Patience. Patience. Patience.

I apologize for the lack of blogging these past few days. Transitioning from London to Vienna has been really busy, and I'm just now starting to settle down. So a quick recap of the past few days... We arrived in Vienna around 2pm Vienna time, which is about 7am Oklahoma time. There's a seven hour time difference here. When we got here we just walked around town and ate dinner at a famous pizza place, and had gelato. Which by the way is AMAZING, and a lot better than ice cream. Then the second day, we were split up into groups and played Amazing Race Vienna, only it wasn't really a race. We had a paper that was like a scavenger hunt where we had to find like six different places and take pictures in front of them. It started raining in the middle of our hunt, so we got to hang out under a bridge for a little bit waiting for it to pass, but it was a pretty fun adventure. After that I just hung out at the hotel talking to people from home, and just relaxing. I think this past week has started to catch up with me. Myself, like many others, are wearing thin on our patience. Every little thing seems to be irritating me, but I think it's because I'm tired. Culture shock may be a big factor too. I'm not going to lie, I really miss my family, Seth, and my friends. It's hard being so far away from them and not being able to talk to them whenever I want. I'm enjoying it here, but not as much as I would be if they were here. The language barrier is causing some frustration too. It's bothering me that I can't I can't communicate without the locals in a normal manner. I can only have a simple conversation like to order, or to ask directions. A lot of the locals do speak English, but some don't. On a positive note, my free travel group reserved our tickets for next weekend. We are taking a night train to Switzerland, staying in Geneva for a day then going to Paris the next morning. We'll be staying in Paris one night, spending the following day there and in Versailles, then heading back home to Vienna so we can have a day to relax and get caught up on everything. We booked our hotels tonight, so everything is ready for the most part. now we just have the little details to work out then we'll be set. I really am having fun, as depressing as this post may have been. It's been a little stressful these past few days, but once I adjust it'll be better. Go check out my Facebook for a few pictures! More will be coming soon. :)

No One Mourns the Wicked!

Can someone please tell me where all the time has gone? I've been here for 2 and a half days, and I only have two full days left in London before we leave for Vienna. I'm actually somewhat ready to head to Vienna because I just want a place to call home, and where I can actually unpack my suitcase. Right now it's just a heaping pile in our hostile. Which by the way the hostile is a room with 14 bunks in the attic of the building that all of us girls are staying in, but it's working out pretty well. It's away from everyone so we don't have to worry about being too loud. Where to begin. I told you about the first few days already, so I give you a recap of the last two in a minute. First I need to correct myself from my last blog. The subway system is called the Tube, not the tomb... that's my bad :) I guess a stopped up ear can really make a difference in what you hear. I'm actually starting to understand the subway. I can get myself across London all by myself ;) Hopefully this skill will come in handy another time...

So let's see.

Yesterday was Friday, the 25th. We started off the morning with class, and I had to give my presentation, which I did fairly well on, so now I don't have to worry about it the rest of the trip! After about an hour and a half of class we headed to Buckingham Palace for the changing of the guards. Apparently everyone else decided to go here too. We did manage to get somewhat close to the front, so we had a pretty good view. I'll post pictures when I get to Vienna and have the chance to go through all of them. After we had lunch in the park, we headed over to St. Paul's Cathedral. All I can say is wow. I'm amazed at the architecture and how beautiful it is. It was neat because it was like a lunch time stop for all the local people. They were just hanging out on the steps in front eating, and they were hanging out in the park too. We got to explore inside with our tour guide Shaun, who is Scottish and stinkin' hilarious. He's definitely one I wouldn't mind taking a few more tours with. After St. Paul's we headed across town to the Tower of London. Which really it's 20 towers, but who cares. The main use of the tower was a prison. It's where King Henry VIII sent a few of his wives to get executed... Kinda neat. OH! AND we got to see the Crown Jewels. Two words: Breath taking. I got to see crowns from hundreds of years ago, the spoon and stuff they use for the oil to anoint the kings and queens, swords, and all other kinds of stuff. It's AMAZING! After this during our free-time we went to buy tickets for Wicked, but we weren't able to see it tonight so instead we walked around the square and had a great time. We got to see M&M World, which is 4 levels of goodness! And the square seemed like the equivalent of New York's Time Square. It had shops galore, posters everywhere, and even a Ripley's Believe It or Not Museum. :)OH THEN we went to King's Cross and saw Platform 9 3/4. Just saying, it was pretty awesome.

Today is Saturday, the 26th. Today we had a pretty fun day. We started off at Westminster Abbey which basically is a place where a lot of famous and influential people are buried, and it's also the chapel that William and Kate got married in. (Just saying!) ;) It was gorgeous, and there's actually a lot of dead people there... I think the guide said 2,500? A lot of people from the royal family are buried there. Others are: George Frederick Handel, Charles Dickens, Charles Darwin, and Sir Isaac Newton. Pretty awesome huh? After Westminster Abbey we got to a tour around the city a little and that was fun. We ended at Trafalgar Square which is where the National Gallery is. And there's a countdown for the Olympics there, and it's where the lighting of the torches is going to be. It's pretty neat. After the tours we ate at an Italian Restaurant, which was really good. Then we went to buy our WICKED tickets! The first place we found they were £65 which is about $102. But instead we paid £45 which is $70 instead, so it wasn't too bad, and it was TOTALLY amazing. We had some pretty decent seats, and the show was spectacular. I would seriously go see it again if I could.

For now that's all I have for ya. I have a sun burn, and some kind of rash on my legs. OH! AND MY EARS AREN'T STOPPED UP ANYMORE!!! It's amazing to have hearing in both my ears again.

Next up: National Gallery and the British Museum.

Well here we go...

Let me just start by saying that the last two days have been an adventure. We drove to Dallas yesterday got through checking in and customs really quickly and waited in the airport. I took part of my sleeping pill before I got on the plane just to be safe then after dinner I took the rest. But my ear is still stopped up but it didn't hurt on the plane so thank God for that one. The food I had on the plane actually wasn't too bad. I had pasta, salad, a roll, an cheesecake then drifted in and out of sleep for the rest of the 9 hour flight. I didn't get a ton of sleep but I got enough for now.

We arrived in London around 9:20am and didn't have any problems going through passport control or anything. We finally found our bus and headed away from the airport.

Of course the first thing I noticed was that they drive on the other side of the road and they are some pretty crazy drivers. When we got to the hostile we locked our stuff up changed and went out to explore.

We hopped on the tomb (the subway) and headed to Westminster. At this point it still hadnt sunk in that I wasn't at home anymore. It just felt like I was somewhere else in the states just hanging out but when I got out of the subway the first thing i saw was Big Ben and thats when it hit me. It was the moment that the buildings I usually see on post cards or in class were right in front of me that made me realize I'm here.

Basically this afternoon we just explored London a little and tried to stay awake so we can beat this jet lag thing tomorrow. So on that note I'm going to get off here shower and work on my presentation and hopefully post pictures and such later. Enjoy!

Today's the Day!

8 hours and 51 minutes from now I will be getting on the bus to head to Dallas. It's actually starting to seem real now. I'm all packed, all I need to do is shower in the morning, fix my hair and go. Oh and go to Barnes and Noble to get a book for one of my classes that I forgot about.... But after that my mom, Hope, and I are taking my beautiful niece and handsome nephew out to breakfast before I leave. I know you all are jealous.

I feel like I'm actually going now. But it's still hard to think that on Thursday I will be landing in London ready to go and tour sites the second we get off the plane. I probably won't be able to update you as soon as I get there, but if you check out the OC Study Abroad Facebook Page our International Programs director will update the page as soon as she wakes up because we'll be arriving while the rest of you will be asleep. Hopefully we'll all sleep on the plane and be ready to go. It's a five hour time difference between good ole Oklahoma and London, and it's a six hour time difference between home and Vienna. I'll try to keep that in mind when I try to Skype/text/call some of you. :) Needless to say, I'm pretty excited so I can't really sleep, and I keep thinking of things I need to remember to do in the morning.

At this point, if I forget something it's probably not important because I've gone through multiple travel lists, my own mental lists, and I'm pretty sure I've gone through my whole room. Needless to say, I'm excited and I can't wait to keep all of you up to date on my trip. I love you all, and thank you so much for those of you that helped me go on this trip. I'm really blessed to have this opportunity to travel with this great group of people.

Song of the Post: We are Young - Fun

Doctor's Appointments and More

T-Minus 1 day, 20 hours, and 59 minutes until I get on a bus bound for Dallas, only to hop on a plane to travel to London! Woo hoo! I can't believe how close it is! So far I've accomplished a few things. Yesterday I went and got pedicures with some other girls going on my trip. :) (priorities, I know) Then today I went to get my driver's license renewed and went to the doctor. My license expired while I was in Europe so I figured it'd be a good idea to fix that before trying to re-enter the country with an expired license... And then I went to the doctor. Yes my ears are still stopped, but hopefully that will change soon. I got a steroid shot, and an antibiotic shot which should hopefully take care of it before I get on the plane. :) I'm still at the same point in packing... Not even close to being done. I still have to get everything organized and fit into the tiny suitcase. ;) 44 pounds just may not be enough. Orientation starts tonight. We're kicking it off right with food! (Can you tell I'm in Pi?) Hopefully I'll finish packing tonight after orientation.

More updates to come soon!

Song of the Post: Rolling in the Deep - Adele

A Beautiful Trip in the Making

As of right now I have 3 days, 17 hours, and 11 minutes until I'm flying out of Dallas and heading overseas. It's beginning to set in that I'm not going to be home for six weeks. It only took me saying bye to my boyfriend, and many other friends before it became real. I can proudly say that I've finally started packing. I knew it was going to be tough packing for six weeks in one suitcase that can only be 24 inches tall and can only way 44 pounds. I just didn't realize it was going to be this tough. OC's International Programs office has been a great help though. They provided us with a book that literally has almost everything we need to know about the trip. Like how many pairs of shoes to bring, pairs of socks, little things we may forget, and even how many pairs of undies to pack. Great huh? It's probably best that they threw that in their though cause I tend to forget things like that. The last few weeks have been nothing but busy. I've been working on three summer classes (two are Europe classes), working, doctors appointments, bank visits, shopping, and trying to remember every little thing I need for this trip. I finally finished my business class today, and now I just have to stay on top of my classes for Europe... Speaking of I should probably start my paper... Anyways, my ears have been stopped up for about a month now. First it was the right one, now it's the left one, and I'm afraid it's becoming both of them. I'm on my second round of antibiotics and still not seeing anything good. So needless to say, that airplane ride and my ears popping may be quite the experience. Just pray that things will get better. :) I think that's all I have for now. I'll be posting pictures and updates about my trip as often as I can. Needless to say I'm super excited for this trip, and I'm really excited about the group I'm going with. I hope you enjoy my blog! I think this will be the easiest way to keep up with everyone since I won't be able to talk/text/skype all the time, so enjoy!

Song of the post: Good Riddance - Green Day

Do you think this is enough stuff/room for six weeks?

T-minus 3 days, 16 hours, and 36 minutes to departure!