shop again!!! and that night I went to a curry restaurant with Jimmy, Sandy, Brenna, Tanya and Ian. My first time having Indian curry! It was pretty good.. but I was sweating cuz it was spicy! haha! I'm such a whimp when it comes to spicy foods!

So we spent the weekend in Edinburgh. We got up early and took a 8:30 train out to Edinburgh. There was a delay because apparently there was a fatal train derailment the day before.. scary!! my goodness! But we got there safe and sound :) We arrived around 1:30, checked into our hostel and decided to walk around the city. We first walked to the Edinburgh castle.. not much to see there. Then we walked down the Royal Mile until we reached the bottom of Arthur's Seat. Arthur's Seat is the highest point in Edinburgh. You have to climb up these massive hills to get there. And that's what we did! We spent 3 hours just hiking up cliffs and hills. It was beautiful! We got this really nice view of the city and of the North Sea. Everything was so green.. it was exactly how I had pictured Britian! After the long hike, we headed back to our hostel and took a nap :) I was so tired! We got up around 8:00, which was good because we had decided earlier to take one (Tanya said it was interesting). The tour started at 9 and the guide was really good! He told us ghost stories about the town.. even took us to the underground streets of Edinburgh. Freaky stuff! We stood in rooms where they had called on the devil and whatnot. At one point we were standing in this room where a lot of people died.. and some freak-of-nature dude decided it would be funny to pop in and scare the shit out of everyone. Oh my god! I almost shit my pants! haha! It was a fun tour :) The next day we just lazed around... which was good! I finished reading the first part of "The Lord of the Rings". Good book! Better than the movie! I can't wait til I read the next one!! I also did a lot of window shopping. I found more stuff to buy!! :) haha! I'm going for broke!! Anyway, I was standing in this one store.. and oh my goodness.. right before my eyes these teenaged boys came in, shifted though some racks near the front door.. then picked them up and ran out the door with them!! Ah! The alarm didn't go off! Ended up telling some of the store ladies.. who had no idea that that just happened. Oh man! Hm.. I thought it was a little suspicious that teenaged boys were in the store.. it was a women's clothing store! haha! We left Edinburgh around 5:30 and got back to Leeds around 9:30. It was a nice relaxing trip.. perfect because that is exactly what I needed.. esp. before finals!! agh!

Last night I went to see I Am Sam. It was a good movie.. it made me cry! I was bawling!! ah! but it was truely touching. I really enjoyed it! you know.. I really should be studying.. haha! Today.. guess what I did?!?! I went to the market to buy food.. but then ... i walked by the shopping area.. and bought a new pair of shoes! *sigh* I am weak!! But they're cute!! I love them! And tonight.. I think I'm going to Creations.. for a bit :) Oh! I should study... nah! :P

Hm.. updating this more often. That can only mean one thing.. I'm running outta stuff to do! I seems like I've been here for so long.. that I've done everything :) The only thing I wanna do now is travel :) My next trip.. Paris! I hope to go next week with Jimmy (I could go later but he's staying for a month.. I want him to see something other that Leeds!!). This is why I'm in the library studying.. I have to! Gotta study or I can't go!!

On Thursday I went to see Amelie. The Leeds Film Soc. was playing it in one of the lecture theatres, and Sandy had gotten two membership cards from Stephan so we got in for free! It was such a good movie!! Anyone that hasn't seen it yet.. you should! Very cute.. very different.. very sweet. It put a smile on my face for the rest of the night.. which is exactly what I needed!

Yesterday I went to the movies again with Sandy, Maisie, Lilly and Jason. We watched Bend It Like Beckham. It's a british film about this Indian girl that's amazing at playing football (soccer) but her parents don't want her to play because it's not "Indian-like". It was a really good movie.. and the guy in it was increadibly HOT!! oh my... he was.. woohoo! hehe! Us girls were really giggly after the movie.. I felt sorta bad for Jason.. he had to put up with all 4 of us! It also put a smile on my face.. two good movies in a row.. awesome :) I really really needed that!

I couldn't sleep until 4 am yesterday. This is getting really bad. This trouble sleeping thing. I wish I had less on my mind but I don't. I'm slowly trying to get rid of the load. I've been trying to get a job. I had emailed a previous employer but.. no good. That's ok.. I suppose I'll get a dinky job back at home. No worries. And my plane ticket.. well.. I have to buy a new one. Oh well. Like my daddy said: "Don't worry and think about things you can't do anything about". Which is a good way in looking at things. I think that is the answer to all my problems. Sounds simple.. but like always, it's hard to do. But.. I have something to work by now. I'm not sure if this all makes sense. But I think everything is going to be ok.. eventually.

This week has been dragging!! I shouldn't complain because I need the time to study.. I have so much catching up to do! Oh bother!!

This week has been pretty uneventful.. I've been doing homework!! agh! I feel a bit stressed out (the first time this term!! oh my! haha). I just have so much on my mind. I've been having trouble sleeping lately. It takes me bloody forever to sleep and I have a tendancy to wake up really early and be completely awake. This really sucks. I'm not tired.. but I crave sleep. But just too many things to think about.. about school (how am I gonna pass everything?!), about coming home (still working on getting my ticket changed.. I might have to buy a brand new ticket.. oh man... I'm more in debt!), about getting a job... *sigh*. It seems like everything is piling up.. I have no idea where to even begin to sort out my problems! Geez.. I'm supposed to be on "vacation" too :)

I think the highlight of my week has been tuesday. I went over to my aunt's friends place for dinner.. and I scored myself a burnt version of Westlife's new cd (it's good!!). Kick ass! That cd is so addicitive.. some songs.. are a little sad. I've realized the pattern in Westlife's songs.. they fall into the major categories... man.. I've really overanaylsed the songs! Anyway, after that I headed over to the Eldon for pub night. I didn't wanna drink that night (man.. I wish pub night fell on a Monday this week.. I was so in the mood to drink on Monday!! haha). I'm still finding a day where I can do my 12-hour drunk fest (I'm determined to stay drunk/buzzed for 12 hours straight w/ a few bottles of Baileys.. haha.. the things I think of doing!). It'll be after exams but I have no clue when I can do it.. maybe after my astronomy exam? haha! I'm so silly!

Anyway, I finally found a way I could use an instant messager program.. I can't quite log onto ICQ but I can log on to MSN msgr!! so.. guys.. if u have MSN.. look me up!! i'm IM-deprived! haha!

Ohh.. gotta head to class :P

Ah.. first week back at Leeds... everything seems so routine again.. with the frequent trips to Morrisons (where I'm going to after this... I need more food!!), The Eldon on Tuesdays... the only thing that doesn't quite seem right is the fact that I'm actually doing homework now! oh my! haha :)

As I mentioned before, Stephie came to visit me :) That was the coolest part of my week! I took her shopping around Leeds earlier Tuesday morning I bought a new shirt!), then to the Eldon that night so she could get a taste of what I usually go though during the week. It was kewls showing her my routine (boring as it is.. haha). After the Eldon, me, Steph and Maisie headed over to Creations. It was really funny that night cuz Steph was wearing my heeled sandals and I was trying to break in my new 3" healed shoes. Man was it painful. By the end of the night Steph and I were hobbling home in absolute agony while Maisie helped us.. hehe.. it was like she was helping 2 old ladies cross the road! haha! It was quite entertaining for all of us :)

Wednesday Stephie went to her cousin's place for the night while I did some work.. I was acutally pretty productive! surprised me cuz I hadn't done work in so long! :) It actually felt good.. felt sorta like Waterloo..

Thursday Stephie left. I saw her off at the bus staion.. aww :( it was sad! it was kewls seeing her come but it was super sad seeing her leave.

Friday night was kewls. Me, Maisie, Lily and Sandy went out to see a movie :) We saw About A Boy. It was a really good movie. I'm not sure if it's coming out back at home (Ri said it was going to be.. if it does... see it!! it's such a feel-good movie!!). As usual.. I cried! haha! The movie was only £3.50 to see.. finally something cheaper! But I did splurg a little.. I bought a scoop of Ben and Jerry's icecream cuz I missed Gelati way too much! Afterwards, Lily mentioned she wanted cake.. and that got me craving cake. Ah!! When we got back I grabbed the banana bread receipe but.. no bananas! oh no!! but.. we had apples... so we made apple bread :) it turned out pretty kewls.. it was purely experimental :) haha! so we had a girls nite in.. something I havn't had in a while (that's what I get for hanging out w/ all guys! hehe).

Yesterday was work day.. well.. was supposed to be. I stayed in most of yesterday. At night I went to a kegger.. didn't drink cuz it just wasn't worth it for me. It was fun watching and listening to ppl that were just drunk. I laffed so much!! People were talking about the art of lawnmowing.. zamboni driving... uh.. haha! we even got into talking about Pipi Longstocking (cuz I was wearing pigtails yesterday.. great.. i always end up being called that!) and what words the name "Pipi" sounded like in various languages (i'm not gonna even get into what it sounds like in Finnish... haha!)

Ok.. better head to Morrisons.. I just woke up and rolled to the comp lab.. didn't bother eat yet.. that why I have to go to Morrisons :)

I'm back!! man what a month it has been! I had the time of my life on my trip and I highly recommend backpacking around europe! It was amazing and by far the best thing I have ever done! I can't believe it's over! I want to travel more!!

My favorite city is a tie between Salzburg and Berlin. Berlin was amazing! I really enjoyed the city.. and I wish I stayed longer! Salzburg is just beautiful! Most beautiful city I've ever seen. I can't wait until I get my pictures developed! I took 14 rolls of film!! I'm planning to develop them one at a time.. so far I've developed 2 rolls :) I don't think I have time to scan them in.. but I can't wait to show you my pics!! They're awesome!!

I plan to type out my trip journal and post it on the web.. but that won't be for a while! (I havn't even finished my journal yet.. according to my journal I'm still in Florence! haha). I just realize I have a lot of work to do. I'm a little stressed but I'll be fine! This trip really took a lot out of me (and a lot of money! haha! I spent it all on food and Gelati in Italy! Yum!!). I think I need a vacation from my vacation!! It was just tiring jumping from city to city and not really settling down anywhere. I'm sorta glad I'm back in Leeds cuz I don't have to carry around that huge backpack of mines. by the end of the trip it weighed 19kg! Holy crap!! It feels weird being in school again! going to classes after such a long break! I'm really ready to go back home.

I have so many stories to tell everyone when I get back home. Some of the main highlights of my trip where (I can go into more detail later if you want..hehe): eating raw deer meat in Sweden (it was pretty good actually!!), staying up all night outside in the cold in front of the ferry ticket office in Trelleborg, Sweden all by myself, seeing bullet holes in buildings in Berlin, drinking beer in Munich, Neushwanstein Castle (it was amazing), walking around Salzburg and spending the day with complete strangers, Swiss chocolate, walking all the way around the Vatican City because of one wrong turn (oh my goodness it's HUGE!!!), Sistine Chapel (made me cry cuz it was so beautiful), non-italian dinner in Rome, labour strike in Florence, Gelati 2 times a day, climbing the leaning tower of Piza and getting completely lost in Venice.

This past weekend I spent the weekend in London. I got back from Venice on Thursday morning and on Friday morning I picked up Stephie from the airport! It was so good seeing her again!! It was really nice seeing a face from home :) I gave her a very quick tour of London (we couldn't go into Westminister Abbey because they were holding Princess Margaret's memorial.. she died like.. what? 2 months ago! geez! haha! thought we could get a glimpse of the queen but.. nope! she left earlier! dammit!!). On Saturday we headed over to Windsor to see Windsor castle. It cost £11.50 to go in... so we decided not to go in, but instead, walk around the town. It was really nice! Sunday I did a bit of homework while Stephie went out w/ her relatives, then off to Leeds we went!

It's been fun having a friend stay here for the past few days :) I got to show her around Leeds (not much to see though! hehe). of course we've been doing a lot of eating :) I made dinner for her and Sandy last night.. I really like cooking for a big group.. it's so much fun :) Tonight we're hitting the Eldon (International students nite!!) should be fun.. I get to see people I haven't seen in a month! should be interesting! after that we're heading to Creations for some clubbing fun :) hehe! I bought a new shirt today.. I'm gonna wear that :)

I'm leaving tomorrow! oh my god! i'm leaving tomorrow!! I'll try to update this as often as I can.. but I donno...

Maybe some of you will get a postcard from me.. :) if u didn't.. that means u didn't send me ur mailing addy!!!!

I'm all packed.. packed up my backpack.. nicknamed The Motherload. It's HUGE!!! I should snap a pic of it...

Anyways, gotta go.. I hope I'm ok on my trip... :)

Ah! Easter break is less than a week away! I'm so excited!!

This week has definitely been a week of ups and downs. I had a lot of problems with my trip.. it's been stressing me out more than anything! The first half of my week was just crazy. On Monday I realized there was no way in hell I could have made it from Stockholm to Hamburg in one day (turns out the ferry didn't go has frequently as I thought it would...). So.. I'm completely skipping Hamburg. That meant I had an extra day on my train pass. So what am I going to do? I've decided to go to Salzburg, Austria for a day! I'm so excited about that!! I'm going to Berlin a day early so I can fit it in. Ah! It's gonna be a crazy trip. On Tuesday, I got pissed drunk at a going-away party Mikko (this dude from Finland) was holding for his roommate (it was just an excuse to throw a party.. cuz all of us are leaving! haha). Anyways, there was a bunch of Spanish people there and they made this drink called Valencia Water.. it had white wine, rum and orange juice (i think...) but man!! it just tasted like orange juice! so being the idoit that I am had 5 glasses of this stuff!! haha! Thursday was just the worst. Turns out Stephan doesn't wanna go on the road trip to Italy anymore cuz he finally figured out that he didn't have enough money to go.. so that fucked up our trip to Italy completely (he was supposed to drive cuz neither me or Sandy had an international driving licence.. and it was too late for us to get one.. and it woulda cost us a lot of money if we just split the price of the car with 2 ppl) I was incredibly mad. Not just at him but at myself... at him because it I don't understand why he didn't figure out he didn't have enough money from the start.... why 1 week before we have to leave?? Shit.. just out of respect, he shouldn't have lead us on (or me on) that he was coming. I was mad at myself for being too trusting of him. Sandy wasn't as pissed as me cuz she had thought from the start that he wasn't gonna go (I remember her telling me she thought he wasn't gonna end up going) but me.. being the trusting idoit that I am took his word for it. Lesson learned for sure. So I was just really mad.. and I'm still mad. Sandy and I replanned our trip to Italy.. unfortunately we cut out more than half the cities and places we wanted to see. It really sucks cuz I was really looking forward to that Italy road trip. People like that make me mad. So what do you say to a person that fucked you over? Anyway, we got hostels booked and everything planned out.. so I'm feeling better.

So, my finalized trip is as follows:
March 24: Flying into Malmo, Sweden
March 25: Copenhagen, Denmark (day trip)
March 26 - 29: Stockholm, Sweden
March 30 - April 1: Berlin, Germany
April 2 - 3: Munich, Germany
April 4 - 5: Salzberg, Austria
April 6 - 7: Lucerne, Swizterland
April 8 - 9: Geneva, Swizterland
April 10 - 13: Rome, Italy (with a day trip to Naples)
April 14 - 16: Florence, Italy (with a day trip to Piza)
April 17: Venice, Italy
April 18: Flying back to London

This weekend I've been just busy planning my trip, doing last minute hostel bookings and trying to write my essay. Man my essay sounds bad.. haha! But yeah... I'm too excited about my trip! This is awesome :) I can't wait til I go!! Only 5 more days....

Hm.. another fun weekend in Leeds... :P haha! Yeah.. I decided to stay in.. I'll be staying in next weekend too. It's tough when you're short on cash!

This week has been pretty fun though. I went out drinking a lot! haha! Tuesday night I went to Creations with a whole bunch of people from Penn State (and then I ended up bumping into some more people there.. apparently there were two b-day celebrations goin on that day!). I had a lot of fun.. did a bit of drinking.. a lot of dancing! hehe! I had a 9:00 the next morning and I just said f**k it! hahaha! it's a'ight.. that class is pretty simple ne ways!

Then Friday, I went to The Fav.. met up with a bunch of Waterloo people there. Did a bit more drinking.. more dancing :) haha! As you can see.. Leeds is such a party skool :) It's really bad though cuz I havn't really done any work this week... *sigh* Yesterday (saturday) I was feeling a bit sad.. cuz I have a feeling I won't have enough money to last me the rest of the term. I tried asking my parents for money but in the end I ended up feeling like absolute shit... I sat and cried in my room for half an hour. I couldn't do any work cuz I was trying to work out the big things of my 1 month trek around europe (things like.. how to get there... booking hostels.. all the major stuff!). It's gonna be a crazy trip! I found out this week that my friend Justin is joining me in Germany.. gonna travel Berlin and Munich together. It's kewls.. I have a travel buddy now :) Anyway, back to last night.. I tired to do some work.. I couldn't (I was getting increadibly fustrated). Then Sandy came over.. then a bunch of Penn State ppl came over for drinks (my roommate's friends). After a while we ended up joinin them.. ended up drinking a cup with half and half vodka and coke.. oh man! and you guys all know how cheap of a drunk I really am! hah! I got drunk.. but it was fun! Everyone left around .. 2 (i donno.. haha) but me, Sandy and this dude Damon sat in my kitchen and just talked for 2 hours straight.. they left at 4 (it was strange.. we didn't realize it was that late... time just flew!).

And then today.. I got up.. went to Morrisons to get some food (cuz i ran out! i'm such a piggie!!) and now i'm here.. should really get cracking on my hwmk dontcha think? haha! *drool*

Man! My weekend was AWESOME!! Oh man.. I had so much fun!!

My "weekend" started on Wednesday night. Me and Sandy took the bus from Leeds to London Victoria Station, then from there we took the bus to London Stansted Airport. We were so nervous cuz on the way from Leeds to Victoria Station, apparently there was a huge accident on the motorway and they closed it off.. so they took this huge detour.. oh man! We were so scared about missing our bus to the airport. When we got to Victoria Station we had completely missed our bus but luckily there were frequent busses to the airport! whew!! When we got to the airport, we found people just sleeping everywhere! haha! So we weren't the only ones! I didn't sleep a wink :( We pretty much just sat down and just looked at the food at this cafe in the airport. Hahah! Finally, at 6:45 am, we were on our way to Brussels.

We arrived in Brussels at 8:15 am (half hour flight... a hour ahead). Well.. we didn't arrive in Brussels.. but in a town 40km south of Brussels (in Charleroi). Sandy and I were super confused.. we weren't expecting to be that far from Brussels. We had to take a bus from the airport to the train station, then take the train into Brussels! ah!! It was bad cuz our French is just horrible (so much for taking French in highschool! haha) and hardly anyone spoke English! We finally got to Brussels.. and right then and there we decided to go to Amsterdam the same day. So we booked our bus tickets, then wondered around Brussels for 3 hours. We saw the Grande Place (which was amazing!) and sampled Belgium chocolates (too poor to buy any!). It's a very very nice city.. woulda been nicer in the spring though. We headed back to the bus station around 2:00pm and met these girls from Canada. Apparently one of them was on exchange in Amsterdam, and offered to show us how to get to our hostel when we arrived! Nice!

On the bus to Amsterdam, I chatted with the Canadian girls for a while, then went to sleep (at that point I was up for more than 36 hours straight! oh man!) I slept like a baby on the bus!! haha! When we arrived in Amsterdam, the transit system completely confused me.. cuz I was unsure if we even had to pay for it! haha! I can't name the number of times I rode the tram and subways for free over there! But I bought tram tickets just in case (I heard if u get caught it's a pretty hefty fine). Sandy and I set out to look for our hostel. We found it, but it was fully booked. Ah! we wandered the streets looking for another hostel (they're so hard to find!). We finally stopped at a hotel and they gave us directions to a hostel. We found that one but it was full too.. and they directed us to another one. OH MAN!! That hostel was SO HARD to find! we spent an hour and a half wondering the streets just looking for it!! After asking a gazillion people and consulting our map half a million times, we finally found it!! We then dropped off our stuff and decided to take a stroll around Amsterdam. Man was that retarded of us! Cuz it started to dump rain.. and we were lost again. We wandered the streets again lookin for the hostel. Ah! that place is bloody confusing!! Finally, we stopped some police officers and asked them for directions.. and they were kind enough to give us a lift!! So I got to ride in a cop car! yea! haha!

The next day, Sandy and I went to a bakery for breakfast and tea (yum.. tea! haha). We walked around the streets of Amsterdam, sight-seeing and stuff. We found the little alley ways of the Red Light District.. poor Sandy! haha! She couldn't handle looking at all those hookers! hehe! She's so sheltered! But yeah.. they were pretty nasty! haha! Amsterdam is an amazing city! It's such a good place to just.. chill :) It was a nice sunny day and that enhanced our whole experience in Amsterdam. It's just beautiful! Oh! We went into this diamond store and I got to try on a 1000€ ring!!! That's about $1500 CDN! hehe! Awesome! After a full days worth of sight-seeing and eating a Falafel for dinner (which was good!!) we headed back to the hostel. In the lobby, we met some dudes from Canada (and one American), and we decided to head out into town to a student bar those Canadian girls on the bus were telling us about. We couldn't find it (what else is new??? haha) but we wondered into he Red Light Distict (again). It's so different at night! We ended up stopping at a bar in the Red Light District and they bought us drinks :) nice! haha! After that, we headed back to the hostel.

The next morning, got up at 5 am and started our trek back to Leeds. So it was a crazy weekend! I think for the next 3 weekends I'm staying here. Then I'm off for my Easter break!! oh man!!! :)

It has been quite a week :) Surprisingly, I've been busy with work!! haha! Yeah.. I have a bit of homework to do.. nothing compared to what I would probably be doing back in Waterloo though! I'm still having a lot of fun! All last week I just pretty much hung out. I didn't really do much. I think the highlight of my week was on the weekend. Saturday night I sat around with the girls and made banana bread (my bananas were going rotten.. hey.. a big bag for 50p.. i couldn't turn it down!!). That was a lot of fun. That night, Sandy and I replanned our road trip in Italy. So excited!!! Sunday night.. HOCKEY!! I went the Eldon with a bunch of Penn State ppl to watch the Gold medal game. Canada vs. US... and WE WON!! SWEEEET ASS!! haha!! I really wished I was at home watching it w/ my fellow Canadians.. everyone seemed so dead at the pub.. no one was really watching except for us north americans. and there was no sound too.. so that sorta sucked! but ... WE WON!! hehe! and.. Paul Kariya scored the first goal :) yup yup he started it all!! :) haha! So yeah.. so happy they won!! YEA CANADA!

Well.. tomorrow morning I'm off to Brussels and Amsterdam! gonna be so much fun! I'm taking the bus to London tonight.. gonna arrive early in the morning in London. I@m sleeping over at the airport :P fun fun! haha! I'm so excited!! Alright, gotta pack!! :)

Soooo tired!! This weekend has been quite a busy one!! It all started on thursday.. Valentines day. Man did I have bad luck on that day!! I must have ran from my res to school like... 3 times that day!! I just kept forgetting stuff! First it was my assignment I had to hand it.. I had my bag full of stuff I had to bring to London with me and had no room for my folder.. and my assignment was in my folder. So I ran back for that. Then, I realize I didn't have my pencil case with me.. so I ran back for that, but it wasn't there. So I ran back to the school to look for it. I found it in the computer lab (thank god!!). Then, right before I had to walk to the bus stop to catch my bus to London, I realize I didn't have my relative's phone number! ah!! So I ran back again. Whew!! I just had a really rough day! When I got on the bus to London, I got better!!! :)

When I arrived in London (4 hours later), no words can describe how excited I was. This was a place I've only heard stories about and a place I've always wanted to go to. So in a sense it was pretty much a dream come true for me. I couldn't wait to get off the bus and ride The Tube (their subway system). My first ride on the Tube was pretty interested. Me, Sandy and Brenna got on the wrong train a few times (it was so confusing at first!!). But luckily it was going in the same direction we were supposed to be headed so it was ok!! :). When I got to my dad's cousins house, they greeted us with dinner! I couldn't get over how hospitable these people were!! They were absolutly amazing during our entire stay!

The first day, we stuck together and hit all the big tourist places like Westminister Abbey, Buckingham Palace (which was not too impressive.. but it's a palace!!), Big Ben, Trafalger Square and Piccadilly Circus. We saw the changing of the guards... must go to Ottawa and compare!! :). It was a very busy day! We saw lots! There's just so much to do in London!! That night we went back to my dad's cousins house for Chinese New Year dinner! It was awesome! I'm glad I got to eat home cooked Chinese food!! yummy!! That night was Jimmy's birthday so I called him and talked to him briefly. He went to Medieval Times for dinner.. lucky bumb! :) Ah.. he's so old! *giggle*

The next day, us three started out together at the Tower of London and the Tower Bridge. The Tower Bridge is so nice!! It's definitely a must see if you go to London! After walking across, we parted (we all wanted to see different things). My first stop (of many that day) was the Design Museum. I really liked it. It featured designs of eveyday items (chairs, phones, cups), both modern and past designs. They even had an exhibit on computer technology (I saw some old ghetto game systems! haha!! Atari! hahaha!!). After that I walked over to see the Shakespeare Globe Theatre but it was under construction! *grumble*. I was really looking forward to seeing that too!. Disappointed, I walked towards St. Paul's Cathedral. It was truely impressive.. but the price to go in.. £5.. ah.. too rich for my blood (well.. too rich for that day! haha). I settled for just walking around the cathedral and looking around at the entrance area. Then I paused. I didn't have anything planned in particular that day.. I was planning to just wing it. I consulted my map, and decided to head over to the Millenium Dome (Kathy had asked me to go and take pictures for her). I jumped on the Tube at St. Paul's station. On the way there, I decided to just jump out of a station to see what was there. I got off at Canada Water (the Canada really appealed to me!) and found a mall!! So I took a little sight-seeing break and walked around a mall :) So tempted to buy something! I'm so proud of myself.. 3 1/2 weeks w/o shopping!! wow! hehe!. After the mall, I made a stop at North Greenwich station to see the Dome. Kathy.. it was deserted!! Nobody was there.. it was closed... agh! I took a pic of the dome, sat down and planned my next destination. I decided to head over to the British Museum. I got on the Tube and took it to Tottenham Court Road station. Took me a while to find the British Museum. I stayed there for a bit.. looked at some old Chinese artifacts (I'm all into the Chinese history stuff now!!). I was planning to head over to King's Cross (for all those Harry Potter fans.. you know what I'm talking about! hehe) but I decided to make a brief stop at Harrods. Back on the Tube to Knightsbridge station. Harrods is owned by the father of the guy Princess Di was dating before the time of her death. There was a nice tribute to the both of them in the store. I stayed there for an hour and a half because it was truely a remarkable store!! There was just so much to see!!! It's the ultimate department store!!. I headed to King's Cross station after that.. a complete rip-off because there was no walkway between platforms 9 and 10. *grumble*. I took a pic of the station anyways. Then I headed to Paddington station. Phil.. I donno why you wanted to go there cuz there's nothing!! *grumble*. I don't think I'm taking travel tips from Kathy or Phil for a long time! haha! From Paddington I was going to take it to Westminister to take a picture of Big Ben at night.. but I got on the wrong train (that's what I get for talking to my dad on my cell while travelling! haha!). I met up with Brenna and Sandy at Piccadilly Circus and we went to Starbucks for the "coffe and cake" deal! yummy! *whew* what a day eh??

Sunday, my relatives took us out for dim sum!! yummy!! So glad I got to eat all this chinese food while I was there! After that, Sandy and I went to Notting Hill and tried to look for the Blue Door (from the movie!!). Could not find it for the life of us (apparently they took down the door.. it's a different colour now! agh!!). We found the Portabello Market (it was just one big garage sale) and that was neat!! We met up with Brenna at Kensington Palace and from there we headed to the bus station. What a weekend!! I'm definitely going back to London!!

Awesome thing was, it was sunny all weekend! It was definitely a treat for the 3 of us! Leeds is everything London was not: windy, freezing cold and rainy. But, I'm back... and just exhausted from the weekend!

I'm having a pretty bad day today. Actually, it all sorta started yesterday night. I got back from Liverpool (I'll talk about that in a moment) and I had the worst headache and I was increadibly tired... and these frigging Americans that live below me decided to have some barnyard dance/choir practice or some shit like that. They were singing OFF-KEY very very loud, scream, making sexual noises.. it was pissing me off!! It got to the point where I got so fustrated I completely trashed my room, blasted my music, went into the kitchen and banged on the floor w/ chairs really really loud.. I even went downstairs to tell them to shut up.. oh my god!! They have absolutely NO consideration whatsoever! I was increadibly not impressed. I even called Jimmy and just cried cuz I couldn't sleep and I was feeling like shit! *sigh*. I think this is, by far, the worst night I've ever had here. Shit.. I feel like I'm in first year all over again! I hope they all lose their voices and get mono or sumthin.. haha! I'm so mean!! But seriously... it was just horrible. And.. to make things worse, this morning I decided to make my apple pies (I got 3 for £1!! what a deal!) and.. I went to take it out and it slipped out of my hands and fell to the bottom of the oven :( *sigh* such a bad day! and it's sunny out too :(. So yeah... I'm just feeling like shit today... I hope it gets better.

Anyways, other than that, I had a pretty good week! I finally got my schedule all fixed up :) I'm taking a Chinese history course :) It sounds very interesting and I'm enjoying that class very much (I've only been to one class but it seems very interesting). I'm just happy I finalized my schedule.. gives me a piece of mind :) This has been a pretty productive week :)

Thursday night, me and Sandy went over to Stephan's house to watch Pretty Woman :) Ahh.. that movie is awesome! Sandy and I left Stephan's place feeling all dreamy :) That's what I need right now.. a rich dude to whisk me away in his private jet :) yea!! hehe!

Friday night I had a mini pot luck w/ those two again. Me and Sandy made some chinese dishes while Stephan made salad. hm.. salad w/ chinese food? haha! After that, Sandy and I went to this club called Heaven and Hell. The music was hype but the dudes... oh my god! There were a few dudes that just came up to us, jumped in front of us and just started dancing! Ahhh!! They kept pulling me and Sandy apart. We left after a while cuz we were just not enjoying ourselves cuz of those retarded idoits that just kept jumping in front of us. Retards! That night, I got to talk to my parents :) We talked for so long!! :) It was good though :) I even heard Pepper barking in the background :) Aww... I miss him!! :`(. I didn't sleep until 2am that morning!

Saturday was Liverpool. There's not too much to see in Liverpool. We went to the Chinatown over there and I had this huge ass plate of fried rice.. cost me £5.50 but hell.. it was worth it!! I demolished it!! I can't believe I ate the whole plate... thinking about it makes me sorta sick! But boy was it good!! I miss Chinese food!! We spent the rest of the day just wandering around town, seeing the cathedrals and stuff (I love cathedrals!!). We even headed over to where The Beatles first played (before they became famous). It was a fun day but I was so tired! So much walking.. and it was a 2 hour bus ride!

Next weekend I'm heading off to London!! I can't wait!! My first overnight trip!! Oh .. and I finally booked my plane tickets to Brussels! I'm leaving on the 28th.. staying in Brussels overnight, then taking a bus over to Amsterdam.. staying the night there on Friday.. then taking the bus back to Brussels and from there I'm flying to London! So excited!!! :)

I've havn't found the time to update this in a while! It's been about a week or so. I'm so fustrated cuz I'm still trying to figure out my courses. What's ticking me off is Waterloo is not approving the electives I'm choosing! It's pissing me off BIG TIME and causing me to completely freak out! *sigh* I should go out for a drink! hehe!

Thursday I booked plane tickets for my Easter vacation and planned my route :) So excited! I'm flying into Sweden on the 24th of March.. taking a boat to Copenhagan, Denmark. From there I'm taking a train through Germany, Switzerland and finally to Italy. I'm meeting Sandy in Rome, then we're thinking about renting a car and driving around. Then we're gonna take the train to Venice and fly to London from there! It's gonna be so much fun! I can't wait!

Friday night I went to this club called Creations with Sandy and Stephan. I had so much fun! hehe.. when we headed to the house/techno/trance floor.. nobody was dancing.. so i grabbed Sandy and we hit the dance floor :) hehe! It was tres fun! It was kewls cuz it had 3 floors, each playing different things! This is such a party skool.. there are so many clubs and bars to go to!!

Just this past Saturday I took a day trip up to York (1 hour bus ride north of Leeds) with Sandy, Brenna and Stephan. I'm getting the pics developed as we speak.. I should have them up soon! York was very nice! It's a small city that's surrounded by this stone wall. You can even walk on the wall (there's a path right beside the top of the wall). It's a very nice city full of historical landmarks. The first place we went to was the Minister. It was a very nice cathedral. Sandy, Stephan and I paid £3 to climb to the towers of The Minister. Oh man.. it was bloody stairmaster 2000!! It was just this long spiral staircase leading up to the top of the cathedral! I was so scared I was gonna fall! It was such a nice view though! My thighs hurt so bad the next day! hehe! There were a lot of ruins in the city... one being castle built by King Henry III. Later in the afternoon we met up with Tanya and her friends Nick and Rachel. We went to this bar for an early dinner.. I actually had fish and chips! It was pretty good!

This coming weekend I'm thinking of going to Liverpool :) Chinese New Year is this weekend.. Just wanna wish everyone a Happy Chinese New Year (just in case I don't update this again this week!)

I'm so tired!! I had to wake up for a 9:00am class today.. and it was cancelled! it didn't help that my roommates came back from clubbing late last night and woke me up cuz they were being really really loud :( i hate having broken sleep! i even had to get out of bed to tell them to keep it down :( so tired...

Classes are going ok i suppose. i'm still trying to work out my schedule! i think i've changed my mind about my schedule like.. 5 times! such a pain running around and stuff. Sandy and I are just attending a whole bunch of classes to see which one we wanna take. I'm planning to take those conflicting courses (food processing and mass transfer).. i had a talk with my prof and he says it's ok if i miss every other class (and plus.. i find that course interesting!). I really want to get rid of my friday afternoon course so that I can travel. Sandy and I have been looking for courses to take in place of that. We thought we found one that fit into our schedule but the department decided to change it on us.. and now it conflicts with the mass transfer course. agh!! So i think i'm gonna take another technical elective. oh man! this is so troublesome! all this running around getting our schedules straightened out! *sigh* so spoiled @ waterloo!

The past few nights I didn't do much. I spent a lot of time in the computer lab just e-mailing people. I guess I'm getting a little homesick. I've been calling people with my cell this whole weekend :) so good to talk on the phone again! I think the only person that called me from home so far is Justin! haha! He called me last night and we talked for about an hour :)

Tonight is International Student night @ The Eldon (it's a pub near the university.. funny enough it's right across the engineering buildings! hehe). I'm going to that tonight.. don't think I'l be drinking though.. still sick :( sucks!!! Well.. gotta go to class (it's mass transfer.. it's a 3 hour class!! ahhh!!)

It feels as if I've been here for a week but it hasn't even been a week! I've been doing so much.. and the days seem sorta long :P I'm still having a lot of fun!! I just about have all my classes straightened out. I thought I did until friday night.. I realize they change the class schedules on me and now two of my classes are conflicting! *sigh* more running around tomorrow!

The past few days I've been hanging out with other Waterloo students. Friday night we went to a pub somewhere in the city. It's good to go places with people who know where they're going :) Didn't do any drinking cuz I'm on medication (i hate being sick!!).

Last night we went to a club called the Townhouse. There was no cover (which was good) but it was packed (which was bad). It was multi-leveled :) I had a really fun time! They played a lot of old music but it's all good :) it's what you make of it :) Everyone here dresses like a skank!! Oh man... it's like skank central (after hearing this i'll be expecting a lot of you boys to visit me here! haha) This school is such a party school.. go figure! They don't give out that many assignments.. so you are sorta forced to drink (there's nothing else better to do!)

Today I went window shopping with Sandy. There is so much stuff I wanna buy! I found some pretty cheap stuff :) But i only have £15 left.. that has to last me for a week (my bank account doesn't come though til friday.. so I have no cash until then!!).

The problem I find here is that it gets dark really early! It starts getting pretty dark after 3pm! agh! 5pm here feels like 10pm! I get tired really fast here. Maybe it's cuz i'm walking around a lot.. i donno. it's really gloomy here.. it rained all day today (and yesterday.. and the day before.. with a few sunny breaks...).

Better jet.. wanna go to the mickey-d's before it closes.. i have a major craving for fries! i hope it's open!!

I'm here!! I'm finally here!! It's really rainy here. There is so much to do and there's so little time! Right now I'm in the middle of getting all my courses settled out. I'm running around the campus lookin for the places to get my time table signed and at the same time i'm figuring out how to get around campus! agh! Insane!!

I arrived on Tuesday. surprisingly it was sunny! it's usually rainy here. today it snowed! crazy! made me miss home! I was picked up by a friend of a family friend @ Manchester airport. They drove me to Leeds and took me to my res. My res is alright. It's bigger than waterloo residence rooms.. and i get my own sink :) hehe! I spent the afternoon with the people.. they drove me around town, took me to a grocery store to get food.. and they even gave me pots and dishes! wow! I was totally awed by their hospitality! i went to bed around 4pm (after being up for 27 hours straight!)

The next day I went around town with my aunt's friend's son. We went to the shopping district where I was in search of a cell phone. So expensive!! things are just too rich for my blood! He also took me around the school, showed me where the main student union building was (it's like the SLC @ waterloo but bigger and better!!). That night, I went out with this girl and guy from Penn State. we wondered around town, looking for a place to eat. We walked for an hour.. ended up in the city center of Leeds. Leeds is a pretty nice city.. very very different from Toronto.. no sky scrapers.

Yesterday was orientation. I also tried to get my classes straighted out but.. no luck! my registration forms were nowhere to be found! i had to run around a bit.. finally found out I was registered under Civil Engineering! agh! But they got that changed! I also got a cell phone :) my number is 011 44 776 319 2090. u can send me txt msgs though icq too (SMS msg). I also walked around the campus last night with my friend Greg (the campus can get pretty scary @ night!!)

Anyways, gotta get my classes straightened out! agh! so stressed already!