A Week in Review

Hi everyone!!

It is Friday night 9:30 pm and I am sitting on my couch watching a movie. Don't feel bad for me, though, I had a hopping week.

It all started Sunday when I BOUGHT TICKETS TO THE OLYMPIC GAMES!!! It seems so unreal that I actually got tickets!! I got very lucky and got reasonably priced ones through the company that commissions all the tickets set aside for US citizens. I am going to two preliminary women's water polo games and the round of 16 beach volleyball games. This happened to coincide with a lecture at school given on the Olympic Games structures and now I am triply excited!!! The water polo games will be in the area of the olympic complex (in Stratford) and the beach volleyball games are in the horse guard parade (opposite Buckingham Palace). This is definitely a once in a lifetime thing and I CANNOT wait.

Woo after that everything does not sam as exciting. Monday was another water polo games, in which we crushed our opponent 8 to 3 to something like that. Afterwards was a unexpected night out in Russell Square where I got to know more of the team and had an amazing time! I didn't even realize it was 2 am and that I should probably get home as I had to wake up at 8 am for classes on Tuesday........


...... and I slept through the first hour of my class. No worries though! Spent all day at school, then went directly from school to the Olympics lecture, then went directly to the London Bridge's bar crawl! Probably one of the most beautiful bar crawls I have ever done. We criss-crossed central London via the bridged from bar to bar. London along the Thames at night is just so beautiful. There were definitely a few bars I cannot wait to go back to because of the view!

Wednesday was all about rest and homework.

Thursday was class all day, work until 1 am.

And now it is Friday. (and its warm! 50+ I am definitely not complaining!)


In other miscellaneous news:

- My flower is still alive!! It officially lasted through winter (aka 5 months). I just got another flower, so here is the real test (my life is so exciting those days...)

- 5 weeks until I visit Chicago!!!!

January in Londontown

Hi! London did not move while I was gone!

The first three weeks of January were exclusively set aside for studying, and nothing else. The only thing of excitement ( though not the good kind of excitement) to happen was my laptop completely dying. After two years of riding the tide, it finally drowned. Unfortunately, the timing was right smack dab in the middle of finals, so I had to run out and buy a new computer.

My Birthday came right after finals, and it was a very chill day of shopping, watching tv, a sushi dinner, and cocktails with the girls! Definitely what I needed after a hard few weeks.

We started classes the Monday after finals (I know... soooooooo horrible!). The past three weeks have been a bit more active than the first couple of the year. I got a job in a pub as a bartender! I work between 6-10 hours a week and it is so much fun! It definitely is adding to my English experience. I also had my first water polo tournament in North London vs. Cambridge, Oxford, and Birmingham. I ended up playing the entirety of all three games, which was definitely a test of my endurance (which, for the record, I failed. By the end of the tournament I couldn't even swim a length of the pool). I had forgotten how much I loved to play water polo.... it definitely made for an amazing weekend. I even got 4 goals! Whoo! And last, but definitely not least, this week our boilder broke... aka. not heat or hot water. It was a bit of struggle, but we survived!


To end this post I thought I would highlight some things I recently found in London:

- Even though I walk past it everyday, I never noticed the V&A is full of bomb hole from WWII. It is crazy to think about, and it made me realize how lucky we were that bombs didn't destroy more of London! There is so much history!


-The English consider 30 F a deep freeze.... they obviously would be shocked if they ever visited Chicago

-As soon as an ounce of snow fall, the entire city freaks out! People can't walk, they forget how to drive, its very interesting seeing as it snow here EVERY year.

-There is a ridiculous amount of palm trees growing in my neighborhood

xx Ana

Australlllia!!

Hi Everyone!

Okay so my New Years Resolution (That is starting in February) is to update my blog more often!

As mentioned beforehand, I spent my winter vacation in Australia. I will try to give a quick summary:

Malaysia
The stopping point of my 24 hours of flying was Malaysia. I wish I had the time to explore outside the airport, but I did learn a bit about the country from the airport. First off, they had a jungle in the center of the airport, which was certainly unique. I had forgotten what humidity felt like. The next adventure was to the bathroom, which had mostly standing up toilets. I suppose it is all about what you are use to! In true american fashion, though, I spent most my layover at the Starbucks. In my defense, It was the only place where I was guaranteed from wi-fi and I needed to study!

Cairns


I spent the first 4 days of my trip traveling by myself around northwestern Australia. My tour included White Water Rafting, a day on the reef, a tour of the tablelands and waterfall circuit, and a day in the Daintree Rainforest (where I got to feed Kangaroos!) . It was really a unique experience, I had never been in a Rainforest before and I was so cool to see all the animals and plants

Newcastle

I flew back down to Sydney on Thursday and met up with Evan at the airport and hopped on a train up to Newcastle. Mitch and Luke picked us up at the train station, VB's in hand. It was so exciting to see everyone again and spend the week of Christmas chilly in Newcastle. Activities included waterskiing (In salt water! A different experience for me), a day at the races, and a day on a Yacht. My friend's families were so inviting and we ended up having 3 full Christmas Meals

Sydney


The last stop on the trip was Sydney! We met up with Emma and Chris and toured the city. We spent our time exploring the city, sailing in Sydney harbor, going to the beach, and the Blue Mountains! The highlight was definitely New Years Eve. Emma pulled out all the stops and we got to be in a private enclosure directly across from the Harbour Bridge (see picture).

I already miss the sun and the beach!! Australia was amazing and I cannot wait to go back! The flight home was a bit depressing as it was back to reality and finals!