The End

I've been home for over a week now. 9 days, to be exact. Its been kind of weird, though the weirdest has to be when I stepped onto the campus of KU last Tuesday. Being home has made me realize just how different Europe is from home. I've had tons of time to reflect on what I've learned and experienced these past six months. To start off with, here are a few things I've learned in general.
1. Doner kebab places are everywhere. No, but really.
2. English students fit the stereotype of American students travelling through Europe.
3. English students party like the world is going to end. Every single day. Thus resulting in number 2.
4. In Europe, you can wear tights with anything, no matter the weather.
5. The scariest thing when walking the streets is being mugged, not being killed.
6. Every country has its own twist on just about everything. Wine, beer, music, architecture, food, dancing, rules...you name it.
7. Just about everything people tell you to expect from Europe is pretty dead wrong.
8. If you aren't in a touristy area of the UK, American accents cause a wide range of interesting responses, including, but not limited to, weird looks, extreme excitement, and general confusion.
9. People walk everywhere. And if they aren't walking, they're taking public transport.
10. Getting around without a car is a breeze. Between planes, trains, buses, and even ferries, there's always a way to get where you need without forking over a ridiculous amount of money.
11. In every city there are pigeons.
12. In every city there are those crazy people selling things no one wants.
13. Tax is included in everything. (And boy do I miss it.)
14. Due to a different view on alcohol, people my age go out to a pub, have a drink or two, and just relax and talk with friends. Its a beautiful concept I wish more college students in the states participated in.
15. You work to live. You don't live to work. Even in school.
16. Because its so inexpensive and easy to travel to other places and see other cultures, Europeans seem to have a wider perspective on the world.
17. Just because you know same language doesn't mean you speak the same language.
18. Its possible to turn a building into something completely different. Churches can become clubs.
19. Europeans think we all have guns. And that all us college kids get completely drunk all the time. Oh, and we all eat PB&J and Lucky Charms.
20. Things come in smaller sizes. Buildings, food portions, grocery stores, the number toilet paper rolls packaged together.
Being home has also made me realize just how different things are between the states and the Europe. People do things different and have different ways of thinking about things. As I've been adjusting back to life in the states, I've began to realize that I kind of like the way Europeans do a lot of things more. I love being able to walk everywhere. In Leeds I walked to campus, the gym, stores, and restaurants. The city was set up so walking was easy. And even though Leeds isn't huge, if you didn't feel like walking, the bus can get you just about anywhere for cheap. At least where I live, walking to and from the grocery store would be ridiculous. Its quite a distance and there isn't a good, safe way to walk back home. I also loved that I felt completely safe  walking through a city with my bag of groceries. I was never afraid someone was going to come up with a gun and threaten to shoot me if I don't give them all my stuff. On my walks through cities like Bologna, Athens and Nice, people sat outside at lovely sidewalk cafes. Others were resting in their house with the windows or balcony doors ajar to allow the fresh air to glide into their house. It was lovely. I also loved the idea of little, family-owned shops that you walk into for a sandwich or snack freshly prepared right in front of you.
But not everything is better. For example, everywhere I went in mainland Europe charged you for water at a restaurant. There was no tap water, only bottled. I also desperately craved a real burger (real meaning they don't cook it all the way through and Mexican food (the lack of this ethnicity was completely mind boggling. I also really missed skyscrapers. Most European cities, since they are so old, lack large and extensive amounts of skyscrapers. In Paris, there is even a height limit on buildings. Growing up in the states, a city, to me, include a great number of towering structures.
I've come to the realization that I absolutely want to live in a city. Travelling to so many different cities has allowed me to set some standards to where I want to live. Here are my rules:
1. It must have a metro. I quite like metros. They're easy, cheap ways to get around a city, not to mention eco-friendly.
2. I'd prefer a city with a river. They are beautiful and add character and an extra something to cities.
3. I want to be able to be somewhere that is scooter-friendly.
4. I want to live somewhere with character. It has to have its own something that makes it unique and not just another city.
5. I have to love the architecture. A few places I visited had bland architecture, or lacked uniqueness in its buildings. Being someone who, at this point, has been brainwashed to analyze just about every building I see, I'm not sure I could handle living somewhere that architecturally doesn't impress me.
6. The food has to be good. (Pastry shops are a plus, too.)
I feel like I could talk about this experience forever. Its been one that has completely changed my life and opened up my eyes to so many new and different things. Its altered my opinion on so many issues, changed the direction I plan to move forward in during my life, and allowed me to better understand so many things in my global world. I now have this passion and desire to go out and learn all that I can about so many difference types of people. I want to know all about how people live, how they think, how they dream. And now that I've travelled like this once, I know I won't, and can't, stop. I will continue to explore and discover.
And now I feel like I'm rambling because I know the minute I hit the publish post button its over. But the next adventure will begin. And I look forward to making it completely amazing. And sharing it with all of you.
A whole new me,
Jessica

I See A Mansard Roof Through The Trees

EXAMS ARE DONE! My last physics exam was rather brutal, but its ok, because its all over now! To make myself feel a bit better after the horridness that was that final exam, I ordered some takeaway of fish and chips, watched some trashy British TV(most Made in Essex...I've become addicted), and vegged out. It was quite lovely.
I am so excited to spend my last week in Europe having and awesome time. I'm off to Paris tonight around 8. I'm going with the company that I travelled to London, Wales and Stonehenge with. We're taking a coach overnight and will be there in the morning. I'm so excited! We'll be back in the wee hours (around 2 am) on Tuesday, so I get three whole days in the city, which should be awesome. I also have the chance to visit Versailles, which should also be amazing. I'm so excited.
Next week, once I get back, its time to say goodbye to all the friends I've made here, which is going to be so sad and hard to do. I've met so many people here from all over the world who have really made my time here absolutely astonishing. I'm also going to explore Leeds a bit, do the touristy stuff I've yet to have the chance to do while here, which should be quite lovely. I also have to pack all the stuff I've bought for myself and others into the luggage I have. It'll be an interesting experience, and a bit of a difficult one because I'm not quite ready to go home. I want to see everyone who is home and I miss them, but Europe is just so lovely.

Paris-bound,
Jessica

Held Against My Will

So I've just been studying. Its been awesome attempting to catch up with all the work I was supposed to be doing all semester instead of scampering about Europe, but I guess I did it to myself. On Sunday I was supposed to finally enjoy a nice traditional Sunday roast with some friends who I would sadly being saying goodbye to, but I got sick. I went to bed feeling miserable, woke up feeling miserable, and instead of going out and enjoying a lovely plate of meat, vegs and potatoes, I sat home, ate hardly anything, and studied. It was lame.
Today at 9 am began the 36 hours from hell. I have five tests in this small time frame. My first today was Sustainable Engineering Design Solutions, which actually didn't go too bad. It was simply answering a few essay questions about topics I'm really interested in. I wound up really liking that class. I learned a lto that directly applied to my major. I learned how I can have a positive effect on the planet by doing something I love. Basically, with a little work, I can make a difference everyday in my work. Back to the final - I had to take the exam early that morning instead of at 2 pm, like the rest of the class. On my envelope for the exam, there was a note saying I was to be held in the sub-office until 2. Disregarding this confusing statement, I started my exam. The invisalignor (aka exam proctor) came by my desk and asked me if I understood what that meant. I learned I was to go to a room after I finished my exam, where I was to stay until 2 pm so I wouldn't share my answers with the rest of my class (because I would totally do that). Problem: I was supposed to meet my friend is leaving tomorrow for lunch for a goodbye pasty at 12. Once I finished the exam, I was shuffled off to the room, where I was instructed I was not allowed to use any form of communication, including my phone or computer. This meant I couldn't tell my friend I would not be able to make it. On top of that, I would literally be trapped in a room for 4 hours with only my notes to keep me company. They are so crazy about the no cheating thing they had someone literally escort me to go buy lunch. Weirdest educational experience ever.
2 came around and I bolted out of that room as fast as my feet could carry me. It was off to my computer MCQ (multiple choice question) test for physics at 3. I reviewed a bit before going in. Then we sat there, and sat there, and sat there. The test wasn't working. An hour and 20 minutes later, we left the room, MCQ untaken. We are now taking it at some later point, most likely tomorrow right before our exam for the class. So instead of three tests today, I have three tomorrow. Awesome.
It was then off to my final exam for Introduction to Sustainability. I got into the exam and started. It was an hour exam, and at Leeds, no matter the length of the exam, you must stay for the first 60 minutes of the final. Thirty minutes into the exam, I was done. None of the questions really required thinking, just answering multiple choice questions that you either had or did not have memorized, which is pretty how much the rest of the class worked.
So now I'm sitting in the library doing the opposite of studying, writing a blog post and watching last night's Glee finale waiting to go to FINALLY meet my friend at Old Bar, grab some din, maybe have a cider, and say goodbye (this is getting depressing, the whole leaving thing). After, I'll go back and get my study on.

Uni of Leeds Prisoner for Four Hours,
Jessica

Uh-Oh

So this will be short. And slightly sad. Blogger is silly and made me purchase more space so I can upload pictures from my adventures. So, I will hopefully be able to post new posts soon, but the transaction takes up to 24 hours to go through, and I am not sure when I will have internet or not. Future posts include the cities of Venice, Verona, and Athens! Today I fly to Rome to meet up with two friends to begin the rest of my trek across Europe!


Your Slightly Frustrated Blogger,
Jessica

EUROPA

I feel exactly how I did 2 months ago all over again. In 5 days and 12 hours I will be yet again boarding a plane off to another country all by myself. This time I'm headed off to meet my parents in Italy to begin my crazy month off. I land in Milan and have a few hours to kill by myself before my parents are done with a tour they are taking. My mom suggested looking at the Duomo there (which is a cathedral), so I'm going to explore a building (surprise, surprise). Once I meet up with them, we are off to take the train to Bologna, Italy, where we will be staying for a few days. I'm excited to get to know an Italian city. We're then off to Venice for a day, then back to Milan to catch a flight to Athens, Greece. I'm so excited to see Athens, even in spite of the current financial and political situation there. Its going to be amazing to visit the Acropolis, along with everything else Athens has to offer. We will then be flying back to Milan, where I leave my parents for them to return back to the states. I fly to Rome, then, to meet up with my friends Quinn and Santiago. From Rome, we will be taking a day trip to Siena on our way to Florence. We then travel to Nice, France, where I hope its nice enough to enjoy some quality beach time. From Nice we got to Barcelona, then Madrid, and finish Spain in Valencia. We take a bus back to Barcelona so we can travel to Munich, Germany. Because buying a bus pass called Europass was our cheapest option, we will be traveling by coach the entire month. This means I will be sitting on a bus for literally 24 hours from Barcelona to Munich. After Munich, its off to Prague in the Czech Republic. After Prague, we're off to our last stop in Berlin. We then take another fun twelve hour bus ride to London from Berlin, eventually catching a bus to Leeds from London. I'm pretty positive I'm not going to want to ride a bus for a VERY long time after April is over.
I've spent so long planning April with my friends, but it still doesn't seem like its real. It seems like a fairy tale that I will actually be backpacking across Europe for an entire month, really being able to explore so many different cultures and experience so many new things (especially food). I'm so excited, but so incredibly nervous for what is to come. I whipped the backpack out today to begin laying out what I need to bring, whether it be clothes to wear or swap with my parents, study materials (because I actually do have finals and tests when I get back), toiletries, or some entertainment. I think my mind is even more blown over this concept than it was when I first came over here. I will literally be living out of a single backpack for an entire month. Its going to be an adventure, and I am so excited to experience it.
Now, because I will be traveling so much (new place just about every 2 or 3 days), I have a nifty new element to my blog. On the right sidebar, you will notice a new addition. This beauty if Google Latitude, which, just be logging into the internet, will let you know what city I'm in. I will try and update my blog as much as I can while off on this epic adventure, but I'm not quite sure where and when I'll get internet. Hopefully it'll be more than less, but this way, even if I'm on a terrible connection or don't have too much time to update the good old blog, it possible to know where in the world I am. So get excited (and prepared to be extraordinarily jealous).

The Soon-to-be Backpacker Across Europe,
Jessica

Croeso y Gymru!

Back again from another adventurous weekend.
On Friday night, I met a few friends to figure out my European expedition in April. As it stands now, I will be going to Greece (Athens), Italy (Bolgna, Rome, Florence, Venice), France (Nice, Paris), Spain (Barcelona, Madrid, San Sebastian), Switzerland (Zurich), Germany (Munich, Berlin), and Czech (Prague). I am so excited, but I really need to get to booking stuff asap.
Saturday morning I woke up, packed up my bag, and headed off to meet the bus for my trip to Wales. Once I opened the door, I saw it....snow. Now, as most people know, I love snow. I think it is beautiful and wonderful. But this time, snow and I were not on such good terms. My shoes got soaked, and were wet for the rest of the day. Luckily, Wales' beauty made up for it. Our first stop was in Conwy. We went to a delicious little bakery where I got a steak and potato pie. Then we were off to see Conwy Castle. Here are some pictures from the castle:

We then walked around the town a bit, looking at the water and seeing Britain's tiniest house. It was a cute seaside town.

We then hopped back on the bus and headed to Llandudno (no idea how to pronounce that). We took a hike up Great Orme, which lead us past this park where we learned that Lewis Carroll met the girl who inspired Alice in the town, so there were a lot of Alice in Wonderland little references throughout the town. The view from the top of the hill was breathtaking. We watched the sun begin to fall, and then walked back.

We then went to dinner, where I had some fish and chips. We walked around the town for a while, eventually stopping in Grumpy's Sweet Shop, where I bought fudge (it was rather disappointing) and a bag of Yorkshire mixture, which is just a mix of a bunch of different hard candies. We met everyone in the group at a bar where it was karaoke night. I think a lot of the locals thought our tour group was crazy. After that, a few of us still had heaps of energy, and went to go find somewhere to dance. We first tried a nearby bar, but walked in to find no music playing at all. So two of the girls I was with asked a few local girls where to go. We just hear them shouting, "You're AMERICAN! Say Texas. Say Amy. Say Victoria." It was hilarious hearing them. We did get a name of a place, walked there, and danced for a while. The next morning we were up early, off to Aber to see one of Wale's biggest waterfalls, Aber Falls. It was an hour walk to the waterfall, and I actually was a little disappointed. It was beautiful, but I feel like I have seen prettier. The stream we walked by to get there, though, was incredibly beautiful.

We then hopped back on the bus, off to Betws-y-Coed for lunch. I got a delicious lamb fillet. Unfortunately I can not remember all of the details of the sauce and the stuff on top, but it was amazing. It was then off to the Aled's sheep farm, where we watched a sheep fashion show. That basically means a nice Welsh man brought out a bunch of different types of sheeps and explained them to us. You may be thinking, why would you go to a sheep farm? That sounds lame. But actually, in Wales, there are four sheep for every person. So we were just visitng that majority. Afterward, we saw how a sheep dog (breed was a Border Collie) herds sheep. And we saw some adorable puppies. All of which only made me miss my dogs.

Tonight I went to basketball again. It was a lot of fun! We found out they are having a tournament in March that we are allowed to participate in with them. Its against school in Manchester, Leeds, and Liverpool. It should be pretty fun. I'm just excited to be playing again, even if it is mostly drills right now.

Your new sheep pro,
Jessica