Friday night I ventured into the German speaking part of Switzerland with 3 fellow Americans, Grace, Andrew and Whitney where we went to Oktoberfest! I have no idea where we were, but we were surrounded by fields, cows and a cheese factory (known as a cheesery to some...) At first I was a little skeptical about the whole thing, but it was actually extremely fun! I had a personal quest to drink one of those massive beers, but sadly they were all in this fancy VIP section that despite multiple attempts, we couldn't get in! So we ended up asking some random guy with the wristband the get some for us, which made me pretty content! We spent all night dancing and talking to random Swiss guys and then left around 3 in the morning. But seeing as how we were in the middle of nowhere it took eternity to get back to Whitney's house where we were all sleeping. We walked past the field of cows (why were the cows awake at 3am? They should be sleeping!) and waited at the shady cheesery until the creepiest van ever came to pick us up. We jammed 10 people inside this piece of crap and drove about 45 minutes through mountains and forests. I was a tad bit scared for my life... and one of the guys riding with us was tripping on something because he kept talking about seeing rainbows. So yeah, that was a little interesting. But we eventually made it back to Whitney's house and finally went to bed around 5! So overall it was a pretty successful evening!
Right now I am on a 2 week break from school, so Sunday morning I took off to visit my almost cousin Kendall who is studying there for the semester! I had to take the train Sunday morning to the airport and then flew about an hour to get to London and then took the tube into town. Let me just say, I fricking LOVE London! I think it's partially because I can actually understand what's happening around me... Even though I'm in this massive city where I could get lost in a second, I feel strangely comfortable just because I can read the signs and understand what people are saying. I never actually realized how stressed out french has been making me. But now that I think about it, I have to mentally prepare myself to go order food or talk to the people at the post office or ask for directions. I take a minute to look up the words I will need and do my best to memorize and pronounce them correctly, and it just overwhelms my brain sometimes. But here, it's so simple! I just simply walk up to the window and order my food or buy some postcards, and I can understand what the person says to me! In Switzerland I mostly just smile and nod and hope that is sufficient enough, so it's extremely comforting to once know exactly whats going on.
Besides the whole English aspect there are a million other reasons why I love London.
- The accents! So freaking awesome! All the little British students in their super cool uniforms just romp around speaking with an accent, and I want to steal one so bad! I think I'm going to move here just so my kids will have an accent
- They drive on the opposite side of the road, which is extremely cool, but also extremely dangerous for me. In Switzerland all the cars just stop for people. I no longer look both ways before stepping into the street because I know that anything coming towards me is going to stop. But no such thing here! It's the complete opposite... if you step into the street when a car is coming, you're skrewed. So I'm still in this mindset that I can just step off the curb with no problem, which I quickly learned is a no go. But sadly the few times I actually remember to look before crossing, I look to the left instead of the right. So either way, I don't see any oncoming cars because I'm looking the wrong way. I think it would take me a while to train myself to look to the right. Let's just hope I make it home alive.
- In general I think I just like being in a city. I love the hundreds of cars and buses whizzing past. and the Tube!! I loveee the tube! There is an entire world of travel buried beneath the streets of London, and it is fantastic!
- The British use such better adjectives to explain things. Everything is Brilliant or Marvelous or Fantastic!
- Primark. It's Forever 21 on steroids. Everything is really affordable and so cute! Kendall and I ventured in for only about 30 minutes today and I still managed to buy a lot of things, including cotton tights for only 2 pounds, which made me really happy because I've been looking for some for a long time! The only thing that sucks is that it is soooo crowded! It's all these crazed women scrounging for the best clothes and not really caring if they're in your way or not. It reminded me of the Friends episode where Rachel, Phoebe and Monica go to the bargain wedding dress shop.
- We've managed to get in a lot of sight seeing while being here as well. Sunday we went to the Camden Markets, which is without fail my favorite part so far. If you ever come to London, go to the Markets! We've also been to Piccadilly Circus, Millennium Bridge (HP sight), Platform 9 3/4 (!!!!), The London Eye, Big Ben, Parliament, St. Paul's Cathedral, The Tate where we saw artwork by Warhol, Monet and Picasso, Buckingham Palace, the Victoria and Albert Museum, a nice ride on a double decker bus, and probably a lot more but I can't remember it all. So overall, I would say this has been a pretty successful trip, and it's not even over yet! I'll be home on Thursday, so I'll try to put up pictures soon!
No comments:
Post a Comment