Vive le Vent, Vive le Vent Vive le vent d'hiver (jingle bells melody)

SO this is it my final days in France are really winding down I only have one day of school left and then I leave VERY early in the morning on Sunday (3am early) I am ready for a break from school or actually ready for school to be in 1 hour chunks again not 4 hour chunks. I am ready for late night pie, turkey, taco bell, double stuffed oreos- my other cloths, to watch tv in English, to see my family, to see a REAL Christmas tree, to go to the bowl game, to wear my OSU stuff again, Starbucks Coffee, having a car, seeing Becky and her new engagement ring, FINALLY giving everyone the stuff I have had for them for like 4 months! oy long time! I am so Excited to come home. I am really going to miss France though and Know I will have to come back here maybe for the 2014 winter Olympics? Grenoble the town I am living in is bidding for them so that would be cool. I bought some wine and some Chartreuse to bring home and know my bags for sure weigh a ton but oh well- c'est la vie! I apologize in advance for my franglais and my tendency to say oui instead of yes, merci instead of thank you and Sa Marche and Comme Sa all the time. SO here is a break down of how getting home will be-

Sunday 3am France time (saterday 6pm Oregon time)- Leave Grenoble for the Airport

6am (9pm oregon time)- Flight leaves Lyon for Frankfurt

8am (11pm Oregon)arrive in Germany for a 2 hour layover *drink some German beer-eat something

10am(1am Oregon) Get on direct flight to Portland - fly over the ocean gain 9 hours in the process

12pm OREGON TIME arrive in Portland and get through customs! *get starbucks, Hug Family - talk a mile a minute - drink a lot of caffeine to stay awake till a reasonable hour to go to bed. Wrap all my Christmas presents, watch friends with my sister, call everyone and tell them I am home and safe, take a deep breath

SO there you go thats the current plan for my arrival home!

Hello Family and Friends! well I am in the home stretch~ only 15 days to go! I cant believe it it has gone by so fast! But its not over yet!
Last weekend I went to MILAN or as they call it in Italy MILANO the capital of fashion :) It was so much fun I ate the biggest Calazone I think ever created lots of pasta as well as some amazing gelato! the Italians know there food! While there I also Saw the largest Church in Europe it is so beautiful! I went to the museum of Leonardo Dvinci's inventions, the Scalla Theater - an amazing beautiful opera house breath taking, I saw a castle that was old and umm OH yeah lots of shopping I even got a few Christmas presents there haha (Melanie is it ok if I keep your present?) oh and of course the Ferrari store to please my father and brother. I also had a great time looking at all the beautiful Christmas lights both in Italy and now in France they really know how to decorate the city for the holidays! every street is decked! with non tacky beautiful lights.
Tomorrow however we head out for the city of Strasbourg! Its is right on the border between Germany and France and often a disputed area ( by often I mean during wars) we have a not so fun 7 hour ride in a bus to get there but after that we should have a pretty good time we get to stay in a hotel and go ice skating!! oh I cant wait! just have to get through my evil morning classes. On that note the students voted to stop striking last night so we should be back in the correct building for classes Monday. Meaning I many get to have afternoon class after all sometime this month! Hazzah! the 830 thing just does not work for me I try I really do but I am a night person vraiment (truly) any way its passed my bed time here so I will talk to you all after Strasbourg!

The trip that was supposed to be Barcelona

Thursday evening I went to an amazing French movie with my group “Un Secret” is Tres Bien- I highly recommend it even if you have to read the subtitles. I understood it very well without subtitles, though, I consider that progress which considering the lack of class I have had this month is good!
While I was at the movie Galen went to the SCNF (train office) to ask about our trip to Barcelona, the man at the office promised her that the trains would be going to Barcelona and we would have no problems. Oh if only our luck were that good.
We woke up early Friday morning got on the bus to the Valence train station, things seemed to be going our way we felt good about it. We took the train from Valence to Montpellier then we had a nice 2 hour layover there where we all got coffee and had some Pain au Chocolate and read our books, yet after an hour we realized that our train was not on the departure board . . . not a good sign. So Galen went to stand in line and find out the information. Well she found out our friend from the Grenoble SCNF office . . . was wrong- the train was not going to Barcelona. So there we sat about 3 hours from Grenoble and 5 from Spain wondering what exactly we were gong to do; cursing the French strikes all the while under our breath in both English and French. Well we got out tickets refunded for Spain and found some tickets to Nimes- a city in France with a cute old history not nearly as cool as Spain would have been but they had a nice place to stay and a few tourist things to see. So off we went to Nimes. There we went shopping I found a nice warm coat to make my parents happy  we also went to an arena where they have bull fighting in the spring and watched them practice and we went to the old roman stone garden. All in all the weekend was not a bust but it was not what we had been hoping for.
Well we can only hope we actually do make it to Milan next weekend! Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving!

Je suis desole! I know I have not been writing as much as I should but things have been quite hectic and the only time i am on my computer recently is to call people :) ANYWAY last weekend we went to Aix-en-Provence which is the capital of Provence and we also went to Avignon. Both beautiful cities we had a lot of fun taking pictures eating brochette and drinking Cidre! I got to see the Papal Palace in France where 9 Popes (7 recognized popes 2 popes the church did not recognize- long story)Lived and a bridge that was washed away by floods and wars a long time ago and never repaired! lol we also got to see some cool architecture and some really fun fountains! Fountains that are always warm water so people can wash their hands in them so cool eh? We stayed in a REALLY nice hotel we are talking flat screen TV in each room nice!
This week has been pretty good so far as well. I went shopping with my Host mom this morning for groceries at the equivalent of the French Wal-Mart - Dad is does exist! We bought all the stuff I needed to make Pumpkin Pie too! I made it this afternoon when classes were canceled because of another strike oh well at least I got to do something productive! I even learned a new skill I have never made Pumpkin pie from an real pumpkin so I learned how to pressure cook it and puree something that looked kinda like a pumpkin but not really least to say they are much different looking here! But it smells and tastes the same so should be fine even if it is more a light orange than dark orange. tonight I am going to Kat's house for a "petit fete" small party/gathering for CREPES the reason France is amazing well one of the many! Here are some pics of my trip! hope you enjoy got any questions I would be more than happy to answer you!

Tomorrow marks me being in Europe for two whole months! I have already hit 6 countries and am planning on at least hitting one more - SPAIN! This week I went to Czech Republic and Switzerland! Both great places! I loved Prague! or as they call it Praha. I meet up with my friend Valoree and we stayed with her cousin who lives there. So much shopping in Prague and beer. Beer is cheaper than water and everything else! The day her cousin took us around we had to take 3 breaks for a beer lol in like 4 hours of walking the city starting at 11 am :) then around 5 we had to take a coffee break. Oh Europe! Got to love it! Prague has amazing history, being that is has only been a *free* country for 17 years! Communism was there until 1989! WE took a Communism Walking Tour from a cute little 65 year old man who was so nice! It was a private tour because Val and I were the only ones there to take it! He told us all about how he had lived through it all- The occupation by Germany starting in 1938- he even had a picture of him as a three year old sitting on a German tank! Then he told us all about living in a communist country and how they always had basic human necessities but new human freedoms. He also told us about how he and his wife had been scared to go to the protest in 1989 on the first day becuase they had a 15 year old daughter and they - while wanting her to have a better and free life- also wanted her just to plain be alive and it was a gamble going to the protest against the soviets. The protest was started by UNIVERSITY STUDENTS went on for 4 days, and after that the government had to fold the soldiers would not obey the commands because their family's were in the protest as well. There is your history lesson for today it is almost the anniversary of the day too November 17th. Prague is so pretty though and known for its Crystal. Food was good there as well and everyone spoke English which was nice. I bought so much stuff! Christmas shopping baby! Geneva was also awesome chocolate everywhere very pretty city- did not make it to the UN they are closed on saturdays oh well excuse to come back!







PS for the Money picture - you get 19 czech crowns for 1 American dollar

SO I got a hair cut that was a very interesting trip to the salon and I am so excited about it I love the cut here are some pics! They did a great job! I am loving france and hope you like my new cut tell me what you think!

A VERY French day ;)

So yesterday morning I woke up late, hurried to school and some how was early to school - this was surprising not only because of the sleeping late but also because yesterday was a transportation strike, those of you who keep up with international news know that the city of pairs was immobile yesterday- and Grenoble being one of the largest cities in france followed in suite- the only things running thankfully were the trams- what i use everyday to get to school. SO I arrived to school early and was excited to get the change to look over my homework one more time in the common area before heading to class. I walked to the building I go to the CUEF in and realized the door was shut- no wait there were 3 desks stacked on top of one another with a rock on the bottom one so you could not move them to get to the door. Thinking this was odd but I must just have missed something I walked to where another door was- this door had a bike rack nailed to it yes nailed to it, caulk in the lock and the area that separates the double doors and a garden planter thing with rocks piled in it put in front of it. This was when I realized something was not normal and as I listened to the many groups of students speaking in both English and French I realized every door in the entire university had been blocked in some way so that you could not enter. Students had apperantly gotten up very early (not very French like) and blocked all the doors -Why? - we have no idea no one does but least to say the whole situation was very French students do it all here! And if you know me you will know how cool I think that is -not a big fan of defacing public property, but I have to admit it was nice to be in a place striking where I did not have to worry about violence at all people were all very chill with the whole situation.
In France you get paid while on strike , so they happen quite often- the sad thing is that the people who often strike are the ones with the best benefits and the highest paid but I guess that is how they go that way currently the issue is that the transportation companies wanted to make the week a get this "mandatory 38 hour week" lol yes in the US you are all going umm I wish I could only work 38 hours a week and have it be full time, with my 5 weeks of mandatory vacation and 10 paid sick/personal days, but hey this is France roll with it. Oh did I mention University is free here as long as you continue to pass your classes and pay your $300 social security tax a year- along with a few school fee's. Medical care is free too as long as you work or are under the age of 18 years old saying all that might I remind you they pay a heafty 10% sales tax on EVERYTHING, higher on gas and a few other things as well as a 20% income tax. Now that I have given you all a little lesson on French politics I can tell you that I did not have class yesterday- there was no way to get into the building so we spent it in a very French was we went to the patisserie got Gaelen's hair cut very European and awesome and then went to a party for all the host families and API students. Basically an awesome day in France!

SHOES

So today Kat and I went to this place called Grande Place after school- bad Idea every Friday we end up in a clothing store shopping and it needs to stop! But I got these really cute shoes! No worries we are going straight home everyday after school next week and not going to shop before school either- we understand we have a problem lol. Though the only thing left I need to buy is a coat . . . and that will be found in the next month I can feel it . . .

PICTURES!

So because I cannot load over 500 pictures on this blog I have put them all in albums on face book and you can now look at them they are in sets of 60 pictuers each! Hope you enjoy them!

Paris/Normandy
oregonstate.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2096507&l=adf9b&id=19705557

Paris/London
oregonstate.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2096499&l=60ce8&id=19705557

London/Bath
oregonstate.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2096495&l=355a5&id=19705557

London/Bath
oregonstate.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2096491&l=a0c92&id=19705557

Europe
oregonstate.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2096372&l=bbbf0&id=19705557

Grenoble, France
oregonstate.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2094788&l=cf4cd&id=19705557

Paris/London
oregonstate.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2094791&l=555ba&id=19705557

oregonstate.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2094793&l=91c8b&id=19705557

Rome and Dublin
oregonstate.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2096511&l=962ab&id=19705557

So you are probably all wondering where I have been! Well I am glad to say pretty busy! This last week I was in class everyday and unlike many of my friends I tested into the correct level and did not have to be moved out of it. Its tough but I think I can do it with a little work. I also went last Thursday with the API group (thats who I am here with) to play LAZER TAG! It was a ton of fun, we all had a blast though Kat did run into a wall and now has a black eye . . . but she is ok! After the game we went out with some of the other API students and had Pizza- Pizza here is different, good probably better for you but not at all like what we have in the states. Saturday morning my family left to go see there grandchildren- Arthur who is almost one was getting baptized - if you don't remember my family is VERY catholic their oldest son is a Monk. So Gaelen and Kat spent the weekend over here- We went to a movie on Saturday night- Ratatouille! I understood a lot more than I though I would- its good and at this point probably already on video at home at the rate movies come out here. Sunday we took the Telepherique up to the Bastille and hiked out way down it was beautiful and a ton of fun! we all really had a great time- took a ton of pictures! I also figured out SKYPE this weekend and if any of you have it let me know it is the most amazing invention ever! Talking to my parents with real conversation for the first time in literally a month was amazing! I hope everyone had fun at my dads surprise birthday party! Last night! I can say it now because its over :) ALSO I got your letter Aunty Deb thanks for the pictures of the wedding it made for great conversation with my host family! Well this week is pretty run of the mill so far as France is concerned - going to classes home to watch the French game shows and then getting ready for a trip to Annecy this weekend its a pretty town in France API is taking us should be a lot of fun! :) Questions, comments, concerns? lol Love you all!

Life in Grenoble

For some reason I do not have internet this morning so I will pre write this on my computer. Anne and her husband forgive me but I cannot remember his name right now (Haha) are so nice- I have a little cold and they are making a big deal out of it is so cute she makes me wear warm cloths all the time and has me drink tea with lemon and honey – we are talking lemon FRESH too I juiced it myself. Everything is so fresh here I really like it all the food is so good I eat everything. We have had some interesting stuff, I will need to look up later to see what I ate but it tasted good and –well- when in France . . . right? Today we are going to the bastille or “fort” on the mountain near us it is really old and pretty and high in the air it’s the tourist thing to do in Grenoble and my family is taking me! I have one of the best families!! We watch game shows at night and they help explain things to me we watch ones that have the questions written out on the screen so I can read them if I read them I know the answer usually. We have a lot of fun. There are very few commercials on TV here- it’s awesome. The family only has one TV in the whole house very different from my house at home and the TV only gets 3 channels, even if a family here has cable its only a total of 26 channels. They would be really surprised to come to my house that has over 200+ crazy huh? We also eat every meal together its really fun and a good way for me to learn and listen to French. We have bread at every meal and I am getting addicted. Nutella everywhere and lots of jams and hazelnut sauce and then lots of other amazing things that I really like to try and eat  I am already afraid of missing the food! I might be cooking a lot more when I get home! Maybe . . . Today was the first day of class and it was great I tested into the intermediate level B1.2 which is really good second highest in API program and the third highest of all the people in the group who tested on Monday. My teacher is really funny and nice I think I am going to learn a lot from her. Well I have to finish my homework! more later!

Here are pictures of my room! : )

My Host Family!!

Well last night we arrived on the train at 5:30 to Grenoble. The last 15 mins of the ride went WAY to fast we were all so nervous! Kat Gaelen and I were practically attached to each other. They are the girls in the pics by the way :) It all happened so fast we got off the train and all the host moms were already there to pick us up. I went with Anne (my host mom) and we took the Tram to the bus stop and then the bus to the block they live at in all it took only 15 mins or so to get there with luggage and in the rain. She showed me because I had to go by myself this morning to the Office of Tourism in Grenoble to meet my group because they all had to be at work. She is a really good cook we had an amazing meal both last night and tonight. Really good stuff that I like to eat lots of vegetables and fruit!! YAY! This morning I got up in my huge room and had breafast and the house all to myself because they were at school and work. My host sister did not get home until tonight though so I did not get to meet her until about 5 mins before I came down here to go to bed. I went to a cheese tasting today with the API group I am with it was fun tasting everything and learning how to eat it! After that Kat Gaelen and I went to monoprix a store like target here to get notebooks to write words we don't know down on and look up later. In my house I have started to carry around the dictionary and tonight I was watching Wheel of Fortune to help me figure stuff out I think game shows will be my new thing here lol that and soap operas- they tried to explain all the things happening in one of them and really confused me lol oh well I will get it eventually. It makes you so tired trying to think in french all the time and trying to translate in your head but I kinda don't translate anymore I just am starting to know what it means right away. My host brother likes to give me a hard time but I can do the same to him with his English which is apperantly his worst subject in school! things are soo different here but I am tired so I will write more about that tomorrow!! Bon Nuit!

Notre Dame, La Louvre and Le Arch D'Triumph

Today was a big day we headed out right after breakfast again straight to the Notre Dame. I walked through the Cathedral with Kat and Gaelen. then the whole group walked all the way to the top where the bell tower is. Day 2 of a million stairs. We walked up the winding staircase and saw the old bell. It was pretty cool. Out side on the roof we took pictures of all the Gargoyles. After Notre Dame we went to La Louvre! There we saw the Mona Lisa, Venus de Milo, Psyche and Cupid, Napoleon's apartment rooms, paintings from many eras and had a really good lunch in the museum restaurant. After the Louvre we got on the Metro and headed to the Arch D'Triumph. the three of us are really good at getting around the city. We walked to the top of the Arch again more stairs I never want to live in a house with stairs now. We went back to the hotel for about an hour before going to the crepe place next to the hostel Hannah and I stayed in 2 weeks ago had amazing dinner and then found some chocolate crepes on the way back the the hotel again. So here I am now sitting in my room last night in Paris I am going to repack everything tonight so I can get up and go tomorrow we take the TGV a fast train to Grenoble for 3 hours in the afternoon! At the train station my host family will meet me! I am so nervous! Oh well to late now right? Not sure when I will be able to write again but I love all your commentsthey make my day every time I see them! thanks!

Sushi in Paris -who knew?

Today was amazing! We got up early from our very comfy hotel rooms and went to a free breakfast of coffee, bread, croissants, yogurt and hard boiled eggs. Then we went to the Palace of Versailles where Marie Antoinette and Louis the 16th lived. I was beautiful. We went all through the open parts of the palace and then for a walk in the gardens. Kat, Gaelen and I went to lunch at a little sandwich shop and then we took the RER ( a fast underground train, its not the metro it has less stops and goes faster) to the base of the Eiffel Tower where we WALKED up the stairs 600+ up and then 600+ down !! So many stairs! It was beautiful. After that Kat, Gaelen and I went and got a Crepe Chocolat Banane - or chocolate banana ina crepe :) it was very good and much deserved after the stairs. We meet up with the rest of our group back at the hotel and headed out to dinner. SUSHI! I was skeptical at first but willing to try - and I really liked it! I will be going out to sushi a lot in Corvallis when I get back I have always heard about some great places there but never had the guts till now to try it. We had a fun time at dinner and then came back to the hotel to rest- so tired! I am so glad to be with my group though so nice to not be stressed about it anymore I am not even that nervous about meeting my family! Love from Paris!

Whats been going on- Dublin and back to Paris

So I am sorry I have been unable to write on here for like a week. Dublin did not like Gmail so I could not answer any of my e-mail or write in here. Dublin other than that was amazing! I went to the writers museum! So cool for me being an english major and loving Jams Joyce and Oscar Wilde both of whom are Irish by birth! Books there were so cheap too! I got the complete works of Oscar Wilde for only 8 euro! 1000 pages of english I will treasure for the next few months I am sure. We also went out to the pub for dinner almost every night I had Bangers and Mash so tasty! Always accompanied dinner with a Guinness or a pint of Ale ( I like Ale better) I really tried to like Guinness but its not for me. The Factory however is really cool with an amazing restraunt, and a Free pint :) Hannah and I also went and saw the book of Kells at Trinity College in Dublin. It is the oldest most ornate copy of the four gospels. Very cool. Also at trinity college is one of the oldest libraries I have ever seen it was really interesting.
While at our last and most amazing hostel where the beds were so clean and the breakfasts free and yummy we tried to get our laundry done because they had a laundry service! We were sure this was to good to be true . . . .it was- they do not seperate anything in the laundry service and they wash it all in the same heat . . . least to say things changed color and size! Hannah faired far worse than I though I felt really bad! We also went to St Patricks Cathedral which was very nice too. Hannah left on the 23rd of September and I left this morning at 4 am took a crazy cab ride to the airport because people made me not take a bus saying it was to early in the morning or something . . .my flight thanks to the rugby world cup was an hour late! we sat in the plane in dublin that whole time not fun. When I got to Paris I meet up with Anne my Resident Director of the program we took a cab paid for by API to out . . .HOTEL! I am so happy not to be in a hostel! Glad I did it once but never need to again! The other 5 people in my group are really nice there is only one guy here but there are more meeting us in Grenoble thursday. We went on a river cruise tonight and then out to dinner again all on API it was really nice. We have jsut been asking a lot of questions about out families and french culture we meet our families on thursday night. Tomorrow we go to Versille and get to see everything this time gardens included! Then we get to climb the Eiffle Tower! Yes CLIMB all the way to the 2nd floor! its going to be interesting and fun I am excited to mail things from the post office there! ok well I hope I have caught everyone up! I am still alive, tired a little stressed but on my way to a real house! YAY! love you all!

ROME

This will be a short one because I have no time! Tomorrow we leave Rome for Dublin. I am not that impressed with Rome. The Vatacan was amazing, We got to see the Sisten Chapel and St Pauls bacilica , the Portrait of the last supper and much of Michelangelos works that are so incredible. However, the city is really dirty and the people are not as nice as in the other places we have been and this is by far the least favorite hostile- oh well live and learn! The food is very good here and I am sure other parts of Italy are very nice! While in France we also went to Normandy and had a fun time at the museums the last days we were there. Here in Rome we really did not do too much- we did see the coloseum- we were only here for 2 days and that was pleanty! Love you all thanks for reading tell you more later-

Paris!

So the play at the Globe theater was one of the most amazing I have ever seen! I watched someone have a public hanging right in front of me seriously so scary! it was 10 feet away from me because I was a groundling standing in the base of the theater next to the gallows. Any way after that we saw Big Ben all lit up and beautiful in London and headed home for a good nights rest to fly to Paris the next day. After a long day of travel we finally made it into Paris and went straight to the hosel to get some sleep. On Wednesday the 12th we went on an open top buss tour of Paris where we saw the Arc de Triumph, the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, where the Bastille once stood, the Louvre, and other museums from the bus. Tomorrow we are gong to the museums! I am tres excited! We also went to the top of the Eiffel Tower at night and then came down and saw it all sparkling! It sparkles every hour on the hour for 5 mins. Today we woke up at 5 am to catch our tour of Normandy, we went and saw a tapestry over 1000 years old that is longer than my house telling the tale of William the Conquerer then we went to Utah and Omaha Beaches and the memorials to the US and other Allies of WWII and we saw the cemetary it was really intense, I could not beilive how many it was over 9000 graves and so many with people who we do not have the names of. We ended the Day at a really cute Cafe with an awesome owner who made us laugh all through dinner and I tried- and liked- escargo! Well I am almost out of time so More later !

Wonders of the world!

Well the last two days have been a whirlwind! Yesterday September 8th, we went to the tower of London saw everything there including the crown jewels!! They were amazing! we then went to Portabello road, where we bought fresh fruit and some bread cheese and wine for a picnic dinner which we ate along the river. The lady that sold us raspberries was very umm different but they tasted good and so far no one has died so we think they were fine lol. earlier in the day we went to the palace to watch the changing of the Gard that was pretty impressive as well. After that we went to the globe theater and bought tickets for tomorrow nights show! and then walked across the pedestrian only bridge over the themes river it was really pretty at night. We got to see St Peters Cathedral lit up and took pictures, Pepe enjoyed it a lot- and I have pictures to prove it. We had quite an adventure getting back home wandering the London streets after 10pm lol we were a sight to see, but we found an underground and headed back so that today we could wake up super early to go on an amazing tour of - Windsor Castle, Stonehenge and the City of Bath! Dad I took some pictures of 2000 year old tile work for you! It was quite a long day with that 12 hour tour! but nice to get out of London and not have to navigate streets on our own and let someone else do all the work for us while we sat on a nice bus and now we have seen one of the seven wonders of the world. We still have High Tea to go to tomorrow as well as to find a place that serves fish and chips English style :) And we are going to the Winston Churchill museum as well as the globe theater show- its going to be as all of them have been - a long day! But then off to Paris!!

London Baby!

We made it! though many of you thought you were going to have to force me onto the plane I went on my own!! haha! We arrived at the ungodly early hour of 645 am London time or 11pm Oregon time- waited in line at customs for 3 hours and then finally made it into London!! we mostly just got to our hostel figured out the underground system which I am very good at right now!! and then had some food and went to bed at 4pm London time and slept in until 8 am London time lol. This morning we got up and went to Hyde park looked at Kensington palace and the Diana Memorials all over the place and then got on a double Decker bus and took the original tour of London, we saw Big Ben, went into Westminster Abby (hands down best Abby I have ever seen- only people obsessed with friends will get this line) We took a cruise of the themes river (which I still cannot pronounce correctly, its pronounced tames apparently :) saw the London bridge which is nothing compared to the tower bridge that most people think is the London bridge I have pictures I will add later. We had a good dinner and enjoyed more of the bus tour and saw many statues and amazing buildings - everything in London is pretty we have decided! Our hostel is really nice our roommates are, get this from Vancouver Washington!! I travel around the world to meet people who live 2 hours away from me. oh well! Well we are having a BLAST and I cant wait to see more tomorrow! Hope all is well with you all back home!! Yes dad this was going on while I was in England I took a pic for you!

This is it . . . . going going GONE

Ok, in less than 14 hours I will be on a plane to LONDON! I am all packed and starring at my stuff in the middle of our living room floor wondering if I forgot anything important, if my suitcase will weigh to much and if I will be able to bring anything back for Christmas. I am also wondering where I should go in each of the cities I will be visiting if anyone has a suggestion let me know! Pepe is safely in my carry on and very excited about the trip, for those of you not familiar with
Pepe he is a penguin, who we passed around Presidents council last year and he will be traveling the world with me! Judge me all you want but if you really know me you cant be that surprised. Love you all ! I am off to stare more at the stuff in the living room to make sure it is all there and I am ready to take off in the morning with as little freak out as possible :)

Started packing . . .

So, I just got my backpack! and started packing everything that I might possibly need. However knowing me I will forget something important, hence why packing this early is a good idea! I heard about my host family today and about what my room will be like! My host family has 6 kids! Don't worry though only three of them still live at home. He works for a financial company and she is a teacher, their oldest son is 28 and a Monk, Then there is a 25 year old son who is recently married with a new baby. They have a 19 year old daughter who lives at home and goes to university in Grenoble, and twin 17 year old sons who are still in high school or lycee. The way it is described, I have my own almost studio apartment, complete with a refrigerator and my own bathroom. Well thats all I know for now!

14 days to go!

Hey everyone!
This is so all of you can know what I am doing while I am gone for such a ridiculously long amount of time! I am currently getting ready to leave in 14 days! gah! so soon!! I leave the 5th of September at 10am with Hannah, Valoree and Doug we arrive in London at 8 am on the 6th we stay there till the 11th and then head to Paris! We frolic in Paris until the 16th when we get on a train to Rome, Hannah and I leave rome on the 19th for . . . . DUBLIN!! and I stay there till I return alone to Paris for my program to start on the 24th of September! Well got to go - so much to do and so little time to do it in!