Update

Wow, it has been almost a month since I last posted! Well, I haven't been any where exciting or done anything too cool, but i thought i would update you on what has been happening.

1) School: I have basically been working on papers. I have 3 due on the same day this week, March 15th,  so i have been crazy busy trying to write those over the last few weeks. I've finally finished them and just need to edit and cite one of them before i can hand them in! I've basically given up on keeping up in seminars, so i hope that since my papers are done i will be able to do more of the readings! I've got another presentation to to do this week, on Friday, ugh, but it is not for marks either so I don't care if it is super bad. I've only got 2 weeks of classes left before I get a month off for Easter break! You can bet i will have a lot to write for that! 

2) Laptop: I've had my computer since i started university almost 3 years ago and it started giving me trouble after about a year. Usually i have been able to rescue it, but not this time. About 2 weeks ago, it started taking ages to start. Like i would have to press the button 7 times before i actually got some signs of life. It kept going like that until one Thursday, it just stopped. I couldn't turn it on and when i pressed the button, it just beeped at me. The beeping was a code, which i eventually figured out to mean processor failure, meaning it was dead. Of course, i just happened to have 2 more papers to write. I ended up spending that weekend in the library writing one of my papers and trying to figure out what to do. I decided that i was going to get a small cheap laptop that would get me through the semester and then invest in a really really good one (aka Mac book , when i get home. So now i have a Google Chromebook, which is an entirely internet based laptop and basically all Google products. Which is fine, i can get used to that. But it is slow. And that i killing me. I can't tell if it is my Ethernet that is slow or the computer because i have yet to take it to campus. I got the zip case that i ordered so i will probably take it in this week to experiment. 

3) Travelling Plans: As I have said, Easter break is right around the corner and I've got it packed with plans. But first, there is St. Patrick's Day! I'm going to Dublin with a bunch of Uni kids, a few of which I know. I am so excited not only to see Dublin, but to experience the holiday in the country that does it best! Definitely  get to cross that off my bucket list! You can expect a post for that when I get back! A week after Dublin, I kick off Easter break with three nights in Cardiff, where I hope to see the Cardiff Castle and Doctor Who Exhibition, among other things. Then I head to Bath for 2 nights, where I hope to see the Roman Baths, Stonehenge, and in general, the place i have read about and seen in Jane Austen novels! After that, I am going to Oxford for 1 night and I want to see the university as well as the cathedral and all the amazing architecture! Then I got back to Nottingham for the weekend to get ready for my next trip! You'll probably get posts about these 3 places during that time as all I will be doing is laundry. And then... I go on a 2 week contiki trip that will take me to Paris, the Beaujolais Region, the French Riviera, Pisa, Florence, Rome, Venice, through the Austrian Mountains to Munich, through the Rhine Valley and then to Amsterdam! I am so stoked to go on this trip. I went to Italy almost 5 years ago and can't wait to see it again and spend my 21st birthday there! I am taking advantage of the free transfer to London after the trip so I don't have to pay for the Eurostar and hope to go to Edinburgh for the weekend before school starts. Still need to plan that out though.

Anyway, that is pretty much everything important. Now to get back to citing my paper! 

x

Brianna

Wollaton Park

Today the weather was absolutely fantastic. The sun was shining, the wind was not strong at all and there were hardly any clouds in the sky. I would even say that it was warm out as well. I decided not to waste the weather, since we never know when the next time we'll get weather like this is. There is a park just a 25 minute walk from my flat that I have been told is great, so i took a walk and spent about two hours walking around and taking picture. Wollaton Park is known for the lovely Wollaton Hall, which was built during the Tudor Dynasty and has become a museum to showcase the collection that has been built up over the centuries. The Hall is filled with stuffed animals and birds, minerals, skeletons and much more. Everything is supposed to be real, done by amazing taxidermists over time who have made the skins last this long. It also has some of the remaining furniture and antiques that have been cared for by its caretakers. It has an incredible garden that i believe is home to a fountain in the summers. The entire park is also a deer park, though i did not see any deer in the places that i walked. I did however see plenty of dogs, for it is also an off leash park. There is a beautiful lake near the house as well. I should probably also mentioned that the house was used in the most recent Batman film, The Dark Knight Rises, as Wayne Manor. I'm sure all you Dark Knight fans can tell that for yourselves. Here are some pictures I took:

 

 

 

x

Brianna

Exploring Notts

I spent most of this weekend locked in my room trying to get some school work done (trying, being the operative word... I spent most of the time watching movies or reading other books...). I decided that since I have Mondays off, I should go exploring the town and finally see the castle. I went with Brittany, one of the American girls I found on tumblr and befriended. We found our way to the castle and took some pictures with Robin Hood, admiring the architecture. We would have actually gone in the castle, had they not been closed on Mondays. That is just going to have to be something to do later. We walked down a street next to it, taking pictures of some of the cool buildings and the wall surrounding the Castle. We found a telephone booth that we could finally take pictures with because there was no one around! Walking around the other way, we found the oldest pub in england built into the side of the Castle wall. Next time I am in the city centre and hungry, i am definitely going there for lunch! The entire city centre is basically shops, so we walked around some more before going into Primark. She had something to return and I wanted to look. Of course, i ended up buying some things. There was a poundland on our walk so we went in there and i found so much food for great prices. Stocked up on chocolate, yumm! We went into the mall to go to Boots so she could get something and i found the perfume i like to use for such a bargain price! I paid half of what I usually pay at home, which made me so happy. I really didn't want to spend any more money after that, so we walked around a bit more before catching the bus back to Raleigh Park. Brittany told me there is an ASDA around here, which is basically a Wal-Mart, so I might go there tomorrow or Wednesday to see if i can find a cheap mirror. Still doing my hair in a webcam. Today was a good break from school work and I still have time if i want to do some. I did some before I went exploring, so at least I did something productive today! Here are some pictures of my day:

 

 

New Obsession

In coming to the UK, many things changed, including what shows i could watch on Netflix. One of the shows i found was Downton Abbey, something I have been wanting to watch for ages and that every one has said was fantastic. So of course, i started watching it. In the week i have been here, i have gone through the first season and half of the second and i can now say I am obsessed. This show is like a work of art. The acting is fantastic, the setting is beautiful, and all the feels! I am now utterly invested in this show and the lives of the characters. I can't even tell you how many times I have cried watching this show and gasped in surprise and hoped for the best and hated those scheming schemers. Is this normal? Is this how every one else watches this show? I can't even deal with how this show makes me feel. Now I will leave you with some fabulous photographs while i go and watch another episode!

 

  

 

Also, the place that they film at is called Highclere Castle and I seriously want to go visit it once it opens for the spring!

 

x

Brianna

Trip to London

I went to London this weekend to attend the afforementioned TFIOSlive, so i did a lot of exploring, seeing most of the city's famous tourist spots (which are actually really close to each other, i mean, i could walk from one to the other and it didn't take me that long). As I did, I took tons of photos, though they aren't the best quality because they were either taken at night or when it was cloudy (typical London). It was chilly too, with the cold wind blowing pretty strongly. I had a really nice time though, it was cool to see things by myself and take my time looking at everything. Being in London I also got to experience the tube and found that it really is not that complicating if you know where you are going. Here are some photos from the weekend!

Platform 9 3/4 at King's Cross Station

Big Ben

Telephone Booth

The London Eye

Buckingham Palace

Buckingham Palace



Green Park

Green Park



Hyde Park

Where Stacey and I ate lunch - the burgers were good but really expensive!



Trafalgar Square

Trafalgar Square

National Gallery

M&Ms World

Piccadilly Circus

 x

Brianna

 

TFIOSlive

On Sunday I went to Cadogan Hall in London to see John Green and his brother Hank Green live! It was a really great experience, one i never thought i would get to do. They were both really funny and it was just an incredible day overall. There were tons of people there, all of whom were so friendly. Two people baked some goodies to hand out too and i am sure there were more! As a surprise, another author that I love and who is good friends with John, Maureen Johnson, participated in the event by asking the brothers questions. That was just the cherry on top really. I got my books signed as well as my ticket and John was even kind enough to personalize the one i got as a gift for my friend even though they were not personalizing anything because of time restraints. Afterwards I was walking to some touristy things and I saw and walked past Benjamin Cook, who makes the series Becoming YouTube. I may have stared at him a bit more than is acceptable, but I couldn't even believe it. That doesn't happen in Calgary often because I'm pretty sure there are hardly any video making YouTubers there. Unfortunately he was on the phone looking for his friends, or I would have said hi. Anyways, here are some photos of the event!

 

 

x

Brianna

Impressions

Since getting here, I have been trying to explore as much of my area as possible, trying to get familiar with it. I am finally starting to get used to looking the opposite way when i cross the street, but there are a lot of other things I am encountering that are very different! First of all, their doors swing the opposite way! Instead of swinging towards the exits or to go outside, they pull inwards! How weird is that! Second, their chocolate is really different. Good, but definitely not the same as ours. The taste will take getting used to but then i may be ruined for chocolate at home. And third, they don't have Alfredo sauce! What is this?! I'm going to have to try and find a giant supermarket with world foods or something cause Carbonara just doesn't taste as good!

I had to go shopping to get bedding, so I decided to brave the transport system by myself and head down to the shopping mall in the city. While there are some really cool stores in there, none had bedding, so i googled a primark and found that there was one a few blocks away. On my walk there, I stumbled upon this fantastic building:

 Like seriously? This beautiful piece of architecture was in the middle of a giant shopping area. How cool is that?! I really just want to sit there and stare at it, maybe take pictures, but there were so many people and i practically scream tourist whenever i take out my camera.

The Primark ended up being just by it, so i went in there. From what I could see, the clothes in there look awesome! I really want to go back and spend some actual time shopping in there. The Home section was upstairs and they did not disappoint. I found some white sheets and pillow cases, 2 pillows, a duvet and a duvet cover, a tea towel and 20 hangers for £44. I'm pretty impressed, don't think i could have gotten all that at ikea for that price. So I went home, carrying all that heavy stuff and it was drizzling too. Not bad at all, but having to walk from the bus stop and carry that kind of sucked.

The moment i got into my flat, i started setting up my bedroom. I'm going to save all the bags my bedding was in so that i can sell it to someone or at least leave it for someone in the bags. I also put up the two Doctor Who posters that i had brought from home. They really personalize the space for me haha. 

That night i discovered something incredibly odd about the students here. They go out on Monday nights. Seriously, Monday is considered a student night at the clubs here and that is when they go partying. Also, on busy nights, you need tickets or need to be on the list to get into these clubs. What? So different from home. Anyways, since my British roommate Shaun had just come back from being on semester abroad in Georgia, he had a bunch of his uni friends over to drink and then go out to a club. They very kindly included me and I had my very first British clubbing experience. It was incredibly fun, even considering the fact that the club was packed with students celebrating the end of exams. All of his friends were really nice and I hope that we'll be able to hang out more. Got to familiarize myself with the locals and their culture, don't i? 

The next day i had to go to University Park campus for my first class and orientation. My class was just an introductory lecture, starting the class off with the basics about each group we will be focusing on. I've also had to read several articles for the seminar on Friday but it doesn't seem like this will be too horrible. I tried writing my notes out by hand but i think i will stick to typing, it is faster! While I was on campus i ran into a person i had found through tumblr and discovered that her friend is in two of my history courses! They are from Canada and are incredibly nice and I really hope that we'll be friends. During the free time i had before my orientation, i walked around the campus with one of the girls, Megan, and took some pictures.

Portland Building, the main student hub

Trent Building, the bell/clock tower as seen from inside the court yard

When we went to the orientation, i met another person that i had found on Tumblr, Brittany from Georgia. She actually happened to be in a class with Shaun and had debated with him. Small world! She turned out to be really cool too, which is great. You never know what people will be like when you first find them online. Anyways, all of us returned to Jubilee Campus together as we all lived in the same area. It started raining for real on our walk back to our flats, even though their for real seems more like simple rain showers to me. I guess i am just used to rain being ridiculously angry. That night I booked my train tickets and hostel bed for in London this weekend and i am really looking forward to it. It was really scary doing it by myself but I'm getting the hang of it. I'll be meeting Stacey there and spending the weekend doing touristy things and seeing John Green with her. I'm so looking forward to seeing everything i have waited years to see. Afterwards I just talked to my mom on Facebook and watched an episode of Downton Abbey before going to sleep. 

Today i didn't have any classes, so i slept in until 9:30am before heading back to University Park to do my in person registration. I also tried to get my student card but it doesn't seem to have been made yet, which is weird because i uploaded my picture months ago. When i got off the hopper bus, i went looking for the library so that i could take a picture of it. It is a pretty cool building, the entire campus is lovely really. On my way back to my flat i went to Tesco's to get some food to change it up. I got some Penne and Carbonara (which as stated before is no where near as good as alfredo), some mini potatoes to eat some other day, some butter for my sandwiches and the potatoes, and some snacks because i was craving chocolate! When i got back, i read all of my seminar readings and tried to  form an opinion on the topic. I also took a 40 minute nap between doing those things because for some reason i was tired. I'll just use jet lag as an excuse. For dinner, i made penne with chicken and carbonara and vegetables. I made too much pasta but at least i know for next time! Shaun and my Chinese flatmate Tongren were also in the kitchen so we talked for a bit. Since then I just finished reading my last article and plan on watching some more Downton Abbey. I understand why people like this show!

Tomorrow I have a full day of classes, so i really hope they all turn out to be awesome! 

x

Brianna