The Expected Birthday Blackout, The Shishah, and Oh Yes, Schoolwork...

So I definitely have not updated the blog in awhile so here goes...

21st Birthday celebration was amazing! Went shopping the day of (last Saturday) with Daisy to find something new to wear that night and found the most adorable purple patent leather ankle boots for £6! Shopping in London is crazy because most of the better (and more student friendly) shops are on Oxford Street near campus so it's always a madhouse to get from one place to another. Primark was where I found the shoes and its basically a mix of Target, Forever 21, and Walmart with pushier people and better deals so the queses are always filled and there is no point trying clothes on, which is great when you're just shopping for footwear. Daisy is a great shopping partner...haha. I ended up wearing the boots with a pair of shiny leggings and a t-shirt dress.

That night we got dinner with a few of our housemates, went to the local package store to pick up beer and began the nights festivities with a celebratory game of beer pong/flip cup (the brits call it flippy cup) and everyone insisted that I needed to be a little more than tipsy before we left to go to the bars.

I was finally handed a glass of white rum which was about enough to do me in before I insisted everyone drink some so by the time we left the flat, got to the tube station, took semi drunk pictures, and arrived in Piccadilly Circus we were all a little beligerent. :)

Since it was the dreaded Valentines Day, after we all showed ID the girls were given tiny locks and the boys got keys so naturally we all went around trying to see who open whose locks. One of my flatmates Teddy opened mine.

We met up with a few more friends at the bar as the night progressed and one of my friends from the rugby team, Romain brought a few of his friends, one of them bought me a double shot of Jack Daniels which was wonderful and awful since I couldnt even taste the alcohol by then. The rest of the night, as I remember it, consisted of hanging out with the girls in the bathroom, dancing with my housemates, getting a shout out from the DJ wishing me happy birthday and then witnessing people throwing up outside the club...I'm still surprised I wasn't a part of that. The next morning I woke up with the worst hangover of my life (we rolled in around 5 am). I spent the day drinking lots of water and had a three hour brunch with Daisy and Jackie as we tried to recall memories from the previous night. It was a good relaxation day and when I got back to the house I got some work done. Alexander and Olivier offered beer pong later that night but just the sight of a beer can was enough for me to say no...haha.

Last week was basically just focusing on schoolwork and going for runs in the park. I already have two papers due in a few weeks for my Area Development and Internataional Security Studies classes so I needed to start on research for those, especially since the week they're due Liv and Ange are going to be here so that needs to get done pronto!

Thursday and Friday was just barhopping with the mates and 2 other friends, James and Joey. We stayed mainly in the Soho area before ending up at O'Neils in Leiscester Square for some live music and cheap student rate drinks where a pint can cost only £1.50!

Saturday I went for a run in Hyde Park which was loveley since the sun finally decided to come out and that night I went out to a Shishah (hookah) bar with Clenton, Mable, Brit, Jaz, Whitney, and Theo and met up with some others who live in a differnet dorm, Alun, and Ross. They brought along their friend James who is probably the most hipster looking guy I have ever seen, could give some people in Pittsburgh a run for their money. We all had a great time just smoking and people watching, James bought me a beer and afterwards we headed out to a 24 hour coffee shop.

Sunday was spent doing more work, I didnt get out of my pajames all day save for food shopping with Jackie and I just finished a lecture about an hour ago. Probably going to head back to the flat in a little while to get some more work done...blah. I'm pretty sure I'll be staying in all week so I can focus on my papers..maybe I'll go out Thursday but we'll have to see.

love,
al

Hello Sir Rugby Player...Why Yes It's True We Americans Can Drink Til We're Dead.

So a lot has happened in the past week.

Last Thursday at O'Neills we all had an awsome time! Played a few games of beer pong before we left the flat...so while we had originally planned to leave at 9:30 we actually left at 11. Haha. We finally got to the bar, got drinks and headed over to where the band was playing as usual. I'm pretty sure by now all the bartenders know us since our entire house makes Thursdays reserved for O'Neills. I ended up meeting another American student, Chris, who was studying in Ireland but was visiting London with a few friends for the weekend. He recommended I visit Ireland which I definitely plan to do after finals are over!

Friday was spent relaxing, doing some work and basically spending all day in my sweats and a cut off tee (makes me miss the usual Chatham dress...)

Later that night we all planned to go to World's End in Camden Town. Ray, one of my housemates invited one of his friends, Roman, another student at Uni. Westminster. The night was good and we all had a ton of fun and of course ended up closing the night at The Oxford Arms before getting a night bus back to Highgate.

Saturday Ray invited Jackie and I to watch a Rugby match with the university's team at a bar near campus. I have been DYING to see a game so I was in. Jackie and I smuggled in a bottle of white wine into the bar so we wouldnt have to pay for drinks and no one really noticed since Ray and the rest of the school rugby team were fixated on the game. Rugby players are the UK's version of American Football players. Basically, large, incredibly fit guys and one, Adam offered to explain the game...too bad I already know the rules...haha. The entire team is a fun bunch, and by the end of the match they were all sufficiently drunk as were Jackie and I. We went back to Baker Street and then Jackie, Ray, and I headed back to Furnival around 11:30 PM.

When we got back everyone was going to a Hungarian club that was pretty close but we were so tired we just made dinner and I subsequently passed out.

Sunday was a repeat of Friday, just doing work and relaxing. That night we all convened in the common room, made dinner, and watched Sin City which I hadn't seen but I definitely love it now!

Tuesday Me, Jackie, and Daisy went shopping for my 21st birthday which is coming up this Saturday! I'm so excited!! We're all going to Zoo Bar which is in Leiscester Square and is supposed to be amazing! We've al; decided to dress up as well so I'm decided to wear my black t-shirt dress, tights and I found dark purple patent leather ankle boots for 6 Pounds! (We made sure to go to Primark and New Look, basically the 'Forever 21' of London)

Today (Thursday) I'm basically on campus all day. Had my morning lecture at 10 and now I'm just updating stuff including pictures on facebook!!

Tonight we're probably going back to O'Neills so lets hope for a fun night out with the mates!

22 days until Liv and Ange arrive in London!!

love,
al

London vs. The Snowstorm

So this week has been pretty sweet so far...

For starters..we all watched the Superbowl when it aired in the UK at 11:00 PM and we were subsequently up until 3 AM to watch Pittsburgh win!!! It was an awsome night! A lot of the British students didn't really get why we were all so excited though..lol.

London was hit with this HUUUGE snowstorm and as a result, classes were canceled on Monday and the entire city seemed to shut down. Banks and post offices were closed and people just didn't go to work. They don't usually get this much snow at all so no one knew how to handle it...except for the American students (haha). The busses also stopped running and parts of the tube were not in use so it made for a pretty interesting day with literally nothing to do and nowhere to go except for the neighboorhoods we live in. That night, me and a ton of the people I live with got into this hufe snowball fight outside the dorm and it was so much fun! I probably havent done that since I was little. After we all went to a local bar, The Wrestler and warmed up by the fireplace until about midnight.

Tuesday I met Teddy, Ross, and Alun (Welsh spelling) went to Hyde Park to play in the snow, walk around, and get coffee. The three of us went back to Alun's flat and watched several episodes of House until that night when we met up with a few more people and went to get Indian. We all ended up back at Ross's dorm room for some quality drinking time. He has this amazing view of London from his balcony (he's on the 18th floor of the building) so we had a good time just chilling out and Teddy and I headed back to the flat around 10:30 since we both have early morning classes on Wednesday. We usually end up taking the tube to campus together and to say the least....we both were falling alseep on the way in Wednesday morning :).

After the most boring lecture of my life (Area Development) Helen, Ashley and I went to get food which ended up lasting several hours so by the time I got back to the dorm I was exausted and passed out watching Fight Club with a bunch of people in the common room which has the most comfortable couches ever! haha

Then later that night Jackie and I started planning our Easter Break travel-fest! We have about 3 weeks to do whatever.

We found a one-way bus to Paris for £12 which is a definite steal. From there we'll take the train to Brussels and then to Amsterdam. That entire trip including fares for the hostels should be about £230 which is amazing for the amount of traveling it is.We'll fly back to London after that and rest for about 2 days before flying to Barcelona for a few days (the round trip ticket for that is £40!) but we're still trying to decide between there and Copenhagen in Denmark. Overall, I'm so excited! We'll get back just in time for finals!

Tonight we're all going back to O'neils in Leiscester Sq. for some live music so we'll see where the night leads us.

Also...only four weeks until Liv and Angelina come visit me!

love,
al