Repatriation and Review

I have officially been back stateside for 2 weeks now and am slowly readjusting to the American way of life. As I was packing up my things and planning my trip home people began to warn me about reverse culture shock and how difficult it can be to jump straight back into my old life. Because I have been looking forward to coming back home for so long I didn't really take it seriously, thinking I would be far to excited to have familiarity around me again. Little did I realize how difficult the transition would actually be. I began to realize that I had found in London the familiarity of 'home' I had been craving for so many months abroad. From learning my way on the buses, to accepting tube delays that could easily force you to get home an hour later than you hoped for. From new friends, to new foods to traveling experiences I would never be able to forget if I tried. I learned my way around a city that I have hopelessly fallen in love with all while completing a Master's program in Christian Education. The past 10 months have been a learning and growing experience that  I could not have predicted if I tried. Sure, I knew I would develop new skills and learn a thing or two about myself but the extent to which I feel I have grown up and matured is something I am still realizing on a daily basis. The last few months I spent in London I began to make a list of a few things I've learned this past year so I'll share a few of them with you:

1. There is no such thing as "on time" with public transportation. (Okay, fine, in England anyways. Germany was spot on every time, of course, and I definitely appreciated that) But I cannot express my frustration at waiting for buses and tubes that struggle to be even close to on time either making me extremely late to where I need to be or forcing me to leave the house 30 minutes early to ensure that I arrive on time. Needless to say, I am beyond ecstatic at having my car back and zipping to and from where I need to be. I can't say that I missed the traffic (nope not even a little bit) on the 405 hahaha but even then at least I am in the comfortable seats of my air conditioned car not packed into train cars next to smelly commuters playing their music too loud in an underground with zero air ventilation.

2. I can navigate my way around a city without the help of my phone, GPS, etc. Not that finding my way wouldn't have been made easier had I had access to these things but I really and truly enjoyed trying to find my way from Point A to Point B using maps next to the Boris Bikes or asking store owners standing in front of their shops if I was headed in the right direction. Even more exciting was when I realized I didn't need the maps or advice from people any more and had even found shortcuts for how to get to places I frequented. I know that my sense of direction isn't something most people in my life are comfortable with me relying on but I can proudly say I know how to wander the streets of London and not be afraid of getting lost. One time, Chris and I had time to kill after a day of being in the library and we thought we would try to get ourselves lost so we could explore something new. We each took turns saying left or right every time we would come to a new road and to our surprise, no matter how twisted we thought we were getting ourselves, we never could get lost. One or the other always knew where we were. Kinda cool, no?
In visiting so many new countries with languages I couldn't understand or accents so thick it felt foreign anyways, I didn't feel anxious in not knowing my way. I became comfortable with navigating my way around a city using public transportation or my favorite, WALKING.

3. Walking. Walking is officially a favorite means of travel though unfortunately not very practical in any place I live be it CA or AZ. I found this out the hard way when I tried to walk from Javi's house in Santa Monica to my beach in Playa del Rey and 2 hours 40 mins later I still had not reached the beach at which point Grace rescued me and we laid out for a few hours. Sure, I could have walked 30 minutes to Santa Monica beach but my sense of distance led me to believe it wouldn't take me more than an hour or so to walk to my favorite beach, Toes. Boy was I wrong! Anyways, it feels good to know that even walking has helped me to get in some of the best shape of my life. Of course it's been combined with lots of gym time and now that I'm back, Yoga, but my restless legs really do appreciate the exhaustion they feel as I climb into bed at night and they don't feel the need to keep moving.

4. I can be alone for days at a time and still be okay. It may not be preferred but it can happen and I don't panic. As much. When I had to move into the studio apartment my last few weeks in London I realized how much I actually enjoyed spending time alone with my country music blasting as loud as I want without wondering how much my roommates hate me for it. I enjoyed putting dishes where I wanted them and decorating how I felt was appropriate and if something was a mess I knew it was my mess and I didn't get irritated that other people left a mess in shared places.

The list of what I have learned about myself in this past year could go on for ages but I won't bore you all with that. My time home in CA and AZ has been absolutely amazing. From beach days to brunches to bike rides and runs on the beach. I've gotten back into yoga, reunited with some of the loves of my life including my most handsome Godson, Aiden who is such a little cuddle bug I'm ecstatic to be with him again.
I've had Mexican food more times than I can count since I've been home and eating tacos like they're going out of style.

It's been incredible catching up with family and friends and being reminded again just how much I was missed and loved back here at home. It may take some time to complete my readjustment to America but with the support system that I've had that has spanned oceans and countries I feel like I will be okay.  I am more confident in myself and believe that I really can do anything I put my mind to! London will always hold a special place in my heart and I can truly say I made friends who will last a life time. It's exciting to have friends abroad and know how easily we will be able to stay in touch.

Thank you to everyone who has supported me in this year and helped me get through the rough patches of loneliness and home sickness. I appreciate every person who has been a part of my growing experience. I am unbelievably grateful for the opportunities and experiences I have had this year and I know that I will never forget what I have learned. I'm not sure if this will be the last post on here or not. Who knows, maybe I'll start a new blog. Thank you for reading and supporting me this year.

Love from America!

Kristin 

Hunt Ball

My last few days in England have been very eventful and exciting filled with new friends, walks along dirt roads next to never ending fields, and a minor auto incident which left us stranded in the country for an extra day. There are so many things to remember from this weekend that this post will have a ridiculous amount of detail. Feel free to skip around through the pictures if the details get boring but being that this is one of the most British experiences I have had, I have to write everything.

The Hunt Ball is held in Yorkshire, in the north of England, about 4-5 hours from London and in the beautiful countryside. The sun is out about 18 hours of the day and I saw some of the most beautiful sunrises and sunsets I've seen this year. The 5  of us driving up together (Sharlene, Will, Nick, Imogen and myself) left London at 9pm on Friday and arrived at Will's friends house around 1am. The car ride up didn't even feel that long as we played monopoly, sang along to the radio, and listened to stories of previous hunt ball experiences. Upon arrival Will's friend, Tom, who we were staying with, showed us the rooms we could use and then of course we stayed up a while longer listening to old friends reminisce about nothing and everything. It made me really happy just to be watching their interactions though I had little to contribute to the conversation. Not that that stops me from trying. Bed that night felt wonderful after having sat in a car for so long and we all slept soundly until about 8am when I then got up and waited for everyone else to get up. I read a book I just started on the drive up, The Other Boleyn Girl, because my friend Clemmy had it at home and I've always wanted to read it before I see the movie. I'm completely entranced by it and hopefully will finish tonight before I have to leave tomorrow.

Saturday morning was a slow start as everyone was still pretty tired. I wandered around the countryside for quite some time, pausing to sit on a bale of hay and just be in the silence. It probably sounds cheesy but having always lived in large cities I often forget how much noise pollution there is around me on a daily basis. I probably sat there for about 45 minutes with my eyes closed and the warm sun beating down on me. I had expected cold weather the entire weekend so I was pleasantly surprised to be comfortably sitting outside with no sweatshirt and my flip flops on. I got back from my walk to find the boys all playing FIFA and the girls nagging them to stop so we could go explore. When we got annoying enough the boys gave up and we went up the road (literally, a dirt road) to Tom's parents home to see the new house they are building. It is SO BEAUTIFUL and I would LOVE to have their master bedroom as my room. There are stairs that lead up to a walkway that goes around the entire room that is going to be a massive closet. Brilliant I say, brilliant!

Saturday afternoon/early evening was spent readying ourselves for the ball. A constant rotation of showers, hairdryers, flat irons and clothing came in and out of the bathroom and bedrooms. It was kind of exhilarating in a "I'm going to prom" kind of way! You know, that feeling you got senior year when the night of the dance comes around and you're giddy with excitement? Again, cheesy but that's how I felt. As everyone met up at Tom's house we all piled in to 3 or 4 cars and drove about 30 minutes to a most beautiful mansion where the Hunt Ball takes place every year. 3 large marquees were set up in the "backyard" which not surprising is also a kind of forest/massive lawns. I was in a complete state of shock having never been in such a place where people are actually living there! Sure, I've been inside castles and such here but...no one lives in them!

Walking across the lawns to the first marquee our heels were sticking in the grass and Sharlene and I were giggling like children as we tried to rush to get out of the rain without tripping over 4inch heels. It was a funny site indeed! Inside the first tent we were welcomed by a champagne welcome before it was entertainment and dinner time. The entertainment was great because we had a front row seat from our awesome seats. It was an acrobatic crew who flipped and turned every which way and balanced one each other....I don't even know how to begin describing it but for those who have been to Venice beach, they were kinda like those 5 guys who jump over each other and such.

After a dinner of steak, salad, potatoes and some amazing fruity dessert lots of dancing ensued. All the men knew how to dance! Real dancing with twirls and spins and dips and proper footwork. It was so much fun! Now I really do want to take dance lessons so that I'll be able to twirl and know what I'm doing! Luckily all I had to do was follow and no one expects girls to lead hahaha I would have been in big trouble otherwise.

We were up until sunrise which was so beautiful and of course, un-capturable via my iPhone but especially watching it rise over the fields...stunning.

As all good things must, our time in the country was nearing its end. Or so we thought....after packing up the car and cramming ourselves into the car we headed off to the gas station to fill up. Will headed inside to pay while Nick began to fill up. Being that it was Will's car, Nick didn't realize that the car ran on diesel fuel not petrol and less than 5 minutes down the road the car started making funny vibrations and we immediately pulled over as Nick and Will instantly knew what had happened. After a brief panic moment everyone went in to action mode calling whoever they thought could be of assistance. We hopped over the fence on the pull off and sat with all the blankets we had brought on the grass in a field. It was actually quite comical as we imagined having to pop up the tent we brought and just camping out with the car over night. Luckily for us we eventually reached Will's father and some roadside assistance people who were able to correct the problem by midnight....about 9 hours after we started off. It was too late and the boys too tired to drive back to London that night so we stayed at Tom's so we could be rested for the long drive back. Since it was daytime and rush hour it took nearly 6 hours this time around and I was sore and tired and ready to get out of the car.

Putting in the right fuel this time!

You'll be hearing no complaints from me though when I speak of this wonderful weekend. It confirmed my love of England and my desire to explore even more in the future what this beautiful country has to offer!


It was a fantastic way to end my time here in London. And so, my next post will be coming from good ol' USofA!!! T- 11 hours my plane be taking off! 


Love from London,


Kristin

A New Church Experience

I know you all are very aware of how important my Catholic faith identity is to me. I have always enjoyed church from the days of children's liturgy as a little girl to life teen in high school and now studying here in London to do a master's in (what I often tell people) Jesus. I appreciate the traditions and rituals and comfort of knowing when to sit and stand and the words of my favorite songs that I itch to dance to and, to the huge embarassment of my lovely twinnie, I sometimes do!

However, if my program here has taught me something it's about being open to new styles of worship and church and how Jesus is celebrated among the different Christian churches. Being that my dissertation is largely on how to reach out to young people in our technology driven consumer culture I have been very interested in checking out other churches and experiencing something new to understand how the church impacts people depending on the setting. When my friend, Jeremy, invited me to come with him to his church, Hillsong, which perhaps you have heard of or participated in before. I specifically used the word 'participated' because Hillsong is a Christian Evangelical Church that is widely popular among young people as it is engaging, exciting, and LOUD.

Hillsong London is so big though that they hold their services in the Dominion Theatre on Tottenham Court Rd which is one of the largest west end theatres in London. Just to give you an idea about how big Hillsong is....the Dominion Theatre holds 2,182 seats and virtually ever seat was full! There are currently three services every Sunday and they are trying to add a fourth. If I had felt more confident I would have taken a picture inside but when I first walked in I had to ask Jeremy if this place was really considered to be a church. I won't lie, I was skeptical until the service started and let me explain why.

Walking out of Tottenham tube and into the theatre the first thing you can't help but notice is the band. Not just your typical 3-4 instrument ensemble but a full blown concert style band including strobe lights, flashing lights, and music video screens which not only played videos but had the words to all the songs projected on it. It was very overwhelming because people also treated it a little bit like a concert in that everyone was jumping around and waving their hands and shouting Alleluia! and Amen!

As the service continued however I started to really feel excited about being there and appreciate this worship style. It was energizing and renewing and although it will never be able to replace my love of the Catholic Mass and tradition (you can start breathing again Mommy, no panic attack necessary) I do plan on participating again. The sermon was inspirational and just awesome in how captivated we all were. The pastor was from America and his name is pastor Weems and Jeremy and I decided he was from Texas or Alabama because of his mid-west/southern-ish accent that we loved. He also made references to baseball which I think went over pretty much everyone else's heads but the Americans in the room. He was very excited and you could tell that he was really passionate and cared about every word he spoke! Anyways, on that note, I leave you with my favorite quote from him tonight:

Every supernatural move by God is predicated by a very natural move by humans. 


Love from London,
Kristin

Riding Horses

Six months ago, over Christmas break, Sharlene and I found a Groupon for horse back riding lessons in London and we just had to snatch it up! Unfortunately for us though this place was nearly impossible to get in touch with and Sharlene has spent months trying to call and email them. She finally got ahold of them and we set up a lesson for today! And for the first time in years I was back on a horse and loving every minute of it.
For the first part of our lesson they of course walked us around the stables and yards showing us how to clean the horses, put the saddle on, the layout of the woods and fields the property owns (absolutely stunning. It was very difficult to remember we were still in London). After all the introductions and tea break we were assigned our horses and began working on how to sit properly, hold the reigns, walk and then trot! I can proudly say that I was the only one in our group that was allowed to trot without having someone lead my horse. I guess I'm just a natural. HA! As if. But I won't lie and say I wasn't smiling widely when our instructor told the girl leading my horse that it was obviously unnecessary for her to be running next to me while I trotted my horse. I had such an awesome time that I have signed up for another lesson next week and the instructor said I definitely don't need the beginner lessons and to go straight to intermediate/advanced! Maybe I've missed my calling in life....

As I mentioned before the stables are on a huge piece of land with forests, trails, fields and more and I plan on going back at least one more time to take a trip through there as well. You can sign up for a group "hike" or individual one and I think for that I may just do the individual lesson. Anyways, that's about all but it really was a GREAT time and I am so happy I have found this love again!

Love from London,
Kristin

Beginning Of The End

The final countdown to my return home has officially begun. In less than 3 weeks I will be back in sunny California soaking up the sun and enjoying Independence Day fireworks with my love, Javi! I am jittery with excitement yet also starting to feel the anxieties of moving again and leaving behind London which I have truly come to love. When I say moving again I don't just mean moving back to the states, though I am well aware of the reverse culture shock I am going to experience for the first few days/weeks I am back but also, I have moved flats here in London. I'm over the drama of it now (kinda) but for the few of you who don't know the story you can just ask me if you want to know.
I wanted to show you guys a few pictures of my new 'home' which is really just a room with a bed, bathroom, stove, fridge, closet. Essentially everything I need as I hardly spend ANY time at home anyways.
The shower makes me laugh thought. If you take a look there is no tub or even step into the shower. It is just a curtain to separate the toilet from the stream of water and it really was bizarre the first time I stepped into it. It will do however as my time here isn't going to be long.

I continue to spend most of my days in Starbucks trying to pound out this dissertation before I leave here. In some ways, I am grateful for the miserable weather because if it was sunny and warm outside like when Laura visited I would be beyond irritable at being stuck inside. Chris and I set up a reward system for ourselves so that after every 5000 words we complete we get a prize. We have both passed the first 5000 words now which is very exciting and will be treating ourselves to dinner and drinks tonight after we finish our work! More exciting for me, I have officially passed the halfway mark of completing this paper ending yesterday at exactly 7600 words! For those of you who know how OCD I am about numbers, this seemed to be the perfect sign to me that I should stop for the day and give myself a break to watch The Office.
Yup, I have started to watch again from Season 1 and I am loving it all over again as it continues to make me laugh out loud, break my heart, and at times wish I could work in a place like this all over again. Oh! I just noticed, if you look at the picture of my desk area you can see that I had an episode playing while I took these pictures hahaha
So that's the new place and it may not be big but it does have all the essentials and although I never thought I'd say this, I do actually like living alone. Not that I'd want to do it for long but it's nice that I don't have to live with dirty people who don't clean up after themselves or who make loud noises early in the morning or cook food that smells bad or.....alright. I'm going to stop there.

Love from London,
Kristin

Zoo Lates

Giraffe's and Lions and Penguins, oh my!
It's been a while since I've been to a zoo so when Chris told me about Zoo Lates I got really excited and we immediately went online to order our tickets in advance! Zoo Lates is an event that only happens during summer when the days are longer and the sun is out late and for anyone 18+ you can head to the zoo and walk around from 6-10 eating food of all kinds from the stands set up near the entrance and drinking a beer while looking at all of the adorable animals! It was Chris, Mel and I and we knew we wanted to try and see all of the animals before 9ish when most of them go to bed so we started at one end and we went as fast as we possibly could while still spending actual time with each animal.
Now the London Zoo is not quite like your average zoo. For starters it is much smaller than most but surprisingly large considering it is in the heart of London. However, when you walk through the entrance you immediately feel as though you are being transported into a different city. There is so much green and trees that reach up to the sky! I was truly shocked when halfway through I looked at Mel and Chris and said "you guys! We are in the middle of London watching penguins swim and monkeys swing from tree to tree!" I'm not sure why it felt so bizarre but it was so odd.
When it started raining a bit (as of course it inevitably would( we headed to the snake house where we were instantly drawn to the crowd surrounding the boa constrictor. I have never in my entire life in any other place or time or even movie seen a snake as wide and as long and as absolutely TERRIFYING as this one. I nearly screamed. As we craned our necks around the crowd we realized that everyone was staring at it because it had just been served dinner...a whole chicken. The snake was slowly coiling his body around the chicken's body until all you saw sticking out of the top was the poor chicken's legs. Then! THEN! Then....We saw him unhinging his jaw over and over to force the bird down his throat and you could literally see the chicken moving little by little down the snakes body. It was the most disgusting yet entrancing thing I've ever watched. I so badly wanted to avert my eyes and yet...I couldn't. For most of you that's probably more details than you needed as it is so I won't continue but we watched for a good 10 minutes before we forced ourselves to move on so we could fit in the rest of the animals!
Two of my all time favorite zoo animals are the monkeys and giraffes. I've always loved monkeys, probably because my parents always thought I was part monkey growing up, climbing trees and jumping around but giraffe's are just so beautiful too and I love them!!! So at the zoo I decided to buy myself a souvenir. A pet giraffe! Don't worry, he's a stuffed animal but he is quite large and a wonderful cuddle buddy! I saw him when we first walked into the gift shop before we began our tour of the zoo but I told myself not to get him (even though he was the LAST one of a special edition collection) and off we went to view the live animals. But at the end of our tour, as we were finishing up our ice creams, we went back into the gift shop and he was still there and I just knew I had to have him.
As the three of us were trying to come up with a name we decided it should be something that sounded African but none of us knew any African names. I thought he looked a little shy but you can't just call a giraffe shy! We started shouting out words that were made up but had us laughing so hard and Chris came up with Gadu. I told him he could have the middle name but I chose Geronimo for his middle name and his second middle name is Aibu which is swahili for shy!! So his full name comes out to Geronimo Gadu Aibu. I love him a lot and he has moved in quite nicely with the rest of my menagerie.



Love from London,
Kristin

God Save The Queen!

When I return home in a few weeks and people ask me what my favorite part of being in London was I will easily be able to say, "The weekend I spent celebrating the Queen's Diamond Jubilee!" Not only is a diamond jubilee unlikely to ever happen again in our lifetime but the camaraderie and lively attitude of the entire city made me feel as happy as I have ever felt in this city. It truly hit home for me just how much I love London and being a part of so much history that is happening while I take off this year to study. Through rain, wind, endless crowds and at times, short tempers I was able to celebrate with friends (and approximately 1 million other proud British folks) the life of the Queen and the love that England and it's commonwealth have for her. Even for those who are self-proclaimed anti-monarchists seemed to join in the festivities as they recognized the importance of such an event!
The first part of the weekend I celebrated was on Sunday for the flotilla a.k.a. boat parade, down the River Thames. Over 1,000 boats flying flags from all the commonwealth territories and other such decorations floated down the river in a nearly 4 hour parade. We arrived at Westminster Bridge at approximately 10:30 and were greeted by swarms of people all trying to push their way to the front of the barriers by the bridge sides in an attempt to stake out the best position possible. We managed to secure a spot for 7 of us in a decent spot just a couple people behind the barrier. For the next 5 hours we played Uno, shared our picnic lunches and laughed at stories told by the Grampa who came alone to watch. Being that we were standing on Westminster Bridge and right next to Big Ben we also counted down every 15 minutes. Every time the bells rang one of us would say "oh! only 3 hours and 45 minutes to go!" or "yay! only 30 minutes to go!" you get the idea.

The Queen's Boat

As soon as the flotilla started to come by peopled pushed and shoved and I was jostled back a few places to where I couldn't really see much! Luckily, Will is very tall and I was able to sit on his shoulders to view the parade above everyone's heads!! The actual flotilla was like nothing I have ever seen. There was live music on one of the boats and all different shapes and sizes of crews rowing down the river. I took over 100 pictures I think but I'll just share with you the one carrying the Royal Family.
I wish it was better quality but oh well, I know they're there!
Monday afternoon was also an exciting day! Chris and I decided to try and get as close to Green Park as we would be allowed in hopes of hearing some of the concert and then we would head over to one of the street parties in Leicester Square. Little did we realize that walking up Pall Mall we were actually able to head right up to the front of the Gates to Buckingham Palace! It was remarkable! I'm so happy that both of us are little and able to slither and wiggle our way to the front of any crowd. There were at least 20 screens lining Pall Mall and the park so we parked ourselves in front of one of them and enjoyed the music from Sir Elton John, Ed Sheerhan, Sir Paul McCartney and so many other British artists. It blew me away how happy and joyful and excited everyone was! Just to be singing along and dancing in the street and jumping up and down waving our flags! I was also told that Javi's mom and sister saw us on the tv when clips were being replayed from it!!! We were sitting across from a camera and were hoping but had no idea what station it was for. Apparently an American one! yay! Anyways, the show that the light technicians put on was also incredible! At 9:30 when it was dark enough they started projecting pictures and movies on to the front of Buckingham Palace! It was stunning to see and the fireworks show at the very end rivaled ANY fireworks display I have ever witnessed on July 4th at home. I of course took hundreds of pictures and TONS of videos as well so anyone who wants to see those just let me know when I'm home!
At the end of the concert Chris and I literally skipped out of the park waving our flags hollering God Save the Queen and We Love London!!! laughing our way to the tube along with 50,000 others. We decided to walk rather far away because they were limiting access to tubes anyways because of the great crowds. It was exhausting but completely worth it.
Tuesday was a very special day as well and we arrived back to our spot from the concert the night before to watch the procession of the Royal family to and from St. Paul's Cathedral where her thanksgiving mass was held and also to see her wave from the balcony. We waited over 6 hours for that wave and let me tell you, it was more than worth it. When we first arrived at the park we pushed our way to the front of the palace gates again and managed to snag a really good view of the gates and a spot where we would easily be able to see the Queen pass by. Unfortunately, after she re-entered the palace the police started allowing people from the back of Pall Mall to come forward into the palace gates and I swear I thought there was going to be a riot! People at the front of the gates who had been waiting since 5am were furious that those who showed up late or at least much later than them were going to make it inside the palace gates and they were not. There was lots of boo-ing and chanting of "let us in!" and I actually felt a little light headed from being crushed by people trying to push past the barriers. Chris and I decided to try and run back towards where they were letting the crowds in but by the time we reached the pathway they had already closed it. So what did we do? Hopped the gates of course! It may have been a little reckless considering all the police and security around but we did NOT wait that long to see the wave just to be stopped by some metal barriers. We wiggled, slithered, pushed and maybe even shoved a little until BAM we were at the front just to the left of the balcony. We had a clear view of everything and my eyes were brimming with tears because we made it so close! It had been a very long few days of no sleep, lots of standing, and lots of high emotions which for someone who cries as easily as I do means something like this was going to make me tear up.

When the Royal family walked on to the balcony the crowds went wild and I was waving my flag like a maniac in between trying to take as many pictures as possible! I got quite a few good ones that I'm really proud of. There was a 60 gun salute, a fly-over including red white and blue smoke from the Red Arrows. It was absolutely stunning and I know that nothing in my life will ever be like this experience.
I hope that some of you were able to watch this on television, or even the clips and re-runs that BBC was playing throughout the weekend. If not, go look it up on youtube. You won't regret it.

The Royal Air Force fly-over ended the Jubilee weekend here and according to one paper the Queen was 'humbled' by it all. She truly is a remarkable woman though to many it seems she does not do much. She represents so much to so many people around the world and my time here has led me to respect her and appreciate the excitement of having royalty around. I love all things patriotic even if they aren't for my home country and I am truly unbelievably grateful that I was able to be in London for this unforgettable experience.

Yah, I'd say we had a pretty good spot!

Love from London,
Kristin

P.S. For anyone who was interested in what story was that the Grampa told us here it is: When people find out that I was in the war they always want to know if I had to fight anyone. I always answer, "yah! As soon as I got married!" It was much funnier coming from him, probably because I forgot a few words or something but we laughed really hard. We then asked him if he wanted any chocolate to which he replied, "oh no, I'm trying to watch my figure!" and then patted his belly. So a little while later when we pulled out some veggies we asked him if he wanted some of those as they were healthier and he said, "oh no thanks, I'm trying to quit."

A Relaxing Vacation

It's been a busy 2 weeks since I last posted and it of course involved a little more traveling as well as such much needed and desired rest and relaxation. One of my good friends from LMU, Laura, came to visit me and for the last two weeks we have danced, laughed, and sang our way through Greece and London.

The day after Laura arrived we headed off to Athens! For those of you who don't remember, I LOVE old stuff. And history. And learning about it all! We stayed in a cute little hostel with cheerful staff and friendly travelers from around the world. The first night we arrived we attempted to get ourselves oriented with the area we were in (right below the acropolis!) but because it was dark and we were uncertain of the streets we decided that a little reading and sleep were in order so that we could have a full and productive day around the city.

We met up with several others from our hostel and joined a free walking tour provided by a man who has lived, worked, and studied in Athens for over two years. He is originally from Canada but moved to Athens after studying there and falling in love with the city. I was quite impressed when I heard him speaking in fluent Greek to some of the locals he knew in shops along the tour. He took us up to the front of the Acropolis, past the old market place and temples, past the old Olympic Stadium and back through the city center in all it's (minorly terrifying) glory. For all the bad press that Greece has been getting for problems they're causing with the Eurozone I expected to walk straight into protests and fights but besides a not-too-large group of neo-nazis chanting down the sidewalk there was not much to see in the way of political or social or any other kind of unrest. We didn't stay long because we had been warned by so many others to be careful of the main square and I wanted no part in anything that could have happened while we were there.
Morning of day two involved shopping. Up and down the alleyways and side streets of souvenir shops and sandal stores and hand made leather bags! It was almost overwhelming but we managed to handle it. After stopping at several stores selling hand-made leather sandals we finally decided to try a few pairs on and within minutes had each purchased a pair. They are comfortable, seem durable so far, and are the perfect addition to future summer wardrobes.
After a couple hours of shopping we then headed to the Island of Agistri. I cannot explain how beautiful and perfect our ocean view room was. We arrived to the island having no idea how to get to our hotel and under the assumption that we had over an hour drive to the hotel (thank you google maps for being useless everywhere but America) but it ended up being a less than 10 minute bus ride! The woman who owns the small hotel was unbelievably friendly from giving us her own personal beach towels to making sure we had a water boiler in case we wanted coffee in the morning as well as giving us a jar of fresh home-made jelly. I'm sad to say that Laura has now left and we still forgot to try it but I'll tell you how it is as soon as I do!
We immediately headed down to the beach to soak up some afternoon rays and read some more of our books. I should probably mention that we each took 3 books with us making it seem as though we were carrying around  a small library with us! We thought it was pretty funny and definitely necessary as we each went through over two of them in our time there. After sun we found a restaurant on the beach as well where we had some typical Greek food: Greek Salad, Mousaka- it is kind of like Greek Lasagna and tastes INCREDIBLE- as well as a meat platter of some kind involving kebabs. It was one of the most amazing meals.

Yes, those are eyeballs and legs and the whole bit. GAH!

Side note: on a different night I also ate fresh shrimp that I nearly screamed at when put on our table. Yes, I am now aware that when you order shrimp and you are staying on the ocean you will probably get fresh, whole shrimp. Laura convinced me it was good and after promising I didn't have to suck out the meat through the head or brains or whatever (oh gosh I want to barf just thinking about it) I finally did it!! And boy was it worth it!! Any of you who love fresh seafood should be jealous.

yup! thank you Greece for new cheap reading glasses! 

We were both apparently craving sleep that night because we slept for 12 hours before getting out of bed to find breakfast. We had crepes which, funny enough, was also our first meal in Greece when we arrived in Athens. It was one of the few places still open and taking orders at 10pm when we arrived. Anyways. We ate more Crepes in the past 2 weeks than I probably have in the last year but I have no regrets! We then rented bikes from a kind lady near our hotel. Not only was it only 5euro each for the entire day but she didn't take any names, phone #'s, address, or collateral of any kind. She just handed us over the bikes and said to enjoy our ride! Being that we were only 2 of maybe 5 other tourists on the island I guess she didn't think there was anything to worry about. One of the main reasons we picked this Island as opposed to one of the more touristy and popular islands was because it is very small and has beautiful beaches with few people around where all we could do was lay on the beach and relax. Okay and ride bikes for quite some time as well but you know what I mean.
By the morning of our departure we both had absolutely no desire to leave. We so badly wanted to stay and enjoy the sun and sand but alas it was off to London town.
When we landed we were absolutely SHOCKED at how warm it was. Both of us in our jeans and sweaters were hot and sweaty and although I was happy to see sun it was crazy how different it was from the cold, windy and cloudy London that we left 4 days previously.

not blending. torture for Laura hahah

To my excitement and enjoyment the sun and heat remained for the duration of Laura's stay. Because Laura has already been to London we were able to explore museums and parks and places that I haven't even been to yet. We went shopping and to the movies and sometimes just sat reading our books. We also went to see Mama Mia the musical and it was FANTASTIC! We sang our way through most of the performance and then came home and made our own videos hahah! Needless to say it was a fabulous time. We did manage to accomplish some school work but I won't lie. It wasn't much. It felt so...normal! Sometimes it really didn't feel like we were even in another country.
I think my favorite day was the day we spent in Green Park reading, drinking far too much wine and making new friends (of course you did, Kristin). We practiced our long board technique too which must have been pretty darn entertaining for the hundreds and hundreds of other people also enjoying the sun on such a beautiful day.



Laura will be my last visitor from home for my time here so I'm happy it was such a beautiful time. I am truly blessed by her friendship and by the love of everyone who has helped to make my time here easier and happier. Thank you! And on a very happy note... In just over four weeks I will be reunited with my beautiful country, just in time for fourth of July celebrations! I can't wait!

Love from London,
Krisitn

A Dose of Celebrity

What started off as a hectic but humdrum Monday turned in to a really awesome first time experience! I met up with Chris to do our usual Starbucks studying and of course, being that we both love talking half the time, we started talking about our plans for the evening and he mentioned that he was going to the premiere of Snow White and the Huntsman with one of his friends to see Charlize Theron and Kristen Stewart. I of course jumped at the chance to go on such an adventure and preceded to be distracted for the next 2ish hours as we finished up some studying before going. Now some of you may be surprised that in nearly 5 years of living in Los Angeles I have never attended a movie premiere or stalked celebrities. (Okay, there was that one time I hung out with some paparazzi after a Lakers game hoping and hoping to get a glimpse of Zac Efron...but that's a different story for a different time. ) To be honest, it never occurred to me that it was even allowed to show up to such affairs but it makes sense seeing as they are events held in large public places, in this case, Leicester Square. Everything was barricaded off with sections for the paparazzi and areas for fans to stand. We got a really good spot right next to the paparazzi so every celebrity that walked by had to stop in front of us to get their picture taken! A lot of the celebrities I couldn't even name because their from local tv shows or so and so's husband or wife but I took a bunch of pictures anyways because hey! maybe someday I'll be able to say "oh yah, I saw them once at a movie premier. no big deal" hahaha anyways, it was interesting to see how the celebrities handled all the screaming and shouting. For Charlize Theron, the smile never left her face and she was very gracious and friendly with fans, signing autographs etc and also kind to the tonssss of paparazzi that were screaming at her, trying to turn to every angle they wanted. Kristen Stewart however did not seem to handle it as well and I can't really blame her. She reacted the way I would probably act if hundreds of people were shouting at me at once. She looked a little shy yet also a little distressed. The paparazzi kept asking her to turn this way and that to see her beautiful dress and at one point she threw her hands up, shook her head and with a slight stressed out smile said "ugh ohmygosh". Or at least that's what we thought it looked like she said.
I do feel bad for celebrities at times because I can't imagine having to live such a well-guarded life. Big stars can go literally nowhere without protection whether it's from creepy old men or screaming little girls. It must be frustrating to be watched every second of your life and live up to the expectations of SO many different people while still balancing who you want to be. Can't really blame so many celebrities for cracking under that kind of pressure.

Okay, enough of that.  I leave you with a picture of Charlize Theron and Kristen Stewart.


Love from London,
Kristin

I Have An Obsession With Spain

My latest adventures have taken me back to the beautiful, exciting, warm, sunny city of Barcelona, Spain and I don't even know how to start explaining the happiness this trip brought to me. For the past 2-3 weeks London has been rainy, cloudy and gray and I have wanted to be anywhere but here, counting down the days until I would touch down in Barcelona and finally feel the warm sun on my face. As the plane slowly descended into the El Prat Airport I saw the city bright with sunshine and my hand automatically reached out to touch the window which was surprisingly warming up as well. I immediately began to smile and for the next 3 1/2 days that smile never left my face!
After disembarking and making my way as quickly as possible through border patrol and customs I literally ran outside the first door I could find even though I had to catch the train in the exact opposite direction to get into the city. I just needed to see- no feel- the sun!
After a few minutes of that I found my way over to the train which was a quick 20 minute ride over to my hostel which I found easily using the directions from their website. Now when I told people I would be staying in a hostel by myself most were very nervous (as was I) but this hostel was not like other hostels I've seen. It was more like a hotel where you shared rooms (okay fine, that's what a hostel is- but it was fancier) and most of the other residents were adults. There were of course some kids about my age but the 5 other people in my room were all 35+ I would say. There was a place to lock up my bag and we had our own bathroom so we didn't have to walk down to a communal bathroom with all our things.

As soon as I figured out the wifi connection I contacted Aubrey's friend, Wences, who came and met up with me to begin the first of three days of touring the city! I can't express enough gratitude to Wences for playing tour guide for 3 full days. I would not have been or seen as many places as I did if it was not for him! When Aubrey first put us in contact and he asked me if there was anything specifically I wanted to see all I said was "the fountain that lights up and plays music!" hahah I didn't even know that this famous fountain was in front of the palace that I should be seeing. Silly Krisitn.
Anyways, Wences has a motorbike so we were able to move our way through the city even faster and more efficiently allowing us to take advantage of the few days I had in the city. He took me to the important squares and plazas, the castle, the palace with the fountain, on two cable car rides, the Gaudi Cathedral, to his home for some homemade dinner, the Gaudi Park, and what I am most excited about....THE BEACH! That is right folks, for the first time in months I had my toes in the sand and although I have returned to London sunburned I am not the least bit upset. I was so unbelievably happy to be back in the water even if it was slightly cold and after getting over my discomfort at the fact that most of the women don't wear bathing suit tops I laid back, closed my eyes and took a nap in the sand!
I don't think even I had quite realized how much I missed the ocean and the sand getting into every single thing I had with me and just the overall peacefulness of being near the sound of the ocean.
The Gaudi Park and Gaudi Cathedral were also absolutely stunning! The park was originally meant to be a city within a city. A place for the rich to live a part from those (quite literally) beneath them. It is set at the top of a hill/street and we climbed all the way to the top and sat to take in the view and enjoy some sun. It was a beautiful walk and even though the lower levels were overflowing with tourists I enjoyed our brief rest at the top where not quite so many people were willing to climb.
And the Cathedral...WOW. Just wow. It was so extraordinarily beautiful I can't even begin to explain to you the wonders of the work that has gone in to this beautiful building that has been in the works for over 100 years! We climbed one of the towers to the top and got some more beautiful pictures of the city as well as pictures of the construction. I'm hoping to go back someday when it is finished and take more pictures in the same places just to have a fun compare and contrast pictures.
Another favorite spot was the castle which until 2 years ago was still used as a military base! Makes sense since it overlooks the sea and city and you can see forever and ever but I sure am glad it is open to the public now. I think it is possibly the biggest castle I have yet been in throughout my trips and it was fun to spend time wandering the outside walls and playing with the old guns etc...we also had some ice cream with our sea view! Perfection.

I could honestly go on forever about the wonderful time I had here. Lots of tapas, lots of Sangria, a bar with live music, making new friends and finally enjoying some rest and relaxation!  Wences was so generous to put up with me for so many days and (if you read this) I hope you come to London or California one of these days so I can play tour guide!

This trip to Barcelona was exactly what my heart and soul needed to get back on track for school work. I suppose I am still a little distracted and have probably looked through all 300+ of my pictures many, many times now but I finally got the sun I was desperately craving and in just a short time I will be on my way to Greece to soak up some more of those glorious rays!

Love from London,
Kristin

I run to be...committed

As I believe I mentioned in a previous post I have been frequenting the gym again! I love working out. I love running. I love being in shape and feeling healthy again! Except for when I am lucky enough to have visitors I go every single day which is more than I've ever been able to go to the gym but with so much free time I figure it's a good way to do something good for myself as well as begin to train. Train for what you might ask? Another Nike Women's Half Marathon!

New Shoes and New iPod

Now for those of you who witnessed me run it last time or heard me talk about it after and promised I would never do that again...well I lied. I have officially registered for another grueling 13 miles up and down the hills of San Francisco. The difference this time is that I have promised myself, my family, and Aubrey (who I am running it with again- this time I want to keep up with her) that I will train. Not only did I not train for the last one but I had been sick for a few days, had a fever the day of, it was raining, I was cold and by the end I could hardly run. I am proud to say that although my time was pretty terrible- I think it was over 2 1/2 hours- I did run all but about 5-10 minutes of it which is probably why I was in so much pain for months after. I learned my lesson and I am more dedicated and excited to be training for this event than ever! I have a new pair of running shoes and an awesome new iPod that my wonderful boyfriend got me that now has updated running mixes on it as well as Nike+! What Nike+ does is track your runs for you. You can tell it how far you want to run or how long you want to run, you hit start and every kilometer you run it updates you how far you have gone! It's really handy because last time I tried "training" I had largely over-estimated how far I was actually running each day. It's not my fault though really, if your training period is in Arizona during the summer you try telling me that 1 block doesn't feel like 1 mile AT LEAST! Anyways. I guess once I am back home this summer I will have to accept that I will be awaking at 4am to run and hike Camelback mountain again. Or maybe I'll just need to stay in California a lot of the summer....I know a few people who would be okay with that. I'm not sure my parents are part of those people though. ;)

So why do I want to run this half marathon? Why do I want to put myself through this again? Because I like a challenge. Because I like showing people how tough I can be. Because I want to be committed to something that I need to work my butt off for! Because I can. Plus, it doesn't hurt that at the end of the race beautiful men in tuxes will be handing me a Tiffany's necklace off a silver platter. Really though, it's for the challenge. hahaha!


Love from London,
Kristin

Laundry

Laundry. How I loathe doing laundry. So much so that at home I don't bother doing it more than once a month. I guess it's a good thing I'm lucky enough to have enough clothes for that to even be possible. To all my American friends....take a minute right now and appreciate your washer and dryer. I'm serious! Do it.

There is nothing like being able to throw a whole load of laundry in at once and then putting it in to a dryer that also fits all those clothes. Doing laundry out here is much more complicated than that. After my first few weeks out here I soon realized that doing laundry only once a month was not going to be a possibility. For starters, what would be 1 load of laundry at home has to be divided up into 2-3 sometimes 4 loads. Why? Because THIS is the size of our washing machine. At first glance you think "aww how cute!" Or at least that's what I said at first. But after being here for 8 months (WHOA! how did THAT happen?) I now despise laundry more than ever. When I say it's laundry day I literally mean an ENTIRE day must be devoted to all the laundry I have to do. You're probably asking "well Kristin, why don't you do your laundry more often than once a month?" And to that I will sigh and say "I DO." I know, I know, I shouldn't complain because in reality I am very, very lucky to even have a washing machine in my apartment. I maybe know one other person who is as lucky as that but still. Look at how tiny it is!!

The next problem is that this little machine is also the dryer. Yup, you got it. A washer/dryer combo. As you can maybe imagine, my things do not get very dry when the leftover water from the rinse cycle is still spinning through during the dry cycle. After a couple months of playing with the different settings I finally figured out that rather than putting it on the 3 hour dry cycle (no joke. 3 hours is an option) where my clothes come out smelling burnt and gross I have started to hang things up. Now being that I was too cheap to buy a £10 clothes drying rack and also too lazy to carry it back on the bus and home from the store, I hang it from my door way and take over all the chairs in the living room. I'm not sure how my roommates felt about having laundry strewn about all afternoon but hey! you gotta do whatcha gotta do to get those clothes dry and smelling fresh!
Needless to say I am more than anxious to get home and hug my washer and dryer. Literally. I plan on hugging and thanking each one for being so beautiful and large.
On a side note, it is not washing machines and dryers that I despise but rather the general act of doing laundry. The sorting and soap and timing it and then folding it and getting it organized into drawers....ugh. But ask anyone who has been in to Best Buy with me and they can attest to the fact that Washers and Dryers and appliances in general get me SO excited!! I'm such a dork like that but hey, nothing wrong with liking these things. CLICK ME CLICK ME CLICK ME This is the kind of stuff I love sprinting to as soon as I enter Best Buy hahahah I think Javi had thought I'd gone nuts when he first saw me go bug eyed and start playing with all the dials and knobs. And last time I went with my dad he had to tell me NO 100x's before I would leave. *sigh* poor Kristin. hahah just kidding.

Love from London,
Kristin

Random Happenings

A couple weeks ago I decided to take another stab at cooking using a recipe from my Harry Potter Cookbook! This time around was MUCH more successful than the last. No, really! It was! I decided to stick with a food I have cooked on numerous occasions and was always a hit among my roommates in college. PANCAKES!! There was a slight twist on these that made them better than any pancake recipe I've ever used. Lemons. I LOVEEEE lemons but why would I ever think to add them in to pancake mix? I sure am glad that the author of this "unofficial" Harry Potter cookbook thought to! The recipe was your basic pancake recipe with flour, sugar, eggs but also with grated lemon zest and a small amount of freshly squeezed lemon juice. The batter tasted wonderful and the pancakes even better than that! Anyone who wants the recipe just let me know, I'll email it to you. Mariel was a great assistant and laughed at me as I continued to eat about 3 pancakes worth of batter. You'll understand when I make them for you. Anyways, I can't wait to continue trying new recipes from this cookbook! I think it will be easier when I am back in America because often times I struggle to find some of the ingredients in the store here. If you look hard enough you can usually find everything but my patience is limited in the grocery store and my attention span even shorter than that and I usually find myself distracted by things I can throw in the microwave or oven instead of making myself, especially since I get bored cooking for myself sometimes.

After long days spent in the library and reading for hours in whatever coffee shop I find comfortable that day (okay fine, 99% of the time it's a Starbucks. But I rotate between several of them! Not my fault they just seem to get me.) I am still trying to have fun and relax. The other evening my friend Chris invited me to the filming of a pilot episode of a new comedy show that will be launching here in a few months time. It was called Old Farts and Upstarts featuring Jo Brand. Or something along those lines. Basically it had 3 quite famous UK comedians who were a big deal "back in the day" hence their team name: Old Farts. The other team was made up of 3 up and coming comedians in the UK and all have been in television shows or on their own comedy tours. It was a lot of fun and although I didn't always understand all the British jokes or humor I still laughed for a good two hours and it felt good since the last two weeks of rain and gloom have left me feeling pretty down. Here is a picture of the set they used. I'm not sure we were supposed to even take pictures of this so I didn't feel quite nervy enough to pull out my camera during filming. It was so cool though to see how a real television show is filmed! Sometimes they would have us redo certain parts and make sure we were still clapping or laughing and they even filmed 3 different endings to the show so they would have options. And halfway through the makeup team came out to fix up the comedians faces as the studio was unbelievably hot and we, the audience, was sitting in the bleachers without lights on us. I can't imagine how hot they were on stage!

As for this last picture...well I just like what the bus had to say. I'm not exactly sure how advertising on buses works here in the UK but it seems that as long as you pay for it you can post whatever you like on the side of a bus! Elections for mayor were today and so the past few weeks have been very intensely political and even the buses had ads for candidates which I can't imagine happening in the states. I suppose I could be wrong about that because I don't live in a city where I often see buses BUT I like that this one and a few others I saw that day made such a statement. It's true! Some people are gay. GET OVER IT!

Well, that is basically all that is going on, just a quick little update on my life. 

Love from London,

Kristin