Springtime Haircut!

Hello loyal readers!

I must first make an important announcement. Last Wednesday night (I forgot to report about it) there were three attacks and one rape in Englefield Green. Englefield Green is like the suburb next door to Royal Holloway and when I say next door I mean literally over the main road. I was in rehearsal at the time when one of the girls got a call from her friend who was one of those attacked. She said some guy come up to her and asked for directions, she gave them to him and started to walk away briskly when he yelled coarse language at her and began to chase her. Luckily, this girl was a super fast runner and got away. So much for the Egham police saying at the beginning of our stay here that Egham is the safest town in England! Don't worry though I was well informed and walked home one of the girls who had a male friend accompanying her. I was very safe. I am being very careful so you needn't worry but - yikes - it's all become very real.

And now onto my silly little blog. I have scrambled from the clutches of boredom and have exciting things to write about! Tamsin was still very very ill so we couldn't do our seminar presentation on Tuesday and it is now rolled to next week. I'll get it done. Eventually. I mean it's not like I'm procrastinating by writing this blog..................ANYWAY

Time dragged it's heels to today - Wednesday! A very exciting day. Over the past week or so flowers have started blooming from every orifice of Royal Holloway. Especially Daffodils. They're everywhere! Have a look!

Yeah... I now realise they're not that easy to see. The little yellow blobs on the green - they're flowers. Love them as I do. The building in the background is where I live (from another angle) in all its glory.

Miranda and I up very early this morning to get a train into London because we were getting.... drum roll... our hair cut! Yay! Much excitement as we booked the appointment like a month ago and have been finding various celebrity hairstyles to mimic. The day had finally arrived and we couldn't contain our excitement. We turned up at the salon - early - it was closed. So we got a coffee, relaxed and went back for the full treatment. The lady cutting our hair was so lovely and she does all the hair for the people who star on X Factor - if that means something to someone then I'll be happy. She has also met Beyonce! Pretty exciting. By this time I was starting to let go of my fear and trust her haircutting skills. And now you can behold!
BEFORE:

AFTER:

What do you think? The bow isn't going anywhere. I think the haircut is pretty cute though I was questioning the reason why I cut off my long hair which kept my neck warm. Ah well. It was actually really warm in London today. There were times when both Miranda and I weren't wearing our jackets! Shock!

We went shopping afterwards and found the giant Primark (my favourite store) on Oxford Street and went somewhat mad. I didn't buy hardly anything so everyone calm done. I love Primark because it's so cheap compared to the rest of London and Britain in general. We then went to Camden Market for one last dash and I tried one last time to find this store I found on the internet which sells beautiful 1950s style dresses. Last time we went I forgot the directions but this time I WAS PREPARED. We eventually found it after much walking and confusion. It was stuck down this creepy little alley and positioned above a mechanic's workshop. Seriously. The "shop" smelt of petrol and all the dresses were covered in plastic. The workers in this "shop" were all blokes so Miranda and I felt really weirded out by this place so we left promptly - with no dresses. I was disappointed that that place was so weird but I'm glad we got the heck out of there! I really wanted one of those dresses to wear to the summer ball at the end of term. Ah well. I'll have to keep my eye out for a lovely dress to wear or - god forbid - wear one of the dresses I already have!

Onwards to Camden Market. By this the day was wearing on and Miranda and I were a bit peckish. So we decided to get a small snack at none other than KFC. Now when I say small snack I mean something light - you know what I mean right? Well what I got was not small. It was not little. It was not tiny. It was microscopic. Look at the size of the popcorn chicken I got.

Fitted into the palm of my hand. Now that is what I call a snack. Then started the Camden trawl. I couldn't believe that we had arrived so late - 5:30 - because all the stalls started packing up! Every other time I've come here I've started earlier and been absolutely knackered by this time. Miranda and I, however, were ready for action and marched through the stalls that were open and had a lovely time. The stalls all closed so we decided to have a big Chinese feed for only 3 pounds! Woohoo! I haven't had Chinese food in so long and even though this wasn't the best in the world - it sure felt like it. Oh boy. We also got DONUTS. Not very Chinese but delicious all the same.

We then plodded back to good ol' Waterloo which everyone knows and loves. I really needed the loo so I left my stuff with Miranda and paid 30 pence to use the toilets in the station - I was obviously busting or else I would have waited on principle. It's so stupid. I mean you have to pay to use the toilets in train stations which are, probably, the most disgusting toilets in all of London. You would think by paying you would get a clean hygienic environment - oh no. Even the stupid gate wouldn't open after I paid my money so I had to shimmy my way through the turnstile to get into the festering stinkhole known as Waterloo station restroom. On my way out I noticed a sign that read "Thieves are operating in this station. Do you know who has your property?" I immediately went - MIRANDA! Ran over to her and told the story. What a hilarious pair we are.
Train ride home, walk home. Tiring. At least I have cute hair! Tomorrow I have to show my directing piece for the rest of the class and throw myself at their mercy. I can't say I'm hopeful. I think the lecturer disliked me. Sigh.

And so on and so on and so on...

Since I have returned everything has slipped back into its usual routines - nothingness and study. Such is life. You can't escape the mundane no matter where you are.

Wednesday night was fun though. Miranda, Dani and Brittany (other American girls) got together and made Kraft Mac n Cheese. They had all been longing and homesick for it and luckily (or rather strangely) the supermarket in Egham had an American food section, featuring Macaroni Cheese. So Miranda and I trooped over to the Butler halls of residence which are SO NICE. It's SO unfair... Why must we rot in Founders? The only downside of Butler is that you have to cook your own meals which I think I would have got sick of in five seconds so I guess I am grateful for that component of Founders. Butler get double beds, en suite bathrooms and generally nice living areas! Waaaaaa! I guess it's adding to the experience - the experience of not getting any sleep! My bed is soooo uncomfortable. I forget what it's like to have a decent night of sleep and to not look like a panda all the time.

ANYWAY back to the Mac and or Cheese. The girls all scuttled about cooking it while I stood by and watched. After a whole ten minutes or so it was done! It was very very tasty. (Even though Miranda will probably read this - "Hi!" - I think we have Kraft Mac n Cheese at home. Do we? Anyone?)
After dinner we had ice cream! Delicious ice cream. It's actually warm in Butler (as you can see I'm only in a T-shirt!) so you can eat ice cream without freezing. I had to then rush off because I was going to rehearse my directing piece for class the next day. I was SO nervous. I've never properly directed anyone before - no idea what I'm doing. It went well I think but I'm not sure I'll be able to deliver what our lecturer wants. I mean I'm sure he'd love it if I got my female actors naked onstage rolling over one another but that doesn't really fit with Streetcar.

The next day (Thursday) I went to class. We were spending the whole day just rehearsing and directing our pieces which meant for me sitting and reading trying not to look upset. I'm only in one piece so I had like 2 and half hours or so of nothing. I rehearsed by piece with the lecturer watching and he took me out of the room and said the accent thing "wasn't working" so now I have to change it. Sigh. I almost broke into tears in front of him because I felt like I wasn't doing anything right and he said I shouldn't worry so much. Humph. Easy for him to say. Overall it was a pretty rubbish day but at least I looked cute in one of my new dresses! Yay!

Friday - I did my laundry. That's it. No Miranda doing laundry therefore no video. No fun. Though now I have clean sheets which is a bonus.

Saturday - today! Yay! I had to go to Roehampton today with Tamsin because we are doing a seminar on Tuesday that is worth 50%! I think it will be good though. Poor Tamsin is super sick though so I don't even know if she'll be able to do it. Roehampton library was just as hopeless as last time with unhelpful and useless staff members as far as the eye can see. Roehampton is just one big faff. Seriously. Photocopiers not working, printing card machines not working - my GOODNESS. The place begs to be lit on fire. But I maintained my sanity for the duration of the trip. Tamsin drove us there and back so we had a fun little road trip. As you can see by the pictures - England roads aren't that exciting but I felt I needed more photos for this blog.

Hopefully, I'll have something more interesting to write about in the next blog. Encouraging I know. For now - it's back to playing the Sims!

Goodbye Scotland - Hello Founders

The last two days of my time in Scotland were really fun and well spent. Spent being the operative word as I spent far too much money on clothes - I couldn't help it! They are so pretty! I haven't bought anything new in yonks! Stop looking at me like that!

Annnyway... Julia and I hunted the shops and let me tell you Glasgow has awesome shopping. Especially when you are shopping with a pro who knows all the good places AKA Julia.

We found some hilarious knickers that neither of us could work out how to actually wear...

Julia got a lovely new bra which she showed off for the general public as we ate lunch - baked potatoes YUM! Though apparently I'm weird for having cheese AND sour cream on mine. I guess I'm just weird. That night we had baked potatoes for dinner as well (I'll get em while they are available) and I had chili con carne, cheese and sour cream and even though Julia and the waitstaff all looked at me strangely - I enjoyed it. I then had a traditional pudding - it was butterscotch and delicious.

The next day we got up and, you got it, went shopping again! Didn't see all the shops the first time round. At two Julia's mum dropped off my suitcase (which was now 3 kilos heavier than when I started) and Julia and I hopped on the bus to the airport. We were just pulling in when Julia started telling me how the Glasgow airport was under siege by terrorists not so long ago! Like a couple of years ago - How did I miss this? Some people drove a car with a bomb in it into the front of the airport but the bomb went off too early so the burning car ploughed into the airport. Because of this one of the terrorists burned to death and the other one tried to make a run for it but was tackled but a Scotsman - and now, according to Julia, this Scotsman is milking his heroic behaviour for all its worth - even now! Now that made me a touch nervous as I went in but everything was fine and dandy and Julia waited with me until I had to go through my gate. Typically, my flight was delayed but 20 minutes. Sigh. Said my goodbyes to Julia - if you're reading this - thank you very much I had a lovely time! Can't wait to return! There's a nice photo of us for closure. A very lovely time. Not even the constant drizzle of rain could get me down.

I got on the plane and had no one sitting next to me telling me about piglets in papers. Ah well. Maybe next time. I had a delicious chicken salad though... it was really good. Lime and everything. Is it just me or is this blog all about food?

Got off the plane and trotted out to the bus. My bag was one of the last one to come of the conveyor belt and I had a minor panic attack inside until it eventually rolled out. So onto the bus. The bus turned up and I walked forward to get on and the bus driver looked at me and shook his head. Okay... I'll just wait. The bus driver then turned off the engine and went to the back of the bus, leaned down, looked puzzled and called someone on his walkie talkie. Another man arrived. Walked to the back of the bus, leaned down, looked puzzled and called someone on HIS walkie talkie. Enter man number 3 who did the same thing again. This time, however, he called a woman over who did - the same thing. Once man number four had arrived I overheard one of them saying that some guy had fallen into a heavy sleep lying on the floor at the back of the bus. At first I thought he could be dead and that would mean I would get home even later! Yes I'm very sympathetic when I'm tired. Eventually they kicked him awake and he stumbled off the bus to be greeted by two policeman - what a commotion! I got on the bus and after a while so did the sleepy man! Why would he get back on the bus? Did he not catch the HEATHROW bus to go to HEATHROW? I was very much confused... I arrived home and then went to Holloway Players show. Had a pint and went to bed.

Had class the next day (Therapy class) but nothing worth noting because we have to all do seminars in pairs so I learnt a lot about Autism, Aspergers, Anorexia and Alcoholics - all beginning with the letter 'A'. After class I had dinner and then went to the student production which starred a couple of people I know. It was pretty funny and I was really lucky to get a ticket! It was their last last show so they squeezed me in. So that was funny and I said well done to all my friends and then braved the AWFUL weather outside. It was disgusting weather. Seriously it was a gale. Rain pouring and wind blowing. I had to stop a couple times thinking I would be blown over - It was not nice. The people in the play should appreciate the trouble I went to in trekking through the grounds in that weather.

Not much else to report. Today (Wednesday) I'm going to lie low and get some chores and work done - woopee!

Football!

Today was a lazy day. We woke up late and then watched, that's right, Sex and the City. It's such a good show and I will miss it dearly when I go back to Egham.

Eventually we got dressed and put on one of the many many Celtic shirts that Julia owns. Celtic are her favourite team and because they have season tickets we went to the game that was playing. Celtic Vs St Mirren. After Julia dropped her phone in the toilet we set off to catch the train. The train was full of people wearing green and white scarves, shirts and hats. Celtic's colours are green and white - just in case you hadn't picked it up.

We got off the train with the other masses of people and marched, like ants, to the stadium - Celtic Park/Parkhead - the biggest stadium in Scotland - 60 000 people. Most of the seats were full too. Mostly because everyone has season tickets and most of the seats were full too. It was pretty cold and it drizzled with ran now and again but that didn't dampen the day. We had our bags checked and scooted into our seats - which we had to dry - and got ready for some football.

After Julia gave me a run down of the players and basic game rules (I needed my memory refreshed) the game began! Celtic hasn't been playing as well as they usually do and are tied in the table with their enemies - Rangers. I found out a while ago that Rangers were actually the team that my family supported fiercely - whoops. The supporters of the Rangers sound like madmen from what Julia was telling me. I mean there was a time when a Celtic fan literally had their head jumped on and died. Then Rangers fans would sing the Celtic fans "bouncy bouncy" and it went to Parliament and they got shamed. Serves them right. Football here is FIERCE. Julia went to a match in London and the Celtic fans had to wait in the stadium for 2 hours after the game and be escorted by police because the Rangers fans were crazy. Even when she came out they were yelling and throwing bottles and such. Yikes.

Anyway I got distracted - back to the game. There was a player called Scott McDonald and he is the Australian of the team. Woo! Apparently when he scores they play "Skippy the bush kangaroo" and they call him Skippy. Sadly he didn't score. But that didn't stop the fans yelling "com own Skippee!". "Go wee man! Com own wee man!" Very atmospheric.

The actual game got me in. Half time flew by with the score at 2 - 0 to Celtic. Much rejoicing went on. The first goal happened once one of the Celtic players kicked it, the goalie grabbed it then accidentally threw it into the goal. HA HA! Brilliant. We then quickly scurried to the canteen which offered general foods and Bovril. You may not have heard of Bovril and neither had I - it's a beefy drink. It's a MEAT drink. How GROSS IS THAT?? Bleeeh. Julia said it's really popular and that is just wrong. She hasn't tried it and there was no way I was going to try - not without a bucket or something nearby.

Half time finished and went back to our seats for an amazing finish. I barely sat down because the final score was 7 - 0. Oh yeah. I am a good luck charm. One of the other goals was scored because the other team accidentally kicked it in! HA HA! It was funny because both players of the other team who kicked it in suddenly lay down on the ground, looking dead. It looked so funny. It was so good when everyone started singing (I made Julia join in). An awesome game. I really enjoyed it. Hopefully next time I come back here I can go again.

We caught the train back and it was SO FULL that we couldn't buy tickets. There was no machine on the platform so we got a free ride home. If a ticket inspector came I could just put on my innocent Australian voice and say that I didn't know. Julia would play the role of mute French person.

We got back and Julia's boyfriend, Vinny, came round and he was disappointed that Celtic won - being a Rangers fan - Boooooooooo! Then we got pizza and watched the Sex and the City movie - you can see that we clearly like the show. Tomorrow is a day of shopping! YIPPEE! Must get my rest...

Bonnie Wee Scotland! Och Aye!

Hello kindly readers! I have arrived in Scotty-land.

But first you must hear the tales of what happened BEFORE I arrived. I had my directing class and that was okay. We had to do our seminars and that all went fine finity fine. Despite the fact that I'm still suffering from a cold so my speaking voice was somewhat husky and my speech was interrupted by fits of coughing - it went well. I did too much work, as always, for a piece of assessment that wasn't worth anything. Ho hum.

I was very distracted through class because I was too busy thinking about flying to Scotland that night. Yay! Packed my bag, walked to bus stop and caught the bus to Heathrow - Terminal 5. I couldn't believe how easy it all was. Made it to the airport early and read my book (very appropriate reading for a paranoid airport - American Psycho). Checked in and then had to face the hideous amounts of security checks. I had to queue, put liquids in a plastic bag, have my photo taken, passport checked (I'm going domestic how weird is that?), shoes off, bagged scanned, jacket scanned, x-rayed and luckily not patted down by a guard. Still early so I wandered around the airport sauntering in front, but never going in, of Gucci, Prada, Mulberry and Dior. Then I thought I would have a sandwich for dinner and not break the bank - how naive I am. 6 pounds later and I boarded the flight and was sitting next to a very Scottish woman who I could barely understand and she kept leaning over to point out interesting things in her newspaper like "a wee piggy. It ownlee weeighs a powwnd!". Sound it out. I know I had to. After staring dubiously at the pork pie I was served we landed. Very quick flight.

And now - I am in Scotland! I excitedly rushed into Julia's arms after having not seen her for many years. Sounds romantic but it wasn't - so relax. Everything went according to plan and Christine (Julia's mum) and Julia took me on a tour of all the old places I use to know when I lived here. My old house, the school, the shop (yes the shop) and so on. I soon re-acquainted myself with the joys of Scotland - Minstrels and Irn-Bru!

And, yes, I seem to be getting paler.

Had a relaxing evening watching "Sex and the City" then we hit the hay.

The following day - much to Julia's excitement - we took the Glasgow City Tour Bus. She said she had always wanted to go on it but was too afraid the tour guide would ask where she was from and she would have to answer "here" and hide her embarrassed face. So I was a good excuse. It was hilarious! It was a hop-on, hop-off bus so we hopped on and then hopped off at the "armadillo" which is a building that copies the Sydney Opera House and is next to the SECC centre where all the bands play. We got a stranger to take our photo next to the river in front of the bridge that Julia says keeps breaking. The strings holding it up keep snapping so people living around the area are used to the sound of sudden snapping. The bus eventually came back to retrieve us from windy turmoil. Back on the bus and back to the sights of the town. The guide said that there are only 600 000 people living in Glasgow and later that evening this would be discussed/argued with many Glaswegian youths.

It was so funny because on the list of sights to see there was a bridge, a motorway and a car park. HILARIOUS. Needless to say we didn't hop-off to get a better look at these "sights". It was so cold on the top of this open bus. Julia insisted we stay there (and it was awesome fun) except that I felt like the skin on face would tear off because of the cold air smashing against it. Here is a photo when we weren't going at top speed - somewhat more attractive I think. We sped onwards and hopped-off to go and have some lunch at a place which I absolutely loved when I was here many years ago - Di Maggio's. To keep the nostalgia flowing we asked to have the kiddies colouring page and set to work solving the join-the-dots and find-a-words. We ended up drawing pictures on the back which you can enter into their competition leaving your name and age. So Julia and I gave ourselves new normal names with really weird spellings like - Owen - Eoghan and Kirsty - Ciorstaidh ages 9 and 7. Here is the picture Julia drew featuring the tour bus, the characters from Sex and the City and the two of us running behind the bus. Very true because we missed the bus a couple of times.

Got back on and then went to the Kelvingrove Museum which Julia said took ages to build and that once it was built the architect killed himself because they built it the wrong way round. For some reason near the entrance was a dead pigeon in a glass box sitting on a table. It weirded us out so we needed to take a photo.

Inside we had a lot of fun seeing the various exhibits which included famous paintings and stuffed animals. Of course I paused at the stuffed kangaroo. There were loads of children on field trips looking excitedly around and making comments in their Scottish accents. We then found a big painted version of Scotland on the floor and Julia scurried about on the floor trying to find her house. In the end she gave up and collapsed on the map. It looked like a crime scene so we moved to the next exhibit.

The museum had a lot of interactive exhibits. There was one where you could type in what the people in the painting were thinking. So we made the butler think "Man I want some waffles. Mmmmmmmmmmmmm waffles". Then we found a great part of the museum where you could imitate Briar Rose - Sleeping Beauty. And there were costumes. Costumes made for children of about 7. That didn't stop us. We struggled into the tiny dresses, ignoring the slight tearing sounds. It was so funny. Some people walked by and had a giggle at our expense. We then found out it was harder to get the clothes off than on and had to take it in turn to help one another and wriggle out of the clothes.

Back on the bus, once more, and we decided to do a loop and then head back to Julia's house to change and go bowling. We were getting pretty tired by this time as you can see.

So then Julia, Vinny (Julia's boyfriend) and I went bowling. Vinny, typically being a boy, was really good at bowling and Julia and I could only beat him (JUST) by combining our scores. As you can see bowling shoes didn't really go with my outfit. We had dinner and were then picked up by one of Julia's friend and went to a birthday party of her friend. I ended up playing Mario Kart on the Wii with various Scots. We then switched to bowling and I got 4 strikes in a row! Of course I'm better at digital bowling than real bowling. Real bowling I only got one strike. Was a very lovely evening which ended with more watching of Sex and the City and sleepy time. More soon!

Reading Week Over!

Back to classes I'm sad to say. Bad attitude but its come to this.

I did hand in my assignment, on time, and complete which has lifted a HUGE weight off my shoulders. Even though it wasn't worth ANYTHING I went out of my way and that lecturer should be darn pleased. I can't believe I wrote an assignment about Bulimia... that's so random for my degree - though having said that I can now talk about my therapy class! Random things always happen...

Everyone was actually on time today. Mind boggling believe me. The Brits are not the most punctual people - well the student part of this group certainly aren't. We all filed into class and started talking about the next piece of assessment. We have to do a seminar, in pairs, to the rest of class and I'm doing - guess what? - BULIMIA. YAY. The fun never ends. We lit our little candle and did some various exercises so the lecturer could demonstrate what you might do were you dealing with less able bodied people or people with schizophrenia and so on. The first group got up and then they all blew up balloons! Now if you didn't know - and I can't believe I'm telling the world this - but I'm quite afraid of balloons. It's a really stupid fear and I can't help it but yeah, I really really REALLY dislike balloons. After the exercise was over (I had my fingers in my ears the entire time) the lecturer asked what everyone thought. Whilst this was going on there were balloons bouncing around me, being jiggles by every group member and I thought I might scream so I opened up and said "Okay it was kind of difficult for me because I really hate balloons. They freak me right out". And, typically, I got a bit teary about it. Everyone quickly put the balloons away and I instantly felt like the biggest loser and weirdo on the earth. Why, oh, why must the British keep finding out about my stupid ways? Oh dear I'm doomed to a life of lameness regardless of my global positioning.

After this I was in a group and we had a big map of the world on the floor (imagined) and we had to stand where we felt home was. So whilst everyone was on the other side of the room in "England" I was on the other side in "Australia". Very lonely. It was nice though because the lecturer then asked us to move to somewhere we would really like to go and a lot of the girls came over to Australia. Meanwhile, I bolted to China. Tee hee. We then made a freezeframe of ourselves as, like, clothes people with coats draped over ourselves and then it was the end of the session. You don't need details - trust me I am as confused as you are. Because we were ending the session the Guardian of the Candle had to decide how to blow it out. Now I don't know if if shared with you the hilarious sarcasm Tamsin and I have for this ritual but we often make up different hilarious ways of "putting out the candle". One is "I would like to put the candle out by drop-kicking it into your face". And so on. Naturally, as the "ceremony" is going on Tamsin and I are stifling giggles. It's all good fun!

That day was Pancake Day on campus. The weird thing is on Pancake Day they serve pancakes at two hour intervals throughout the day - but not at breakfast. They just don't do pancakes as a breakfast - it's a dessert - weird. So for dessert I had pancakes which I asked for with maple syrup but got berries instead. I guess people here think "maple syrup" sounds like "berries". They're not pancakes either - they're crepes.

Now onto Wednesday - Yay! Miranda and I went into Staines today to do some shopping and so I could pick up some mail. I need to take a breath because the debacle of me getting my package is long and very frustrating. So mum sent me my snow jacket to wear while I'm here - two weeks ago (typical it's warming up). I was getting concerned as everyday I checked the mail I got more and more confused. Finally on Monday I got a slip from Staines Royal Mail saying that for some unknown reason I had to go to this mysterious post office and pay 14.71 to get my package! It said there was a customs reason - who knows what this means. So I go all the way to Staines thinking, you know it's the main mail delivery area it'll be on the high street. Into the post office on High Street I go and, no, that's NOT where my parcel is. The lady blinks at me and says "you have to pay this money" and I go "okay sure but why?". Blink blink. "Umm you pay. See?" pointing at the slip. Then another useless employee comes out and says "you see, you need to pay this money to get the package". Great. "Is my package here?" I ask. "No. It's at this address". Which is the address of this main post office which is NOT on the main street - once again WHAT IS WRONG WITH THESE PEOPLE. Somehow remaining calm I ask "Do you know how I can get to this address?" "No." I turn to Blinky "Do you?" "No." The first one then interjects with "we don't know where it is because we are not from here we are from London" Like that's an excuse. That's when Miranda comes in with "well I'm from America!". Take that stupid folk! That was then the REALLY WEIRD thing happened. The boy in line behind me cut in with "it's just down the road near Sainsbury's. I have my car. I can drive you there if you want". Having had the messages of "Stranger Danger" drilled into me as a child we laughingly declined. Taking my slip and shuffling out Miranda and I were joking that they didn't then say "you know it's blue?" (You would get that reference if you were an avid Phoebe blog reader which I hope you all are!) Grumble grumble. To cut a long long long long long long story short after asking about seven different people where this office was - many not knowing, many not even living in the area - Does anyone in Staines LIVE in Staines? Apart from Ali G of course. Many eons later Miranda and I FOUND THE STREET THAT IT WAS ON! Looking at the photo you can tell I was so happy. I got my package after paying the money - I was just so glad I had it - we walked all the way back to the high street. You're probably wondering why I had to pay that money. Well at least this man was very nice and explained to me why it was very confusing and I was very tired but the gist is that because Mum wrote that she declared the package Britain then figured they'd better do something with it - mostly charge me. So 6 pounds was for that and the other, like, 8 pounds was so that lovely considerate mail land would keep it in Staines and not make me go to London to get it. Once more everybody together now "WHAT'S WRONG WITH THESE PEOPLE?!"

Phoebe now had her coat. Phoebe is happy. Phoebe has gone made because of the coat journey and is now referring to herself in the third person.

Went back to uni and met up with my group for the seminar presentation we have to give tomorrow. All this work and effort it's clear that reading week is over.

But who cares because I'm going to Glasgow tomorrow! Which means - my blogs will be more interesting then! Yay!

And so I went all the way to Roehampton.

Today was basically a day of nothing but frustration. As you remember I have this awful assignment due of which I know nothing and the books that I need are not in our tiny labyrinth of a library. And so I went all the way to Roehampton. Roehampton is pretty much right next to London so the train rise there takes a good hour on the weekend.

So I got up and Miranda and I met up with Tamsin and we made our way to the train station. There is only ONE ticket machine that takes cash at the train station so we were furiously getting tickets dispensed as the train sped off into the distance...without us. You would think, being sensible Brits, that we could just buy a ticket on the train. No. I lied in that sentence - I said "sensible Brits". Pardon me. Anyway that train went buy so we had to wait for about 20 minutes which wasn't so bad because the sun was ACTUALLY SHINING. I wasn't wearing my coat and I was almost, not quite, but almost hot sitting in the sun. Yay! Walking through Founders there are all little shoots and flowers coming up from the ground encouraging the springtime. The little flowers are saying to me "You can make it through the cold, Phoebe, if we can!" So there's some hope. I'm getting off track but these little flowers are everywhere it seems. And all different colours. Purple at Roehampton, white at Founders, pink somewhere else. Very lovely.

Back to the train saga. Got on board and disembarked at Barnes leaving Miranda to continue on to meet a friend in London - lucky. Meanwhile Tamsin and I were stuck on our study date. Do I know how to have fun or what? Trotted along to Roehampton University and got past the guards - seriously. They had an electronic gate we had to get through and everything! Found the books we needed and went to town notetaking. I'm researching bulimia so I needed a case study about an individual with bulimia and I wasn't having much luck until "Oh yes Jessie got bulimia in college!" Leaving Tamsin lying on the ground with laughter at my newly found empathy.

Hours later...

Then came the time when we had to photocopy. Now THIS is entertaining. We had to go through the exit to buy a photocopy card which was one pound and we would be reimbursed this pound after. So... we had to go back through the electronic gates of doom and around to the 7 photocopiers. They were all off. One had no paper. One had no ink. Finally one that worked! All this faffing around for stupid photocopying. I ask you! Eventually we finished and we went back to the counter and asked if we could get our pound back for the card. The man was then like "No, no you should keep it until next time we don't give money back. You understand?" Umm... okay? One foot through the door when a different assistant said "No yeah you can get the money back." Okay we walk back in. "But you can only get in back from the media centre which is in the next building and they're open Monday-Friday." Today is Saturday. So Tamsin and I spun on our heels and left!

Had some lunch at the Roehampton University cafe. Tamsin also enjoys eating unattractively.

We then said our jovial farewells to Roehampton in the best possible way. Maybe. Back on the train and back to Egham in all its glory. Then the rest of the day was me sitting at this laptop thinking to myself "WRITE THE ASSIGNMENT PHOEBE". I did the introduction. It's not long it's just I STILL DON'T KNOW WHAT I'M DOING. Sounds like no one does which is somewhat reassuring. I think the lecturer should be extremely impressed that I went all the way to Roehampton though. She better.