Day 108

Almost close to the end! This morning I woke up early, grabbed breakfast for the first time this week, then headed to the British Library. I think I appreciated all the manuscripts a lot more, and there was even an exhibit on Alice and Wonderland that was specially going on during this time.  After that I went back to Richmond, and just had enough time to pack a little more before we had to meet for our walking tour. I missed both lunch and dinner, but we walked down to the Tube to get to Central London to meet our tour guide for a walk around Central London to see the Christmas Lights. It was pretty to see, but we had seen most of them already, but he told us a little bit about the history of them and why some decorations represented different things. It was really long though and total our trip was more than 4 hours. The coolest, coolest part of the night was that while we were walking around we ran into the Star Wars Premier. There was the red carpet, people dressed up, lightsabers everywhere, and I have a picture of Harrison Ford. Pretty awesome day. Afterwards we grabbed dinner at Tesco, the only place open at 10:30, and went back to campus. Tomorrow we are saying goodbye to Big Ben and central London.

Day 106

Saturday is coming really quickly. I slept in a lot today, after having stayed up to finally watch Pitch Perfect 2 and catch up on the Big Bang Theory. We all grabbed lunch together, then went to the Pound Store where I got some different kind of candy for Nat and Jonny to have. After we walking there since none of us wanted to use up our Oyster Cards, it was pretty much dinner time. They were serving 'tomato soup', so all of us got some, but soon realized it was literally tomato sauce. To put on pasta. Like from a jar. Anyways, after dinner we dressed up and met Hamakawa to walk to Richmond Theater to see Cinderella.  Now, he did not warn us at all that this was supposed to be a comedic version of Cinderella at all. The song "Celebration" started playing, and all of us knew this was going to be interesting. Some jokes were kind of funny, like mentioning the VW scandal, some we didn't understand because we're not from here, and some were just weird. They sang "Blurred Lines", an Ed Sheeran song, "Ghostbusters" and "Uptown Funk", and that's just some of the songs. Oh and they sang "All About that Bass". In Cinderella. It was really weird. I'm not sure if I liked it or hated it, to be honest. I liked the music, but I'm not sure I liked it for Cinderella. The interesting thing about the play though was that Hayley Mills was the fairy godmother and she was in Disney's The Parent Trap. It was really weird because I was just listening to a song from the Parent Trap on my phone yesterday at the gym and knew that name sounded familiar and then I found out why. The theater was nice and small, though, but no one missed on not seeing it. Ash definitely would have hated it.

Day 105

Well, I just got done taking my Accounting final. It was pretty hard, but I don't think I did terrible.  The rest of my grades for this semester are out, and I got a 4.0 GPA. Accounting only counts as a pass or fail class, so that grade doesn't count overall. Today I went to the gym, took a shower, ate lunch, then continued to clean the room.  All my pictures are off the walls and my shelves are bare. It's almost depressing. We studied again for Accounting, and finished our final reflection essay that we had to do for tomorrow. Finally, there is no more work to be done! Hamakawa planned a lot of things for us to do this week.  Tomorrow night we are seeing Cinderella, and tomorrow morning the five of us are going to see Big Ben for the last time and spend our time out. Wednesday we have a Christmas lights walking tour, Thursday a group reflection meeting, and Friday we are going to Hyde Park again. Five more days and I'll be home!

Day 104

This morning was pretty relaxed. I woke up at 10, took a shower, grabbed brunch with everyone at 11:30, then headed to the Victoria and Albert Museum. I still swear that we visited it before, but it was absolutely huge with six floors. A lot of it was pieces of furniture and dresses from Napoleon's time and Louis XIV, but there was also Renaissance and Medieval stuff and artifacts from Asia and Africa as well. After the museum I grabbed a hot apple cider at Starbucks for a guilty pleasure, then went back to Richmond. I made it just in time for dinner pretty much, then after dinner we studied kind of for accounting and started cleaning out our stuff. Professor Hamakawa got the five of us tickets to see Cinderella on Richmond Stage which is super awesome and I'm excited. He's also taking us to see Hyde Park at Christmas again, which will be nice.  Tomorrow is my final exam, but not until 6:30 at night so I think I'll just do wash and start packing or something tomorrow morning.

Day 103

Today was our trip to Cambridge.  It started off pretty rough in the morning. We woke up early, and walked to the tube station, but the next tube didn't leave for another 25 minutes for some reason, and we did not plan on that happening. We grabbed breakfast in the Tube station, got on the Tube, then got off near the Kensington Campus. We then followed some other girls but they walked in the other direction and we ended up running to catch the bus. The bus ride was about two hours, and we got to Cambridge at around 11:30. We then took a walking tour which was basically a college tour. It was just the outside of different colleges that make up Cambridge University. We then had about an hour before our next activity, so we grabbed Subway and we went shopping. We then went punting, which is the popular thing to do in Cambridge.  It's pretty much like taking a gondola ride except in a flatter and wider boat. It was for 45 minutes and it was super fun but really cold. After that we got back on the bus and it took so long to get back. We then grabbed dinner in Richmond and got back to our campus at 8. Tomorrow I think I'm going to the Victoria and Albert Museum.

Day 101-102

Sorry I forgot to post yesterday, I've been getting forgetful. Yesterday was a really good day, though.  It was our last Western New England class and we submitted our last homework. For lunch there was actual turkey to be put on sandwiches, and not just sliced turkey. After lunch I then noticed I had a package! This was the package Mom and Dad sent me in October and I just got now. I also got a camera charger which I ordered September 1, never got it, and Amazon resent it to me. So now I have 2 camera chargers. The Easy Mac was much needed, though, and I think the package came at the perfect time. Yesterday we didn't do much except walk into town and then walked by the River Thames. It's really getting to us that we are only here for about a week more. We then went back and celebrated our last class with a cake-brownie thing we split at Tesco. This morning we all went to Portobello Market because Dana was getting her friend something that she saw there earlier in the year. After that we ran into our teacher in town so we sat and talked with him and his wife. We saw them again at dinner and I really think he might think we're following him. Dinner seemed so good at first- pasta and chicken noodle soup. However, both were extremely spicy. They put jalapenos in the soup for some reason so literally all of us were dying and didn't end up eating anything because we were crying. After supper we started to unpack our backpacks and started studying for our Accounting final on Monday. Tomorrow Emelia and I have our day trip to Cambridge and we have to leave here at about 7:45 which will not be fun.

Day 100

It's officially Day 100! Today was the last homework we had for our WNE class, and it was mostly a review day for our Accounting final that's on Monday. We walked to town for the fun of it, and really didn't do much besides that. We just did homework and started studying for accounting. We had a meeting for our trip to Cambridge on Saturday. Tonight I'm staying up until 2 to watch the mid season finale of Supernatural because it is literally going to be the best.

Day 99

Today was a pretty fun day. I had eggs for breakfast, in case anyone was wondering or thought differently. During class I just finished the homework, but luckily there's only two more days left. So far I'm looking at a perfect GPA, so hopefully that holds true. After class the five of us decided to do some Christmas shopping at Camden Market and to get lunch there instead of those sandwiches since we didn't have Accounting. I got some souvenirs for Tam and Tien, and finally got my Cereal Killer Cafe meal. I got a bowl of cereal called Marshmallow Submarine which had a whole Twinkie at the bottom (hence submarine) and had a mixture of random cereals that I never heard of. I also got a hot chocolate that was literally the best thing I have ever eaten. It was the most beautiful work of art. So worth it. Anyways, we hung out there for a while, then made it back to Richmond. None of us really felt like eating supper, so we just finished homework and watched Christmas movies instead.

Day 98

Today was another boring day. We met our teacher's wife at breakfast, and she's adorable. She's this little Polish lady who loves to hug everyone and is so nice. Class was pretty boring though, and to be honest all of us were playing Words with Friends for the first half of the class when he just drones on. One girl in our group has missed 5 classes so far, so our teacher was upset about that when we only have 12 classes together. I got an A on my Accounting Quiz and this week we are just reviewing for the final on Monday. After class I did laundry and we all worked on our statistic homework until dinner.  After dinner we started studying for Accounting, and then pretty much did nothing but went to bed early since we all went to bed late yesterday.

Day 97

Today was a really lazy day. Dana and I went to the gym together this morning, then I took a shower and grabbed brunch with everyone. We then hunkered down and went to do all the homework we had to do. We have 5 page essay do the last week, and had two essays due tomorrow, so we got most of them out of the way. We then all sat and watched Christmas movies together for the rest of the day. Pretty unexciting day, but it was really fun and relaxed.

Day 96

Today was nothing else besides Harry Potter! I slept in to about ten, took a shower and waited for everyone else to wake up before heading down to brunch. After brunch we started on some school work, and then I left around 2:30 to find my way to Leavensden for the Harry Potter Tour. Emelia had gone there before but had taken a really complicated route that took her 3 hours. Luckily, I just took the Overground straight there with only one change, which took about an hour and a half. At the last stop, there was a bus for 2 pounds that would shuttle you to the Warner Brother Studios, and they played Harry Potter movies on the bus. It was pretty packed at the Studios because the sets and everything were all decorated for Christmas. You first watch this short film that's narrated by all the actors then they lead you through the actual Great Hall. The Studios was where the movies were actually filmed, so literally this place had everything. After the Great Hall it was a self-guided tour and took about 3 hours to see everything. There were demonstrations that showed how different effects were made and even had animatronics that moved from the films. But seriously, everything from the movies were there, costumes, wigs, masks, props, sets, the Hogwarts Express, etc. It was so amazing. The full sets for the Burrow, Gryffindor Common Room, Potions Room, Dumbledore's Office, Hagrid's Hut, and the Great Hall were all there. The coolest thing was a huge, huge scale model of Hogwarts that took up and entire room. Halfway through the tour there was a stop to get Butterbeer (which is only sold at 3 locations but Emelia and I can't figure out the 3rd one). After getting Butterbeer there was an outside section to see Number 4 Privet Drive, the Knight Bus, the Ford Anglia, and other outdoor props. It was seriously amazing. I even witnessed a proposal in the Great Hall. It was also really funny to listen to parents who were dragged by their kids pretend to know Harry Potter and getting all the information wrong. After the tour was over, I got a Hufflepuff long-sleeved shirt, and grabbed dinner to go at the cafe there since it was about 8:30. I had no trouble getting back, and I'm really glad I figured out a way to get there and actually went. Ashleigh should be jealous right now.

Day 95

Slept in this morning! I woke up at 9, which is sleeping in for here, took a shower then grabbed breakfast right before it closed at 10. I then caught up on Supernatural, where imaginary creatures were killing each other. I waited for Emelia to wake up, and then they grabbed lunch and we went out. Our first stop was back to Victoria's Secret because Dana and Emelia had free money to use there from the last time they went. After that we grabbed some good smoothies and headed to Sky Gardens. Mackenzie had gotten us reservations to this place, because it was free, and we went right in. Basically it's this huge skyscraper in the middle of central London with 35 floors. On the 35th floor is a garden with a restaurant and a balcony that people can visit and take pictures. We didn't spend a lot of time there, but we went at 4 so it was the perfect time to see the sunset and all the lights of London go on. We could see the London Eye, Tower Bridge, and pretty much everything else, which was really cool. We then unfortunately made it back to Richmond in time for dinner. My fingers are doing okay, still a little numb but I'm typing okay. Tomorrow is my trip to Harry Potter Studios!

Day 93-94

Well I'm finally back from Manchester!
On Wednesday, we got up at 7 to make a 10:00 train in Euston. We got breakfast at the train station, then slept for the two hours.  When we got to the train station, we then walked about ten minutes to our hotel. Mackenzie and I shared a hotel room, and the hotel room looked weirdly like a hospital, very basic and clean with no wallpaper or paint or any pictures. The shower also completely flooded the bathroom anytime you took a shower because the floor was completely flat so the water wasn't leading to the drain. After we dropped our stuff in the hotel, we took a bus to the company Kalibrate. Basically, the company is run by a WNE alumni. The company sells a program to gas stations that allows the gas stations to see how they should price their fuel. We got there and they served us lunch, but it was just quarter sandwiches that weren't really good and chips and tea. But they gave us little goodie bags with food and soda made in Manchester, so we ate those. We also got a zip drive and pens and keychains saying Kalibrate. We then sat for about 3-4 hours listening to presentations. The company itself is kind of interesting with exactly what they do so it wasn't as bad as it sounds.  The last presenter was the man who actually created the formula that makes the predictions so he tried to show all the math out but it was impossible for us to follow so that one was pretty hard to sit through. It was actually pretty fun though. We then were given some time to walk to the Christmas Markets before dinner.  However, it was raining so we didn't stay there that long. Instead, we just walked to the restaurant called the Dog Bowl where we had already placed our order for the 3 course meal beforehand. Meanwhile, a girl in our group somehow got lost, and the president of WNE and our teacher seemed not to care. The president less so than our teacher. Her friends also literally did not even try looking for her and instead just starting ordering beer at the restaurant, which was annoying. Our group was more concerned for her and looked for her even though we aren't even friends. Eventually we found her, but it was just rude how her actual friends just gave up on her.  Supper was pretty bad, though. I was looking forward to the 3 course meal, but all the food was super, super spicy, and the dessert was terrible, so we all felt bad because none of us ate it. Afterwards we went bowling at the restaurant because they had lanes in the back, and that was pretty fun. We split up into teams, and the president had left at this point but our teacher played with us. We each played two rounds, and I learned that without bumpers I am terrible. The first round I didn't even score a 50. Wow. After bowling we went back to the bus stop, but we waited for about 30 minutes until we realized the buses had stopped running. The hotel wasn't that far away, so we started leading the way after turning maps on, but then the teacher decided to not trust us and called taxis. He didn't call enough taxis for 15 people though, so of course all the guys jumped in, and Mackenzie, Dana, Tatianna, and I, in our heels, were the ones to walk back. When we got to the hotel we had to buy dinner there because we were starving after not eating anything pretty much all day.

This morning we skipped breakfast and headed straight back to Kalibrate. This time was pretty pointless there but we got tea and sat down for more lectures. These lectures went through a day in the life of their clients and how to use the technology, but the two men who presented basically said the same thing. We then took a group picture, and headed back to the Christmas Markets. We grabbed lunch at the markets, then walked to meet the man for our walking tour. None of us at this point really wanted to do the walking tour because we had all our backpacks but we had to. The tour was called Crime in Manchester, which sounded interesting, but it turned out to be just really nasty and gruesome, so I wasn't really a fan. We didn't get to see any architecture or historical places and just walked to different random places to stop and talk. We did see where John Dalton (?) lived who, if I got that name right, created the Atomic Theory. He then walked us back to the train station and we took the ride back. We got back to Richmond too late to eat dinner at school, so I bought a sandwich from Paul's, then had to stop at Tesco for medical tape. Somehow my fingers got slammed in the door yesterday, but I'm fine, so don't worry. Three of them hurt, two have cuts on them, and one is swollen, but my friends patched me up and yesterday the hotel gave me frozen rice to put on them. I can move them so they're not broken, so, like I said, I'm fine. Just needed to bandage them up to prevent them from hurting more. Love you all~~

Day 91-92

Sorry I forgot to post yesterday. I went to the gym and told myself I would write it after but I fell asleep. Anyways, yesterday wasn't that interesting. Our class was boring, I got an A on the Accounting Quiz that I didn't even know what it was on, and did more homework. I went to the gym, ate terrible cafeteria food and all my strawberries, and that's about it.  Today President Caprio from Western New England came to our class and just sat and watched the class. Of course he came on the day where the wifi didn't work at all, so our class was a real struggle because we need wifi to do everything. Our homework today took a long time, but afterwards we took a walk just down to town and back. I also bought tickets to the Harry Potter Tour for Saturday so that should be really fun. Tomorrow we are leaving for Manchester at 9:40, and we are getting each meal paid for and we are going bowling tomorrow night. The only downside is that we have to dress up, and then go straight to bowling, so we'll stand out.  It also means we have to get up a lot earlier. But we should be back on Thursday, but it will make this week go by super quick. It's already December 1! I'll be home soon~

Day 90

Day 90! Three months gone! This morning I brought the rest of my souvenirs and summer clothes to Mom and Dad's hotel so they could pack them. We then went to grab breakfast and took the bus for about a half an hour to Hampton Court Palace where Henry the VIII and some other rich people lived. The Palace itself was absolutely huge with kitchens, gardens, rooms, etc., to see. The gardens were hard to see since it was cold, windy, and rainy, but the rooms were really pretty. Afterwards we took the bus (For free!) back to Richmond and grabbed lunch at a pizza place nearby. I had this really good pasta and mom gave me the rest of the pizza to bring back to school with me. We then grabbed dessert at Whole Foods (I got a turkey cupcake) then walked back to Mom and Dad's hotel. We said goodbye, and Mom and Dad waited for a taxi to drive them to Heathrow. Three more weeks and I'll see them again. I went back to school, started the homework for this weekend, and skipped the disgusting dinner at Richmond. We spent the rest of the day finishing up homework and studying for an Accounting quiz. School again tomorrow!

Day 87 - 89

Sorry, Papa, that I haven't been writing blogs. I've been so tired and have gotten back late with Mom and Dad that I go right to bed. On Thursday, I met up with Mom and Dad at Westminster Abbey.  We walked around and saw where certain famous people are buried, such as Isaac Newton, Charles Dickens, Charles Darwin, etc. It was nice because the people at Westminster wished Americans a happy Thanksgiving over the intercom. After that we decided to find ourselves a nice place to go to lunch to celebrate Thanksgiving, and we ended up at a Mexican restaurant where I got fajitas. It wasn't exactly turkey, but it was good. After that we walked up to the National Portrait Gallery where there's paintings of kings and queens and leaders from the UK. We went through relatively quickly, and then went on the Tube to Kew Gardens. We made a brief detour at Starbucks (where I got a cookie and a really, really good hot apple cider), then went to the Gardens for their Christmas lights at 8. The Park itself is really big, and basically you just walk through all the lights and decorations. It's like Forest Park, except no cars. The displays were really pretty, some with fire and others with dangling lights to walk through and others with peacocks and flowers. We got some hot cinnamon donuts at one of the stands and they reminded me of the ones at the Big E. After walking through we went back to Richmond.

Friday was Cardiff day! Visiting Cardiff in Wales was pretty high on my bucket list, so I was happy we were able to get to go. We took a 3 hour train ride to Cardiff (after switching over in Reading) and eventually got to Cardiff at about 10:30 in the morning. The first stop was to the Ianto Jones Shrine, which was the attraction I had wanted to see. Basically, Ianto Jones is a character from the TV show Torchwood, a spin off of Doctor Who. A lot of that TV show was filmed in Cardiff, so we got to see the entrance to where Torchwood was in the show. Ianto Jones was an amazing character who was in love with another character, but he got killed off in one of the episodes. People were so upset by his death that they created a 'shrine' to him on Cardiff Bay near the ocean. It's basically a lot of pictures, artwork, letters, toys, etc., attached to a wall that people have added over the years. It's a legit thing to see, as it even has a Trip Advisor page. I just love the fact that people can love a character so much as to do something like that. After walking back the 1.5 miles we had walked to get there, we stopped at Nando's to have lunch. We got some good spiced chicken and brownies for dessert, then walked to Cardiff Castle. It was raining at the Castle, but we still got to walk through the corridors of the Castle that were used as bomb shelters during WWII, and got to climb to the top of the Castle's Keep. We also got to walk through some of the rooms, which was my favorite part because the library was so beautiful. Also, the TV shows Doctor Who and Sherlock were both filmed at one point inside Cardiff Castle, so those rooms were cool to see. After the Castle we had time to browse some stores, Dad got a coffee and Mom tried some new cheese dippers at McDonalds. We then had time to walk to the National Museum of Cardiff, which housed an art museum and a natural history museum. We only went to the art museum, but got to see some of my favorite artists like Degas and Monet. After that we walked back to the train station and took the ride back to Richmond. At Richmond I introduced Mom and Dad to Tortilla, which has amazing burritos and nachos for mom. Then we called it a night.

Today was our tour of Leeds, Canterbury, and Dover. We got to Victoria Station to meet our guide, and then left at around 9. Our first stop was Leeds Castle, which was pretty much as picturesque as can be, with a surrounding moat and green grass surrounding it. The Castle was actually still lived in until 2001 by the daughter of a rich American who married an English lord and bought the castle. We got to see all the different rooms of the castle, and my favorite was one room that was solely dedicated to clothes and shoes and was huge with a secret staircase. The outside was prettier than Cardiff Castle, but the inside of Cardiff Castle was prettier. Leeds Castle also was used by different politicians to have peace treaties and for celebrity parties at one point. We also grabbed a snack then hopped back on the bus. Our next stop was the Battle of Britain Memorial. The Memorial itself was an air force pilot sitting on a propeller, but there were two mounds on either side that used to hold guns to shoot down the German Lufthansa(?) If you climbed the mound you could see France in the distance, so that was really amazing to see. After that we stopped on a beach to take a picture of Dover Castle and the White Cliffs of Dover.  Finally, the last stop was in Canterbury for Canterbury Cathedral. We ran after our tour guide to make it to the Cathedral before a certain area was closed for service, so luckily we were able to see the entire Cathedral, which was really beautiful. Afterwards we walked around and shopped a little, then grabbed dinner/lunch. Our tour guide had previously recommended a little family owned restaurant to us on the bus and took our orders, so our food was practically ready for us when we got there. Mom and Dad had fish and chips and I had chicken and chips. I also had some apple juice, which may sound lame, but it was the best tasting thing ever. It tasted like liquid Motts applesauce. We also got apple pie (with whipped cream!) for dessert, which was so good. After that we walked around a little Christmas festival that was happening in the cute town, then got back on the bus and took a nap for the 2 hour ride back. We got back to Victoria and took a train back to Richmond. Mom and Dad then took me to Tesco to buy some granola bars, cereal, and my favorite 17 pence lemonade. Dad also bought me strawberries at Whole Foods because I really need strawberries in my life. We went back up to my school and their hotel, and they have to pack because they're leaving tomorrow :(

Day 86

Class was pretty terrible today. Our homework is near to impossible, and everyone is pretty much failing all the homeworks. After class, I met up with Mom and Dad at Camden Market, and we found a little pizza place to eat lunch. The pizza was really good, but the funniest part was when Mom got stuck in the bathroom because the door wouldn't open. :D Afterwards we walked around and shopped a little, then headed to Hyde Park Winter Wonderland. It was so amazing and beautiful and absolutely huge. Think the Big E but 100000x better. All the rides were intricate and big and there were animatronics and an ice skating rink and carnival games and a huge Ferris wheel. We went to an ice sculpture display which ended up being really impressive. They told us to bundle up, which was an understatement because the room for the displays was probably below freezing.  It was really fun, though, and the sculptures were really pretty. I even got to slide down a slide all made out of ice which was so much fun. They gave us free hand warmers on the way out too. After that we walked around some more until we decided to get some dessert. Dad got chocolate covered pineapple, I got a hot chocolate and split a strawberry and nutella crepe with Mom. I really miss strawberries on a random note. My school does not have that fruit available ever. After that we went back on the Tube, after having hidden my hot chocolate in Mom's purse because I wasn't allowed to bring my drink outside. On the Tube Dad even fell into people even while holding on, which was almost as funny as Mom getting stuck in the bathroom. We then walked back together and went to finish my homework, but to be honest, all of us did badly on it so we're back to pleading with our teacher.

Day 85

Mom and Dad are finally here! Class went by relatively quick, then I went to their hotel to meet up with them. I introduced them to Nando's for lunch, then we went to the Tube station to go to Baker Street.  We went to the Sherlock Holmes Museum (where I got a picture in front of 221b Baker Street). We discovered that people think that Sherlock Holmes actually was a real person who existed, and not just some made up character.  After that Museum we walked to the Wallace Collection to see some art.I showed Mom and Dad the painting that was in Frozen and my personal favorite piece of art from that collection. We then got on the Tube and went back to Richmond, grabbing some dessert at a local cafe. I then showed Mom and Dad my room at Richmond, gave them my chocolate I had bought for them from Belgium, and then went to their hotel to get my Oreos and People magazines, which I am currently doing all the crosswords right now.

Day 84

Today was the first day of my new class. Its a statistic class that is supposed to be a continuation of my QR math class from last semester, so all we did today was tried to review. It didn't work that well though because all of us were trying to be on the wifi on our laptops so none of us were able to open the class assignment. I don't think the teacher knew how bad the wifi is here on a daily basis. Our homework was a test based on last semester, and I'm actually surprised I got an 87 because last semester's class was a blow off course so I don't remember learning anything. We had a quiz in Accounting today that didn't go real well. We were allowed to bring notes and all the examples problems he did during class, but yet the quiz didn't have any resemblance to any of the questions or notes, so we pretty much guessed. After class it took us about two hours to finish, and I had to do more to get ahead for the week for when Mom and Dad get here tomorrow. After dinner we did Accounting homework, and we all sat curled up in bed since it was freezing cold everywhere in Richmond. No ones heat worked so we all had ten layers on and didn't get up out of bed. I swear someone left the windows open all night. Tomorrow Mom and Dad are here!

Day 83

Today was a pretty relaxed Sunday. I ate brunch with everyone, then I decided to go to the Tate Modern Art Museum. I had gone wanting to see Salvador Dali, but unfortunately the museum was being renovated so his works were being taken down. I did see some Warhol, Pollock, and Mondrian, which was pretty cool. The rest of the works were kind of lost on me, however, as modern art still doesn't make sense to me. There was one piece of work that was literally just a canvas painted gray. I mean, I'm pretty sure I could do that if I got a canvas and paint too. After the museum I walked to the nearby Christmas market that was happening. Christmas music was playing and it was all lit up so it was really pretty. I ended up getting huge cinnamon bun which might have been one of the best things I ate. I then walked across Millennium Bridge to St. Paul's Cathedral, which was in the distance. Unfortunately, I didn't realize that today was Sunday so I ended up attending a Protestant service. It was pretty to see the inside, though, which is all I really wanted to do.  After Mass I went back to Richmond, just in time for dinner. Dinner was green beans and cucumbers for me tonight, so it was a good thing that cinnamon bun had filled me up. I then just Skyped Mom and Dad and Mamma and Papa for the rest of the night. I also started to reread the Hunger Games randomly too. Tomorrow's my first class with another new teacher, so hopefully it will go well.

Day 82

Today three of us grabbed brunch and then headed to Camden Market. That place is so big you see something different everytime you go. We got these Dutch Pancakes which were mini pancakes with nutella and powdered sugar and they were so amazing. My roommate needed to buy something for her sister, so we just walked around. It was really, really cold and windy today. It was a pretty bad day to go out. It was about 35 degrees. After the market we went to Tower Bridge to see it all lit up at night. We then took a long Tube ride back to Richmond, grabbed Tortilla for supper, and went back to do some Accounting homework. I'm  not going to see Harry Potter with Emelia because the tickets were sold out, so I'm not sure what I'll be up to tomorrow.

Day 81

My first day to sleep in since October! I woke up at about 11:30, grabbed a sandwich, then walked down to the Museum of Richmond in Town Hall. The museum was small, but it was really interesting.  It talked a lot about how Richmond came about. Apparently Richmond was a popular place for the Kings and Queens to vacation, and there was even a palace built at one point. It also talked about the impact of WWII on Richmond and how Richmond Park played a big role in training, bomb shelters, etc. After the museum I decided to see how far the walk by the River Thames went, and never got to the end of it after an hour and a half. I had to turn back at that point or else I was going to be late to leave for the Enchanted Woodland at Syon Park. We left at 4, and got to Syon park at about 5:30. It wasn't really crowded, so it was nice. The whole thing was 1.25 miles and overall it was so much fun. All the trees were lit up and each had a different theme. There was even Tinker Bell and Peter Pan, Maleficent, Alice and Wonderland, and Lion King. Some were simpler with just disco balls hanging, fake goldfish in a bag, umbrellas, and random other stuff. At the end there was a cute area where you could pose with wings on, so I'll post them later once one girl sends me the pictures. At the very, very end there was a house and inside was this amazing light show. I expected the whole thing to be kind of lame, but it wasn't. It was nice to drink hot chocolate and walk around with friends. Afterwards we grabbed supper at Whole Foods (the only place in Richmond open at 8), and walked back.

Day 80

Today was my last class with this teacher. We had our debate but it was really lame. We didn't even stand up and I had this whole Power Point to accompany my debate and we sat and read our arguments. She also chose from our questions to what to ask people so she didn't choose the questions I wrote down that ripped people apart :( After that she just talked about the problems we will supposedly have readjusting back to the States. After class the five of us walked down to Tesco to replenish our supply of rice cakes and food and then went back up. I started sorting through my souvenirs (which is a lot more than I realized) and relaxed until supper. We ate early and then met up with our teacher at the Lass who wanted to have a going away meeting. It was pretty awkward but it was nice. The five of us then went to play card games and watch TV, but FINALLY my email came out saying an exact time to register for my Disney classes. I ran down to the computer lab and got the classes I wanted. I'm taking Disney Leadership and Disney Heritage starting Feb. 15 to March on Mondays from 1:30-6. Registration for other classes from March - April opens later, so I'll try to take the other heritage class, which is supposedly the best class. Both classes were free, so I'm so excited to take these!

Day 77 - Day 79

Monday

Monday I had no real reason as to why I didn't write a blog post. I just completely forgot about it and I was too tired at that point to write one. Monday was pretty pointless anyways. I got an A on my Accounting Quiz, but we all realized that the grading system here is completely crazy. One girl has a 49 in the class and that is a C. A 79 is a B+. It's really crazy because we only need a C in the class to get credit, so we all could literally get 49s and be okay. We didn't have any homework on Monday, so we decided to go down to Richmond and hunt for some macaroons, since my roommate really wanted to try them since we aren't going to Paris. We found some at a French bakery in Richmond, and they weren't real good, to be honest. They had a weird consistency. I also exchanged the rest of my Euros back to pounds, since I won't be needing anymore. I also canceled my hostel and my flight, and luckily got all my money back from the hostel and some money back from the airline. We then all relaxed in our rooms, I finally caught up on Arrow, and nothing else new.

Tuesday

Yesterday I had a very good excuse as to why I didn't post. We lost wifi at around 2:00 yesterday afternoon and only got it back early afternoon today. Yesterday in class we watched some random movie with Katie Holmes and the Riddler and since we had no homework or Accounting class, the five of us decided to go to Hamley's Toy Store (I got Ash a gift) and then the rest of the group wanted to go to Victoria's Secret which was right around the corner on Bond Street. Regent Street where Hamley's is located was decorated all in lights for Christmas and all the side streets had lights across the top. It was really pretty and we stayed there pretty late. Luckily we did, because when we got back to Richmond, there was no wifi. Apparently the storm (which was just a lot of heavy wind) knocked out all of Richmond's wifi, and McDonalds didn't even have it. We tried walking to Tesco after supper and I called Dad because I was paranoid about registering for my Disney classes today without wifi. We were able to get some wifi at Tesco, but barely, and then they closed so we had to walk back. At that point we were all pretty bored so we did each other's hair and played Candy Crush and played music until we fell asleep.

Wednesday

Today I was supposed to register for my Disney classes. Disney gave no time as to when the classes would open, but instead just gave today's date. So, I woke up at 4:30, got ready for 5:00 here when it turned midnight in the East Coast, and checked my phone (all without wifi still). I then set my alarm for every half hour or so to check. Needless to say I'm slightly tired, and it didn't help me at all. Class was good today though because she just gave us a stakeholder to be for a case and we could then leave and go research for the rest of class in our rooms. Tomorrow we are having a debate which I'm excited about. Accounting was pointless as usual. After lunch we continued to work on our debates, while at the same time continuously refreshing for Disney. We got wifi back around 2/3 ish, so it was a full 24 hours without wifi. Luckily, I had a back up in case wifi didn't go back up. Stephen and Tien both offered to help me log in and register so I wouldn't miss the classes. All I got today was an email from Disney at 5:30 saying that registration was delayed since the server crashed. It crashed even before registration opened. I just hope it actually does open today because I don't want to stay up for another day.

Day 73 - Day 76

I'm back safe and sound from Ireland. Here's how my trip was~

Thursday
Thursday Emelia and I went to class, after staying up until 3 am to register for classes. I signed up for one online class that I can take while still doing the Disney College Program. It's a basic finance class, so hopefully it won't be too difficult. It was really hard to stay awake in class because she put in a terribly boring movie on corporations, but we managed. We left straight away after class to make it to Gatwick Airport, about an hour and a half away. We had no problems checking in, and we grabbed lunch at the airport. We got to Cork at about 6, and bought a taxi to take us to our hostel, which was only about 15 minutes away. Uber has been failing us all trip. After accidentally walking into a bed and breakfast, we found our hostel which was one door down. There was three bunk beds in the room, but there were only five of us total until the last day. No one talked to each other. The guy running the hostel was really nice and even gave us towels for free. We dropped our stuff off and then went to find dinner. Of course, everything was pretty much closed since it was about 7:00 on a Thursday night. The center of Cork was about a 25 minute walk, but we actually ended up following a group of teenagers to a diner similar to Denny's. It was relatively cheap and the people there were nice and the food was good. After dinner we went back to the hostel to sleep. The hostel was actually really nice and was probably the best we stayed in, although the wifi was worse then the Venice hostel which claimed it didn't have wifi.

Friday
Friday we woke up at 7:00 in order to find our way to the group pick up point for our tour of the Cliffs of Moher/Mohr. We found it without a problem (and without google maps), and the bus left at 8:30. It wasn't a full bus, and most of the people were American or Australian actually. We stopped in Limerick to pick up some more people and were given time to go to the bathroom and buy breakfast at a sort of mall. After that we headed straight towards the Mini Cliffs, which was about 3 hours away. The view wasn't pretty until we reached the countryside and got off the highway. Then it actually looked like what everyone expects Ireland to be like. Our tour guide told us about the history of Ireland and the Mini Cliffs that we were going to see, and pointed out different castles that we passed on the way. There are a lot of castles in Ireland, and most of them aren't tourist attractions but are just randomly near the side of highways, so it was kind of cool to see them there. The Mini Cliffs that we saw were originally a coral reef. Apparently Ireland used to be near the equator (Pangea and stuff) and it used to have huge coral reefs but somehow turned into these magnificent cliffs on the West Coast of Ireland bordering the Atlantic Ocean. It was sunny out, but it was VERY windy. Luckily, we only had to walk on pretty much flat rocks to get to the ledge to see over the cliffs. It was absolutely gorgeous, but the wind made it hard to walk. Emelia actually fell and cut her knee, so now we have matching cuts. (Mind you I fell at Richmond, so...) Emelia took a really good picture of me at the point of the cliff just as a huge wave came up.  I got pretty soaked, but the picture was worth it. I have to post it here once I connect my phone up.  After the Mini Cliffs we were taken to a local town for food. The town's shops were all closed except this one restaurant because apparently November is definitely not tourist month. The pub was pretty decent though, and I got good seafood chowder. After lunch we went to the Cliffs of Mohr. We got to spend an hour and a half here, and at first I thought that was too much time but it wasn't actually enough! The cliffs were 700 meters tall, and a lot of miles long. We only took the path to the left, and that took us the full hour and a half. The path started off very safe with a wall on either side, but once you got past a certain area, it was just a dirt path on the side of the cliffs. It was really muddy and slippery, and the wind was worse then at the Mini Cliffs. Emelia and I had to stop several times just because we couldn't walk or see. We didn't get the chance to walk all the way to the end because we didn't have enough time, but we walked far enough to see the most amazing view. The cliffs were so beautiful and green and exactly what we wanted to see. The way back, though, was very, very, terrifying. I think I have developed a fear of heights on this trip. There was one area where we had to cross a dirt path with a dirt wall behind us and the ledge of the cliff on the other side. We were walking on it right when it became super windy and literally Emelia and I had to throw ourselves against the wall and were holding on to whatever patches of grass were on the dirt wall. Our pants got all muddy, but it was the only way we could actually stay upright and not being blown away. It was probably the scariest moment of my life. It was also really scary when there was a gravestone at the entrance of the cliffs as a memorial of all the people who died visiting them. It was worth it though. So beautiful. After that we stopped at a castle for a picture opportunity, and then drove the four hour drive back, so it was a long ride. We got back to our hostel and went to bed.

Saturday
Today was all about Blarney Castle. We asked our hostel manager how to get there, and he told us to walk to the City Center and take a bus to Blarney, so we did just that. We bought a ticket and were one of the few people on the bus. Our bus driver was nice enough and told us exactly what stop to get off at to see the castle, and pointed us which direction to go from there. Blarney Castle had opened at 9 ,and we got there at about 10:30, and it was almost completely empty. We definitely went at a nonpeak time, which was nice. Originally I had just thought that we would see the Castle and Stone, and that was it. I didn't know how huge the place actually was and there were so many different things to see. We started off walking straight towards the castle, but took a detour to explore some nearby caves which was pretty cool. We then took the very steep stairs up through the castle, seeing different rooms as we went. At the top we stood in line to kiss the Blarney Stone, which supposedly gives you the gift of eloquence speech, which I always need. Kissing it was very scary too, as the height was high and you look down at the ground as there is just one metal bar to keep you from falling (plus the random employee who holds you in place). But, I can cross that off my bucket list. After the castle we ate lunch at the cafe there and then explored the grounds. It was raining a little bit, but we got to explore some poison gardens and waterfalls. There were places like the Wishing Steps, Fairy Glades, Witch's Kitchen, and other places like that hidden in the forest, so it was fun to walk through them. We spent most of the day here by chance, as we didn't think there was so much to do there. After we went shopping at some places nearby, then took the bus back to Cork. We shopped more in the City Center in Cork (which looked so pretty all lit up in Christmas lights already), then grabbed supper and went back to our hostel and slept. (Sidenote- I got a green sweatshirt finally and the infamous Irish ring with the two hands, heart, and crown)

Sunday
Today we had to check out of our hostel at 10, so we did that then ordered a taxi via an app the hostel told us about. The app worked like Uber, so we had no problems being picked up and being dropped off at the airport. The airport was so small and not crowded at all. The check in desk weirdly did not open until one hour before the flight left, which I thought was really strange. We bought breakfast/lunch at the airport, and sat waiting for the desk to open. When the desk opened, we checked in, went straight through security without waiting at all, and sat for only about a half hour before boarding the plane. The plane was full, but the airport was empty. The plane ride was short, but very bumpy because it was so windy, so we arrived later than supposed to. We didn't have to go through customs when we landed, which was also strange, as I usually always get interrogated about my study abroad. We then took a train to Clapham Junction, then to Richmond, so it took about an hour and a half to get to Richmond. We then took the bus to our school because we didn't feel like walking with all our stuff. We dropped our stuff in our room then went to eat the terrible school food. We finished our homework then looked into our weekend plans. 13 of us had booked a trip to Paris for next weekend, originally leaving on Thursday night. The five of us decided to cancel it, since none of our parents wanted us to go, and Hamakawa said it wasn't a good idea either. We then started looking into other plans, like going to see an Enchanted Garden light display at Syon Park, going to Cardiff for the day, and having a chocolate Thanksgiving a week early. We're all disappointed, but obviously we want to be safe. On the positive side, almost one week until Mom and Dad get here! <3

Day 72

Today was a very packed day. I had two quizzes, one in each class, and a long case study to write as well. After our first class, we then had to go straight to Accounting, then ran down to get Euros out for Ireland tomorrow. We then ran back up, and changed as we were going to Tea Time with our Western New England teacher. Tea Time was at a nearby hotel and it was super fancy. We got tea, scones, little desserts, and finger sandwiches and it was so delicious. We, unfortunately, sat with our teacher, and she kept asking us questions about tea and the history of it while the other table was talking normally. It was really nice though as it was paid for and the food was really good. None of us ate dinner at Richmond because we were so full from tea. Tonight is going to be a long night because everyone is registering for classes at 3 am, so we are  all staying up with each other and watching TV and playing games. I'm not sure if I can register for my one online class because I am technically withdrawn as a student, but I'm trying. Supernatural also shows at 2 am, so I figure I might as well watch that too. Tomorrow Emelia and I are leaving rightaway after school to go to Cork Ireland. I'm not bringing my laptop because we are staying in a hostel, so no blog post until Sunday night.

Day 71

Today was pretty fun. Class went by slow, as usual, but afterwards Emelia, her roommate, my roommate, and I (I call us the four of us), decided we needed a break and decided to go shopping at Covent Gardens. We just walked around, ate some good cookies at this amazing cookie places, and of course found a Disney store. I got this sweater that says I <3 London, but the heart is a Minnie bow with the British Flag in gems. Real cute. It was really fun to do something so normal, and we made it back just in time for dinner. We ate dinner then went to do our homework, and luckily the chapter we had to read was actually short for once. Emelia and I worked out our details for Cork, and we finished all our homework and everything. Tomorrow we have class and then have a field trip from 3:30-5. We are going to Tea Time at a hotel with our teacher, so that will be fun, if only our teacher weren't going, but it's paid for so that's always a plus.

Pictures

Amsterdam Airport

Bookcase that hid where Anne Frank lived

Van Gogh!

More Van Gogh!

More!

Van Gogh!

Best picture ever of Venice canals

Amsterdam!

Trevi Fountain

Gelato

Colosseum 

Colosseum

Pantheon

Making a wish

Disney Store in Rome

Archway

Vatican City

Sistine Chapel

St. Peter's basilicia

San Marco Plaza

Venice

Gondola ride

Monet at the National Gallery

Van Gogh 

Van Gogh!

Degas' ballerinas

Edinburgh Castle

Wallace Monument 

Instagram Worthy

Fairy graves

Eilean Donan Castle

Sticking my head in the river so I won't age

Me and the castle

All of us

DOUBLE RAINBOW

Cliffs (which I didn't fall off)

More cliffs

Loch Ness

inspiration for Neverland

Hugging this rock brought you good luck

1000 year old church

the cutest cupcake

Our journey mapped out by our tour guide

Day 69 - 70

Sorry for not posting yesterday! I got back so late and didn't feel like writing. Anyways, here's what I did yesterday~~

So on Thursday I mentioned that there was a social event to challenge the buses. It was kind of fun, but really loud and people were being obnoxious. Emelia and I headed back up to the room at about 10:30, so I could take a shower and she could call her mom. We went to bed at 11:30 on Thursday, but the other four girls were still out hanging out at the bar in our hostel, so we left the lights on because we were being nice. Two girls came back at 12:15, were really drunk and were screaming. Emelia and I obviously woke up, and they started apologizing but went back downstairs, so we went back to sleep. At 2 they came back again, once again loud as ever, so Emelia and I were pretty upset and didn't get any sleep that night. So, on Friday morning, we headed back on the bus and started our ride back to Edinburgh, going down the opposite coast that we came up. Our first stop was Loch Ness, where we got out and took pictures and our tour guide made us do this dance to make the Loch Ness Monster appear. She told us all the legends and facts with the monster which was fun to hear about while we drove to our next stop. Our next stop was the Culloden (?) battlefield. It was pouring and windy at this stop, so we briefly walked around but then left soon after. We then stopped at a town to eat lunch, also in the pouring rain, but I got a Loch Ness monster cupcake which was the cutest thing ever. We then stopped at the location where J.M. Barrie got his inspiration for Neverland, which was really, really, really beautiful, and then also stopped at this location where scenes from Outlander were filmed. It was this area of random rocks, almost like Stonehenge and no one knows how they got there or what they were used for. Finally, we stopped at a small town to see the oldest church (1000 years old), and went back on the road and drove for two hours straight to Edinburgh. Our driver Mahri (I spelled her name wrong in the earlier post) was super amazing and she played Disney music for a solid hour which was the best thing in the entire world.  We all wrote her a note in a card and gave it to her at the end and she was all emotional. She did a really good tour though and was hilarious. She dropped us off at the train station, we bought dinner, and then took the five hour train back. We got back to King's Cross at 11, got to Richmond at 12, got to the University at 12:30. I then fought with the printers to print my homework for today, and went to bed at about 1:30.

This morning was rough to be honest. I didn't sleep long for the last two nights so I was exhausted getting up today. Our teacher is still rude and whatnot, and if you lose five points in the class you don't get an A, and I'm already down 1.5, so its not looking too good. We have a quiz everyday based on the 50-100 page reading, and our notes are 20 pages long, and she takes off points if you miss one word. The class itself is boring because its all about ethics and business making decisions and pretty much common sense stuff. Accounting today wasn't too bad compared to that class. We had 120 pages to read and take notes on today, so I was pretty much stuck doing that all day. I did laundry and also worked on an individual presentation I have on Wednesday. I'm also in charge of writing the school blog for this week, so you can read that too. It's not anywhere as good as this one because no one looks at that one and its not a grade or anything so I'm not wasting time on it. Tomorrow I think we are going to Covent Garden because we really need to get out of this school for a break. Emelia and I are going to Cork for the weekend, and we bought a day trip to see the countryside and cliffs of Ireland, and the other day we are going to kiss the Blarney Stone (bucket list item right there). We get back pretty early on Sunday, so luckily I can do my homework then. I'm creating another post just for pictures because they finally uploaded so I'll put up some from Italy and Scotland. I also got my letters from Mom and Dad and Auntie today so thanks <3

Day 68

Let's just quickly talk about this trivia game last night. It was in our hostel's common room, and our bus was split up into two teams. The first question was to name 5 James Bonds, which was easy in my opinion. However, Emelia and I were with three other people, and they insisted that David Tennant was a James Bond. I said Pierce Brosnan as one, and they laughed and basically said who is that. So we got that one wrong. Poor mom. Another question was name 10 countries that have four letters in their name. So we got 7 of them, and then I spent the rest of the time thinking of more. Finally I said Togo, and they laughed and said that was a dumb answer. Togo. Togo is a country. And I was called dumb. People are so infuriating. Anyways, I thought that would be the last stupid comment made but of course no. Another question was where was chess invented. I said either China or India, and once again they told me that I was wrong because there were no knights or queens or anything in India or China so instead they wrote down the UK. It was India. So of course, we lost. After the quiz Emelia and I went to head back to our room to go to bed, and this girl in our room basically told us we were so boring because we were going to bed at 10. Mind you she slept the entire trip today, but she was so judgmental. I don't like other college kids. It's official. Anyways~

Today we drove up to the Isle of Skye! We ate breakfast at the hostel and then got on the bus at around 8:30. It was raining a little as we made it to our first stop which was this 'faerie graveyard'. Basically, people stack rocks on top of one another on the side of this road where the bad faeries are buried so that if they come back to life they can't crawl their way out of the ground. We all got to make one, which was pretty cool. We then traveled up to the Isle of Skye and stopped at different random parking stops to get out and take photos of the mountains and the views. It's a good thing that  I wore my boots because we hiked through mud to see a waterfall. Some girl actually sunk through mud and her entire leg sunk through and was covered. Pretty terrible. It was really fun hiking down rocks and everything. We then stopped  at the Eilean Donan Castle for more photo ops. It was so beautiful. It's only 600 pounds for every half hour there if you want to get married there. After that we went to this little river where we learned about a story between two clans. Basically to sum it up, two families were fighting so to solve their feud they each gave their ugliest child to marry one another to bond the families. The bride on the way there, though, poked out her eye, but her family tried to hide it from the groom. When the groom saw she had no eye, he didn't want to marry her, so she cried near this river. The faerie king heard her cries and told her that the river has magical healing powers, and to dip her face into the river for 7 seconds and she would be healed and would never age. She was then cured, and then they got married and whatnot. So, of course, as tradition, we all had to stick our faces in the river for 7 seconds. It wasn't that cold because it had stopped raining and there was sun, but it was a pretty cool thing to get to experience. After that we drove around more, stopping at different scenic spots. We actually stopped to take a picture of a full double rainbow. That was a pretty incredible shot. We then stopped to get lunch at a little town, and then headed up onto the cliffs. We pulled over and we were basically allowed to explore the cliffs. There were paths right on top of them through sheep and everything. We got to hike up and down the cliffs and Mom probably would have had a heart attack seeing me climb cliffs. But at the bottom there was this beautiful waterfall, so it was worth trekking through sheep. It was all on a path, though, so it wasn't as bad as I probably just made it sound. It was really fun. That was pretty much the last stop of our tour. We stopped quickly for a rest stop, then drove the two hours straight back to our hostel for the night, getting here at about 6:30. For supper I actually decided to try haggis, as it was that or a pot pie. The haggis was stuffed inside of a chicken breast, so it wasn't that bad. Tonight there's this battle between the tour buses, whatever that means, so hopefully it won't be annoying as tonight.

Day 67

Today can be summed up in two words: wet and beautiful. We ate breakfast at our hostel at 8, then got on our tour bus at 8:30. Our tour guide, Mary, is only slightly older than us and is really fun. The bus is small as there's only 17 of us total, and basically for the whole day we would drive for a while, Mary would talk while driving about some historical moments in Scotland and different sights, and we would get out at different stops. She also played Scottish music in the meantime. We learned a lot about Mary Queen of Scots and more about the Stirling Battle which Braveheart was focused around. Our first stop was the Wallace Monument in Stirling. Wallace was the person whom Mel Gibson portrayed in Braveheart, although that movie is terribly inaccurate says the tour guide. It was a very, very, very steep hill up to the monument, but it was worth the view. After that we drove by the castle that was in Monty Python and was Winterfell in Game of Thrones. We couldn't stop, but our tour guide pretended like her bus was having problems driving over the bridge so she slowed down to take a picture. It was misting this whole time, but the views out the windows were so amazing. Our next place was just an area where Skyfall was filmed, so we parked on the side of the road and got out to take pictures. It started to rain now, but the next place was a lot more wet. The next place was the wettest but the most amazing thing I have ever seen. It was called Glencoe, and there was history behind it surrounding two clans called the Campbells and the McGregors. She even had stories about Ewan McGregor and her uncle having the same name. She let us get out in the valley and there were just mountains surrounding us. The mountains had waterfalls streaming down and it was magical. There was a path to get to another parking lot, so our tour guide agreed to meet us there.  However, at this time it was torrential rain and wind. Umbrellas could not be used with the wind, and the rain was literally coming from every direction. Needless to say, everyone of us were soaked to the bone. But it was worth it 100%. I didn't even feel the cold while we were walking the 20 minutes to the other side because it was so beautiful. After this we stopped for lunch at at rest stop, which wasn't bad but wasn't really good. We then went on to Glenfinnan to see the bridge where the Hogwarts express came across in Harry Potter. There was also a monument dedicated to the followers of King James V, and right near that was a huge body of water. The rain had stopped at this point and the sun was setting, so it was an amazing photo op. So far already, this trip has been my favorite despite the weather. It is so beautiful here and the history is actually really interesting. I felt guilty today because Mom and Dad weren't here to see it. This is a place where I want to come back to in my future for sure. I never thought Scotland would be so great. After Glenfinnan we stopped at a monument dedicated to the Commandos, and passed more sights on the bus. It then got dark and we made our way to our hostel located right outside of Loch Ness. Our hostel is made up of people who are just on our tour; there's 3 buses in total of college kids. We got lasagna for supper at our hostel paid for, and our breakfast tomorrow morning is paid for too. Tonight there's a trivia game we're going to, but there's nothing else to do because our tour guide said that there's basically nothing around us because we are in the Highlands and everything is rural. Overall, this day was the best thing ever. I love it.

Day 66

We made it to Scotland! We took our quiz right at 9, and then left right after to catch a bus down to the Tube to make it to King's Cross on time. We literally just made it at 10:45, but luckily our platform number wasn't up yet. This trip was packed, and the annoying rich girl from Poland is on it as well as some other faces I remember from Poland. There's this really annoying guy who sat behind us on the train and he would not stop screaming and playing music and I was getting really mad because Emelia and I were trying to read and take notes for our class on Monday. It was about a 5 hour train ride, and luckily I had packed rice cakes and peanut butter in my container to have for lunch. We managed to finish our homework and the countryside looked so pretty as we passed so the hours flew by.  We got to Edinburgh at about 4:30, and our hostel was only about a mile away. Emelia, the rich girl, and another girl I knew from Poland, and I are all in the same room, and we were lucky to get the only four person room. The rest of them are in two 6-person co-ed rooms, so we have it good. I also get a top bunk, which always makes me happy for some reason. The bathrooms are in our suites, so it feels more like a hotel. We also get free breakfast in the morning. After dropping our backpacks off in the hostel, Emelia and I subtly ditched the rich girl and headed to find food. The rest of them were either going to the pub crawl or a ghost tour, but we decided to just explore. The food options were rather scarce, and we didn't really feel like having a sitdown meal and waste a couple of hours, so yes, we ended up at Subway. Honestly, I missed Subway so much that it was worth it. There's no real Scottish foods that I know of, except haggis, and no one could pay me to eat that. After supper we explored, wandering through shops and streets. Cashmere is really big here, but unfortunately I will not be bringing that back as a souvenir to anyone. Eventually we found our way to the Edinburgh Castle. How we managed to find it without having a map, directions, or without getting lost, I have no idea. The Castle was obviously closed, but we walked right up to the main entrance where there was some type of event going on. It was all lit up and there was a huge lot in front of the castle where we could stand. Today is also Guy Fawkes' Day, so it was a celebration in the UK. Fireworks were going off all around town, so Emelia and I stood for some time in front of the castle watching fireworks go off in all directions. It was one of the best moments. We then wandered back to our hostel (without getting lost). Tomorrow we have an early day as we are going to the Highlands and away from Edinburgh.

Day 65

Another rainy, cold, and boring day in class. Today we had 40 minutes to create a presentation and we weren't able to choose groups. It was terrible because Emelia and I were stuck with other people who refused to do work. We also had no wifi, so we were rushing to do this entire project. Accounting was the usual. We had a lot of homework to do today, especially since Emelia and I had an extra assignment and have to do the homework due Monday. Nothing else real new.  Tomorrow we are leaving for Scotland, but have to take that stupid quiz first. I have to bring my laptop to do this extra assignment, so I should be able to post a blog entry each day.

Day 64

Another boring and cold day. Class was pretty busy, as she made us make an entire PowerPoint in one hour and she still does not understand that the wifi takes half that time to load, so it was a race against time. We also still have a lot of readings to do for homework that took me today 4 hours, and I was the first one done. We had two meetings today too, one for Scotland and with our teacher because she wanted to 'bond' with us. Because we were missing dinner to go to our meetings, we had to go get supper early at 3:30 and bring it back with us to the meetings. Both meetings were really pointless, and we went back to finish homework. Nothing else new today. Walking down to get supper today was really weird, though, because I already know I am going to miss just being able to walk around town on our own and being so close to everything. I'm still trying to upload pictures from Italy, but this wifi has gotten completely terrible in the last week.