Southam Rotary Club

Tonight I gave my first "for real" Rotary speech - power point presentation and all! At 6:00 p.m., Iain Cockburn (pronounced Coburn) from the Southam 2000 Rotary Club and his wife, Claire, picked me up in Stratford-upon-Avon. They were really fun and very sweet! They actually got married in the U.S., and we had some good conversations on the way to the meeting. Southam is about 20 minutes from Stratford, and the Southam Rotary Club meets at The Fox and Lion pub. Since it was Foundation Night (where they raise money and have guest speakers), the Southam 2000 club was also there, along with the Mayor and Mayoress of Southam. In England, all of the mayors wear large gold medallions, and their wives wear smaller ones. On the way to the pub, Iain told me that the riots in Paris are under control, and even if we had gone to Paris while they were happening, we wouldn't have been anywhere near them since the riots weren't near any of the tourist areas. He also told me about the strict gun control laws that England has. It is VERY hard to own a gun in England, and if you do own one, you have to store the gun and ammunition separately. Police aren't allowed to carry guns, either. Iain said that if the U.S. had stricter gun laws, it might cut down on the school shootings. He definitely has a good point! Tooley and I always read in the paper about students in England stabbing other students with knives, scissors...anything! There are never any shootings, though. Rinko, an Ambassadorial Scholar from Japan, also spoke tonight. She and I met last month at District Conference, so it was good getting to see her again. For supper, we had onion soup (ew!), porkchops and applesauce, cooked potatoes, and carrots...of course! Dessert was a sponge cake with creme and raspberry filling. I sat between the Mayor of Southam and the president of the Southam Rotary Club. Everyone was really friendly. A funny fact about Rotary Clubs in England...it's not unusual for one or two people to get drunk at meetings! Haha! After the meal and loyal toast (I thought it was called the royal toast when they toast the Queen, but it's actually the loyal toast), I gave my speech. I think it went ok! I'm glad it's over, though. People asked me about Hurricane Katrina and what I thought about England, but luckily there were no political questions. I've heard horror stories about Ambassadorial Scholars getting bombarded with a number of questions about Bush and the War in Iraq. Luckily, I had a great crowd tonight. After the meeting (it lasted til 10:30!), Iain brought me back to Stratford. Tomorrow I'm going to the Coventry Phoenix Rotary meeting to hear Bianca's farewell speech, so it'll be nice to go to a meeting and not have to speak. I hope everyone had a wonderful day!

SNOW!

Today was a great day! At four a.m. England time, I received a call from my sister telling me that she's been elected as the new House Manager for Chi Omega...go Claire! I also turned in my big essay today (I don't have another one due til the beginning of January), and my package from my parents finally arrived. The package was wonderful, and I'm so excited! They sent me: People and US magazines (my absolute favorites, but you can't get them in England), Nilla wafers and Jello to make banana pudding, blueberry muffin mix, Cookies and Creme Jello, and...pumpkin bread mix! I made the pumpkin bread this afternoon, and it is delicious! I let Junko and Marfo try some. Junko didn't really seem to like it, but Marfo did! I told her about all the pumpkin flavored foods we have in the U.S. (pumpkin pie, cookies, yogurt, coffee, bread, muffins, etc.) and she was very intrigued. Apparently, pumpkin flavored foods aren't really popular outside of the U.S. After I turned in my paper, Tooley made pancakes for us for brunch (they were great!), and I read a magazine and took a nap. When I woke up, it was...SNOWING! And not just little flurries...these were the biggest flakes I've ever seen! They had to be at least 1 1/2 inches in diameter. It snowed off and on all afternoon, and even started sticking. As soon as it stopped snowing, the weather warmed up a bit, and all the snow turned to slush. Tonight, Tooley and I went to see the new Harry Potter movie, and we enjoyed walking through the slush...you don't get to do that often back home. The movie was incredible! We had to sit through about 15 minutes of commercials (for laundry detergent, cars, cell phones), and then about 10 minutes of previews. But it was so worth it! I think it was the best Harry Potter movie yet. An odd thing about movie theaters in England is that you have assigned seats. When you buy your ticket, they give you a seat number, just like if you went to the theater or a play. Tooley's former professor that now lives in Switzerland said that Swiss movie theaters are the same way, so maybe it's a European thing. Tomorrow I'm going to give a speech of the Southam Rotary Club, and Wednesday I'm going to the Coventry Phoenix Rotary Club because Bianca is giving her final speech. Today was a fun day, and hopefully it will snow again soon! I've posted pictures of the Christmas decorations Tooley and I put up in the kitchen on Sunday. They're a little random, but hey, the Brits have different tastes in decorations. Tinsel is very popular here!

Decorations in the kitchen


SNOW!

Tooley's Birthday

On Friday, my good friend Sarah Tooley turned 23. After the festivities at midnight (the cake and presents), Tooley and I went to sleep, because she had to work on her birthday! She said the people in the entertainment section of Woolworth's let her pick out the music that was played in the store, which was sweet. On Friday at 5 p.m., the Christmas lights in Stratford-upon-Avon were turned on. The streets look beautiful! I've attached pictures so you can see how gorgeous and Christmas-y everything looks now. When I was walking through town on Friday, I saw Santa Claus riding in a horse and buggy down the streets. Apparently, Friday night is when all of the children in Stratford go to Town Hall and have their pictures made with Santa. Tooley said that she saw reindeer in the Town Square, but I didn't get to see them. After my Friday night class (I know, it's awful having class on Friday night), Tooley, Marfo, and I went to Bella Italia for desserts and coffee. Bella Italia has the best cappuchios and mochachinos I've ever tasted! Afterwards, we walked around the town for a little while and checked out the Christmas lights, then headed to a pub called The Shakespearience. Despite the goofy sounding name, it actually has a really cool atmosphere! The only reason it's called that is because it's located over one of the ticket offices for the theater. We hung out there for awhile and listened to some dance/techno music (we weren't huge fans), and then called it a night. It started sleeting when we walked back to the house! Everyone keeps saying it's going to snow soon, but so far, no flurries in sight. Today, I had class from 10-4, with a nice 2 and a half hour long lunch break. I went by Marco Delicatessan, which is right across from my school, and had the most delicious chicken and cheese baguette. I've become a huge fan of baguettes! During my lunch break, Tooley and I went to Woolworth's and picked out some Christmas decorations for the house. Strangely, there weren't many green decorations. The main Christmas colors in England seem to be red, gold, silver, and...purple! Purple is my favorite color, but it's not very Christmas-y. We stuck with the red and gold, and we'll probably put them up tomorrow. After class, I spent a few hours working on my paper...boo! It's coming along nicely, though. A few minutes ago, I heard the best news that I've heard in awhile...the Bulldogs won the Egg Bowl! Go Dawgs! :)

Tooley's birthday cake. We devoured half of it in a matter of minutes!

Me, the birthday girl, and Marfo at Bella Italia

Me, Marfo, and Tools posing in town

Christmas lights!

How cute :)

Thanksgiving in England

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! It was a little strange walking around town and seeing stores open and people out running errands like it was just another day. I guess to the English, today was just a normal Thursday. Many of them haven't even heard of Thanksgiving! I had to attend a seminar at school today, but afterwards we headed to Bidford-upon-Avon to have our Thanksgiving feast! One of my American classmates, Isaac, lives in Bidford, which is the town next to Stratford. He even bought a cheap car and drives to class everyday...considering how different the cars and roads are here, he's a really good driver! About 15 American students and 6 English students came to Isaac's house for our potluck Thanksgiving dinner. We had quite a spread...turkey, chicken, mashed potatoes, gravy, squash, many casseroles, rolls, macaroni and cheese, and lots of desserts including...pumpkin pie! I've been craving pumpkin-flavored foods (who doesn't this time of the year?), but you can't buy pumpkin-flavored foods OR canned pumpkin to make pumpkin-flavored foods anywhere in England. They just don't sell it here! The lady who made the pumpkin pie (she's from New York) had to actually buy a pumpkin and carve it to make the pie! It was fun getting to tell the English people about the history of Thanksgiving, and letting them try American food. They seemed to really enjoy it, and said that everything was "beautiful" and "lovely." We had Americans there from North Carolina, Louisiana, Texas, Colorodo, Seattle, New York, and Canada (I guess Canadians are technically Americans, since they're from North America) so we compared and contrasted the way different regions celebrate Thanksgiving. I learned that the Canadian Thanksgiving is in October! Dinner was wonderful - I definitely pigged out...we have some great chefs at my school! After the meal, we all watched the third "Lord of the Rings," and a few episodes of a British comedy show called "Blackadder." "Blackadder" is set in the 1600s, and Rowan Atkinson (a.k.a. Mr. Bean) plays the main character. It's SO funny! It was sad being away from my friends and family on Thanksgiving, but I got to talk to nearly all of my relatives, and having our English Thanksgiving celebration made me less homesick. Today (it's 12:30 a.m. right now) is Tooley's 23rd birthday! At midnight, I brought up a cake and she blew out the candles and opened her present. So far she's gotten a couple of goodies from me, and lots of candy from Marfo and Michelle. We then proceeded to eat half of the cake! Tomorrow night after I get out of class, a bunch of us are going to eat dessert and maybe go dancing. Despite being away from family and friends, I would say today was really great! I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! Oh, and there's a 60% chance of SNOW tomorrow!

Hannah, me, and Catherine waiting for the food to be ready (sorry...the picture is a little blurry)

Isaac with his delicious turkey

The crowd is getting restless...

Part of our spread...there was also a whole other table filled with food!


For some reason, the rest of my pictures aren't loading, so I'll post them tomorrow!

Lush Party

Today was a nice, lazy day in Stratford-upon-Avon. The weather has warmed up (just a little), but unfortunately the sun didn't come out today. Tooley had the day off, so she went to Leamington Spa to run some errands, and I ran a few errands around here and worked on my paper. Jeremy is leaving Saturday to go to Australia for almost two months! Junko will be in charge, which should be interesting because her English isn't the best. Tonight, Tooley cooked potato soup, which was delicious, and we headed to Lush. Lush is a popular chain in Great Britain of all-natural bath and body products. It's almost like a Bath and Body Works, but not as commercialized. Whenever I walk by the store, I always take a big whiff, because everything smells wonderful! I've seen one Lush store in the U.S., and that was in the Orlando airport. Everything is really decently priced, and they have great stuff. Sarah Reid, a girl that Tooley works with, invited us to a Lush party, where we go to the store after hours and sample some of the products. There were about 20 other ladies there, including two other people that Tooley works with (we were the only Americans). We sampled hand lotion, glitter massage bars, "Eggsnog" lip balm (isn't that a cute name? For those of you that don't know, "snog" is a British word for kiss), and fun stuff like that. We also had a snack of mince pies, which are pastries with fruity jam on the inside. They tasted pretty good! I learned that "floozer" is another word for someone who flirts a lot. (One of Tooley's coworkers called a guy that). The English phrases are so fun! Tomorrow, about 20 people from my school (English and Americans) are going to Bidford, where a guy from my school lives, to have Thanksgiving dinner. Yum! Hopefully there will be some fun American treats there. One girl from Louisiana had her boyfriend send her some cornbread mix! It's going to be weird walking around Stratford tomorrow, because to me it will be a holiday, but to the English, it's just another day! Tooley and I learned that they're building an ice skating rink in the center of town for a few days in December, which I'm excited about! We're also decorating the house on Saturday (Jeremy is going to pay Tooley back if she buys some decorations at Woolworth's). I'll be sure to post pictures from our Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow! I hope everybody has a wonderful Thanksgiving! Thanks for all of your prayers yesterday! :)

Scenes from the Lush party

One Down, Three to Go...This Semester, At Least!

I just turned in my first paper today! Whew! Unfortunately, I have to write three more this semester. An hour before my paper was due, I tried to print it out, but my printer mysteriously would not turn on. After tinkering with it for about thirty minutes, I gave up and decided to copy my files onto a CD and print them off in the library. Well, my files wouldn't copy onto the CD. So I carried my laptop to the library, where I ran into Catherine, and she gave me some extra CDs to try. I FINALLY got my paper copied onto a CD, printed it out, and turned it in right on time. I figured out that the way my paper was formatted made it difficult to copy onto a CD. The paper in England (looseleaf, printer paper, any kind) is about an inch and a half longer and a teensy bit wider than paper in the U.S. (good ole 8 1/2 by 11), so I had to format my document to A4 style. A4 is the type of paper used in Great Britain. I know I've mentioned this before in my blog, but let me just reiterate how frustrating banks in the UK are. Walt, Tooley, and I always complain to each other about how much trouble we have trying to get to our money. Today I had to go to the bank three times just to withdraw my rent money. Jeremy said the banks have started making it hard for international people to open bank accounts because of 9/11. Apparently, some of the money used to fund certain terrorists attacks came from banks in England. Jeremy also said the banks have had problems with money laundering. The third and final time I went to the bank, I actually told the lady that I'm not a money launderer OR a terrorist (it's funny to think about how many times I've had to tell banks that...at least 2!), and that I just need to pay my rent. Luckily, everything got sorted out and my rent is paid! I really have a new appreciation for American customer service. It's just not a big concept in the UK. When you go to a restaurant, the average tip you leave a waiter in England is 10%, max. Lots of people don't even leave tips...it's just not a big thing here. Because of this, the waiters aren't too bothered about whether or not the customer is satified, comfortable, needs a refill, etc. Stores are the same way. Many shop clerks aren't always friendly or helpful. Tooley said that one of her managers even hung up on a customer when he was talking on the phone! Don't get me wrong, the service is fine in England, but sometimes I miss the whole "the customer is always right" motto. Tonight, I cooked tacos for supper, and I think they were pretty good! Junko (Jeremy's wife) is back from Japan...she was gone for a whole month! It's fun having her back because she's really sweet and really funny! I'll try to take some pictures of her and Jeremy soon and post them. Have a great day!

The Christmas lights in Birmingham. "Happy Christmas" is a very British phrase. :)

More Pics of Bath

Today was the first truly foggy day we've had in England! Some mornings will start out a little foggy, but it clears up by the end of the day. Today the fog stayed all day! Tooley and I were talking to Jeremy about it, and he said that England really isn't foggy. We were surprised, because you always hear about the "London fog." Jeremy told us that now that the air pollution in England isn't as bad, the fog (I guess it was really smog) has gone away. He also told us that the weather has been unusually cold for this time of the year, and that it should warm up next week. Hooray! Oh, last week the Littlefords told me the key to making a "proper" cup of English tea (sorry I'm just now posting it) - you warm the teapot before you pour the hot water in. After you heat the water in the kettle, run warm water in the teapot, then pour in the hot water from the kettle and add a tea bag. And if you "take" milk in your tea, you pour the milk in the cup first and then add the tea. I love tea, so I thought this was an interesting little fact. :) Let me just say, the English really do love their tea! Whenever you visit another person's house, you will always be offered a cup of tea upon arrival. If you say, "No, thanks," you will usually receive a look of surprise, followed by, "Are you sure?" This has been my experience, at least! I love tea, but sometimes I'm just not thirsty. However, the surprised look on the person's face usually makes me reconsider and say, "Well, sure, I guess I'll have some." Maybe it's rude to refuse tea, I don't know. Tea time in England is around 4:00 p.m., and usually includes a biscuit (a.k.a. cookie) or scone of some kind. One thing I'm really starting to miss from the U.S. is central heating! Most homes in England use radiators, and it just isn't the same. Here are more pictures of Bath:


This bridge has little shops along the inside of it. Tooley and I stopped for baguettes in a little restaurant overlooking the river. :)

The scenery is gorgeous!

A Beautiful Day in Bath

Today Tooley and I visited the beautiful town of Bath, England. Bath is about 2 hours south of Stratford-upon-Avon, just below the Cotswolds. We woke up early this morning to catch the train, but found out we would save twenty pounds if we took a later train. So, we took a little nap and then headed out. When we arrived in Bath, we went straight to the Roman Baths, which are the most popular attraction in the town. The Roman Baths were built between 65-75 A.D. as a temple to a Roman goddess (making them officially the oldest thing I've ever seen!), and are heated by warm springs in the ground. You can see them steam rising from the water. The Roman bath looks like, well, a big stone bathtub! The water used to be clear, but now it's a little green because of the algae. Tooley and I walked around the museum, which has remains of the original stone temple, including Roman coins and even jewelry. Then we went outside and stuck our hand in the water (even though you're not supposed to). It was nice and toasty, like a hot tub! The restaurant in the museum was giving out free samples of the water, so we tried some, but it was pretty gross - hot and salty because of the minerals. After we left the Roman Baths, we walked around the town. It's gorgeous! All of the buildings are made of beige stone, and it's more cheerful looking than some of the other towns which have gray stone buildings. Bath seems to be a very posh town! Jane Austen (author of Pride and Prejudice and Emma) is from Bath, and you can definitely see where she gets the inspiration for the settings in her books. The town is surrounded by green hills that have huge old houses built on them. For lunch, Tooley and I stopped at the Cadbury Cocoa House...yum! We had chocolate fondue for dessert, and it was fabulous. We walked around the town some more, and explored some of the shops. We stopped in the Bath Abbey, a magnificent old church near the Roman Baths. The Abbey was built in 1499, and it's enormous with beautiful stained glass windows. The weather was perfect for our trip - sunny with clear skies - but it was FREEZING! I do think I'm getting used to the cold weather, though! We had a wonderful trip, and I hope you enjoy the pictures!

A view of the main Roman bath from the street

The hot spring water flowing from an ancient tunnel

On the level with the baths

Cheese!

Bath Abbey

Inside the Abbey


I'll post more pictures of Bath tomorrow! :)

Leamington Spa

Today I went to the town of Leamington Spa to do a little shopping. Although I brought my camera, I didn't really see anything that looked picture-worthy, so unfortunately I don't have any pictures to post. It's a really cute town, though! Leamington Spa became popular during the Victorian period because they discovered warm springs in the area. The royal family and wealthy tourists spent their vacations (or "holiday," as the English call it) in Leamington Spa. It's a very posh town with lots of cute stores. I had to take a cab to get to some areas of the town, and the cabbie and I had a nice chat. He's applying for a job in Stratford-upon-Avon and wants to study Shakespeare! He asked what I was doing in England, and when I told him I was in graduate school, he said, "Wow, you've accomplished a lot for a 19 year old!" Haha! I guess he's not very good at guessing people's ages. Good news...Paris hasn't been in the newspaper for the past two days, which means the rioting has gone down. I'm really glad, because that means we'll be safe and sound when the girls come over for New Year's. Whew! Also, I've become addicted to hot chocolate. I drink at least three cups a day! It's getting really cold here, and the hot chocolate is incredible in England. Tooley and I have different flavors of Cadbury's hot chocolate that we make at the house. We've taught our landlord, Jeremy, a new American phrase - "Stop, Drop, and Roll." We were in the kitchen talking about fires, and Tooley said that phrase, and Jeremy was so confused. He'd never heard it! We explained that children are taught to "Stop, Drop, and Roll" if they ever catch on fire. He left the kitchen, and we could hear him muttering the phrase over and over. Five minutes later, he came back in and said, "Well, it's a bit silly, isn't it?" He's funny! Now he thinks it's a pretty cool phrase. I learned that a "bubble and squeak" is an English dish where you mix leftover food together and fry it. And sprinkles are called "hundreds and thousands"...pretty appropriate name, huh? Tomorrow I'm going to be very studious and work on my paper all day, so my next post will be Friday night when Tooley and I get back from Bath. Get ready for some fun pictures...everyone says Bath is gorgeous!

More Updates from Kenilworth

Since my post was so long yesterday, I'm going to finish talking about my weekend on today's post. :) Friday was Remembrance Day, a holiday which falls on the 11th day of the 11th month. On the 11th hour of that day, there is a two minute period of silence to remember all of the veterans who died fighting in English wars. It's like the British version of Memorial Day. The Royal British Legion sells poppies made out of paper that you're supposed to pin on your shirt, and the money raised goes to help out families of veterans. On Sunday, there was a big celebration in London where the royal family, Tony Blair, and leaders of the Commonwealth nations placed wreaths of poppies on the Cenotaph (a big memorial to the veterans). It was pretty cool! My parents have sent me ingredients to make banana pudding, and I'm really excited because none of the English people I've talked to have even heard of it! It was hard to try to explain how to the Littlefords how to make it. English and Americans have different meanings for the words "gelatin," "jelly," "jam," and "pudding." And they've never had Jello over here! Marfo is excited, too, because she's never heard of it either. This weekend, Tooley made Rice Krispy treats and we let Marfo and Jeremy (our landlord) try them. I think they were a hit! Jeremy asked how to make them, and when we explained, he said, "You liquidized a marshmallow? That's a sin!" He cracks us up! Today I was doing some research for my paper, and I realized that my teacher wrote one of the books that I'm using as a source! Isn't that weird? Apparently the teachers at my school are pretty famous...who knew? I don't know if it's a good or bad thing that I'm using her as a source, though. We'll see! This afternoon, Tooley discovered that they have Diet Dr. Pepper in England, except it's called Dr. Pepper Z (for zero calories), but it's the same thing. We've liked trying new foods and drinks, but it's always nice to have a little taste of home. One drink that I haven't tried yet is called Ribena, and it's some health drink that's supposed to give you vitamins and minerals. It looks pretty gross to me, but it's very popular over here. I've been drinking pomegranate juice, which is really good! On Wednesday, I'm going to take a little day trip to Leamington Spa to run some errands, and I'll bring my camera so I can post pictures. For some reason, it's also known as Royal Leamington Spa. On Friday, Tooley and I are going to take a train and visit Bath, England, which is supposed to be gorgeous. I can't wait!

My weekend in Coventry

This weekend, I went to stay with the Littlefords in Conventry. They actually live in Kenilworth, which is a cute little suburb of Coventry. Bianca has been living with them for the past month, and will continue to live with them until she leaves for Brazil on December 9. David Littleford is the president of the Coventry Phoenix Rotary Club (my host club) and his wife Gill is so sweet! They're in their early 60s and have two children who are in their mid-thirties. The Littlefords are great, and really made me feel welcome. Kenilworth reminds me a little bit of Madison...a safe, small town with a good school district. Unlike Madison, however, Kenilworth is built around the ruins of a huge castle, Kenilworth Castle. On Friday night, Gill cooked fish (as in the kind that goes with chips), vegetables, and blueberry crumble. Fruit crumbles are popular desserts in England, and are very similar to what we call "cobbler." Also, the English very rarely use the word "dessert." They either say "sweet" or "pudding." Pudding can be anything from actual pudding to crumbles to cake! After dinner, we watched...TV! Hooray! I haven't gotten to watch TV since I've been here! Tooley and I have the British version of Netflix, so we mostly watch DVDs. I got to watch three episodes of "Friends," and I was in hog heaven! We also watched that new show "Brat Camp." Gill asked me if I thought children are worse in England or the U.S, and I told her that I think they're the same. Sure, we have crazy hoodlums in the U.S. that rob people and bring guns to school, but they have the exact same problem in England. In fact, on the BBC news, there was a report about how the schools are having an epidemic of bullies. At least three times a week we'll read in the paper about a girl getting stabbed in the eye in the lunch line, or a boy getting beat up after school, and even kids killing their classmates! We watched the England vs. Argentina football (soccer) match, which England won, and David and Gill told me about a baseball "match" that they went to in Seattle, which they said was "lovely." It was so cute hearing them talk about the pitcher throwing the ball to "that guy with the mask...what's he called...the catcher!" As you can see, baseball is NOT an English sport. On Saturday, we woke up and went to Leamington Spa to do a little bit of shopping. David and Gill went to Marks and Spencer (an upscale Wal-mart), and Bianca and I checked out some cute clothing stores. My absolute favorite stores in England are H&M, River Island, New Look, and Top Shop...SO CUTE! After we left Leamington Spa, we went home for lunch, and Bianca went to the theater with one of her friends who was in town for the afternoon. David, Gill, and I were supposed to work at the Rotary Disabled Sports Event, but they had too many people working, so they took me to see some old homes in Coventry. We went to Baddesley Clinton and Packwood House, which are old Elizabethan homes with gorgeous countryside. We walked around the grounds, and it was beautiful! Afterwards, we went to Melbicks, a popular lawn and garden center that was decorated for Christmas. By the time we arrived back at their house, Bianca was just getting home from the theater. Brian Russell and his partner Jean (they've been dating for 24 years but aren't married) came over, and we all went to a pub called The Anchor for a nice meal. Brian is the Vice President of the Coventry Phoenix Rotary Club, and he and Jean have a daughter that's three years younger than me. I learned a new phrase..."getting your mickey." You can also say "taking your mickey." Tooley and I have heard it before, and it means getting a rise out of someone. That's the British humor for you...they like to try and get you riled up. If someone from England was "trying to get my mickey," they would make a joke about the Revolutionary War. The common joke here is "Do you know what they told the Queen when the war broke out against the colonies?" "No, what?" "Oh, it's nothing, just a skirmish on the outskirts of the Empire." Clever, huh? Funny story...I had to ask Gill what a faggot is, because it was on the menu! I had no clue what it could mean, and I was a little embarrassed about asking her, b/c it's such an un-P.C. term. Apparently, faggot means meatball. Good to know, huh? Today (Sunday), we watched the Remembrance Sunday celebration (I'll write more about that tomorrow), and had a delicious home-cooked lunch of chicken, parsnips, new potatoes, cauliflower and cheese, stuffing, and apple crumble. Bianca and I went walking around Kenilworth and checked out the castle, and then they brought me back to Stratford. It's nice being back! I started getting really homesick in Kenilworth...I think it was because I was staying in a real home with a family. It sure made me miss my home and family and friends! When I got back, Tooley told me that she had gotten really homesick this weekend, too, so we talked and feel much better now. I miss everyone from home, so please call or send me an email if you think about it! :) Tomorrow I'll write more about the weekend, because this post is already pretty long. I hope everyone had a great weekend!

Me and Bianca before going to eat at The Anchor

Brian Russell, Jean, and David Littleford

Gill Littleford, me, and Bianca

Ever heard of Opal Fruits?

The past two days, I've been very studious and have worked on my essay that's due on the 19th. The topic: Did the use of male actors in Shakespeare's plays confine or liberate female roles? Pretty dorky, huh? I'm arguing the "confined" point of view. Luckily, my teacher, Cath, is really cool and is letting me use American spelling and bibliography! The English spell quite a few words differently than we do in the good ole U.S. Examples: tire = tyre, realize = realise, color = colour, favorite = favourite, program = programme, center = centre, etc. On Wednesday night, Tooley cooked tacos with the taco mix her mom sent from home. Yum! My parents mailed me some Jello pudding mix and Vanilla wafers so that I can make banana pudding...I can't wait! The Christmas lights on the main street in town were on Wednesday night (just a test), and they were gorgeous! I can't wait until all of the lights are on for good so I can take pictures and post them for everyone to see. The big news in England is that Tony Blair may be out of office sooner than expected. The MPs (Ministers of Parliament) in the House of Commons (like our Congress) just vetoed Blair's plans for school and terror reform. Gordon Brown (currently the Chancellor of the Exchequer...kind of like the treasurer) will replace Tony Blair if he ever steps down from the office of Prime Minister. High tensions for the Labour party! Tooley learned an interesting tidbit at work today...Starbursts candy originated in England under the name Opal Fruits. When the company tried to market them in the U.S., manufacturers refused to produce them because the name was misleading...they weren't really fruit candy. They changed the name to Starbursts for American consumers, and seven years ago, ended up having to change the name in England, too, to save on production costs. Tooley said one of her coworkers used this as an example of Americans thinking we're bigger and better than other countries. (We get comments like that a lot). Our landlord also makes comments about how Americans think they have to drive huge cars and live in huge houses. I would say for the most part, the English really do like Americans, but view the country as a whole as extravagant and conceited. But you'll rarely find an English person who is rude to an American just because they're from the U.S. Tomorrow, I'm going to Conventry for the weekend to stay with Bianca and the Littlefords, so my next post will be either Sunday night or Monday morning. Have a great weekend!

After Seeing Madonna, Life is Dull

After seeing my favorite movie stars in my favorite city, life in Stratford seems a little dull! :) Actually, it's nice living in a small town with a laid back atmosphere...it reminds me of Madison! I've been doing some school work, and Tooley and I have been catching up on our sleep...our train left London at 5:15 a.m. on Monday, so we were pooped when we got back. Tooley was off work today, so we ran errands and planned trips. Mary Virginia Morgan is coming to visit in January, and she and Tooley are going to travel around Europe for a few weeks. I'm going to go to Spain and Switzerland with them, and I'm pumped! We're planning to go yodel-ing on the Alps. :)
The current group of Rotary Scholars from Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, and Georgia have a group page online that we can go to and write about living abroad, problems, fun experiences, etc. One girl, Anna, is living in India, and wrote about her living conditions. After one month of showering from a bucket of water and using the bathroom in a latrine, she has just moved to a building with running water and plumbing. She has to sleep with a mosquito net on her bed to keep animals out (furry and non-furry), and has to pick cockroaches out of her soup. Wow! When I read that, I felt like the luckiest girl ever! Not only do I have a nice, clean, safe place to live, but I also speak the language and have one of my good friends with me. I may not be taking a trip to India any time soon...
Tonight, Tooley and I ate at "A Hole in the Wall," which has two-for-one pizzas on Tuesday night. We had the most delicious dough balls with hummus...yum! Good news...if anyone has been following the news about the riots in Paris, I think everything is starting to get under control. The news in England said that the attacks last night weren't as bad as they have been, and President Chirac has declared a state of emergency, which is good because it means he can impose a curfew and confiscate weapons in Paris. Hopefully everything will be resolved soon! That's all the news in Stratford-upon-Avon. I hope everyone has a great day!

The Harry Potter World Premiere

Yesterday (Sunday), Tooley and I took the train to London to go to the world premiere of the newest Harry Potter movie, "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire." (Well, not really the actual premiere, just where the stars walk down the red carpet). We arrived in London around noon, and browsed through some of our favorite shops on Oxford Street...H&M, River Island, and Topshop. We had lunch at Subway, which was a nice treat because I haven't had Subway since I left the U.S.! Then, we checked into our hostel and made our way to Leicester Square, where the premiere was held. Leicester Square is an open square surrounded by three movie theaters, the Half Price ticket booth for West End (Broadway) shows, and fun restaurants. The Square was PACKED...the papers this morning said there were about 7,000 fans at the premiere. The middle part of the Square and the section leading into the Odeon Theater had big plastic walls up for photographers to take pictures. Unfortunately, it meant the rest of us could only see the inside of the wall on a big screen that was set up outside. All of the fans were lined up and down the road, and Tooley and I got next to the entrance of the blocked off area, where we would be able to see the stars get out of the cars and walk inside the walled area. We got to see ALL of the Harry Potter stars, except Ralph Fiennes (Voldemort), Michael Gambon (Dumbledore) and Alan Rickman (Professor Snape), who were either filming or out of the country. We didn't see J.K. Rowling, either, so figured they snuck her in the back entrance. We didn't get very good pictures of Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter), because they whisked him into the main press area for interviews and autographs. Emma Watson (Hermione), signed a few autographs and walked in behind him. Rob Lowe snuck in very quietly with his kids, and he's VERY cute in person! Rupert Grint (Ron Weasley), Robbie Coltrane (Hagrid), Tom Felton (Draco Malfoy), and Katie Leung (Cho Chang) were so close to me that I could have reached out and touched them. My favorite star spotting of the night was...Madonna! Her daughter, Lourdes, is a huge Harry Potter fan so she brought her to the premiere. Madonna is gorgeous, and very thin! Claudia Schiffer arrived right behind Madonna, and looked stunning. Lots of famous English movie and TV stars also came, but Tooley and I didn't recognize many of them. I was surprised that no one arrived in a limo - just minivans or nice cars! Tooley and I are HUGE Harry Potter fans, so getting to see all of the stars in person was definitely one of the coolest things ever! After the premiere, I ate at my favorite restaurant, Wagamama's, and Tooley and I walked around the city. London is such an amazing city...I just love it! We woke up EARLY this morning to catch the train back to Stratford because Tooley had to work today. Enjoy the pictures!

The back of Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter)'s head...they whisked him in so fast, it was hard to get a good shot!

Rupert Grint aka Ron Weasley

Robbie Coltrane aka Hagrid

Tom Felton aka Draco Malfoy

Mr. Filch

Bonnie Wright aka Ginny Weasley

Katie Leung aka Cho Chang (Harry's girlfriend)

Maggie Smith aka Professor McGonagall

Madonna and Lourdes...WOW!

Claudia Schiffer

I love London!

Movie Stars Everywhere!

Hello from London! Tooley and I just got back from the pre-premiere of Harry Potter, and it was awesome! Check back tomorrow for pictures of: Rupert Grint (Ron Weasley), Robbie Coltrane (Hagrid), Maggie Smith (McGonagall), Ginny Weasley, Claudia Schiffer, and...MADONNA! We defintely saw Madonna! We also saw Rob Lowe, Emma Watson (Hermione), Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter), and the little boy from "Finding Neverland," but we couldn't get pictures. Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Guy Fawkes Day

School on a Saturday...not my favorite way to spend the weekend, but class wasn't too bad. We spent the whole day talking about Macbeth, so if you have any questions about that play, throw them my way. :) Just kidding! After class, Tooley and I ate dinner downstairs with Catherine and Marfo, and goofed off for awhile. A Japanese lady is staying at our house for two weeks (there's one extra room that our landlord and his wife keep open for their friends), and she talks nonstop. She's an English teacher in Japan, so she asks us a million questions whenever we see her downstairs. Sometimes it's hard to get out of a conversation with her, so the four of us girls usually try to avoid her. We always joke around that we're going to leave a note on the lady's door telling her to come see Marfo (Marfo would kill us), and we text each other warnings if the Japanese lady is in the kitchen. After supper, Tooley and I met up with Natalie and we went searching for a bonfire to go to for the Bonfire Night celebration. Unfortunately, we found out that the main bonfire at the rubgy club is going to be tomorrow night, when Tooley and I are in London. We decided to go watch the fireworks display put on by the Swan Theatre, so we sat outside of a pub, the Dirty Duck, and drank coffee until it was time for the fireworks. There are two main theaters (or, if you're English, "theatres") in Stratford, the Royal Shakespeare Company and the Swan. They're right next to each other on the bank of the River Avon. A lot of people from my school were hanging out at the Dirty Duck waiting on the fireworks, including my teacher! Some of the theater actors came to have a drink, so it was neat seeing them. The fireworks were gorgeous, and it felt like the Fourth of July. Natalie said she felt like singing "The Star-Bangled Banner," but I don't think the English would have appreciated it. :) Fun fact: The English national anthem, "God Save the Queen," is set to the tune of "My Country Tis of Thee." Tomorrow we're off to London! :)

Class and Bonfire Night

Hi everyone! I just got back from my Friday night class. I must say, class on the weekend really isn't that bad. On Friday, we meet from 6-8:45 p.m., with an hour break. On Saturday, class starts at 10 a.m. and lasts til 5:30, with two thirty minute breaks and a two hour lunch break. If we have class on Sunday, it starts at 10 a.m. and lasts til 3, with an hour and a half for lunch. I have class for two weekends in a row, and then I'm off for two weekends. So after this weekend, I only have two weekends of class left in this semester! I'm one of two Americans in my classes. The other American went to Yale, and it's nice to have someone to exchange weird looks with when people in our class make an English joke that we don't get. (That happened tonight!) The weather is slowly but surely getting much colder. It felt like November today...cold and windy. I'm not a fan of the sun setting so early, but it'll be worth it in the summer when the sun doesn't set til 9:30 or 10 p.m. Tomorrow night is Guy Fawkes Day/Bonfire Night, which is a big holiday in England. In the early 1600s, a man named Guy Fawkes tried to burn down Parliament (anyone recall the Gunpowder Plot from history class?), but he was caught. Every year on Bonfire Night, big bonfires are held where people burn stuffed dolls representing Guy Fawkes. Tools and I are going to go to a big bonfire tomorrow night at the Rugby Club in Stratford.

Tooley and I just got off of the phone with our good friend Jennings, who is in law school at Ole Miss, and a huge George Bush supporter. We were telling her how open people are in England about their dislike of George Bush and Tony Blair. (I have no idea who the English actually do like politically...the newspapers are always complaining about every President, Prime Minister, and electoral candidate). I think it's a European thing, because when I was in Italy last summer, I saw anti-George Bush graffeti in Florence! Jennings is coming to visit me in England this summer, and asked us what people here would do if she wore an "I Love George W. Bush" shirt. We told her that nearly everyone who sees the shirt will probably say something very negative to her, whereas in the U.S. (especially in the South), most people wouldn't think anything of it. Tooley and I have figured out that the best thing to do if you're in a crowd of people who aren't fans of Americans is to just say that you're from Canada. We've never actually had to do that...yet! Anyways, Jennings claims that she is going to wear the shirt when she comes to visit, so we'll see...:)

I read on the internet that people are going to be camping out in Leicester Square on Saturday night for the Harry Potter premiere on Sunday. Wow! That's dedication, because the stars don't start coming down the red carpet til 5 p.m. Hopefully we'll be able to get close enough to see some famous people!

Have a great day, and I'll post pictures of Bonfire Night tomorrow night!


Jennings loves George W! :)