Friday, October 30, 2015

Day 60

Today was a nice day to recover.  I couldn't sleep too well though so I woke up at 8 and went to breakfast.  Campus is really quiet so I was the only one at breakfast. I then took a shower and then my roommate, Emelia and I walked down to Twickenham to go to poundland to go on a supply run, which I will admit included Halloween candy. We then walked back and got lunch, and then caught up on TV shows and we played cards and watched movies in the common room. People decorated the campus today for Halloween and the dining hall is all covered in decorations and it looks really festive. They also labeled all the dinner food something spooky, like Blood Bath for tomato soup and we had caramel apples. It was actually a fun dinner as no one was there and the cafeteria workers were so nice and were playing Halloween music. Tomorrow night for Halloween we are going to watch all the Halloween Town movies and eat candy, and order take in as we don't get supper tomorrow night. It's going to be really fun.  Tonight all of us are starting on some readings we have to do for Monday, as homework is still never far away, even on break.

Thursday, October 29, 2015

Day 52 - Day 59

Day 52 - Thursday

Thursday was honestly a very stressful day.  First of all, in the morning, we had our presentations for our final day of that horrible class, then we had to rush immediately after class to get to the airport. Our presentation went well, but our teacher for some reason thought our citations were wrong (which they weren't because we then searched online) and wanted us to redo them before leaving to Italy, which was nearly impossible. We grabbed a sandwich and ate it on the way down to the Tube, and took the train to Gatwick after a couple switches. Gatwick Airport is actually really nice and we got through security easily and quickly, so we had some time to wait. Unfortunately we didn't look up before hand that only one bag could go through, so all of us had to check one bag. We got dinner and jut sat around, waiting for our flight to Rome. Our flight was about 2 and a half hours, and I tried sleeping through it but I was placed near an emergency exit so I was paranoid the whole time that I was going to have to open the door. When we landed, the Leonardo Da Vinci Airport was huge. At that point it was  pretty late and we needed to get to our hostel. Dad had told me to pay for an Uber, but of course no Ubers were around. No legit taxis were around either. (I saw legit because my roommate and the two others with her payed 75 Euros for a 15 minute ride and we are pretty sure it wasn't a real taxi). We then looked to take a train, but of course the train didn't come for another half an hour. At the last train stop, we then decided to take a taxi to our hostel and just split the cost. I'll be honest, our hostel was in a kinda sketchy part of Rome. We passed some casinos and I'm pretty sure some prostitutes to get there, but in the end it was actually nice. The three of us got to the hostel at around midnight, and the lady at the desk was super nice and offered to give us our own room. The room had 4 beds, so I took the top bunk and we all put our suitcases on the bottom one. The room was better than I expected, actually. We only paid less than $20 a night, and we had clean sheets, towels, a closet, TV, and a sink in our room. Mind you the TV didn't work and the faucet only really dripped, but hey, it was clean. The funniest part was that we went to search for the bathroom, and there was one right near our room that was closed. We opened it and thought that was the only bathroom and were so scared because the tub was so disgusting and the bathroom was so sketchy. However, we then realized that there were A LOT nicer bathrooms with two showers and two toilets which were updated and really nice and that the sketchy bathroom was supposed to be locked permanently. The showers were better than Richmonds, although they did not drain real well and Emelia and I only flooded them slightly. Rome also does not use toilet seats, another random fact that I did not know. We thought it was just our hostel, but apparently not. Overall, the hostel was really nice. The staff all spoke English and helped us find our way to each place and the breakfast was an amazing croissant. They bought them from a local bakery and had chocolate pudding-like stuff inside and covered with powdered sugar and were free, so hey, that $20 went a long way. At that point, we all just went to bed and got ready for the next day.

Day 53 - Friday

Today was our first real day of vacation. The staff told us which bus to use and how to get to the Colosseum, and we had planned to meet up with the other 3 people at the Trevi Fountain. The first time we ended up taking the bus on the wrong side of the street. The bus then stopped, the bus driver got off, but he told us that he would take us to the Metro stop in ten minutes, and he helped us buy tickets and everything. However, it took us an hour longer than it should have just to take the bus to the Metro. Once we got to the Metro it was about 40 minutes to the Colosseum, then a 10 minute walk to the Trevi Fountain. We met up with my roommate and the two people with her, as they were staying at a hotel instead of a hostel and paid a lot more for it. The Trevi Fountain unfortunately had no water as it was being fixed, but we did stop to get our first gelato for lunch near it. We then walked to the Colosseum and stood in line to buy tickets. The line only took us about 30 minutes, and one of the kids in our group bought an audio guide so he told us everything it said. Walking inside the Colosseum was one of the coolest experiences. I remember when Ashleigh and I used to take a virtual tour of it on Encarta at St. Chris so it was funny to actually see it in person. They are actually currently restoring the Colosseum to be what it once looked like, and I'm not sure if I like that they are doing that. After the Colosseum we went to the Roman Forum where our tickets also were good for. The Forum was huge and it was almost like a maze through the ruins and up steps. There were no signs or any descriptions of what anything was, so I wish I had a tour guide for that. After that we decided to walk to the Pantheon which wasn't that far away. Our hostel had given us a helpful map of all of Rome and its sights so we could easily see where we were going. I don't think anyone else even heard of the Pantheon, so we didn't stay as long as I would have liked. We also didn't go to the main museum in Rome :( From the Pantheon we walked to the Spanish Steps, which I never heard of but my roommate really wanted to see them. Honestly, they were just steps and I didn't really understand why people liked them. There was a fountain in front of it though so we were all cute and made a wish together in the fountain since we couldn't do that at the Trevi Fountain. From there we went to find a place to eat dinner. We found a place that had wifi and was rated high on Trip Advisor (according to the sign in the window) and enjoyed pasta and pizza. They were nice and let us split the check and the food was good. Next we went to find the Disney Store in Rome, and I got a Mickey Italia bag and a pair of Tinkerbell slippers. We found a dessert place, and then walked back to our Metro stop and split ways to go back to our separate hostels.

Day 54 - Saturday

Today was Vatican City. Vatican City took us about an hour and half to get there. At this point we had the bus system down, although we never paid for a bus because apparently no one pays for buses in Rome? It was really weird. We planned to meet up in the main area of Vatican City in the morning. At that point, the line for St. Peter's Basilica was already really long, so we decided to try the Vatican Museum and the Sistine Chapel. However, it was so busy because apparently October is tourist month in Rome (who would have thought?) and we actually had to pretty much buy a tour guide. It wasn't too expensive since she gave us a student and group discount, and it was worth it. It was about 3 1/2 hours, and we first were given a lot of information about the City itself, like who made it. Also, she showed us how many times some popes put their names around the square and the obelisk which was the only one that has never broken in Rome. She talked about the origins of St. Peter's Basilica, and told us that South Africa actually built an entire replica of Vatican City and built a bigger Basilica, making the real one the second largest, which I thought was really interesting. We were also shown where Pope John Paul II was shot, and then was taken to the Vatican Museum. The Museum was super crowded, but it was in a building that a Pope had built for his daughter when she got married. There was a lot of medieval and Renaissance art and tapestries that were pretty. It then led to the Sistine Chapel which was so beautiful. The people there were super strict and I heard them kicking people out who had their shoulders uncovered or knees showing. They also made sure that no one took photos or talked, but I sneaked some photos because its the Sistine Chapel. After the Sistine Chapel, the tour guide took us through St. Peter's Basilica, which might have been the prettiest church I've ever seen. After that the tour was over, but Emelia, Matt, Andy, and I decided to pay to climb to the top of St. Peter's Basilica, which was 521 steps. The guys ran up the steps, but Emelia and I took it slow and took tons of pictures from the view. It was so worth it. We got to see the inside of the church first, then continued up to see the whole Vatican City and see where the Pope's apartment was and where they made the decisions on who the next pope would be. It was probably the best part of that day. I don't think the rest of the group enjoyed the tour of Vatican City as much as I did, so they were kind of pouting the rest of the day. After the tour we went shopping, and I got a St. Veronica pendant and some gifts. We then went to find dinner, and got the usual pasta and gelato, since none of us ate lunch. We then walked back to the Metro and went back to the hostel.

Day 55 - Sunday

Sunday was a pretty much open day. We had nothing really planned, but met up with two other kids from our group who went to Rome at a different time but whose paths crossed with ours. We walked to the river, helped my roommate find a pair of Italian shoes, and watched Andy spend $200 on Armani cologne. We then wandered to other places on the map of Rome I had and saw different fountains and buildings and statues. We actually ate lunch for the first time and had dinner and got some canolis. Today was especially good because we tried to avoid the tourist areas and got to explore side streets and less populated attractions.  Dinner was good too, as usual. Overall, I'm really glad I went to Rome and saw everything, like the Colosseum and the Pantheon, but it wasn't what I pictured Rome to be like. There were too many people hassling you about pictures or buying a selfie stick and there was so much graffiti everywhere. Everything was under construction and it didn't have the charm I thought it would.

Day 56 - Monday

Today was pretty much just wasted on travel. We checked out easily from our hostel, and they were nice to give us our breakfast before we left. We got to the train station with plenty of time and bought a snack to bring on the train since we wouldn't be getting lunch. Luckily, I was the only person during the week to eat lunch because I had peanut butter and rice cakes with me. Therefore, I think I was the person in the best mood the whole trip. We got our tickets and got on the train with no problem. None of us had seats next to each other which was bad, but it was a long six hour trip where we could catch up on sleep. I started the next Game of Thrones book on the ride so it was productive. We had to get off and switch trains, but the next train was only 10 minutes, so it seemed like nothing. The train ride to Venice was so pretty as I got to see the Italian countryside and mountains. When we got to Venice, it immediately felt like what I thought Italy would be like. It was so beautiful at night and music was playing and the water was calm. The six of us split up again into two groups of three and agreed to meet the next day at the Disney Store in Venice. It was only about a 10 minute walk to our hostel, and it was hard to find because there was no sign or anything and it was on the third floor. Venice for some reason reminded me a lot of Pirates of the Caribbean and maybe that's why I liked it so much. Our hostel here was nice too. The man at the desk spoke English and helped us and told us how to get to different places and gave us a map. Our room had 6 beds, and on the first night there were 3 kids from South Korea, studying in Amsterdam, but on fall break in Italy. There was a bathroom in the room and we got towels and everything and was nicer than our last one. It had lockers too so we didn't have to worry about leaving anything out. After unpacking the three of us went to grab dinner and explore a little before going to bed.

Day 57 - Tuesday

Today we woke up early to walk to the Disney Store. We got there before our meeting time, and grabbed breakfast and I bought a Disney Italia wallet. The six of us then walked to St. Mark's Square, which was funny to see because EPCOT has a replica of the Square so I felt like I already saw it. The Square was flooded so it was hard to walk through it but some places makeshift bridges had been put there so we were able to get closer to take pictures. We then walked to the ocean and took pictures on bridges and of the canals, and shopped around. Venice was exactly what I imagined Italy to be like, and it was so beautiful. I really wish we had spent another day there instead of the third day in Rome. Anyways, we got a nice sit down lunch for once, and then met at 2 for our walking tour and gondola ride. The walking tour was really interesting and one of the best ones. She took us through areas we would not have found on our own and told us about how Venice is sinking and how it was built on top of tree trunks and how they got fresh water. We all had headphones that she spoke through, and she also then said it in Spanish too, so I got to practice my Spanish in Italy. After the tour we were led to the gondolas, and they were nice enough to let all 6 of us ride in the same gondola. The gondola driver was really friendly and sang to us and pointed out different things to us and told jokes. The gondola ride was so beautiful and I could cross that off my bucket list. After the ride we went to a stereotypical American burger place called the Wild Wild West. It was covered in bald eagles and American flags and George Washington's face was on every wall. The burger was really good, though, and was nice break from pasta.  We then walked more on the main street and got dessert. No one here was selling selfie sticks or scarfs, so it was really peaceful. When we went back to our hostel, we had new roommates. We had two 50 year old Italian ladies who were really nice and tried to speak English with us. We had a 30 year old Indian business man who was also super nice so our time in the hostel was actually good. I learned that I can now sleep through everything, like lights and people talking, and I don't hate dorming or hostels as much as I thought I would. We then went to sleep to wake up super early the next day.

Day 58 - Wednesday
Amsterdam today! We all woke up at 4 to meet up with the other 3 people so that they could catch their plane back to London because they didn't want to go by themselves.  My roommate and I are almost the same person as we were the only people planning every detail out like directions and everything for the whole trip so we basically took charge. We bought a bus ticket to the airport and the three of them checked in and got on the flight back. The rest of us checked in early, bought breakfast, and waited to board our flight to Amsterdam. We landed in Amsterdam around 11:30. The airport was really weird because everything was in English. All the signs and advertisement were only in English instead of most places which have English written underneath, so it was something different. We were on a time constraint, so we bought an Uber to get us to the Anne Frank house. The Uber driver was friendly and gave us water bottles and spoke English. The line was pretty long at the Anne Frank house and it took about a good 2 - 2 1/2 hours. We talked with some people in front of us who spoke French and English, and people working at the Anne Frank house gave us brochures that had a lot information about the House so it gave us something to read in line. It was a lot colder in Amsterdam than it was in Rome and Venice (where I didn't need a coat). Amsterdam itself was so beautiful. It reminded me of a combination of Venice and New England. The canals and the bikes and the changing leaves were the best combination. The atmosphere just seemed perfect. It might have been my favorite place visited. The Anne Frank house was a really good thing to visit, and it was pretty amazing to see the original diary that she wrote. We then walked to the Van Gogh Museum, but had a little extra time to walk around. We got some dessert that was being sold (kind of like fried dough) and walked through a nice park, and then presented our Van Gogh tickets for 4:00. The Van Gogh Museum was literally the best thing ever. It had not only Van Gogh but Munch and Monet and Degas and Gaughin, pretty much all my favorite artists in one. I didn't know that Munch and Van Gogh were so closely connected and their paintings were placed side by side to show the same things they painted together in different styles. I absolutely love Van Gogh, and it was so amazing to see his iconic paintings like The Sunflowers. Munch's sketch of The Scream was also there so it was nice to see that again. And Degas' ballerinas are my favorite. And Monet's waterlillies. It was amazing and worth the trouble of getting to Amsterdam for only a day. I really, really wish I could have stayed longer. It was a beautiful city and need to go back. We then took an Uber back to the airport, and waited and got supper. Our flight was delayed slightly, so it took us a long time to get to London when the plane ride was only 45 minutes. We arrived at Luton airport, which we thought would save us money, when in reality I had to pay to check my bag then had to pay to take a train and Tube to Richmond, which took 2 hours to get there so might not have been worth it. I was exhausted by the time I got back, at around midnight. I went to bed at about one this morning.

Day 59 - Thursday

I slept in until about 10, when the cleaning lady's phone outside my door started ringing and she started speaking rapid Spanish and I couldn't fall asleep. I used two washing machines to do all my laundry and then grabbed lunch at 11:30 when it opened. I then started catching up on my TV shows (like Supernatural) while I waited for my roommate and Emelia to wake up. We then walked down to Tesco to replenish our rice cake supply and tomorrow we are going to pound land to buy more shampoo and laundry detergent. Today was mostly a catching up day with TV and work and reading the syllabus for our next class. I can tell you that I did not miss the food here at Richmond. Anyways, this trip was amazing. This trip was probably my second proudest moment, after getting accepted into the Disney College Program. I was so proud that I managed to figure out the train and bus systems in different countries and made it everywhere safely and soundly without getting lost. I am trying my hardest to upload pictures, but for some reason they are not working again with this terrible wifi.

Also- sidenote, my debit card isn't working on Amazon so I had to use the credit card to buy a new Fitbit charger since mine is currently out of service. Chargers are not my friend here.

Wednesday, October 21, 2015

Day 51

One more class and it is finally over. The midterm was pretty easy, but it was a lot of writing for three hours. My Accounting midterm went pretty average.  I was the only person out of our group who got the Balance Sheet to actually balance, but the statement of cash flows didn't work out for me so I just added number until I got it to work out, which is not the technical way of doing so. It was a rush to finish though because we only had 50 minutes, so I was scribbling down all the answers. The rest of the day was pretty boring. We have our last presentation for the class tomorrow on the chocolate industry and child slavery, and we just worked on that. I went to the gym because I was bored and it was raining out, then we packed for our Italy trip. Dinner was actually terrible tonight, so I cannot wait for actual food in Italy. For our Italy trip, we apparently don't get wifi for our hostel in Venice, so just a heads up for that. Tomorrow it's going to be an adventure to get to our hostel as we need to quickly figure out the bus and metro system, but I'm praying that it will go well. It's real stressful to be honest. I might have to get an uber if we don't find our way. It will also be late at night, so that never helps when seeing street signs. I'll text when I get there, though. My phone finally downloaded the IOS9 update, and my other storage finally went down, so my phone is working so far. Nothing else new today. Like I said yesterday, I'm not bringing my laptop so this will probably be my last post until next Wednesday/Thursday when I come back from this trip. :D

Tuesday, October 20, 2015

Day 50

Today was our field trip where we had to wake up earlier than we would have had to do for regular class time. It took us about an hour or so to get to the actual location which was in East End London, and luckily we all brought our study guides to look at on the long ride. When we got there, we met our tour guide who then walked us around different places in the East End. The tour guide was chosen specifically to talk to us about workers' protests and strikes and sweatshops that existed during that time and immigrants that moved to that area. The class has gone from being an economics class to sweatshops to climate change all within three weeks. Really random. Most of the tour was pretty interesting, but it was stressful trying to learn everything because half of the test tomorrow was on what we learned today. We also spent a lot of the time trying to figure out whether the random guy (that wasn't introduced to us) the teacher brought with her was her boyfriend, husband, or really close friend, because it was a very important question. After the walking tour (which took about 2 hours), we headed over to a Bangladesh restaurant. The teacher ended up ordering a lot of extra food besides what we had already ordered, so there was too much extra food. I ordered a lamb dish with ginger and yogurt but the teacher had bought rice and naan bread and samosas to share amongst us all so we were all stuffed. The only downside was that the lunch took two hours, but the food was good. Afterwards our teacher wanted to travel another 30 minutes to visit Greenwich, but at this point it was almost 3 and we had a lot of studying to do and we were still an hour away, so no one agreed to go with her. We walked back, after stopping at a place called Dum Dum Donuts to get a cronut (literal heaven) which was my supper tonight since I was too full from the food to go down to have an actual supper. We spent the rest of the day studying for accounting and our other class exam. It's terrible that we have both midterms on the same day, even though our other class doesn't end until Thursday. Thursday we have a presentation due but we haven't even had the chance to start yet. I got three letters in the mail today, so that brightened my day! <3 I also went down to Tesco, got a cheap calculator for the exam (which everyone else here who brought a calculator had to go buy because our teacher sent us an email saying we couldn't use graphing calculators) and got some peanut butter and a loaf of bread for Italy. I borrowed a small carry on suitcase from a guy in our group to use for Italy because I don't think I can manage to put 6 days stuff in my backpack. I'm not bringing my laptop to Italy because I don't want to leave it in the hostel, so next week my blog might be really quiet. My phone is also being temperamental with me even though I deleted 1,000 photos off of it last night, so that's tomorrow's goal. We looked up some more stuff to do in Italy and how to get to each place and we will continue doing that tomorrow too. It's weird because all of us booked the same flight but Emelia and I booked one hostel, three other another hostel, and so forth. I think 7 of us are going in total. Looking forward to some pizza, gelato, and pasta.
Brick Lane

Random Church

Lamb

Half-eaten cronut

Monday, October 19, 2015

Day 49

Today was another busy day. My first class went by very slowly, and she got mad at us since only about five of us did the readings due today. Our presentation on our trip to Brussels went well, though. After class, we went to Accounting where we just reviewed for our midterm on Wednesday. I have to buy a calculator at Tesco since he won't let us use our calculators on our phone, and I didn't think to bring one. That test is going to be mostly about memorizing where all the numbers go instead of actually calculating them. After accounting we all just started studying for our one midterm and one final. I started working on accounting and the study guide for our WNE class, and eventually it was already supper time. After dinner we met up with our teacher to go over our study guide and I always feel more confident after it. I then started watching Game of Thrones, after finishing the first book, and continued working on Accounting.  Emelia and I decided not to book our trip to the Leaning Tower of Pisa because it became too expensive, so we are looking at other places to go to. Nothing too exciting, I did wash and homework. Tomorrow we have an early field trip and we are going to a Bangladesh restaurant that WNE is paying for. Then we are continuing to study.

*Dad~ I need help with my phone. It says that most of my storage is used by 'other', but I don't know how to get rid of that. I deleted all my messages, notes, etc., but it is still the biggest bar when I plug it into iTunes.~*

Sunday, October 18, 2015

Day 48

Today was a busy day. I woke up earlier than expected, but I enjoyed the time I spent sleeping in. I started to make the extra presentation that we have to present tomorrow about Brussels, then went for brunch with Emelia. After brunch, I started making a study guide for our final on Wednesday and started working on another presentation that is due on Thursday. At about 3, we all took a break and walked down to the little market that happens on Sundays to grab a snack. We also went to get Euros and I bought a European charger as I had been using my roommates for the previous trips, but she is coming to Italy with us so now we both need one. After our walk we continued to study and research more on our presentation. Thankfully this class is over this week. We went to the very terrible supper, where we learned that our Saturday and Sunday meals are actually prepared on Friday. We also learned that they cook pasta by putting the uncooked noodles and sauce together and then cook them in the oven, so we finally found out why they taste bad. After dinner, we worked more on the presentation, then started to print out all our information for Italy. We all booked a gondola ride and walking tour of Venice, and Emelia and I are looking into a day trip to Florence and Pisa to see Michelangelo's David statue and the Leaning Tower of Pisa.  I printed out all our information and created an itinerary because I just know I'm going to be the person to lead everyone to our hostel and to all the locations and figure out the metro and bus lines. It is going to be stressful trying to get there, but everything will work out. I'm excited for this week trip, if only I survive the two finals and this class. I have another field trip on Tuesday that takes all day, which is annoying because she expects us to study for the final but yet we aren't supposed to come back until after supper. Nothing else new today. This week will be stressful but it's almost Italy time :D

Saturday, October 17, 2015

Day 47

Well I'm finally back at Richmond with the terrible wifi. Emelia and I were lucky to sleep in until about 9, then headed to the largest ferris wheel in Europe.  Unfortunately, it was a bust and we decided not to go on it because it seemed almost sketchy and it was an overcast day so the view wouldn't have been that pretty. Instead we got another 1 euro waffle for breakfast and walked around, and bought mom and dad chocolate for when they visit. We then ended up wandering into a rather sketchier part of town, so we decided to find a place to just eat safety so ended up at Pizza Hut :/ Pizza was real good though. We had to keep wandering around because we had to check out of our hotel when we left that morning so we couldn't go back to our room the whole day which was kind of annoying. We finally met up at 2 to go to the airport to catch our 5:20 flight. The flight was quick and we got to London at 5:30 (I love that time difference). Customs was very painful, and it was an hour and a half ride back to Richmond. We then needed to buy supper so I grabbed a Caesar salad and actual fruit and we walked the mile back to Richmond to eat it. Tomorrow I get to sleep in for the first time in two months!!! Nothing else new today. Here's some pictures I didn't get around to posting yesterday.

Snap chat filters in the European Commission conference room

Donald Comics that I really wanted if only they weren't in Dutch

Mussels!!

Friday, October 16, 2015

Day 46

Today was my last full day in Brussels. We woke up early and dressed nicely to go to the European Commission. The European Commission is just the part of the European Union that regulates everything pretty much. It took us about a half an hour to walk there, and we had to go through some pretty hefty security to enter. We were then led into a conference room where a tour guide showed us a Power Point for three hours. We had a coffee break in between, but it was pretty long. Some parts of it were pretty interesting, like when he was talking about the refugee crisis, but other parts were boring, like when he was talking just about the structure of it. We got a free pin of the flag of the European Commission and a bag and a pen, so it was pretty worth it just for that I think. We then walked over to the European Parliament where it was a self-guided interactive visit. They had some cool technology where you walked around and swiped a device at each picture and a reading would pop up in your language to read.  We thought we were going to eat there, as was the original plan, but our tour guide ended up steering us to a McDonalds, so I was forced to eat American food. After the tour, it was about 3, so Emelia and I went back to the hotel room to change out of our heels and dresses, then went back out to walk around the city. We went into a lot of comic book stores (because Tin Tin and the Smurfs are really popular) and took another picture of the peeing statue because he was dressed in a new outfit today. We all then met for supper later at a seafood place, and I got mussels with garlic and butter that were really good. (Mussels in Brussels :D) This one girl took advantage of the fact that the tour guide was paying and bought, no lie, a three course meal. She was really annoying, but besides that it was a good meal despite it taking about three hours. Emelia and I then walked some more before turning in for the night, and Skyping our parents and eating the rest of our Belgian chocolate from yesterday. Tomorrow we are going on the largest Ferris Wheel in Europe (bigger than the London Eye), and hopefully getting some chocolate for Mom :D My Disney letter came in the mail today at home so I'm super excited for that too! I'll post more pictures tomorrow when I'm not feeling lazy.

Thursday, October 15, 2015

Day 45

I made it Brussels, Belgium today! I woke up at 5, and a guy who went with us from WNE had a 20 pound off an Uber, so we all took an Uber to Heathrow for basically nothing. There is four of us from WNE on this trip, Emelia, two guys, and me. We met up with everyone at the airport at 6:30, but there's only 11 of total, including 2 chaperones. We got breakfast at the airport then got on the plane. The plane ride was only 45 minutes, and it literally felt like ten. We were in Brussels before we knew it. When we got there, it was rainy and very cold. Our rooms at the hotel weren't ready yet so we had to put all our stuff in a closet behind the counter and then go straight on our walking tour. We were allowed an hour break to grab lunch, so of course the four of us found a waffle place to have a Belgian waffle, and it was actually heaven. Unfortunately, the tour was in the middle of pouring rain and when it was about 30 degrees outside, so it was pretty miserable. No one really had packed for rain or for extreme cold (except me who had my trench coat and a heavy sweater), so everyone was freezing. I was freezing though too, to be fair, and I had to eventually buy another pair of gloves as the ones I brought turned into touch screens one because my fingers went right through the material. The walking tour was really interesting, though, because I didn't know there was so much history in Belgium. We learned a lot about Victor Hugo and saw where he and his mistress lived. We saw the oldest chocolate shop and town square and different meeting places for guilds back in the day. Brussels itself is a medieval city and was built in the 5-6th century and literally means city on the muddy river. We also saw this infamous fountain of a child peeing which apparently is used to symbolize the linen industry in Brussels and how they used to bleach the linen. The tour was about 2 hours, and when we met back at the hotel our rooms were ready. By that point all of us desperately needed to warm up and unpack, and then met up afterwards for dinner. The four of us tried to go to this one restaurant that the tour guide suggested to us, but it was too busy and way too loud so we ended up at a seafood burger place. It was really bizarre as they were burgers but made out of seafood? They kind of tasted like calamari except in a patty form. Seafood is pretty popular here and it was good. After dinner we walked around and went back to a chocolate shop the tour guide said was legit Belgian chocolate and not just some tourist trap. We got some souvenirs and took more pictures and then called it a night. I caught up on Supernatural, and now am going to bed as we have to wake up very early to tour the EU tomorrow. The wifi is really good at this hotel so enjoy the pictures.


Heaven

Home of the Guild of Archers

Closeup of the quivers of arrows

Peeing boy fountain all dressed up

Town Hall

Indoor Shopping Center

Town hall at night

Wednesday, October 14, 2015

Day 44

Well, all my studying for that midterm went to waste. I ended up getting a 100% on the test, so I worried for nothing. My Accounting class is actually worrying me more, as I really don't know what he is teaching and the midterm is next week, on the same day as my final for my other class. Today was pretty filled with just homework as well. We had two essays to write and seven articles to read, plus accounting. Tomorrow I have to wake up at 4 to go to Brussels,so I'm excited to get away from all the work. Next week is the last week before my October break, which will be very needed after next week. The food here is still terrible, the weather is still pretty good, and everything is pretty as it is. Have a good weekend~

Tuesday, October 13, 2015

Day 43

Today was pretty busy. My midterm went really well, I think. It was actually easier than expected, but it was extremely long and we ended up missing lunch. We walked down so I could exchange more pounds to euros for Brussels, and got lunch. The rest of the day was just dedicated to homework. We had a 30 page article to read and take notes on, and since four of us are missing class on Thursday for Brussels, we had to watch a two hour movie on sweatshops in our spare time and write an essay on it that the rest of the class does not have to write. The next week is going to be extremely busy as I have two finals and a group project that we have no knowledge of, but luckily after that is our fall break. Time is going by really quickly. Nothing else new today, just homework.

Monday, October 12, 2015

Day 42

Today was a pretty bad day to be honest. I slept past 8 for the last month and haven't gone to bed before midnight, so the lack of sleep is slowly but surely catching up to me. This class I'm taking now did not help in the slightest. My friends think the teacher has it out for me, and I'm starting to agree with them. They say that she's annoyed that I know all the answers, because towards the end of class she just kept telling me all my answers were wrong. She asked when WWII ended, and I said 1945, and she said, actually it was more of 1946, which I don't think is right. Also, I answered another question and told me it was wrong, but then Emelia wanted to prove a point so raised her hand, said exactly what I said, and the teacher told her she was correct. Needless to say, I was in a terrible mood by the end of that class because I was getting so frustrated that my correct answers apparently weren't correct. The teacher was also rude to my roommate, who said that there was 27 countries in the EU instead of 28, and the teacher yelled at her for not doing the reading because if she had she would clearly know there was 28 countries. Accounting was just as miserable, not in the same way but in the boring sense. He just lectures for an hour and a half and that's not a real helpful way to learn how to calculate numbers or actually do accounting when you're not doing the math yourself. After class our WNE teacher was holding a study session for our midterm tomorrow, so I went with my roommate and Emelia's roommate. The teacher was rude to me especially again, and the three of us left early because I needed to leave before I got mad, and my laundry was almost done anyways. She's also making the four of us who are going to Brussels individually present on Monday on the movie that we are missing. We're the only people who have to present, and no one else, so it seems a little unfair since we're borrowing the movie to watch tomorrow night so we won't miss anything. Anyways, after the study session we all went to study and do our homework. We have a midterm tomorrow and had five articles to read and take notes on, so we didn't go anywhere. I feel like I'll do well on the midterm because it's mostly history and economic stuff, but who knows with this teacher. I was just getting so fed up with her today. Nothing else really happened today because we were so busy doing work. I managed to watch the new Doctor Who, and that's about it. I already miss Disney, too. On the plus side, Mom and Dad are coming to visit so that will be fun! And I'm uploading more pictures of Disney because I don't feel like studying anymore. I'm excited for this Brussels trip. I have to be at the airport at 6:30, though, so that will be another early morning. I return on Saturday so I have a good portion of my weekend still.

Found that statue

Notice my winter coat and gloves

Rockin Roller Coaster freaked me out

Me and SpiderMan

Skull Rock

Halloween decoration

Inside the Castle

Space Mountain-How cool is the outside?!

Entrance!

MY FAVORITES GUIDO AND LUIGI

Ratatouille section

Aw

Stitch Live

Toy Story land

Cute decoration and little kid



Sunday, October 11, 2015

Day 41

Today was my last day at Disneyland Paris :( We went for opening and managed to get a lot done before we had to go back to the hotel to catch our train. We headed straight towards Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (because it is the best version of the ride ever), then went to Peter Pan (only 20 minute wait- unheard of!), Pinocchio, Pirates of the Caribbean, and then Big Thunder Mountain again for a total of 5 times. On the way out we grabbed some lunch because both of us had run out of rice cakes or peanut butter sandwiches then caught our bus back to our hotel. We quickly packed up our stuff, then went to the train station to catch our train. We bought dinner and our journey home began We had an hour layover in Lille, but besides that it went by quickly, especially since I was sleeping for all of it. It was weird going back an hour in time back to London so our two hour train ride from Lille to London was technically only one hour long. We then had a 45 minute Tube ride back, but of course there was an issue and we couldn't get directly to Richmond so we had to take a bus ride that was another half hour, not including the mile walk back to campus. I'm back at school now, and I have class first thing tomorrow, and a midterm on Tuesday. There's an 84 page reading due tomorrow for class, and this teacher is pretty terrible. Anyways, I miss Disney already. Luckily this time I know I'll be back in a park in January :D I hope you like the pictures! I couldn't take a lot of photos on my phone because I'm running out of space.

Who sees a Mushu stuffed animal?!

The entrance to Disneyland Paris (that's Disneyland Hotel)

Castle

Space Mountain photo (notice no watermark)

Mad Hatter



Random pirates photo (Where's Alyssa)


Jedi Burger

Fall Decorations were up

Window Display

Saturday, October 10, 2015

Day 40

Today was Walt Disney Studios Day! This park finally had the statue of Walt and Mickey, which I was looking for yesterday. The inside of this park reminded me a lot of Hollywood Studios with the fake backdrops and Hollywood-esque streets. It was really pretty, though, and their main street was all enclosed in a fake movie studio which looked super cool. The first thing we did was run to get fast passes for Ratatouille, the newest ride. The fast passes didn't end up helping us as the ride broke down conveniently during the time of our fast pass. Anyways after the fast pass we went and did Toy Story land. They have an RC Racer ride like a pirate ship, a Slinky Dog ride, and a Parachute Drop. It was cutely themed and we walked on all the rides. After that, Janelle went on Tower of Terror while I opted out and instead went to meet Spider Man because he had no line. We then went on the Backlot Tour (exactly the same as was in Hollywood Studios), and went to a couple different shows. There was a Stitch live which was like Turtle Crush so it was really funny. We also went to a live show called Animagique where they actually had a whole segment with dancing pink elephants from pink elephants on parade from Dumbo, which I thought was really different but awesome. We saw Cinemagique which was a film having a guy run through all different movies like Titanic and Star Wars which was cool. For both of these there was one character who spoke English and one who spoke French. For the Animagique one Donald spoke English and Mickey spoke French, so I knew half of what was going on. All the songs were in English though. We did Rock and Roller Coaster, too, and it wasn't half as loud as the one in Hollywood Studios. There was also the animation video with Mushu, but I've seen that so many times and it was in French anyways. The magic carpet ride was closed, and the Cars scrambler had way too long a wait. We did the most wasteful thing by seeing Armageddon: The Special Effects. It said it had a 5 minute wait but it lied. Big time. We were finished in 45 minutes. It was a standing show of clips from Armageddon and then you walked into this huge set from it and the ground shook and lights flashed and it was really weird and took too long a time. We went on Ratatouille, and since our fastpasses couldn't be used, we waited about only 25 minutes in the single rider line. The ride is a 3D dark ride, but the ride system is really technological and reminds me of Spider Man at Universal, with the screens. The car moves and there's different smells and effects and it was pretty cool. The little French town the ride is in is pretty, too. But....let's talk about the Best Ride Ever. Okay. Crush's Coaster. We waited for 45 minutes, twice, in the single rider line to ride this because it was amazing. It's a roller coaster but there's no big drops of anything but it goes super fast and there's wind blowing as if you're in the ocean current and it is completely dart most of the ride, like Space Mountain. It was the best ride ever. I need that to come to Florida. Immediately.  After doing a lot of the rides twice, we left this park to go back to Disneyland to get food. The Studios had no good options for food (there were literally two places to eat and we didn't want burgers again), so we settled for the not so French meal of pizza in Adventureland. We then did Indiana Jones again, Space Mountain, Buzz Lightyear, and Phantom Manor. We did some shopping, I got some Christmas presents, and then we found a place to watch the Disney Dreams fireworks show. Now let me tell you about this show. It was absolutely amazing. Beautiful. The castle moves and changes in some techy-way and the effects were so cool. One of the best Disney shows ever. Tomorrow we have about 3 hours in the park so we're hoping to do Big Thunder Mountain, Pirates, and Peter Pan before going back to the hotel, grabbing our stuff, then going back to Richmond. It's weird because this whole time I keep forgetting I'm in school and not just on vacation. I cannot wait until I'm back in Florida.

*Also- this hotel's wifi is pretty bad, so I'm sorry if anyone texted/emailed and I haven't responded because I haven't gotten any. Also, Dad, I'm sorry I'll probably go over my data because I used a lot to post this blog post to hook my laptop to data. :( But I wanted to make sure no one thought I was dead.

Friday, October 9, 2015

Day 39

First day in Disneyland Paris today!!! We woke up at 8 and got to the park at about 9:20.  We had to exchange our tickets that we printed out to actual tickets and then got in line. I expected that there was going to be this huge line of people, but there wasn't. We were let in early, and walked around main street. Everything was decorated for Halloween and there were themed ghosts and pumpkins for each store. We headed towards Space Mountain: Mission 2 to get a Fast Pass immediately. It's like in the olden days where you have to scan your ticket to get a paper fast pass. We got one before the actual park and rides even opened. Someone we slipped in with the hotel guests for early magic hours in the morning, so we started our day off early. We then headed towards Indiana Jones. Indiana  Jones here is not like the one in California.  It is an outside rollercoaster with a loop.  Mom and Ash would have loved it. Nothing scary for Ashleigh. We made it on perfect timing because the ride broke down as soon as we got off.... The rest of the day went by quickly, but I'll give you some highlights.

First of all, Disneyland Paris is breathtaking. The castle might actually be the prettiest one out of all of them, and the landscaping near it is beautiful. Also, there's an animatronic dragon in the castle that moves and breathes fire and is literally the coolest thing. Disneyland Paris is also big for rides where you walk through them. There was the dragon walkthrough, an Alice in Wonderland Labryinth, a 20,000 Leagues Under the Seas walkthrough, Aladdin walkthrough, and a Pirates walkthrough and a Sleeping Beauty one. Very unusual. The rides here are also a lot scarier, literally. Space Mountain had 3 loops. Three. Does any other space mountain have loops? No. Was I expecting loops going on? Absolutely not. I didn't think indoor roller coasters could have loops. But we went on twice today because the outside of the building is really cool and it was a fun ride after I got done screaming. The Snow White dark ride is also a lot darker. There's a lot of skeletons and the trees are scary in it. It reminds me of what the original ride used to look like in Florida until they deemed it too dark for kids. Pirates of the Caribbean also had a lot of skeletons and no Jack Sparrow. It was a shorter ride but had 3 drops, so I'm not sure Mamma would have liked it as much. They also didn't sing the iconic song. We went on this twice. It was cool to hear the animatronics speak French though everywhere. French C3PO is pretty cool. Haunted Mansion  (called Phantom Manor) would have freaked Ashleigh out. This is completely different from the Haunted Mansion. It focuses on a bride and on a Phantom. The Phantom is shown hanging the person from the ceiling in the beginning and responsible for killing the bride. The pictures in the stretching room are all different too. There was no friendly graveyard scene where they are singing happily. Instead there are scary dogs and disturbing skeleton/corpses and the nice bride at the end is shown as a disgusting skeleton. I wouldn't say it was family friendly. But we went on that twice too. Dad would have loved the Big Thunder Mountain Railroad here. It was a really long ride and was so fun and was a lot better than the other versions in the other parks. Definitely my favorite ride here surprisingly. We went on this twice as well. Peter Pan wasn't as good here. It was really, really short, but the wait today for it never went above 30 minutes (surprising right?). The most we waited today was 25 minutes for Dumbo, but everything else was shorter than that. It was busy, but not like Florida crowds at all. We could easily go through crowds and walk on rides. It was almost funny to see people wearing winter coats, hats, and gloves because I'm so used to people wearing shorts and flip flops at Disney.  I got to see Abu, Maleficent, and Halloween Mickey today and got pictures. My pictures aren't loading on my computer though so I might have to post them when I get back. We watched the Disney Dream parade today and the songs were all in English and it was a beautiful parade. Everything here is in English, all the signs, menus, etc. The food here is all American too. For supper I had a burger because that was our only options.  A lot of food places and merchandise places didn't open today, so I'm not sure whether it was because it was a Friday, or just because it wasn't busy enough, but it was weird to see closed places. Unfortunately It's a Small World is not working while we are here, too. Anyways, we stayed until the park closed at 8, and walked to the Disney Village to shop. I got Ashleigh a couple things, and bought myself a green long sleeved Tinkerbell shirt because it was the prettiest shirt I think I've ever seen. There's so much else to write, but I'm really tired, so I'll tell everyone about it later. Tomorrow we are going to Hollywood Studios, the second park here. Ratatouille ride and Crush Coaster here I come!! Being here makes me so excited for living in Florida next semester , too. Everytime I see "cast members only" I keep thinking that I'm going to be one soon! My home away from home here!

Thursday, October 8, 2015

Day 38

So I'm typing now in Disneyland Paris!!!! But it was a long trip to get here, so I'll start from the beginning. This morning I woke up at 2 to watch Supernatural and skyped Ashleigh during the whole show. I went back to bed at 3, and then got up at 7:30 for our field trip. We rushed down to get breakfast at 8, and then left at 8:15 to meet our teacher at the Tube station to go to the Docklands Museum. We got to the platform, and we had to take a train to Waterloo. The first train was insanely packed, and five of us got left behind, as usual. We got on the next one and met up with the group at the final station. When we reached Canary Wharf where the museum was, our teacher didn't know how to get to the museum so she asked all of us. I was given a map she had printed off of Google and told her which way to go, but as usual, none of the guys believed me so they insisted to go another way. I held my ground but no one believed me, so the teacher went to a security guard and asked him, and he pointed in the same direction I had told them to go. Of course. Whatever. Anyways, we got to the very not fascinating museum of the Docklands. Basically it tells about the start of the London ports and their trading system and it was pretty boring. It was the reason why museums get a bad rap. There were some cool parts where they had reconstructed a street from that time period which was fun to walk through, but it was dull overall. We had to just take three pictures to do an assignment, so we were done within the first twenty minutes, but we stayed there for about two hours. After the tour Janelle and I left to go to St. Pancras station, only about 35 minutes away. We arrived there at about 12:30, and our train left at 3. I bought a package of rice cakes for lunch this weekend and bought a 3.99 meal at a small store for lunch/dinner, and, after going through security, got on the train. I did my homework on the train and took a nap, and got off at Lille to switch trains. We had no problems finding our way and everything went smoothly. We arrived at the train station at about 7, and paid to use the bathroom, so it was good I got our Euros. We then had the problem of figuring out how to get to the hotel. The walkway which google had told me to use didn't even exist, and we had no idea which bus to use and there wasn't anyone to ask. We tried taking a taxi but no one wanted to stop for us, so I finally decided to try out Uber. Once we ordered it, the guy driving was really friendly and called me (probably costing some data, sorry) and picked us up shortly. He was really nice and told us which bus to use next time and where to get the bus near our hotel. It only cost 11 euros, so it was a lot cheaper than a taxi and we got to our hotel within 10 minutes. We had no problem checking into our hotel and the lady at the desk also explained the bus system, which is another reason why I needed Euros. It is 2 euros to get to Disney each day, and 2 euros back. Our room is actually really nice. We have a full kitchen with stove, microwave, and fridge, which isn't really needed but kind of cool. I brought croissants and muffins from the dining hall so now I have a place to warm them up I guess. Janelle actually brought a whole loaf of bread and peanut butter and jelly to make sandwiches so both of us planned ahead so we won't have to buy breakfast or lunch. Only supper and maybe a snack :) I'm living cheaply here, mom and dad, and saving you money! Since we got to the hotel at 8, both of us really wanted to go to Disneyland already, so we ran to the bus and got there. Unfortunately, we forgot it was a weekday and the park closed at 8, so we just walked around the Downtown Disney area (called Disney Village) for about 2-3 hours. I saw a lot I want to buy already :D It's also really cool to see all the Disney characters that are highlighted here, like Ratatouille and Aristocats and I even saw a Fox and the Hound stuffed animal. Toy Story is also really big here, as well as obviously Belle. We both got a snack at about 10, then caught the bus back to our hotel. Tomorrow the park opens at 10 and closes at 8, and I'm so excited to finally go in! The entrance today was so beautiful at night! I'm also really happy that Janelle also brought her own food and wants to spend the whole day at the parks and loves Disney too. It's going to be so fun!

Wednesday, October 7, 2015

Day 37

Today was another rainy day. My class was terrible as usual. Our teacher is interesting, to say the least. She pauses a lot randomly when talking and won't really respond when you answer a question. We have a midterm on Tuesday, which is so weird because we've only have three classes so far. Tomorrow we are going on a field trip to the Docklands, which does not even sound remotely interesting. It's all about the trade of London and we have an assignment to do for it.  Luckily, the teacher was nice enough and gave me an extension to Sunday night, so I have time to write it on the train ride and submit it later. I went to my accounting class, which was boring too, and afterwards we all got lunch and walked to the post office. I traded some pounds for euros, and bought some stamps and postcards to send. After that we all had to get started on our homework for this weekend. We have to read an 84 page article on the EU, which is the most boring reading I've had. We also had to get started on our study guide for our test on Tuesday, because my friends were nice enough to study with me before I left so I could enjoy my weekend. I'm leaving from St. Pancras station at 3:04, and am coming directly straight from the Docklands museum unfortunately. I should be in Paris at 7, and then it's about a 1-2 mile walk from the train station to our hotel. I packed up my food in my backpack to save money on meals, and hopefully I can drop my stuff off at the hotel, and get my tickets, and catch the firework show at Disney tomorrow night if everything goes smoothly. I leave Sunday at 5, so I have a good 2 and a half days at Disneyland Paris. I can't wait to post pictures tomorrow night. I'll have my laptop with me because I need to do my assignment for the weekend. I also am staying up until 2 am to watch the Supernatural season premiere when it shows in the US. I'm about to go take a nap then wake up. So many exciting things to come! I can't wait to go to Disneyland Paris tomorrow! The highlight of my entire trip!

Tuesday, October 6, 2015

Day 36

This class is going to be very painful. It is basically another economics class, and there is so many readings to do and take notes on. Tonight we had to read more than 60 pages about the gold standard in the world and how the exchange system works. It was really painful and took so much time out of our day today. We also had an actual written assignment too. I definitely miss watching Shark Tank. I still don't really know what the class is actually supposed to be about, and no one participates except the row where I sit. It got so bad that she wouldn't let me or Emelia talk for the rest of class, which I hate so much when teachers do that because I want to talk. After class I grabbed lunch and my roommate and I headed over to Kingston. I have lost too many socks since I've been here, so I needed to buy more socks, a new black tank top after the strap finally broke after hanging on,  and a bra that was destroyed in the wash. I went to Primark because it was really cheap, and my roommate wanted to take a picture of this art display of knocked over phone booths. No one else wanted to come with us because they wanted to get a head start on the homework. The bus we took actually hit a lot of cars on the way there, and they don't even care. It was a scary bus ride. When we got back, Emelia and her roommate were asleep, after swearing that they were going to do work. I think I'm the only person in my class who doesn't take a nap. I don't know how people do it. My roommate went to take a nap and I did all the homework. People right now are still doing it and I finished it before supper, so I got the chance to read more and watch Once Upon a Time. I FaceTimed Stephen too, which was good. Nothing else new today. Almost time for Disneyland Paris :D

Monday, October 5, 2015

Day 34 & 35

Well I'm finally back in London. Yesterday was so much fun on our last day in Poland. We got to sleep in until about 9, then we all got ready and ate breakfast. After breakfast we had to pack up all our stuff because we had to check out early in the morning, which didn't make sense because our walking tour was at 12. We left our backpacks in a locked closet behind the concierge desk, then waited for our tour guide.  Apparently our tour guide had showed up earlier in the morning at the wrong time, so we got a replacement tour guide that rushed through the three hour tour because she had somewhere else to be.  The tour pretty much covered everything we had already explored, but it was good to listen and learn more about the town and how it came to be. I didn't know that Krakow used to be the capital of Poland, nor that it was saved from being burned or destroyed during WWII because the Nazis wanted to use the castle as a meeting place. We got to actually go inside the Wawel castle walls because it was open during the day and went into the Wawel Cathedral. We saw where St. Stanislaus was buried along with another Saint which I forgot her name. We also saw the oldest university in Krakow where Pope John Paul II went to school as well as Copernicus. The tour was pretty interesting, and we ended at about 2:30. Four of us then decided to go find something to eat for lunch, and the rest of the group had pizza while I tried something called a kebab. It had pork, chicken, cabbage, cucumber, tomato, and a spicy sauce all wrapped in bread and grilled and it was delicious. We then wandered around through more shops where I got some Christmas presents. I also bought another pretzel thing for the plane ride and we people watched. We had to be at the hotel at 6:30, and we then left for the airport. We were pushing it for time, but luckily I guess our flight was delayed an hour. After going through security (which was painful because people do not know that they cannot wear belts or bring water), we sat down. At this point, we needed supper but there were no restaurants or anything except this little snack bar so I got a muffin and water and called it a day. I read Game of Thrones while waiting, and it is an amazing book, and finally got on board. I sat next to a very cute but loud baby on the way back, so I didn't get any sleep. When we arrived in London, it was about 12, and we still had to get through customs. Customs took about 40 minutes, so by that time the Tube had stopped running. The three of us who needed to get back to Richmond said that we would share a taxi or Uber or something if we couldn't figure out what bus to take, and we all agreed. We got through customs together, and the rich girl with us said that she would call a taxi or Uber while me and the other girl from WNE went to the bathroom. When we came out of the bathroom, the rich girl was gone, and she texted us saying that she had left by herself in an Uber. Unfortunately, that left me and the other girl to find our way back by ourselves, after our plans were gone. We then ran to the buses, and literally waved down a Richmond bus that was leaving. The bus driver was super nice and pulled over and he told us that he could drop us off at Richmond station, a mile away from the University. We were pretty much the only people on the bus and it took only about 40 minutes because he didn't need to stop at any of the stops. We then walked the mile back to campus, all while being mad at this girl who ditched us. *Sidenote: This girl spent 30 pounds on an Uber by herself, and I would also like to take this time to tell you some things she asked me on this trip. She asked us after Auschwitz why the Jewish people couldn't just leave the concentration camp, why they even wanted to go in the first place, and then swore she stepped on a bone there. I literally didn't even know what to respond to all that. In short, she's terrible rude and annoying and she's going on every school trip because she's rich and spends money like there's no tomorrow.* Anyways, I got home at like 1:30, and my roommate was actually still up because this girl was FaceTiming outside our door and she was super loud. Today was my first day with our new teacher, and she is not as nice or easy going as the last teacher. I had emailed her on Thursday saying that two of us would be going to Disneyland Paris at 3 on Thursday, because our field trip was at 10 and I wasn't sure if that would interfere. Other kids are missing the whole day to go to St. Ives, so she was mad about that.  Apparently I'm missing next Thursday for Brussels, but I'm on her good side because I thought to email her. So, on Thursday I'm just bringing my backpack with me to the museum then leaving to the train station from there. The other kids are being treated almost rudely because they are missing a day, and she wasn't as accommodating when she heard that people had booked trips. None of us had purposely chose to skip a day of class, so she wasn't very nice. The class seemed to be all over the place and I don't even know what the class is about. We talked a lot about economics and globalization and outsourcing, but I don't know where it's going. Accounting was just as terrible and disorganized as usual, and I don't think we've ever had an entire class together. People never show up to class. After class we went to do our long readings for our class and Accounting homework. We then all braided each other's hair for some reason, and the five of us went to dinner. We went down to take money out and exchange it into Euros just in case I need it for a bus or something at Disneyland Paris. I then came back and printed out all my information for the trip and am trying to figure out a way to get from the train station to the hotel since there is no bus. There's a walking path but I'm not sure we can actually use it, so it will be an adventure. I can't even tell you how excited I am to go, though. Ratatouille ride here I come! Tonight I have to meet with our professor because she wants all of us to stop by and talk with her, and I need to talk to her more about the homework due Friday morning, since we will be gone Thursday night. I also got my card today from Auntie so yay! That brightened by day. No Oreos though :/ Enjoy the pictures I finally downloaded--

My hotel

I wish I liked gingerbread so I could eat one of these

Our carriage ride (Amy-girl from WNE is across from me, rich girl is to my left)

Window dedicated to Pope John Paul II, where he spoke when he visited Krakow

Pierogies <3333333

Work Makes You Freeom

SS Tower

Auschwitz-Birkenau

Snapchat filters are so cute

Market Square

Inside St. Mary's Basilica 

Polish clothes

Lamb stew

Wawel Castle

Firey dragon statue 

Street Art

Jewish section of town

Cheese filled pierogie with cranberry

Cinnamon pretzel thingy

Statue of Copernicus at University

Kebab

St. Mary's Basilica