Pub Young's

Two days ago was my first day of class, and I didn't think it was too bad. As I said before I am taking Wealth Management, and this is something I am considering making my occupation in the future, so I guess I had better like it somewhat. After class, we took a visit to the British Museum which was right down the street. I was at the British Museum last year, but I didn't get a chance to see much because Joy had gotten us lost, and we were too tired to fully enjoy the historical pieces. That night we went to a Pub close by, and we met our first locals! When we entered, we had no idea what was going on because everybody was dressed up. Turns out, they had attended a funeral commemorating an avid patron's death. However, this didn't stop them from having fun with us Americans. A Scottsman named Danny soon joined us and we were all laughing hysterically at this funny Scottish man. All in all it was a good night. We drank some good beer and got to meet the locals for the first time.

The next day we had class from 9-12 which I was dying by the end of, and then we went to St. Paul's Cathedral. Last year, I had only been able to go to the basement near the crypt because we couldn't afford to actually go into the Cathedral. But this time it was paid for us and it was amazing to see the ancient sarcophagus of many prominent Englishmen. Our group eventually made its way to the peak of the Cathedral which gave us a breathtaking view of London (the picture is from the Stone Gallery, great sunset). Today is the morning of New Year's Eve, and I am off to class. And because it is New Year's Eve, I don't know when I will be able to make my next post ;)

Across the Pond into Jolly Old England!

It is now 9 PM here in London, and I am sitting in my flat relaxing after having no sleep for I believe about twenty-four hours. This will be a short blog, but I the flight was seven hours, but I was unable to sleep a wink. The food wasn't that great, but the flight was relatively smooth for me, but I'm afraid I can't say the same for Jon Kline who was sitting next to me. During the entire flight, I was afraid he was going to upchuck on my lap (fortunately he didn't). After landing, check in through customs had no issues, and we proceeding to get dropped off at our flats called Kamen House. At 3:30 PM we went to the ACCENT learning center for orientation, and then we went to a Turkish restaurant which had some pretty good food. Now I am back at Kamen House, and I am going to bed. Good night.

The Day Before

Right now I am in Chicago at the Sofitel hotel bored out of my mind. But the hotel is very high class, comfy beds, big screen TV, and very clean. Joy was able to drive to Fort Dodge after spending Christmas Eve with her family in Waterloo, Iowa, so I got to spend an extra two days with her which was great! I drove with Joy to Iowa City with my parents following behind in the RAV4. Once we got to Iowa City we went to Pizza Hut for lunch, and I once again had to say goodbye to Joy. But it wasn't too bad because I know I will be able to see her soon in two weeks in Strasbourg after my time in London. After goodbyes, I joined my parents in the RAV and we made our way to Chi-Town. We drove through treacherous dense fog, but fortunately we made it, and now I sit here bored just waiting to get onto the plane. But I thought it would be fitting to write this blog since it will be my last one in the States.

Asian Party

Yesterday for the first time in say...probably eight years, we had an "Asian Party" to celebrate Christmas Eve. Back in the day, the Asian Parties were, as James and I claim, meetings of all the Chinese families who worked at the Fort Dodge Animal Health Labs to discuss plans for Fort Dodge's takeover (that's James and I in the picture acting our natural selves, check out the longer hair). And trust me, pretty much if you were Chinese in this town, you probably worked at the Labs. Now, these parties usually lasted all night, either at somebody's home or at the local Hong Kong Buffet. I remember them being fun times in which we got to eat a lot of good food, play games, watch movies, and play tricks on the younger kids.

But yesterday there was only a total of four families at a colleague's home, and the once young kids are pretty much grown up. My friend Amy's little brother who I remember being a hyper kid is now a freshman in high school and is a heck of a lot calmer. And there were the twin sisters who are now juniors in high school (and I still can't get their names right). Man, I am getting old. It still seems surreal that these kids are not kids anymore, and I am on the way to adulthood...kinda. But despite the small Asian Party it was a great way to reminisce before my departure and catch up with people I haven't talked to in quite some time. It was nice to relive the past and act like a kid again, not knowing when I will be able to again. Oh, and ask James Zhang how I dominated him in ping pong...

Predeparture

I am in a pretty uncomfortable situation right now. I am in the midst of packing, and I have to limit myself to one big piece of luggage and a carry-on. Now, I consider myself a very practical individual (my girlfriend Joy, whom I miss very much, can vouch for this). And although I don't have a large amount of clothing, even this is pushing it for me, especially if I wanted to come back to the states with some souvenirs. The problem is, while I would be able to fly American Airlines with two check-ins from the US to London, I won't be able to fly within Europe via Alitalia with two check-ins (if anyone knows otherwise please let me know).

When I am not packing, I am trying to get together with all my high school friends as much as possible since I will only get to see them for four more days until I leave. But I also do a lot of moping since I am not with Joy (the picture is of Joy and me at Venice when we traveled around Europe for three weeks last year). I am so used to being with her all the time, it's like a part of me is missing. While I will be in London and Italy, she will be au pairing in Strasbourg, France, but she doesn't leave until January 5th. The London program will be done January 10th, but I will be travelling to Rome with some fellow Deltasigs for five days, then I will fly up to Strasbourg to see Joy. So it will be about a month until I get to see her again which pretty much sucks hardcore. Fortunately, I bought her a webcam for Christmas and since my laptop has a webcam and mic, we will be able to talk and see each other, but I still can't wait until I can actually see her in person. Love you Joy!

I am excited though to soon depart for Europe. This is an exciting new chapter to my education in which I have always wanted to experience, and I am glad I am somewhat able to share the experience with Joy while she is in France since I will be able to visit often. As the days go by, my travelers "itch" is getting bigger, and although I will definitely miss all my friends and family in the States, I am pumped for London and Italy!