Birthday Week

Another fantastic week in the UK!  First off, I didn't set any high hopes for this Thanksgiving because I was sad that I would not be spending it at home eating my Mom's cranberry sauce.  But to my surprise, the Thanksgiving that the Kenyon-Exeter program threw was much homier than I could have imagined.  First of all, we held the Thanksgiving dinner in a cute little pub that had Kenyon flags hanging all around the walls because they have been throwing the Kenyon Thanksgiving there for many years in a row.  And I thought it was going to be a little awkward with all of the Professors there, but it turned out to be really nice to just sit down with them and talk outside of the classroom setting.  And of course, THE FOOD.  It was so much better than I thought it was going to be.  Although I did miss some of my favorite Thanksgiving dishes such as sweet potatoes with marsh mellows on top and peas with onion dipped in garlic sauce, the turkey, mashed potatoes, and gravy held their own at this feast.  Although I do have to say, the cranberry sauce tasted store bought from a can!  There is no way I can go a full year without tasting the deliciousness of my very own mothers cranberry sauce, so I may have to guilt trip her into making me some more when I come home to visit during winter break.  So Thanksgiving dinner turned out to be really fun, although it would have been nice if the British believed in central heating.  Even though there was a fire burning in the center of the room, if you wanted your limbs to be anywhere close to above freezing, you literally had to stand right in front of the furnace (or just drink a lot of ciders).  But anyway, at dinner, I was talking to what seemed to be a young guy (late twenties, early thirties).  He was really nice and bought me a few ciders (which I recommend if you come to England, they taste like juice they are so good), and after talking to him for a little bit longer, one of my Kenyon friends came over to me and told me that he was her professor!  I couldn't believe it!  He hadn't mentioned once that he was a professor and it made me feel weird that he was buying my drinks.  So after I found out, I made my way into another conversation with a different group of people, although it was very nice of that professor to purchase my ciders.  Take a look at the Thanksgiving pub where we held the feast:

Later that night I skyped my parents before they headed off for our annual Thanksgiving dinners in the Palisades.  It was nice seeing them and I was so grateful that I was able to skype with Lucy too!  

As you can see in the picture above, one of the Kenyon girls decided to dye the bottom of her hair purple.  Later in the night, I asked her where she did it, as seeing that it was only days away from my 21st birthday, I realized that I needed to do something drastic/have an early midlife crisis.  She told me that she bought the purple hair dye at the local drugstore and that there was some dye still left over and that she would give me the rest.  So later that night, after I had skyped my parents, I decided that 21 is starting to get really old and that I needed to rebel one last time.  But rather than dye the tips of my hair or dye all of my golden locks purple, I decided to just dye one streak of my hair underneath so that if I didn't like it, it wouldn't matter because I could easily cover it up.  Although it's hard to decipher the purple in pictures, in person and in the sunlight, the purple is clearly there.  

Friday morning I woke up happy, (and with a purple streak of hair), because I realized that I have the best friends in the world.  Two of my really good friends from Kenyon who are studying abroad in other parts of England, decided that they would come to Exeter for the weekend to celebrate my 21st birthday with me!  I was ecstatic!  Even though I have met a lot of cool people here, it was great to focus all of my attention on Liz and Maggie since we are all abroad and I don't get to see them everyday like I do at Kenyon.  So Friday night when Maggie got in we went out for Indian food and then I took her to the famous "Harry Potter" Firehouse pub.  We had a ton of fun and experienced a real British life when we stopped for chips (french fries) on our way back to my flat.  Then Saturday morning, Liz arrived.  And as soon as she got into the train station, we headed straight into the city center for shopping!  And boy did we shop!  It was so much fun to have my friends by my side while trying on and buying the high fashion of England's finest, because well, I know that Maggie and especially Liz love shopping as much as I do.  And at least I had an excuse to shop, it was my birthday, but I guess the other two pretended it was their birthday too so the guilt of running their credit cards through the machines wouldn't eat away at them at night.  I know that I slept soundly.  But the day as a whole = SUCCESS.

Here, Maggie and I are standing next to a giant Christmas tree in the city center of Exeter.  Exeter gets so pretty in the winter time because they have tons of Christmas lights and decorations.

And then, it was time to celebrate my birthday...but not just any birthday, it was my 21st!!!!  So the three of us went out Saturday night (because on midnight I was 21) and hit the town of Exeter with complete celebration.  I was excited from the start and thought what better than be my own birthday gift?

And we lit a candle and my friends sang Happy Birthday to me.  What better than a candle shaped as a champagne bottle on your 21st?

The night was a blast, although at times, turning 21, especially in Europe, made me feel old.  We told all of the bartenders, but they didn't care.  But finally, when the three of us went to the bathroom, we overheard two girls talking, and one saying that at midnight she was legally allowed to drink.  I got so excited because not only did I find a birthday twin, but I found someone who understood the glories that come with your 21st birthday.  However, when I went up to her and started talking to her, she informed me that she was seventeen and was turning eighteen at midnight.  UGH.  I felt like a little, old granny.  What I would give to be turning eighteen again.  I gave her words of advice and told her to enjoy her young age and live each day to the fullest because once you get old like me, your back goes out and so forth.  (I had a horrible back spasm right before I left for Exeter that lasted for about a month...something that never would have happened when I was seventeen.)  And to prove my point, when Liz was taking a picture of me later in the night, I wanted to look cute in the picture so I decided to jerk my head toward the camera at the last minute.  Bad choice.  Not only did the picture come out blurry, but I snapped my neck.  I was in bad shape for about five minutes until the pain ceased, but those five minutes were painful.  It's three nights later and my neck is still in spasm, but if I rub it gently it feels better so I'm pretty sure that by next week the muscle will go back to normal.  At least a learned a good lesson for the future: I have to be more careful when posing for pictures, although for a good, non blurry photo, I neck snap here and there may be worth it.

The new friends we made in the bathroom!  The girl all the way to the right is the one who is only turning 18.  

The picture that came out blurry and gave me whiplash.

The next day, was Sunday, my actual BIRTHDAY!  But because Liz was leaving that afternoon, we had to do a big birthday lunch rather than dinner.  And we did.  We went to a cute little restaurant and after having a satisfying meal, we decided that we still needed a birthday dessert.  Liz secretly snuck candles to the waiter, and out of all of the desserts on the menu, we decided to go with the most expensive one called "the heart attack".  And once served to me (with candles in it and people singing Happy Birthday), I knew immediately why it was called "the heart attack".  Not only was there ice cream, but there were brownies, marshmallows, M&M's, chocolate sticks, fudge, and lots of whip cream.  Take a look:

And after eating half of our body weight, we decided that a birthday could not be a birthday without more shopping.  So before we dropped Liz off at the train station, we decided that we all needed a pair of little ankle boots, a fashion must here in England.  But after eating that massive dessert, we decided to call them "cankle boots".  And guess what?  We all bought a pair of them.  But not different ones...we all bought the same exact pair.  It's fine because we are living apart from each other now, but senior year we are all living in the same apartment and now we all have the same pair of cankle boots.  But that's nothing new for me and Liz.  We've been roommates at Kenyon every year and sometimes when one would leave for the morning before the other woke up, we would see each other later on in the day and be wearing the same exact outfits.  So matching and buying the same clothes is nothing knew for us, but all three of us in the same boots at Kenyon may be pushing it a little far.  

I had such a great Thanksgiving (though I did miss my family!) and Birthday and want to thank every who wished me a Happy 21st!  It meant a lot to me and made me feel closer to home although I am half way across the world.  Stay tuned because I'm sure I will have more stories after this coming weekend.  I am headed off to Norwich to visit Maggie and then to London all in one weekend!  I hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving and ate homemade cranberry sauce!

Cruising Around

So after Paris, life in Exeter was actually pretty normal for a change.  I turned in two papers last Thursday so now I am free of work for the next couple of weekends which is perfect seeing that this is currently my birthday week!  But before I get into all my birthday plans, I want to update you on my weekend.  It was one of the first weekends in a while that I just stayed and relaxed in Exeter and it was one of the first Friday's since I have been here that I slept until noon (I don't have classes on Friday so sleeping in is allowed).  But on Saturday, the entire Kenyon-Exeter group had to get up early to catch a train to Exmouth for a mandatory "cruise".  Now, when I think of cruise, I imagine a GIANT ship with sunbathing, laughing, fun people, and happiness.  But when I got to Exmouth and got in line for our so called "cruise", all I saw was a little fishing boat, very similar to the little boat that gets slashed and gutted in the movie, Jaws.  Not being the nice cruise ship I imagined, I quickly came to realize that this was no beach party either, and instead of sunbathing, I was asking people if I could borrow their gloves to warm up what felt like my frost bitten fingers.  And just when I thought it couldn't get any further away from what I pictured, I soon discovered that there would be no laughing on this "cruise" and in fact, no happiness at all due to the fact that it was a bird watching cruise consisting of looking for a goose through binoculars.  And every time I put my binoculars down, I was hoping to meet some fun people, but because everyone else on the "cruise" was well over 85 years old and the only other semi-young guy who was around in his thirties kept smiling at me with gaps for teeth and two sleeves of tattoos on his arm, I decided that maybe cruises were not my thing.  After watching geese through binoculars for three full hours on a teeny tiny Jaws fishing boat, the "cruise" was over and we were set free onto land.  Once we got off the boat, our Professor told everyone to "check their chests".  No idea what she was talking about, I peeped under my shirt as I thought I was listening to directions.  Caught in the act of "checking my chest", my Professor burst out laughing, saying that she meant for people to make sure that they had returned the binoculars from around their neck back to the boat, not for us to literally check our chest.  If you ask me, the phrase "check your chest" does not mean, "make sure you returned your binoculars", and thus, I don't think my literally take on this phrase was all that weird.  But anyway, after our cruise, we were allowed to explore Exmouth to our liking.  Walking around for some time, my friends and I grew hungry and stopped at a cute little tea shop and ordered cream tea with scones and clotted cream.  Words of advice: NEVER order clotted cream.  It is 100% fat and has absolutely no taste.  I would rather waste away my calories on chocolate cake, ice cream, boba, or in fact, anything that perks my taste buds.  Clotted cream was an epic fail.
Later that night a group of us went to see Harry Potter!  Unlike the clotted cream, I highly recommend this movie for all.  It was especially exciting to see this movie in Exeter because J.K. Rowling went to the University of Exeter and a lot of the places in the books are based off of the city of Exeter.  So of course, after the movie, we decided to go to the Firehouse Pub because Rowling bases the broom stick shop off of that building in the movie!  After seeing that movie and being in England to watch it, I felt an even deeper connection with Ron Weasley (something that I still have not given up on yet!).
On Sunday I did a little pre-birthday browsing to decided which stores I should actually attack in exactly a week for my actual birthday.  I found some good stuff and I am extra excited because two of my best friends are coming to Exeter to visit me this weekend and will help me decide which new article of clothing I should add to my wardrobe.  Even though I have met up with one of my friends earlier this semester in Wales, and the other in London and Paris, I am SO EXCITED that they are coming to visit me on my birthday.  Even though I have made some great friends here in Exeter, it is always fun to celebrate with some of your closest friends, especially since it is my 21st birthday!  Even though turning 21 is not a big deal here in Europe, (since kids here have been drinking since they were 14), I hope that it will still be a big celebration.
Also, when I was in town on Sunday, I could have sworn that I saw the lady who hit me with her motorized wheelchair, and the worst part is, she didn't even look at me.  It was as if she didn't remember hitting me...Like it never even happened.  Maybe if it wasn't a hit and run she would have known it was me, because when I saw her, I froze up on the sidewalk and clenched my friends hand almost expecting to be hit again.  And of course, this woman was in full control over her wheel chair.  Still couldn't tell you what went wrong with it when it drove into me.
Tomorrow night the Kenyon-Exeter Program is throwing a huge Thanksgiving dinner at a little pub for all of us Americans and all of our British Professors.  Even though I am still homesick over missing my Mom's famously delicious cranberry sauce, I think tomorrow night will be fun seeing that one of my friends and I spent our night making a birthday cake for me for Thanksgiving dessert.  And just as my Mom always does, we made homemade cream cheese frosting for a fudge cake.  And it actually looks pretty legit.  (But, Mom, I am still expecting a cream cheese frosting cake when I come home in December -- this doesn't mean that you are in the clear...and I expect some homemade cranberry sauce.)  If any of you have ever tasted this dear lady's cranberry sauce, you would know what I am talking about...and her cream cheese frosting -- tell her when your birthday is and guilt her into making you a cake, it is that good!  Anyway, I bought little champagne candle for my cake seeing it is appropriate since I am turning 21!  I am looking forward to tomorrow and wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving.  Spread the joy and I cannot wait to report back on my birthday weekend.  Gobble, Gobble.      

Passport to Paris

Bonjour!  I know this blog post is a little delayed seeing that I got back from Paris on Sunday, but I have been so busy with papers, and to be honest, I needed some time to just sit back and think about my time in Paris.  It was definitely not anything I was expecting.  But overall, I LOVED the city and I can one day see myself and my future husband living there.  There is no question that Paris is an amazing place, but I guess parts of my trip hindered the experience I could have had.  I know that it seems like some of the most ridiculous things have happened to me, because, well, they have, but I have more absurd happenings to report back on.  Now, when arranging this Paris trip, I was supposed to be going with my two good friends from Kenyon.  But one had to back out of the trip because her parents were visiting that weekend, leaving it to just me and my one other friend meeting up in Paris, and luckily another one of our good friends is studying abroad in Paris from Kenyon, so we could meet up with her as well.  A few weeks ago, one of my friend's from the Exeter-Kenyon Program decided to tag along as well, because she too had some friends studying abroad.
It turns out that Paris is only a two hour train ride from London!  So it was very fast and easy getting from the UK to France.  Upon arriving, my friend and I had no idea where we were so we decided to take a taxi.  We only got in the taxi after after asking the taxi man if he knew where our hotel was, and even though he said he knew where he was going, it turned out that he was lying and asking us for directions which is ironic because if anyone knows me, you know I don't know where I am half the time, let alone do I know my way around Paris.  Even when I'm in Los Angeles, where I've lived my entire life, I have to use Thomas, my little navigation system.  But anyway, after finally making it to our hotel, the man working behind the desk gave us a key to a room that was undergoing construction, so we had to go back down and get a key to a different room.  After a good night's sleep and a croissant for breakfast, we hit the city.  First we went to the Louvre Museum.  Amazing.  Just the building alone was a work of art.  And of course, after being so excited to see the Mona Lisa, I was a little let down.  She was tiny.  And she was covered in glass.  I guess she followed me around with those eyes whenever I took a step, but she was literally the size of my head.  Not that the painting isn't beautiful, but I was expecting the famous Mona Lisa to be bigger than what it actually is.  Take a look:

(My head = as big as Lisa!)

After the Louvre, we walked to the famous Arc De Triomphe Etoile on Avenue Des Champs Elysees.  It was a longer walk than anticipated, but I was happy because I was hoping that it would burn off the chocolate and banana crepe I had for lunch that day.  And after seeing the incredible and historic Arc, we walked over to the Eiffel Tower!  And not only did we walk over to it, but we walked in it!  Unfortunately, the top floor was closed off to the public, but my friend and I were still able to go to the second floor (which is equivalent to 100 floors) and we were able to get an incredible view of Paris!

The Eiffel Tower was an amazing site, and definitely made up for the size of the Mona Lisa.  Exhausted from walking, we decided to go back to our hotel (too bad I didn't stay in a hostel again with Candy Breeze) before dinner, and change before meeting up with my friend who is studying abroad in Paris.  

However, my idea of changing really quickly for dinner was very different from my roommate's.  We were an HOUR LATE for dinner with my friend, and the worst part is, I could have been there on time.  Doesn't this remind you of the weekend before when I missed my train?...

Anyway, dinner turned out to be great.  I had my first ever escargot and loved it!  It tasted more like calamari to me than snail, which helped me deal with the fact that I was putting a snail in my stomach to digest.  It was so great seeing my friend again and after dinner, we walked over the river and watched the Eiffel Tower light up.  It was pretty magical.  

Exhausted once again, we went back to our hotel and went to sleep.  The next morning I met up with another one of my really close friend's from Kenyon, but of course, I was 20 minutes late, but again, I was ready to go early, but the other person wasn't.  After meeting up with my friend, she toured us around Paris (because she spent the summer there) and we eventually made our way to the French department stores.  And let me tell you this: these were no Bloomingdales.  These Parisian stores were like Saks on steroids.  They were AMAZING.  But of course, everything was very expensive.  After trying on and loving a pair of pants, I decided that since it is my birthday in just over a week, I should get them as a birthday gift to myself and call them 'my birthday paris pants'.  So I did.  They are very interesting, something you would not be able to buy back in the states so it made sense to buy a one of a kind and take them back home with me.  They are black fitted pants with swatches of navy leather on the inner thigh.  Cool, right?  I love them, and if I see you over winter break or anytime in the future, I will most likely be wearing them.  They are my favorite pants ever.  After shopping, we all decided to have a big dinner.  Both of my Kenyon friends who I met in Paris brought friends to the dinner and I was going to join with my friend from Exeter.  However, she was running a little late, and I for once decided that I was not going to be dragged into being late AGAIN, so I left her with the hotel key and told her where to meet us.  However, something went wrong, her phone died, and we waited to order for her.  After about 45 minutes of waiting, we decided to order.  After finishing our dinners, drinks, and desserts, she finally arrived, two hours late.  NO JOKE.  It made me very happy that I left on my own time because I would not have been very happy if I had waited and gotten there TWO HOURS late.  Also, the night was fun because people from another table bought us roses and they sold my licorice on sidewalk stands on every street corner!

   

After dinner I hung out with my Kenyon friends some more and then my Exeter friend and I decided to go back to the hotel because we had to wake up early the next morning for our train.  Arriving at the hotel, my friend couldn't find the key that I had left her with and of course, the woman behind the desk did not speak a word of English and didn't understand what we meant.  Finally, a man understood what we were talking about and came up with us to our room to unlock our door.  But listen to this.  Once we got to our room, the keys were left IN THE DOOR!!! IN THE DOOR.  First of all, I had my passport, my wallet, and all of my clothes in there and anybody could have just gone in and taken all of my stuff.  I couldn't believe that she had left the key in the door, and now I was mad because this wasn't the first "careless mistake".  When I went into the room, all of my stuff was unfolded and it looked as if someone had gone through my suitcase.  My heart sank.  Had someone stolen my passport?, my credit cards?  But I checked and it was all there.  Then why in the world was my stuff thrown around?  I asked my Exeter friend.  Listen to her response" "Oh, sorry, I went through your bag to get your converter."  WHAT IN THE WORLD?  First of all, DO NOT go through my suitcase without asking.  Secondly, if you mess up my stuff and unfold my clothes and throw my things out of my suitcase onto the floor, PUT IT BACK THE WAY YOU FOUND IT.  I didn't even know what to say at that moment.  After that incident, I was ready to get out of Paris and go back to my flat where I have my own personal space and where I get to things on time.  

But other than all of the negatives, I did truly fall in love with Paris.  I want to go back next semester because there is so much more to do there!  And, Paris helped me become better with my sense of direction, which I am very proud of.  But this trip taught me how much I love my personal space and timeliness.  But even after all of this, I don't think that I am a stickler for getting places on time, I think it's just normal, or it least it is with my family and friends.  But anyway, I have to get to bed because I am going on a Cruise around Exmouth tomorrow!  I promise you that I will post again soon, so keep checking.  I already have some ironic stories from these past few days that I want to share so keep checking my blog!

(PS. That is me reading a map!!! - I never used to do that!)

Another Weekend in London

I got back late Sunday night from another eventful weekend in London.  I left Exeter early Friday morning so that I could have the whole day to explore one of my favorite cities in the world.  Once we dropped our bags off at the hotel, my friends and I wondered into Chinatown unknowingly, and guess what, we ended up stumbling upon some BOBA!  And if you don't know this about me, now you will: I LOVE BOBA (aka bubble tea to most).  But anyway, when I saw the boba place, I did a little happy dance and ran into the store and ordered myself a blended taro tea boba.  I was so happy.  It had been well over a month since my last boba and this one, although not as good as the boba back home, really hit the spot.

Later on Friday, I met up with one of my really good friends from Kenyon who is also studying 2 hours outside of London for the whole year.  We met in Covent Gardens and walked around the market which was really fun.  We also did a little shopping.  I got a cool new pair of flats that have little faces on them that everyone else thought was weird, but I really like them and even though they have little bells on them that jingle when I walk making me sound like a cat, I think they are very fashionable and definitely something you would not be able to find in the United States.  Also, a merchant at Covent Gardens was selling my favorite licorice so between boba and licorice, I was very happy.  But this licorice is more than just any ordinary kind of licorice.  First of all, I am planning my future career off of it.  I plan to bring it back to America with me and sell it all over the world, not just in Europe, so that everyone can eat this stuff.  I am telling you, it's very addicting.  Cherry licorice filled with white creme, yummm.  So anyway, here is a picture of me at Covent Gardens eating the licorice while posing like a British soldier (hence the hat):

 Later that night the Kenyon-Exeter group went to see MacBeth performed at the PIT Theatre.  It was the worst play and performance I had ever seen.  It was only a little over an hour, but it felt like it was never ending.  Also, for all the times that I have read and studied MacBeth, this play made no sense.  I had no idea which character was who, and maybe that's because every character was in Japanese dress walking around with samurai swords, but whatever the director was trying to get at, it did not work.  Also, I had a heavy breather sitting directly in back of me which did not help my state of mind.  I kept turning around to give him the evil eye to indicate to him that he should shut up, but each time he kept getting a little closer to my right ear, and every time, he kept breathing a little heavier.  Most annoying thing ever.
Later that night I met back up again with my friend Maggie from Kenyon.  We walked around the city for a little, and sat down at a pub for a while and just talked.  It had been six months since I had seen her so it was so fun to just sit down for a while and catch up.
Saturday morning was very fun.  A few of my friends and I got up and went to Portobello Road Market.  They have everything there!  Food, clothes, jewelry, antiques.  And it was fun because you can haggle prices with them there.  I haggled the price down for a fur hat (which I love) and I also picked up a few goodies for my family (non of which I can name since they will be wrapped and put under the tree for the holidays).  One of my friends and I also treated ourself to a huge crepe.  I thought of my brother the entire time I was eating my crepe because my first crepe ever eaten was with him.
Then later, we left Portobello Road and hit the Hunterian Museum.  I loved it!  It was a Museum filled with jarred fetus's, human faces, brains, dead animals, etc.  It was very fun to look around and explore such a place with so much human history.
Later that night, the Kenyon-Exeter group met up for the Brazilian dance, Bale De Rua at the Peacock Theatre.  The dance was amazing!  I loved it and it made me actually want to take up dance.  The tickets were expensive, but well worth the price and we got center seats!  After the show my friends and I were exhausted and went to bed to rest up for our final day in London.
Sunday was not good at all.  We woke up, checked out of our hotel and tried to get to Hoxton Market.  It took over an hour and two miles out of our way, but we finally made it.  And once we got there it was nothing special.  Portobello Road Market blew it out of the water, so we left to go get high tea.  Another disappointment.  We couldn't find a high tea place anywhere in London!  So we gave up and went to a different place instead.  Then when we were leaving to get back to Paddington Station to catch our train to Exeter, another incident took place.  Even though we left ourselves over an hour to get there, one of my friends' Oyster Cards stopped working and it set us back a while to get to our train, which of course, to top off our bad day, we ended up missing.  And this is a lesson for anyone traveling to and from London.  Do not miss your train.  It is VERY expensive to buy another, and of course, you do NOT get a refund on the other ticket.  So after a great weekend in London, it ended badly.  Paying over $100 for a train that I should not have missed created some anxiety and anger, and on top of it, we didn't have seats on the train that we took (we only had reserved seats on the train that we missed), so we stood the two hours back to Exeter.  Not a fun day at all.
But anyway, I am headed to Paris in two days!  I am so excited to see the Eiffel Tower and eat some French food.  Also yesterday, I joined the chocolate society here at Exeter and bought a ticket for the chocolate society's Germany Trip to visit different chocolate factories and Christmas Markets!  That isn't until December 10th, but I am so excited to go to Germany and Belgium next month!
Check my blog again next week because I'm sure that I'll have more stories to post about when I get back from Paris.  Until then, bon voyage!

There's No Such Thing As An Uneventful Week For Me

So, as you know, I was finally able to sit back and relax this past week in Exeter because it was one of the first weekends that I wasn't traveling.  Doesn't it sound nice to rest in bed and to be able to take naps at your leisure?  Well, that's what I did do this past week, but not for the reasons you think.  Yes I was stuck in bed, and yes, I did take naps on and off, but not because I was resting, it's because I probably had a concussion.
After such an active weekend in Wales, all I wanted to do was rest, and I especially needed sleep so I could work on my paper that was due (which was last Thursday).  So five days ago, on Wednesday, October 27th, a day before my paper was due, I decided to walk into town to go to the Orange store to get my phone fixed.  I had recently switched my phone over to my Verizon Blackberry, but since I am on the Orange network in Britain, my e-mails and internet weren't working correctly on my phone.  So I went into the Orange store and they fixed my phone with no problems!  I was glad to be rid of my little international phone and happy as ever to be texting back on my USA miniature keyboard.  As I was headed back to my flat to go work on my paper, I passed a brand new store that had just opened with a sign reading that they had toilet paper for less than a pound!!!  Unable to pass on that offer, I decided to go into the brand new store and stock up on toilet paper.   This store was amazingly priced.  It is definitely the Wal-Mart of England.  So as I was picking out my toilet paper and minding my own business, I felt my body being slammed into the toilet paper display.  I was knocked over so hard, that I fell forward and hit my head and hip, and was lying on the floor with a bloody head.  As I was getting up, I realized that I had just been hit by a motorized wheelchair!  NO JOKE.  I honestly wish I was kidding, but sadly, this is the truth.  Many may wonder: How does one get hit by a motorized wheelchair?  My response: It comes with living the life of Logan Kinsey.
But anyway, there I am laying on the floor of this new store with a bleeding forehead with toilet paper all around me.  As a result of being hit by the motorized wheelchair, I fell into the toilet paper display case knocking them all over.  Luckily, one of the store managers saw the accident, helped me up, got me some bandages, and gave me my toilet paper for free!  He even threw in some paper towels and let me pick out free candy for me to take back to my flat.  He was really nice and even went to the back room and came back with a 15% discount coupon off of select items for the next time I shop there.
However, the woman who hit me was not as thoughtful.  I have no idea how she lost control of her wheelchair, but somehow how it happened.  She waited around to see if I was okay, and then as soon as I got up, she motored off.  If you ask me, I would classify it as a 'hit and run'.  I didn't even receive an "I'm sorry" from her.  And another thing I would like to add, as she motored off, she seemed to have pretty good control over her wheelchair....
I ended up walking home even though my leg and hip and head were still hurting.  As soon as I got back to my flat, I curled up in bed and fell asleep until my next class.  So there you go.  I did get some rest this week, but only because my body needed to relax after being hit by a motorized wheelchair.  My forehead looks all better, but the bruising on my leg is still a bit puffy.
But my week got better.  The next day, I turned in my paper, and did a little shopping as celebration.  And guess what?  I found the best sale of my entire life.  I bought a dress for 2.50 pounds!  And it's a really cute dress that was originally over 30 pounds!  That made my head and bruising feel a lot better.  Later that night I called my Mom (it was her birthday!), and went out with some friends.
Friday morning I woke up early with the rest of the Kenyon-Exeter group and headed to the train station and visited our Kenyon Professor in Topsham.  Topsham is only four towns over from Exeter, and it is only a 20 minute train ride.  Once we got off of the train at Topsham, our Professor was waiting for us with her dog!  I can't remember what kind of dog she has, but it was so adorable.  It made me miss my 17 year old, Lucy so so much.  In Topsham, we went walking next to the river, had some lunch, and did a little shopping.  A lot of the stores reminded me of my Mom and her friends because they were all cute little vintage stores.  Also, I found a little something that reminded me of my brother, so he may or may not be getting a holiday gift from Topsham.  There was also a great wine and cheese restaurant there that  my friends and I went to later so that we could have a wine and cheese poetry reading party for the night.  Here are some pictures of Topsham (and there is my Professor's dog):

And then there was saturday...HALLOWEEN (well, technically it was Sunday, but we all celebrated on Saturday because once it hit midnight, it was official).  I dressed up as a candy cane.  I don't know why I chose a candy cane.  I think I am now realizing the effect that Candy, the stripper from Wales, had on me, seeing that I chose to be candy and that is her stripper name.  And speaking of Candy, we have spoken on aol instant messager since I've been back at Exeter.  She's back home in Swansea right now, but is heading back to Cardiff next week to get back to dancing.
Also, just to give a sort of sense to some of the people that I am studying with here at Exeter, I have a story.  Last week in class, my lips were burning so much and I forgot to bring my chapstick.  I leaned over to another American student and asked if she had any chapstick.  She said yes, dug through her backpack, and handed me a pair of CHOPSTICKS.  I looked at her funny, and then she said, "Oh, did you say chapstick rather than chopstick?"  I nodded my head and then she said, "Yeah, I was wondering why you wanted chopsticks." But anyway, WHY was she carrying around chopsticks in her backpack? And what did she think I would do with chopsticks during class?  It turned out that she didn't have any chapstick, but only had chopsticks.  Who carries around chopsticks and not chapstick???  My lips burned for the rest of class.
That is basically all that has happened to me this week, but the wheelchair incident was quite a traumatic happening.  The other day when I was in town, I saw a motorized wheelchair and grasped the arm of one of my friends.  Hopefully I'll get over my fear of motorized wheelchairs, but it was a very painful experience...motorized wheelchairs are heavier and more powerful than they look.  Next weekend I go to London to see a few shows and the weekend after I am going to Paris with some friends from Exeter and I am meeting two other good friends from Kenyon; one who is studying in a different part of London, and the other who is studying in Paris.  Check my blog next week for updates on London!