FOOD!?!

So yesterday, my cousins ,Susan and Ray, (who are the same cousins that picked me up at the airport) took me to an American foods store, AND I FOUND SOME RANCH!! I've been dying for some ranch, and no one has it here. Not even at McDonalds. It's been rough, because I didn't have ranch for my McNuggets. The nuggets weren't the same as I was used to though. They tasted different; not a bad different, just different. Even with ranch, they wouldn't have tasted the same. All the food tastes different, even Subway and Domino's. I think it's because it's their fast food is healthier than American fast food. And what's more, they don't have Dairy Queen or Sonic, and no one understands what I'm going on about when I complain about that. They have absolutely no idea what they're missing without Dairy Queen.

My cousin, Andrew, and his fiancé, Charlotte, also took me out for dinner to TGI Fridays. So it was almost American. It wasn't quite the same, and the loaded potato skins (which are usually my favorite) tasted just slightly off. And it was served with sour cream instead of ranch. But everything was still really good, and I had a great time. Charlotte and Andrew are really great. I'd met Andrew before yesterday, but it was my first time meeting Charlotte, and she's wonderful. She's so sweet, and I can't wait to hang out with them again. They know Manchester really well, and they gave me all sorts of suggestions about places to go and see.

Susan and Ray also told me that they'd take me around to see the sights during my Easter break (which is 3 weeks long!). They're going to take me to Wales to see all the old castles around there, and take me on a couple walks to see the local scenery. They have decent sized hills practically in their backyard (which they call a garden.) Susan is also going to take me around to where my great-grandma Norah used to live during the war.

I'm so excited to finally spend time with my family, and I can't wait to get to know them even more.

Adjusting

I'm having a rough time, guys. It's getting hard to wake up, and go to class, and hang out. I skipped my only class on Friday, and both my classes yesterday. (It's not as COMPLETELY bad as it sounds, they record the lectures and post them online, so I'm still getting the material...) I'm feeling very alone and homesick, even though I Skype with my family almost everyday. I'm feeling very down, and don't feel like leaving my room much. I get tired very easily and am starting to take naps too often.

This chart was given to me by the International Center before I left home. And I think I'm right there between 2 and 3. So I know things will get better, and I'm having a great time. The problem is it's not that different, but just different enough that I have to adjust. But there isn't a complete change in culture. Home and here are very similar in most ways, but the little differences are just starting to get to me.

I know the more time I spend outside my room, making more friends, the better it will be and the faster I will adjust fully to my new environment. But it's hard to put that in practice, because I just want to be alone and be in my room talking to family and friends from home.

It's also really hard because I'll be here for my birthday in April, and I won't have a get-together with my family. I'll miss Easter as well, which isn't a huge holiday for my family, but we do have a dinner and get together with all of us. I won't get that this year.

And hardest of all is missing Rodney at home. He turned eight months old yesterday. He's getting so big, and he can stand all by himself now. I know he'll start walking soon, and I won't be there for it. And I miss my dogs. I just wanna cuddle with Penny and have Niko jump all over me, and throw a stick for Copper. I miss cuddling with Penny at night. I don't sleep well here, and she would make it so much better.

And my boyfriend. I miss Josiah, too. We didn't get to be together on Valentine's Day (the first Valentine's Day that we are officially together. We've been together for most Valentine's Days, even when we weren't a couple.) I won't see him until I go home in June. And you wouldn't think that this would be a big deal, since we don't see each other when I'm at home either, but it's been really tough.

Posh vs. Pub

So tonight, in honor of Katia's boyfriend arriving from Italy, we decided to get a group together and go out on the town. There ended up being eight of us: Francine, Katia, Katia's boyfriend, Katia's other Italian friend, Alex, Ary, Leo, and me. We first went to a bar called Cloud 23, which sits on top of the Hilton hotel and is in the tallest building in Manchester. Obviously, it gets it's name from the fact that it's on the 23rd floor. I'd never been so high before. It was very posh, and REALLY expensive. The cocktails were at minimum £9.50 (which is $14.65). And the mocktails were at least £8 ($12). Needless to say, I just got a coke for £2.50. Francine got a "Little Fluffy Cloud" mocktail, and for some reason that was really funny (I tried it though, and it was really good.) But the view was AMAZING! At 23 stories up, we could see everything!

Note: I didn't take this picture and I stole it from their website

Since Cloud 23 was so expensive, we only had the one round of drinks and decided to go somewhere cheaper. And so we went to The Salisbury, which is a small pub half hidden under a railway station. (I don't have any pictures, sorry.) And there the drinks were way cheaper, I had a Jack and Coke for £3.50. While drinking, we got into a deep conversation and I tried to explain why we Americans love our guns so much. I don't think they completely understood (and I wasn't that great at explaining it), but that's ok. We were just brought up way different.

My Top 10 Things to do While in the UK

Since I haven't really been out exploring yet (excluding Chester) I thought I would sit down and really think about what I want to do while I'm here in the UK. So here are my top ten:

1. Visit Loch Ness, find Nessie, and become best friends
 

2. Go to Buckingham Palace. Run into Prince Harry and steal his heart. Marry him.

3.Visit Sherwood Forest. Shoot an arrow (oo-de-lally!!)

4. Hogwarts. Duh.

5. Visit the Tower of London and find the ghost of Anne Boleyn. 

6. Stonehenge. Watch for aliens. 

7. See Big Ben. And maybe Peter.

8. Visit the Natural History Museum. Learn something new.

9. Watch a game at Old Trafford.

10.  Eat Fish and Chips (for real.)

International Society Trip: Chester

I woke up at 7:30 today, to get ready for my first trip out of the Manchester. I paid £16 to go with the International Society, which sponsors trips all over the UK. It was only a 45 minute bus ride to our Cheshire Oaks Outlet Center. We were there for four hours, which was way too long in my opinion, because I didn't want to do any shopping. I got a coffee with William, a boy I had met during orientation who had also gone on the trip, and then we just walked around for 3 hours. It was nice to have a familiar face though. We went into several shops. He was looking for posters and I was looking for postcards to send to friends and family, but we didn't find either. One thing that I really enjoyed was the Owls that were there. A not-for-profit group had set up a table and they had several real live owls to interact with. They were so gorgeous. I got to pet one of them.

 We loaded back on the bus soon after that, to go to Chester, which is known for it's Roman background. Chester was originally a Roman Fortress, named Castra Devana, and it used to be the most important port in the northwest. The first thing I did was visit the Grosvenor Museum, which houses the biggest collection of Roman tombstones in the country. It was amazing to see these relics from so long ago:

This Skeleton had been found at the bottom of a well. They believe he died in a fire at the end of
the third century, but they have no idea why he had been thrown down a well. 

This was my favorite tombstone of the lot. It commemorates a man names Flavius
 and his son Serapion. It was discovered in 1874 along with two skeletons.

After the museum, I visited the ruins of the Amphitheatre. Some historians have suggested that this was the site of King Arthur's Camelot, which I find completely fascinating.

My friend Wil was nice enough to take this picture, since my
mom was complaining about me not being in enough of them.

From the theatre, we made our way to the ruins of the St John the Baptist Church, which was built in 1075 and has been in ruin since 1581. There were intact tombs still, and a new church has been built connecting to the ruins.

From the ruins I walked along the river Dee, then made my way up onto the roman Wall, built around AD 70 around the whole town. Now it just surrounds Historic Chester. The wall runs for two miles, but I only walked a portion of that. I didn't even find the Wishing Steps. Local legend says that if you can run up and down the steps while holding your breath, your wish will be granted. on second thought, its good that I didn't find them, because I would have no doubt twisted an ankle attempting to run down the old stairs.

The last stop of the day was Chester Castle. It was originally build out of wood by William the Conquerer in 1070. But then in the 12th and 13th centuries it was rebuilt in stone and expanded by the Earls of Chester. 

Thanks again to Wil for the photo!

Major Improvements

The second week of classes has begun, and I have made several improvements here in Manchester. I no longer get lost when left alone, and I'm able to successfully navigate around campus and the city center rather well. I went shopping all by myself yesterday; I got on the right bus, got off on the right stop, did all my shopping, and found my way home before dinner!

I've discovered my kitchen, and talked to my hall mate about the cold-shower dilemma. Apparently, the ground floor women's bathroom has never run properly. She showers upstairs, so tonight I'm going to try that as well and have a hot shower finally! I've gained access to the hall library, and can finally print things out! The only thing not completely settled is laundry. My block doesn't have a laundry room, and the block next to mine has a broken laundry room. So I'll have to go to reception and gain access to the block across from mine, and then drag all my laundry over there. I only have one more clan pair of underwear; I'm getting desperate.

My text books have mostly arrived, as did my rain boots. And it's about time, because I really needed them. When it rains here, it RAINS. And the it takes another couple days for the giant puddles to disappear.

I've also settled into my room, and it looks lived in finally. I have new posters to solve the white-walls issue.

I've also cracked and bought Netflix, because my parent's account wouldn't work here in the UK. Also, if you have an "American" laptop and attempt to buy movies here, they won't play. Just saying.