Going Home

So I couldn’t change my ticket to come home on December 16 like I was supposed to. So instead I decided to surprise my parents and not tell them that I was going to come home two days early. I was so lucky that my friend Pav offered to DRIVE me to Heathrow. 

Since Joce and I got our flat, we had to move out before we left for the holidays. So in addition to worrying about my last school project, I had to pack to come home and also pack my entire London life (thanks to Priyanka for letting us store our stuff in your room). I got everything done and Pav got me to the airport in record time. 

I was able to check in right away and my baggage wasn’t overweight. The line for security was long, but it moved fast. I made it to my gate in plenty of time and there was even internet there when I sat down. Can you tell that at this point things were going just too well for my trans-Atlantic flight?

We get on the plane, I sit next to two really great people whom I talked with throughout the flight. Still no hiccups, except I was in the middle row, middle seat - no biggie! Then it began...

Our plane was getting ready to taxi off the runway and the pilot comes on the overcom and says that we have been flagged by TSA, we’ll have to return to the terminal! Well, I’ve already taken my sleeping medicine and snuggled in, I can’t concentrate too much on this, but as an American leaving Heathrow to Chicago, I’m a bit concerned to say the least. So three TSA officials come walk around the plane. I’m sure they’re going to escort someone off for some hideous terrorist plot, but no, they simply walk around and delay our plane an hour and a half. 

So my two hour layover in Chicago just got killed and I’m now going to miss my flight. There is no way that I’m getting on American soil, two and a half hours from home and not getting there. So during the flight I’m pretty convinced that I’m going to have to figure out how to drive home from Chicago (don’t know how to get from the airport to I-65). 

I get off the plane and the American Airlines woman I talk to hands me my new ticket for my 10:20 p.m. flight! I cried I was so happy...then I waited 30 minutes for my luggage. It was 9:30 before I could try to go recheck my baggage and get on my connecting flight.

I get to check-in area and tell the woman that I’m about to miss my flight. When I tell her my flight, she asks me to wait while she sees if it’s CANCELLED. I almost lost my mind. After she gets her life in order, she tells me that the flight is on time, but that I needed to be there 45 minutes before the flight to check my luggage! I lost it at that point. I started crying and tell them that it wasn’t possible, I wasn’t staying in a hotel, I was getting on the flight - I was 35 minutes early for the damn thing, just let me on! 

Some other woman takes pity on my and hands me to George - the best - who can break the rules. George is annoyed, but checks me in...but, my luggage is now over weight for a domestic flight. As I go to pull my extra carryon out of my luggage (a total of 20 seconds to relieve the weight problem), George tells me that he’s in a hurry. I’m totally upset now. So to blow off some tension, I got through security. Of course, I’m flagged to be searched. I’m hysterical at this point, but I get released. I run through the airport, crying and cursing the terrorists who just got my liquid face soap taken from me since it was over 100ml. When I arrive at the gate, the nicest guy says, “I hope you weren’t running, you had plenty of time.”  I’m no longer involved. I can’t take it.

We wait on the plane for about 20 minutes for my other Heathrow companions to make the flight (clearly I didn’t get the memo) and then I get home to Indy, rent a car and drive to Fishers. It was 2 a.m. by this point as I snuck in the house. My parents loved having my shadow standing in their room in the middle of the night two days earlier than I was supposed to - oh well, I’m so glad to be home!

Movin' on Up

Jocelyn and I are “movin’ on up” to the...well, south. We signed a lease for our apartment in Maida Vale, London yesterday. We won’t actually be able to buy food for our flat (I’m kidding, Grandma!), but there are so many benefits to our new location:

1. No more scary night bus to get home if we stay out after midnight. We can finally take buses that won’t take over an hour and we could also afford a cab since we don’t live a million miles away from natural civilization.

2. We will be able to actually use our internet - not just pray it works, only to be disappointed. We should be able to use our instant messaging to chat (yay to everyone who has a MAC with a built in camera - or PC users with an external). 

3. We’ll be able to move when we sleep - there will be a full bed, not a child-sized bed. 

4. We will live near Drew and Starbucks so we’ll always have good stuff around us!

5. There are actually grocery stores and pharmacies and I’m sure there is a book store near where we live. No reason to have to walk a mile for any and everything that we need. 

6. We’ll have a balcony.

7. We’ll actually live in London - not Harrow.

8. No more sharing a mini-fridge with seven other people. We can actually get enough food to last us more than three days!!!

9. No more fire alarms at 3 a.m.

10. NO MORE LIVING IN HALLS!

All around we think it will be a great thing!!! There is an extra couch where everyone can sit and we can entertain. If you are ever in our neighborhood...

Ice Bar

For Sandra’s birthday, we went to Absolute Ice Bar. We paid £15 to get in, we each got a drink and we froze our butts off, but it was awesome. Everything in the bar was made of ice. The seats, the bar itself, the glasses, ice sculptures. 

Before you go in, you get those parkas to wear and you need them! There are gloves attached to them so you don’t freeze off your hands while you are drinking. There were little sculptures your go behind to take photos, so that was cool too! By the time our 40 minutes were up, I was ready to get out of there - I was freezing. I’d do it again though, it was a ton of fun!

Click here to see the photos!

Thanksgiving

So weeks later people are still talking about Thanksgiving. Here’s a little bit about it...

When faced with the prospect of going out for Thanksgiving dinner, the traditionalist Americans just couldn't do it. We then went on a mission to find a turkey in London. There is no Honey Baked Ham in London. So we actually considered buying a turkey from the deli - yep the same one where they cut sandwich slices. The £240 price tag deterred us, but only after careful consideration. We then had to figure out how to cook a turkey - none of us have even marginally participated in turkey cooking.

Drew was absolutely determined to get a frozen turkey. One that was too big for ANY refrigerator in England, still had the giblets and staff, and needed to defrost for probably 3 days. After a bit of consoling, he's finally settled on two smaller turkeys - thank God!

The search for Velveeta-esque cheese didn’t go well. I needed cheese that would properly melt for mac and cheese. So I go to the deli counter and simply ask which cheese will melt well and not be waxy. Well, I might as have been asking how they constructed Stone Henge. They had to finally call over a manager who told me that the English use a pre-made sauce...so I said, in a rather cheeky manner, "yes, so if you wanted to make that from scratch, wouldn't you use cheese of some sort? Which one of the 11 that you have in this here case would work?" Never did get a good answer. But the mac and cheese was still ok. I did get Velveeta (Thanks Keia) 10 days after Thanksgiving!

We had about 15 people in the end. Only one person - Layal - had ever done Thanksgiving except for the  five Americans. Jocelyn missed her flight to Spain, so she was “happy” to come back (she was really pissed, but she was happy to at least come back to Thanksgiving and not a normal day). Everyone said what they were thankful for, we prayed and then we grubbed. Everyone thought the food was really good, we sat and talked and laughed. It was awesome! We had turkey, mashed potatoes, mac and cheese, cranberries, rolls, stuffing, corn, apple pie, pumpkin pie and ice cream.

It was the most memorable Thanksgiving yet!

Click here to see the Thanksgiving Scrapbook!

Click here to see the Thanksgiving Photos!

Weekend Marketing and Ohio vs. Mich Game

On Saturday, Drew, Sandra and I went to Camden Market. It was great! We saw all sorts of crazy stuff and we even had fajitas!!! They don’t get Mexican over here (everything has curry in it?) so we were really excited. I didn’t get to spend as much time as I would like, so I will probably go back next weekend.

Then, Drew and I went to Harrod’s to get Christmas ornaments and cards - that’s right, I’m sending cards that are London! Please don’t be disappointed when they aren’t mailed from London. It costs £.72 or nearly $1.40 per letter. I can’t afford that :) If anyone thinks that Christmas is over-commercialized and out-of-control in America, well you’ve never been here during November. All the lights were turned on weeks ago (more on that in a backlogged blog to come) and since there isn’t Thanksgiving to temper it, everyone here is in full Christmas mode. I too, have adopted that sentiment and feel that it’s completely normal now to play all 128 Christmas songs and counting that I have on my computer.

Drew and I braved the Tube on a Saturday six weeks before Christmas (they are ALL out shopping, I’m convinced). The picture above is what the Tube station looked like as we were trying to travel. Seriously, if someone decided to get mad and push, someone else would’ve ended up electrocuted on the tracks. 

Later that night we went to Sports Cafe to watch Ohio win again Michigan. It was an incredible game. There was a two-hour line to simply get in the door. I refused...so I got one of the girls who works there to let my party in. We had a great time!

Torino, Italy

Yup - Italy was all about eating and I took plenty of advantage. We had falafels - Jen almost fought the Kebap guy over the night when he didn’t have the falafels - we had pizza, we had pasta, we had bruschetta, there was great wine, singing (ok, so it wasn’t in tune or on beat, but it was still great), and sleep!

We went shopping and I got a great purse for cheaper than I’d seen it at home or in London. The guy at the shop actually let me talk him down from €75 to €60! I was so impressed with myself.

It has been years since I’ve been as cold as I was in Torino. I certainly didn’t pack appropriately for the trip and paid dearly. I bought a cute scarf and mittens from H&M though, so I guess that it all works out.

The first night we were there, Jen took us to a local bar that she used to frequent when she studied in Torino last year. We had a great time. We’ve been living in a world where every alcoholic drink is precisely measured... because, what would happen if you got an extra ounce of liquor and didn’t pay for it (insert gasp). Well, Italy is NOTHING like that. We had food that I’m sure we never paid for and the proper liquor to mixer percentage is 2 to 1. Needless to say it only took one! 

Click here to check out the pictures: 

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Trinity

Since the Tube doesn’t run past midnight, going out in central London (about a 35 minute drive) is pretty difficult unless you want to take the 90-minute night bus home or wait until the Tube reopens at 6 a.m.

So, we go to Harrow to party at Trinity every once in a while. It’s usually pretty fun and we can actually walk home which makes it worth it.