This Must Be It, Welcome to the New Year

In approximately 7 hours it will no longer be 2010. Meaning it will be 2011 (just in case you couldn't figure that one out). Which means England is just around the corner. And with that just around the corner comes a bunch of holy-crap-I'm-scared-out-of-my-mind. But that's ok, because for Christmas I got CONVERTERS FOR EVERY COUNTRY IN THE WORLD! You know, just in case I decided, hey, let's go to Tanzania, I'm totally set. Though that probably won't happen. I think. Good news in the flying area of life though. My parents booked our flights for the family portion of my 1 month break. I will be meeting them in Bologna, Italy after they have had a nice stay in Milan taking tours and what not. We're then staying in an apartment in a hotel (I'm just as confused at this concept as you are right now). From there we can explore not only Bologna, but a bunch of Italy. The last three days we are there we are all flying to Athens, Greece and exploring. I'm probably most excited about that portion because all I've ever heard is Greece is beautiful. I'm also stoked to see all of the ancient Greek buildings, sculptures, and what nots throughout Athens and the surrounding area. It should be pretty damn amazing, if I do say so myself. Plus, it should be warm. As in shorts and dresses warm, which sounds so remarkable right now.
In preparation for my English adventure, I decided to become acquainted with their culture in the only way I know how as an American stuck in the suburbs: watch their TV shows via Netflix. So I've watched 4 whole seasons of Skins. Not the most appropriate of shows, and I'm definitely hoping (though I know its true) that British kids do not actually act like these ones (aka literally drink, do drugs, and have sex all the time), but I have definitely learned some valuable things. For one, the English education system is quite different than ours. They are required to go to school to 16 years old. Starting at age 5, the years count up, so year 1 is at 5, year 2 at 6, etc. Primary school goes until year 6, or when you are 10 or 11, and secondary school goes until year 11, or when you are 15 or 16. Then you can go to college or sixth form, which is 2 years and can be different things. It can be more of a college prep equivalency or it could be more of a technical school. After that, they may go to the university at age 18, which is only 3 years long. Post-graduate studies are pretty much the same. Skins takes place during college. I've also learned some slang, some of which i have no idea what they means, but I guess I'll learn. You know what would be hilarious though? If all of this new information literally is NOTHING like what the students at Leeds are like. I'll guess I'll have to wait to find out.

Your Skins Expert,
Jessica

P.S. Blog name change felt necessary.

One month and counting...

In one month I leave. Weirdly enough, it hasn't really hit me. But the semester at KU is over, and some how I made it through the chemistry and the studio to get to this point where I am back home, sitting on my bed, unpacking the thousands of items I apparently brought to college with me. Its actually kind of mind boggling how much stuff I brought with me. Looking at how much stuff I had, I'm not quite sure how I'm going to get everything to Leeds with the limited amount of luggage space I have. I'll have to make it work thought, that's for sure.

I have more news, though. A few days ago I got my accommodation from the university. I didn't get the residence hall I wanted, but the one I did get looks pretty nice. Next year I will be living in the Tannery. Yea...go ahead and get the making fun of out of the way because the name. It has self-catering, so I'll be making my own food and sharing a kitchen with about 7 other people. I'm pretty sure I have my own bathroom too, so that should be pretty nice. Here are some pictures they have on their website:

Looks pretty nice, right? I'm pretty stoked. And don't worry, once I get there I'll be sure to add my own pictures, and maybe even a video tour of it...haha. Its about a 20 minute walk from the western side of campus, which isn't too bad, but the engineering buildings are on the east side, so I think buses may become my new best friend. It also is used by more than one university, since there are a few in Leeds, so that should be interesting. I may have the chance to meet students from other universities, which could be cool.

Its weird though, because as the days go by, I get more excited, more nervous, and even a little sad that I won't be going back to KU. The mix of emotions from knowing of the potential adventures, the goodbyes I have and still have to say, the adjustment to living in a different country, and the opportunities to discover so many new things is overwhelming.

But enough of the boring stuff. I have to continue packing (and in some cases repacking) all of my stuff from school. And from the looks of it, this is going to take days.

The New Tannery Resident,
Jessica

ROCKin It Out

Not too many updates. Mostly because I have been trapped in studio for the past week finishing up my project, which is quite wonderful if I do say so myself. Here are some glorious pictures:

My partner, Staci, and I created Rockreaction, a climbing center. Its basically like if the city museum and a rocking climbing were to fall and love and have it baby, this would be their baby. This is the front of our project. Yes, those are two different types of clay kneaded together, then thinned out, and glued to wire mesh that I had sculpted. My fingers do not thank me.

 Here are our drawings for our project with our big model. Kinda wonderful, I know.

 

Here is the interior of our building. The left corner is the interior rock wall, and the back side is where the city-museum-esque activites go down. 

So that's basically what I've been up to in the past 42098235082451 hours. On Friday while in studio, I did find out Jason Mraz was coming to KU for a surprise concert 10 minutes before the concert started. It was pretty damn awesome, if I do say so myself. 

In terms of England/Europe stuff, the only update I have is on my potential spring break plans. As it stands right now, my parents will be coming up during my 1st week or so, meet me in Milan, Italy, and we will go to Bologna, Italy. In case you don't know where that is, here's a map: Bologna, Italy Map. From there we'll fly to Athens, Greece, spend about two days there, and then go back to Bologna. From Bologna, we can go just about anywhere in Italy where we want via train. Hopefully after my parents depart, I'll meet up with some people and go to Spain and Portugal via train. On the way back from places like Barcelona and Madrid, I can hit some other places in Europe since I'll be on the train. I will make a stop in Paris, no matter what. Its too beautiful not to see.

Finally, I have 7, yes 7, days left at KU before I won't return for another 8 months. Honestly, I still have the mindset I'm coming back next semester and every time I remember I'm not, I get butterflies and extraordinarily nervous. 40 days I'm in the St. Louis airport leaving the US for 5 months. Now my stomach is churning up a storm. Wonderful. I'm wondering if its actually going to hit me I'm leaving for so long, or if I'm going to step off the plane on the 19th and say to myself, "Oh, so this is real." I'm starting to really think the latter. Which I kind of wish wasn't so true. There's nothing I can do about it, I guess. Well, off to dinner and my last C++ project of fun (really, I just LOOOOOVE C++.......).

Now Officially A Professional Clay Rock Builder,

Jessica