the past few days....

28 May 2010

The past 2 days have been quite nice. Landed in Oxford in a timely fashion, only to find out that I stopped at the Thornfield station, rather than the City Centre. Oops. That threw Brother Owen and me off track by about an hour! We caught up, had some dinner, and we returned to the De La Salle Provincial house which was quite lovely. I then went out for a smoke and bumped into Brother Aidan, head of provincial of the De La Salle Brothers. Very nice! Had a nice lie in until about 9 am, and woke up, had breakfast, and wandered around Oxford for a bit. Forgot how BEAUTIFUL Oxford was and is!!! After a not too ‘iced’ vanilla latte, a few wanderings around and whatnot, I then met up with Owen who had my luggage in his car, and I set off for the bus station.

What’s with me and busses these days? I can never seem to get anywhere nearly on time! I wasn’t pressed for time, but I arrived in London about a half hour late. Followed the signs to take the underground from Victoria Underground to King’ Cross/St. Pancras. Got through initial immigration pretty well. This brings me to now.

Sitting on the Eurostar. My ears are going to POP sooon! Eeek! I am well excited to see my good friend, Ged in Brussels. Ged worked with the Kintbury team last year, and although we didn’t get along the first moment I met him, we have kept in contact and he has become a good friend.

They really SHOULD invent wireless internet for the eurostar, unless my computer is rubbish at picking up the signal. Ugh. I have lived on Diet Coke for the past couple of days, not gonna lie! That and cheap sandwiches and snacks from vendors near the coach stations, etc. Eating on the go. That’s what I’m mainly doing. :)

Hmmm...what else. So much is up next. Have gotten in touch with many of my friends in Trowbridge and am hoping to meet up with many of them as possible! I hope to go and visit some of the schools and colleges I worked in last year. Rosie and I had a quick chat on the phone, and she was such a dear. Love her! Can’t wait to see her and Max!

So yes. Um...after Brussels, which I’m staying at for the weekend, I’m headed for Stoke-on-Trent to see my friend Steph! She was at St. Brendans Sixth Form last year where I had worked, and it will be fun to see her and meet some of her friends! I am then headed to Bristol for most of the week, and hoping to catch up with another Kintbury team member from last year, Liam, in London town. I am supposed to receive ‘Liam’s tour of London’ treatment, which is well exciting!

I really do not want to come back to Minnesota. I know my journey has hardly begun but it is hard to think that in a matter of a little over a week I shall be back in Chanhassen all summer long. That’s almost unbearable. Ah well...it will just give me a reason to return. over. and over. and over. and over. and over....and over...again and again and again. :0

Peace out, rainbow trouts!!! I shall see if Ged has internet so I can upload photos and upload this blog! (I am typing it as a document on my computer at the moment!)

Cheers.

xxx



29 May 2010

Landed in Brussels. Totally loving it. Ged is in good form. Our phrase of the weekend is “mind-fuck”. Pa ha. Being 6 hours ahead in London, and then realising on the Eurostar that I am 7 hours ahead here in Brussels, “messed” with my head. Last night was fun! Got in about half eight. Met Ged at Brussels-Midi, and we then took the underground and walked to his flat, where I met his jovial flat-mate. We then chilled out a bit, I had a Belgian beer, a ‘Bush’, as it was called, and it was 12% proof. Yikes. Then headed out, missed the jazz festival, but went to some pubs and a jazzy bar, where we met some of Ged’s flat mate’s friends. This French girl tried to teach me to waltz...which didn’t go so well!!!
Had some Belgian fries on the way back to the flat and caught up with dear o’l Ged. What a great person. He even let me sleep on the bed, while took a mattress on the floor.
So today, I explored Brussels with Ged, had a beer, walked around and he showed me where he worked at the European Parliament. I love having great conversations with such an intelligent and wonderful person. What a good guy...and I’m pretty sure he’ll be reading this blogpost, cheeky little stalker. ;)
OH YES. Breakfast was quite nice...they call these bacon pieces ‘lard-ons’, and we had them with eggs, croissants, black coffee (YES! I DRANK MY COFFEE BLACK!) and juice, yogurt, ham, cheese. Quite yummy. NOM NOM NOM. We had a great time after he sorted out some working out this and that with his Polish parliament boss dude.
So...yes. There’s something wonderful about walking around a city with a friend and just sharing life stories I suppose. I am enjoying my times and my friends out here.

Tonight. Ged is making rice and sausage. OH MY GOSH. We went to this Morrocan shop that had a ton of food and everything you could want in a store...besides cigarettes, PA HA, and we bought ketchup, while I bought some iced teas and diet coke. Tonight, we are expecting some company, people from last night, etc, so I’m hoping things won’t get too frickin’ crazy, as I don’t want to be “mind fucked” (perdon, mas francais, s’il vous plait!).

Anyways. Having a freakin’ blast here. I will be sad to leave here tomorrow, but shall be seeing Steph in Stoke-on-Trent.

I miss my friends out here, and I’ll miss them muchly when I return back home.

xxx

Oh Brighton.

The past few days have been nothing short of amazing. Landed on Tuesday at about noon. Realised I printed everything EXCEPT my bus from the airport to the coach station. Oops. Spent an extra five quid doing that, which wasn't that bad, but heck, it's still money. England was quite warm when I landed. I rang Holly Humphrey and I set off on a what was supposed to have been a 2 hour ride to the seaside town of Brighton, turned into a 3 hour bus ride. Fun times.

When I landed in Brighton, I felt like I was so "home" again, so to speak. Even though I had never been to Brighton, there were elements of the town so familiar and so English to me! Holly met me at the bus stop with open arms and we chatted a bit...we then took a bus back to her flat and I unpacked, got settled, and then we headed out for drinks and dinner at a little pub with her mates Morgan and Morganna. Morganna was from Los Angeles, studying at Occidental, psychology I believe, and Morgan was the sweetest little British girl you could have ever met! Holly and I bought each other drinks, (I had my usual...JD + Coke...as well as cider!). We had some thai food which was delicious, considering it was a freakin' pub!!! We then walked a few streets over to the Cobbler, a music pub, where I heard all sorts of great music on an open mic night...although, there was this creepy bassist there who wanted to play music with everyone and he looked like a meth-head, no joke. BUt other than that, got to hear Holly's boyfriend, Kit, sing and play. He's a wonderful person and they are so perfect for each other! And he's Scottish...and he owns a kilt! Kind of badass! :) Holly convinced me to go up and sing/play piano, so I, being too nervous to do anything original, I did 2 Patty Griffin tunes, 'When it Don't Come Easy' and 'Rain'. They liked it, well, that's what they said anyhow. :) AND I got a free pint for doing so, so that made me have a great night!

We got back to the flat around 1 in the morning I believe. i was tired, feeling jet lagged. I slept in 'til noon when Holly came and knocked and I showered, got ready for the day, etc. We went walking around Hove and Brighton, giving me a quickie tour of the town. Beautiful beautiful town, by the way! I bought some asian sweets from this sweet shop which happened to have some american sweets and cereals for ridiculous prices! almost 7 pounds for a small box of lucky charms!! Jeez! Holly and I went into some awesome vintage/retro shops, and then we went to go grab lunch with Morgan and Morganna as well as Morganna's friend, Greg. We went to this place that had "toasties" (basically, well, grilled cheese haha), but in like various flavours and combinations. I had a delicious steak one! Yumm!

OH. We went to this cupcake shop afterwards. They seriously had the most beautiful cupcakes ever! I will post a picture and Brighton pictures when I am NOT in a bus, but it was the most delicious cupcake in the whole damn world! I kid you not!! NOM NOM NOM. (That became our saying throughout the whole trip!)

Afterwards, Holly and the whole lot...we went to the pier, which was essentially an arcade, and they had a beautiful oceanfront. Mind you, the sun wasn't being too friendly that day, so I had to imagine the sunshine. Beautiful town. I'd get so distracted here if I studied here lol!!!

After that...we went back to the flat. Sat on the roof, which was well awesome, and Morgan and Morganna were drawn cupcake drawings for a tattoo by Holly. (Yes. They got cupcake tattoos. Today. as a matter of fact LOL!) We then were joined by Kit, Sam and Simon, some of Holly's friends, and we went to Tescos to go buy food and drink for a barbecue. Barbecue was loads of fun. Sitting on the roof. Sipping cider. Eating nice food with wonderful people. Couldn't have asked for a better time. What a great way to start off this journey!!! :)

Hmm what else. Well now, I'm sitting on a megabus, headed for Oxford. I can't wait. I'm seeing Br. Owen tonight for dinner and staying with the De La Salle brothers. I'm heading to Brussels tomorrow to see Ged.

Peace out.

xxx

2 weeks time...oh the reminiscing.

When I think back to the time where I was most happy, it was an ocean away from Minnesota. Was I living in a bubble? Perhaps...but life is full of bubbles...we just create new bubbles or find new bubbles, which become our safety zones...or places of familiarity. I made so many close friends....these are good people, I must say. Real people. Honest people. Humble people. Kind people. Loving people. Selfless people. They taught me more than they realise. I felt so inspired. I felt alive. I remember standing on the "cliffs" or "large hills" in the southwest of England, right on the English channel...and having one of those moments where I realised..."Damn, it feels so good to be alive." I had never had that moment in my life, really, to be honest. Walking the streets of Prague at 3 or 4 in the morning was so liberating. Traveling from various countries without getting lost. Traveling alone. Meeting new acquaintances. These are the things which made my life so good.
Things all seemed to just sort anti-climaxed, I guess you could say, when I left the 24th of July to head back home for Minneapolis, MN. There are always going to be more people one would have hoped to have closed ties with. There is more I wish I could have done.
I guess you could say, for once in my life, I was actually living and breathing...not just existing, feeling hooked up to an oxygen tank trying to muddle through this life. I was breathing real air. Living real experiences. And realising how blessed I was.
Flash forward to the present. I'm at a university in St. Paul, MN. I have friends here, yes...but it's just not the same. People frustrate me. They rarely make me angry, but they frustrate me. I frustrate myself as well. I want to know that paying $40,000 a year for 4 years is going to be worth it. That I have made something of myself. That I lived life to the fullest. I'm just spinning my wheels it feels like.


Anyways..


just some much needed venting/reflecting before I embark on a 16 day trip to England and Belgium.

xxx