Our acting play kicks ass. Period.
Okay wow I just screwed up the entry i was typing. Damn. Okay so it went something like this:
I was explaining how I love poetry but I'm sick of this stupid starched G-rated poetry the administration love to throw at us. I dont like poems about dafodils, clouds, making good choices, working hard, and certain roads not taken that we've all heard NUMEROUS times. Teachers loooove that poem and many like it because theyre hoping we get the whole subliminal "dont do drugs, have premarital sex, drink, or have any fun thats over a g rating" message incripted in all of those poems. This project is bullshit. I dont think asking to do mine on a modern poet is too absurd of a question but obviously it is. Aparently the only """"'cirriculum apropriate""" poets are stuffy old men/women who obviously never partied or got layed because all they write about is dafodils. So now I'm doing a papaer on T. S. Elliot. I personally think I got the best one on that stupid list because at least he did something cool like inspire Cats. But still it pisses me off how they encourage this "live inside the box" crap... God forbid we step outside of the box and be free and think for ourselves. Rawr. So thats my opinion. I'm done with that thought.
So we have state tomorrow! Ahh yay! Even though we're stressed out of our minds about these new notes... its going to be really fun. And despite warford switching the rooms around so now I'm with 5... I repeat... 5 girls... itll be a blast. 5 girls + 1 shower + 2 beds= chaos! This will prove to be really interresting. Ok well I have to pack... so maybe I'll update later tonight otherwise.. Updates Sunday night.. later..
Oh yeah since the wonderful Kelsters wants to read my journal from england here it is all like 5 pages let see if i can make this lj cut work...
England Journal
Day 1: March 25, 2005
Today we arrived in the London-Gatwick airport after an 8 ½ hour flight from Atlanta. We all had MAJOR jet lag. We took a train to our hotel, the Copthorne Tara Hotel in Kensington, London. When we arrived it was 8:30 am London time, that’s 3:30 am our time. The time difference wasn’t quite as bad as I would have thought but it is weird to think that in 2 hours I’ll probably go to bed and it will be 5:00 in Ocala. Right now its about 8:05pm, that’s 3:05pm in the states (as everyone seems to refer to it over here) that means everyone will be just getting out for spring break in 20ish minutes. When we arrived at the hotel our rooms weren’t quite ready so my parents and it chatted with a really nice couple from South Africa. They explained how horribly hard it is to travel to the states from South Africa. You have to do all of this completely stupid stuff like give a financial statement and the husbands have to write a letter to let their family members go to America. They couple was completely disgusted with all of this hyped up security because they wanted to go to America and take their 3 children. Its just so crazy how this current administration has made most people in other countries have a sort of dislike for us. So- back to London… it’s really great here. Everyone driving on the other side of the road is kinda weird and no one goes the speed limit so you have to worry about being run over haha. The architecture is so gorgeous here, and the people are so interesting. Tonight we ate Indian food and it was so good. Apparently, London has the best Indian food in the world. After dinner we walked around Kensington a while, and looked in the shops and such. One thing I’m really happy about is that I don’t look like a tourist. Most people in London dress like me, which is good. What’s really cool is how other girls are more natural here… you don’t see a lot of bleach blondes with plastic surgery. Its fairly cold here… not enough to snow... but cold. Today was supposed to be the warmest day while we’re here so I’ll be breaking out the pea coat tomorrow. I really hope I can get Internet access in the lounge so I can post this on my LJ… right now… its just going to word. So that’s all for tonight, another entry tomorrow.
Day 2: March 26, 2005
Today was a lot of fun. We woke up at like 8ish which is like 3 am in America…the time change only affects me at night because right now its like 8 and I feel like going to bed. Anyways… we woke up and got a continental breakfast complete with cream tea. Then we went to Portobello Market… the biggest shopping excursion in the UK. There were thousands of people from probably every country in the world there… and there was so much stuff. I found this really great pair of vintage looking chandelier earrings for 18 pounds, which is roughly 36 dollars in America. The exchange rate here is horrible. Everything is basically double what it is in America. RRRR. I wont mention whyyy the exchange rate is horrible… ((Cough BUSH cough))) Anyways… after spending about 2 hours at Portobello we had some croissants and coffee at this great café called Café Rouge. Then we took the ‘tube’ (underground subway) to Piccadilly Circus and bough tickets for 2 shows. Then we ate lunch at this little bistro and had great paninis and diet coke ((the nectar of life)) lol. Then we rode the tube to Knightsbridge station where we went to Harrods… GIANTNESS!!!!!!! Its definitely the Saks of London, but the bad thing is that the America dollar is half the pound so a bag that’s 300 pounds is really 600 dollars. **le sigh** I’ve decided that my goal is to drink a Guinness daft in a pub before we leave. The drinking age is 18 but our driver said that no one cards you while you’re here and if you’re 16ish you’ll be fine. Anyways so Harrods was okay… actually there were only like 2 things I actually wanted and one was a bag that was like 500 pounds so like 1000 American money and it wasn’t even that nice.. just pink leather. My mom saw a coat she liked at Portobello in this really vintage shop with no name from this gorgeous girl with pink dreads… but it was a little uhhhh boho for her lol. We went in a few boutiques and window shopped as well. Finally after all of that we took a cab from Harrods back to our hotel-rested a while- then went to “The Mandarin” this really nice Chinese place... surprisingly enough, London is famed for its Chinese, Indian, and Italian foods… so needless to say the Chinese was awesome. So finally here we are in our 2 rooms at 8:20 eating chocolate and planning tomorrow. I seriously think I’m acquiring a British accent. Yall will have to tell me when I get home. Well, maybe a southern British accent? lol. Tomorrow we’re going on a tour and such… happy early Easter to all (uhh who will read this if I EVER get internet access in the lounge)… new entry tomorrow. <3
Day 3: March 27, 2005
[imported from my written journal after I lost battery power]
My laptop lost battery, and our adaptor doesn’t work with my laptop plug. *le sigh *. So today we had to wake up at 7ish (that’s now 1 am because of daylight savings time) but anywho we woke up and got ready for our tour of London of Big Ben, Trafalgar square, Westminster Abbey and the surrounding area as well as Buckingham palace. We saw the River Thames and the changing of the guard at Buckingham. The changing of the guard was really awesome; the beefeaters (guards) are so cool with their furry hats! The queen wasn’t there; she’s at Windsor castle preparing for Charles and Camilla’s wedding (the scandal dum dum dum) We saw the late Princess Diana’s mansion in Kensington, and where Princes William and Harry stay when they’re in London. Wow, yeah I’d like to party with the royals… helllls yeah. Then we rode a double-decker bus to Kensington High Street where we ate lunch at a little restaurant called “Sopranos’” and surprisingly enough they didn’t just serve Italian food. I had pizza, fasha had fish n’ chips, and mom got roast w/ Yorkshire pudding and veggies. After that, we returned to the hotel and I took a very very long nap- this time change thing is killer. Fun eventful day- new entry tomorrow. Ciao my lovelies.
Day 4- March 28, 2005
Today was really fun! We did another half-day tour to relatively the same place as the previous one but it included St. Paul’s Cathedral and the mall (park around Buckingham) in addition to St. James Palace, houses of Parliament, Hyde Park, Prince Charles’s and Camilla’s house, again to Buckingham, where the princes live (hells yeah again) and the river Thames again over the London bridge with a gorgeous view of the London eye (giant ferris wheel in downtown) etc. We also saw the horse guards riding along by Buckingham and the mall and I got to take a picture with one (haha I’m such a tourist) and I also took a picture with a beefeater guard with the furry hat! Then we ate lunch in a pub called “The Swan” and I did get to drink my Guinness in a pub haha! The food was really good, and the pub was so neat. Then we got to see the British Museum, which sounds EXTREMELY boring-I’m sure-but it was so awesome! We got to see all the artifacts from Egypt, Rome, Greece, etc (yeah, I’m a nerd) and we saw the Rosetta Stone, half the people who will read this probably don’t know or care what that is but it was so awesome. After the museum we went to this little Scottish shop and I got a kilt! Haha its so cute it looks like that Burberry skirt but in a different plaid, and my mom got a scarf. So yeah after that we took the tube back to the hotel, showered, and got ready for “We Will Rock You” the Queen musical. OOOOOH my gosh- it was sooooooo awesome!! Well I guess you’d have to like Queen to like it but who doesn’t like Queen??? Anyways, it was just fabulous… and the guy who played the main character was so hott. So it got done with at about 10:45 and we rode the tube back to our hotel… the tube is sort of scary after dark. This crazy Irish man was yelling at no one in particular and teetering back and forth -obviously very drunk- but still scary!! So yeah we got back and went to sleep (much needed sleep I might add) so new entry tomorrow… later kids!
Day 5- March 29, 2005
Today was really fun but the weather was so bleak. We had to wake up fairly early again to go to Stonehenge and Bath for the day. I was so sleepy I slept the whole ride to Stonehenge. It was so freezing outside… like 45 with drizzly icky rain. So I bundled up and looked really stupid with my little Coach hat and gloves and scarf. We walked around Stonehenge and took pictures… it was really really awesome to see how giant the stones were. After we got a hot chocolate and scone at the bakery we went back to the nice warm coach. Then we drove about an hour and a half to the city of Bath where the Romans settled because of these hot springs in the middle of the city. We saw the Bath Abbey, which was beautiful, and we went to the Roman baths and saw the hot springs and everything. It probably sounds boring but despite the murky weather it was really fun! After we all met at 3:15 we left Bath and drove back to London. The drive we pretty with lots of sheep and lambs (1…2…3… AWWWW) but the traffic was horrible and it took nearly 3 hours to get back. After we got back we went to this cute Italian restaurant called Lorenzo’s. The food was great! It was so authentic and everything… then we left, got a cab, and went back to the Tara where we got dessert… (fatties- yes we are). Finally after a very long day, we’re back at the hotel and I have my nice power adaptor, and I’m warm and dry-so all is well in the Beebe suite of the Copthorne Tara. New entry tomorrow… later kids!
Day 6: March 30, 2005
Today was busy… we left at 9 for a tour of the Cotswolds and Stratford. We got to the Cotswolds and only had about 1 hour to explore. There we had tea at a little tea shop called Huffkins, and went into a few shops. Then we went to Stratford upon Avon, the birthplace of William Shakespeare. We went to his wife, Anne Hathaway’s farmhouse, and to his birthplace. It was really neat to see the cute thatched roofs. We went and saw a lot of monuments to Willy, and we walked along the Avon River and saw a few swans. We snapped a few pictures then went to the shops, I have no idea what to get anyone as far a souvenirs go, so when something makes me think of someone I just get it…lol so I got a lot of stuff for people in the Shakespeare shop. We got a few bakery stuffs at this little French bakery, then left Stratford and went home. When we got back I ate Malaysian food in the restaurant in the hotel, and my mom got a salad that was really weird sounding lol. Finally we went back up to the room and crashed. New entry tomorrow after I sleep till like noon lol.
Day 7: March 31, 2005
Today was a lazy but nice day. We all slept till 12:15- which is like record breaking for my mom who usually wakes up at like 8. After we all showered and everything my dad and I went to the museum of natural history and walked around for about 2 hours. After that we walked through Kensington Gardens and walked by the late Diana’s old mansion. I went in the HUGE 4 story Urban Outfitters, and I really want to go back because it was awesome. After that we went to the market and got some food for the room… shopping for food with my dad is like running wild in a grocery store lol… so we ended up getting a lot of food including these fabulous ice cream bars :::heaven::: So then we went back to the hotel, and got mom to go get dinner at Soprano’s again. I had vegetarian lasagna, which was awesome, and I kept noticing that the music was really weird… Aretha Franklin, Christmas music, Chinese weird music, and easy listening… weeeeird I have to say. Anywho… so that was my day.. new entry tomorrow… later kids!
Day 8: April 1, 2005
Today we got up at like 7:30, had breakfast, boarded the tube, and went to the tower of London. It was really cool… but sort of touristy. The crown jewels were my favorite part (haha naturally right?) After we went in the tower where the two princes were murdered and looked at old prison cells, we ate lunch in a little café. After lunch we got on the tube again and went to Picadilly Circus to get more theatre tickets. We got tickets for Joseph and the… yeah I’m not typing all that. After that mom and I went to Fortnum and Mason and had afternoon tea. This was probably one of the top 3 things we did in London for sure. Even though it was like 80 dollars (American money) we still had so much fun. I got orange Darjeeling tea, mom got Earl Grey… and we got little finger sandwiches (I loved the cucumber one) and scones with jam and clotted cream (sounds gross but it was really good) and we got to pick our little tarts that were so delicious. After tea we took a cab back to the hotel and got ready for the show. We took the tube to the New London Theatre to see Joseph. The show was fabulous, but in actuality, I really thought Cary did just as good, or a better job than the guy who played him here. Carty fit the part more I think. This guy was blonde which was kind of weird. But, it was still a really really good production, and we all enjoyed it. New entry tomorrow…
Day 9: April 2, 2005
Today was slow but nice. We all needed to relax before our early flight tomorrow. We all woke up at about 11ish and got ready for lunch. We went to Soprano’s again lol and I got pizza again. But hey, its really good food. After that my dad went back to the hotel and my mom and I went shopping a while. My mom got a little tea pot (lol) and I just looked around since I’ve already gotten a ton of stuff, and since the dollar isn’t worth anything. :::Ahem *sigh *::::: after we went to Marks and Spencer to get food we came back and started packing up. Its so sad *tear * Well, I’ve got to finish packing…. Its been a really fun trip, but I’m sort of excited to be getting home. I’ll be updating on LJ when I get back tomorrow.