Birthdays, Academics, and the Closing of a Chapter

I'm baaaaack,

So as some of you may know...I recently celebrated by 21st birthday and boy did I celebrate! I was initially feeling a little nervous about being away from home on my birthday, as it was the first time I have ever been away from my family on my big day. All of my fears subsided on the day because of the effort that everyone around me put in to make my day so special. I woke up to breakfast in bed made by Morigan Wilson, and then got ready to go out for lunch with my Grandpa. We went to a cute cafe called "Cafe 5" and because Grandpa had an upset stomach...I ate enough for the both of us! I had a Chicken Enchilada AND a toffee-chocolate cake for dessert. It was delicious to say the least. I continued my day by going to the tanning salon with Leah (I know its bad for you...but it was a special occasion!) and then began the beautify myself for my big night out. We had a few people over to the Wilsons for champagne and prezzie opening, and then continued onto a curry lounge called Cinnamon, where I had MORE food, and MORE cake!! I have realized that birthdays are really just an excuse to consume anything and everything in sight without feeling the least bit guilty about it!! We then went out to a few local bars and ended up in Halifax (cringe worthy....but had had too many cocktails by then to care). I had an even better birthday than I could have imagined and was surrounded by a wonderful group of friends who truly made me feel like the Queen of the ball.

The next day, complete with a nagging hangover, I realized that I had to come to terms with the fact that I still had one more final exam to complete at Nottingham....the party was officially over. I traveled back this week and finally put my head down and did some revision. I took a short break yesterday to take a walk around the lake with my friends Tom and Joe, where we each bought an ice cream cone with a 5 pound bill that we found on the floor....score! All in all, I felt strangely anxious about this exam due to the fact that I was completing it in a new environment with new requirements and a new evaluation format. I took the exam this morning and I would describe it simply as "intense". I feel like I did quite well, but I was in a sports centre full of at least 1,000 other students (from other courses) and felt an incredible amount of pressure to do well. I think it is safe to say that I am happy that is over! I have enjoyed a relaxing afternoon full of sunshine and another beautiful walk around the lake.

John and Veca are officially moving me out of Nottingham on Monday so I am trying to take everything in as much as I can. I am definitely going to miss the friends that I met here, but I have no doubt that we will be meeting again in the future. I am welling up just thinking about saying goodbye on Monday...I hate goodbyes, I always find them so uncomfortable. All in all, I am so happy that I came to Nottingham and feel so privileged that I could experience such a wonderful adventure. Thank you again Mom and Dad, you have no idea how appreciative I am to be here.

On a lighter note, my friend Melissa comes to visit from Canada in exactly two weeks today...I can't wait to see a familiar Canadian face. Then we are off to Ibiza soon after she arrives...its going to be an exciting month that's for sure...lots to look forward to!
Anyways, that's all I really have to report for now...life is good.
I hope you are doing well and know that I am missing those of you back home a lot.

Take care and talk soon,
- Nicky xoxo

Easter, London and a Reunion.

Now its time for my usual opening statement:
Sorry for the wait!

The past month has been really unscheduled due to my Easter break, Phil's trip over to the UK, and my move out and back into University. So...I simply forgot to keep everyone informed of my adventures. As I just mentioned, I moved back to the Wilson's for a month over the Easter break. The University does not let students stay in residency because they rent out our rooms while we are away, and therefore I had to move EVERYTHING into storage...what a pain! Anyways, I spent the first two weeks of my break scrambling to get all of my work done before Phil was coming to visit...so that part wasn't very fun.

BUT...it was SO nice to see Phil! We travelled down to London for 3 days and stayed in the beautiful London Hilton Hotel in Mayfair. We crammed every possible tourist attraction into the daytime and were able to have a nice meal and relax during the evenings. All in all, we went to Big Ben, The Tower Bridge, the Tower of London, Piccadilly Circus, Trafalgar Square, Downing Street, Regent Street, Oxford Street, Soho, China Town, Covent Garden, and Buckingham Palace. We walked miles and miles and miles in order to save money so we were really lucky to have nice weather. We also pretended it was my birthday one night (because Phil and I won't be together for the real day) so we had a full night out on the town in order to celebrate. We always have so much fun together!

We also spent two full days with my Grandpa! After 4 1/2 years of dating Phil, he has never actually met my Grandpa before, so it was great for us to finally all get together. It was no surprise to me that they got along like a house on fire. They loved chatting about beer, planes, and golf! The first day that they met, we went out for a drink and then Phil had the opportunity to fly in a neighbour's microlight. It was really funny (and a little worrying) for Grandpa and I to watch and I was really upset that I forgot my camera! We then met Grandpa the following week in Manchester, and went out for a nice lunch and then went to the Science Museum where they had an aviation exhibition showing. It was really interesting...we even went into an airplane simulator which was really silly.

It was extremely sad to say goodbye to Phil, but we are thankfully meeting again in July, when I am going to be travelling to Florida before I come back home. I am constantly shocked at how fast time is going by...its already May, I can't believe it! I am starting to look forward to the end of school (not the social part, but the academic part) and I can't wait for my birthday, and then for my friends Lauren and Melissa to come and visit. I feel so privileged that I have so much to look forward to...I am so appreciative that my parent's have allowed me fulfill such an amazing dream.

I am now back at school and am still really enjoying it. I have a few very important papers which are weighing heavy on my shoulders but once I get those finished, I will be almost done all of my studies and then its relaxation time!! The weather is starting to get nice (for England) so I am officially trading in my winter wardrobe for my spring apparel. I will check back in again very soon. I have added some pictures from our trip to London, plus others above.

I am missing everyone lots, and hope that you are all doing well. Take care and keep in touch :)

xoxo
- Nicky

Amsterdam!

Wow.
I have arrived back from Holland alive yet exhausted! I had a FANTASTIC time!

We set off on Thursday evening around 9pm from the University and drove to Dover to catch our 3:20 am ferry over to France, then drove another 7 hours to Amsterdam, and eventually got their around 11am the next day. So, it goes without saying that it was a rather long and sleepless journey over to the dam!! Our hostel was less than ideal, but hey, we're students! There was 5 of us in bunk beds within a room that is smaller than my bedroom at home (a lot smaller). Unfortunately, we were about a half hour walk from the main strip, but at least we got some exercise to help work off all of the food that we ate this weekend! After we arrived, we all pushed through the pain of exhaustion and headed out to see the city. We had an amazing lunch and cappuccino, and then headed over to nosy about the red light district, haha! What a strange place...it was eye opening, and really interesting. I love being nosy, so the red light district was perfect for snooping into the weird lives of others...

We went and had a quick change/shower in the hostel and then headed straight back out for the evening, no napping allowed!! We spent hardly any time in our hostel besides sleeping just because of the fact that it was just too small! We would have ended up strangling one another if we spent any more time in there than was necessary. Anyways, on the Friday night, we went out for a nice meal and then to one of the local clubs (which was free to enter, because of the package that we got through the university). We only stayed there for a short amount of time before heading out to find a few more authentic bars, where all of the locals go! That was one of my favorite parts of the trip! What a fantastic night!

The next morning we went out for brunch at a local cafe and we were served by the MEANEST women in the world. Almost all of the servers that we had were quite unfriendly, I was really surprised. I don't think they meant to be rude, I think I am just used to getting service with a smile. Anyway, this lady was especially miserable BUT the food was spectacular! We then headed off to the Rijks Museum because it was raining outside, so it seemed like a good idea. I really enjoyed it, but a think a few of my friends found it to be overpriced for what it was. Then again, art museums just arn't for everyone. We then went out for a waffle (SO yummy), wandered the city some more, then headed back to the hostel again for a quick turn around.

We headed out for a nice mexican meal (kind of a random choice, but it was delicious!) We then had a bar crawl that was arranged through the University, in which we visited 5 bars and got a free drink in every place. It was guaranteed to be a great night...and it was! The bars were a little claustrophobic because there were so many of us within such small venues. Also, they were VERY expensive! You had to pay 50 cents to use the bathroom, and if you wanted to go outside for some fresh air you had to pay to get back in. I was very happy that I'm not a cigarette smoker that night!! We got back to our hostel around 4am and had to be out of there, all packed up, at 10am....yuck!

The trip back was pretty long and boring and to be honest, I would have rather just flown. We stopped into a chocolate factory in Belgium which was fun, but still not worth the 12 hour coach trip. I would love to head back to Amsterdam again in the future when I have both more time and money because its a fantastic city. I spent WAY more than I had planned, but I didn't hold back on anything that I wanted to do. Therefore, I had no regrets, and made the most of our time there! I was EXHAUSTED when I got back on Sunday morning, and wanted no more than to get into bed, in my OWN room, away from others!! It was a very intense 3 days but I loved it!
I now have to pack up my room for the easter break, and am heading back to the Wilson's tomorrow until April 20th. Hopefully I will be working during the holiday so that I can justify my reckless spending this past weekend!

Thats all from me for now.
Missing you all!
xoxo
- Nicky

A Loss, An Injury, and A Moment

Ok ok ok...I am a terrible blogger.
But I am back.

I don't really have A LOT to report other than the fact that I have actually started to do some of my coursework here at Nottingham (hence the lack of blogging). I have my first presentation this coming Wednesday, so wish me luck! Also, as many of you may already know...Doug passed away last week so that was obviously really upsetting for me. I don't remember a life without Doug, so its going to be very strange when I go home and he is visibly absent. After the loss of two pets in so little time, I had a brief attack of homesickness so I went back to Yorkshire again for the weekend. We went out to see John's band play on the Saturday night and had a tasty Sunday breakfast which seemed to instinctively cure my illness. But all in all, I am continuing to enjoy Nottingham life!! I am starting to get excited because I am heading to Amsterdam this weekend. A group of 80 (yes I said 80) of us are taking a Coach there so I am assuming the word that I could use to sum up the weekend will be "intense". I will report back with the results after we return!

Also, I had a minor incident this week in which I cut my finger quite deeply on a piece of glass. I thought that the cut was deep but that I didn't need stitches. Unfortunately, when I was out at a club a couple of days again I tore open the wound again and ended up spending part of my night in the first aid room getting my hand bandaged up. But in true Freeman fashion, I grabbed another cocktail and went straight back out to the dance floor!! Woohoo!

Yesterday afternoon, I experienced one of my most favorite and memorable moments of the trip thus far. I discovered a beautiful lake on campus that I had always heard people speaking of, but hadn't yet experienced. The weather wasn't even very nice (in fact, it looked like it was going to pour down), yet I had one of those surreal moments where life suddenly slowed down, and I just took a deep breath and felt appreciative for everything that I have in my life, and in especially, this fantastic adventure that I have embarked upon. I will definitely head back down regularly for some relaxing "me" time. I have attached some pictures for you're viewing pleasure (again, it wasn't the nicest day, but is still a beautiful location).

I am also starting to look forward to Easter vacation! We get an entire month off starting on the 20th of March! Phil is planning to come and visit which I am ESTATIC about! We are planning to head down to London for a few days which should be an amazing experience for us to share toegether.

Anyways, I think thats all from me today!
I will report back in about a week when I return Amsterdam....thats IF I return...haha just kidding Mom!!
Missing you lots!
xoxo
- Nicky

A Routine, a Roadtrip, and a Day for love.

Hi all!

Within the last week or so I have fallen into a routine that I am starting to get very comfortable with. I am still loving all of my room mates and I would say that I have now officially become "part of the group". I no longer feel like an outsider, and am really starting to feel like I am at home in Nottingham. My friends and I do almost everything together. We have three meals a day together, go to the gym together, go shopping together, and then go out (or stay in) at night together!! Its crazy how close you can get with a group of people within such a short amount of time...We had a Valentines Day formal meal on Thursday where the guys wore tuxedos and the girls wore nice dresses. My camera suddenly died so unfortunately, I couldn't document the event!! Either way, we had a great three course meal, and then decided to have a ping pong tournament (still dressed in our formal gear) in which I won 4 straight games in a row!! Who knew I was good at ping pong after a couple of glasses of chardonnay? Not me!

I went back to the Wilson's this weekend because I managed to score a ride from someone who was going there anyway, which saved me a lot of time and money that I would have spent on a train or bus. Most of the Wilson family are away skiing in Austria for the week, but it was really nice to spent time with Leah and Morigan. I went to the Alma on Friday night with Nicky Clay and her boyfriend and we played the pub quiz and came 5th out of 6 groups...oh well!! Valentines Day was a strange one this year because Phil and I weren't together. Leah and I decided to be each others unofficial Valentines so we exchanged cards and little gifts (haha!) I went out clubbing with Leah and a few of her friends at night which was fun, yet I felt slightly out of place within the single crowd. We had tea at Gran Lorraines on Sunday night and then it was back to Nottingham for me...

I didn't get ANY work done this weekend so now that I am back, I am in major catch up mode (yet am stalling to write this blog...) I have uploaded a photo of myself, Eleanor, and Judy before we went on a club crawl last Monday!

Anyways, must get back to work now!
Hope you are all well. Missing you all as usual! xoxo

New Addition: I have added a couple of pics from the Valentines Formal that I stole from my friend Joe.

Taking the Good with the Bad

Hello All,

Wow, so as usual A LOT has happened within the last few days. The first thing I want to blog about probably relates to something that many of you already know about. My cat Patrick has been struggling with diabetes over the past couple of months and has especially struggled with it during the last few weeks. My parents brought him into the Vet's on Saturday expecting to take him home with a cure, and instead were advised to put him down...sooner rather than later. He wasn't able to recover and could potentially not last the weekend. So...Patrick was put down. I went out on Saturday night with Nicola Clay, an old friend of mine from childhood so my family didn't want to ruin my evening with the bad news of Patrick. So the next day when I went on to skype with my parents, the news hit me like a rock. It all happened so suddenly! I loved Patrick more than life itself so I had a major low point when I heard that news. I wish I had been there to say goodbye and to support my family during such a sad time. Our pets are part of our family (they make the cover of our Christmas card more than I do) so it feels very strange to have him gone. He was a great cat, and will be very hard to replace...

Anyways, now moving onto the good! I have been keeping myself very busy in order to take my mind off the obvious. On Monday I started my classes (finally!) and immediately found them to be different than at UBC. A lot of their learning is based on independent study which is difficult coming from a highly structured program at home. Because of the fact that the faculty of English is one of the most pretigious on campus, I have found the students to be slightly pretentious in their attitudes. I have been lucky to make a friend in each class but have felt a general feeling of "I am a scholar and therefore I am better than everyone" kind of vibe. To be fair, everyone has been very kind to me (because I am "in" the English crew) yet look down on the other faculties...very weird!! But on the other hand, all of the students in my classes are, indeed, very smart. Some of the things that come out of their minds are astonishing!! It is slightly intimidating but I look forward to the challenge.

On Monday night I had my first gospel choir rehearsal! My friend Judy and I signed up together so it was nice to go along with some else, instead of alone. I really enjoyed the rehearsal and had a great time singing my heart out without a care in the world!! Tuesday I had more class to attend, and then went to a Cheese fondue night with my room mates. To be honest, it was a bit of a let down. Their was a good turn out of people, but they promised wine with the cheese and their was none!!!! Because we were meeting our other friends later on in the evening, we had some time to kill (and were NOT enjoying the cheese party) so decided to do a mini bar crawl around Nottingham city. We ended up at a new club called Marketbar which was really fun!

I had a 9am class this morning which was unfortunate after a 3am bedtime but hey, you only live once! This afternoon I went into Nottingham city with my room mates Richard and Eleanor to check out the amazing shopping that their is in this city!! It was great!!
Thats all I really have to report for now...will update again in the next couple of days...must get some work done in the mean time!
Also, I have attached a very cute pic of Patrick, a pic from our mini bar crawl last night as well as a pic of the Trent building, where I have all my English classes.
Missing you all :)

The "Yes Man"

I named this post accordingly as a self description of who I have been during the last couple of days. EVERY time some one will ask me to do ANYTHING (within reason...) I will say yes! I am starting to get to know everyone in my halls a lot better and especially love the room mates who are on my corridor. I played "netball" for the first time on Wednesday and immediately found out that it is NOT the same as basketball (which I initially thought it was). I played "goal defense" where I shockingly, defend the goal. I played against a girl who was probably a food taller than me and therefore it was impossible to keep her from scoring!!

I have also joined a number of societies on campus with my friends from my corridor. I have joined the Chocolate Society, the Cheese Society, the Travel society, the Hide and Seek Society (where you play childhood games...sounds silly but looks hilarious), the Food society (where they teach you how to cook/give good recipes) and the Revival Gospel Choir!!! I have my first gospel choir rehearsal on Monday evening and am really excited! They have uploaded a couple of videos to Youtube and they look fantastic! I am also going to a Cheese Fondue party on Tuesday which should be tasty!

I have been really lucky to be able to use my meal card for lunch all over campus so have been going out for lunch with different people everyday. I will go even if I'm not hungry just so that I get the chance to know everyone better...which is not working out too well for my fitness regime. But on the bright side, I am feeling a lot better so I went back to the gym for the first time since I've left Canada yesterday and I almost died! I went out for a big lunch before but because a couple girls asked me to join them to work out...I said "yes" (obviously!!) and then felt like I was going to be sick....haha maybe I should revise my "yes man" status somewhat. I went out with my friends from halls last night...again...to a place called Gatecrashers. It was great...I've attached some photos from the night. Tonight I am just staying in and watching a movie with my roomies because I am going out again tomorrow night with my friend Nicola Clay who I used to live next door to as a kid in West Yorkshire. She used to go to the Uni of Nottingham so she will know all of the good places to go!!

Also, as for the academic part of my experience, I don't start classes until this coming Monday! Thankfully, I have been in touch with the English department and they have allowed me to take their 3rd year courses...phew!! The English department is quite prestigious here at Nottingham so I am slightly nervous for their level of assessment...it is one of the oldest faculties of English in the country. Apparently it is almost impossible to gain entry into their program directly from high school...yikes!! Either way, I have my classes in the most beautiful building on campus and only go to class on Monday-Wednesday. I have a 4 day weekend, woohoo! Ok, will update again in the next couple of days.
Missing you all!! xoxo

Back to School Part 2

The next morning I went to the doctors because I STILL wasn't feeling better!! They are reeeeeeeally strict about prescibing antibiotics over here, so he didn't give me anything....grrrrr. Anyways, dad and I then went to move my things out of the closet into the new, bigger, and better room! I now have a room that is bigger than my one at home! It has a double bed, a sink, a huge desk, chest of drawers, closet etc. I had an orientation that afternoon for all internation students and for lack of a better word...it SUCKED. Everyone seemed to already know each other (the Spanish stuck with the Spanish, the Chinese stuck with the Chinese etc) and their was no opportunity for interaction...so I met no one! Thankfully, when my dad and I came back to my hall, we decided to go down to the meal hall for lunch and I got bombarded by a group of girls who live there. They immediately noticed that I was new, and asked my dad and I to join them. They let me pick their brains and even invited me out that night. I said maaaaaybe because I was unwell but it was really the thought that counted. Then when I came up to my room, I met the girl across the hall from me called Florence who is AWESOME!! She is so helpful, kind, and fun! She introduced me to the all of the other students in our hallway who continued to be so overly nice and welcoming. There are 5 girls and 3 guys in our hallway, with one room empty as of right now. It was so much easier saying goodbye to my dad when I had such a great group of people surrounding me. So we all headed down for dinner together where we had Chinese food in celebration of the Chinese new year! Because the hall is so small, everyone knew that I was "the new girl" as they put it, so I had people introducing themselves left, right and center. I have to say again how overwhelmed and surprised I was with how welcoming everyone has been...I mean I thought that everyone would be "nice" but not this nice!! I decided to bite the bullet last night and just push through the pain and go out because EVERYONE was going out...there was so much hype surrounding the evening that I just had to do it. They were all dressing up as "look-a-likes" but I didn't have a costume for obvious reasons. Some of the costumes consisted of Big Bird, Dobby and Hagrid from Harry Potter, Mr. Tumnus from Narnia, Sex and the City (who were guys by the way) plus many many more. We started off downstairs in the common room and then headed to a club called Oceania from here. I stuck with my friends from my hallway who I absolutely adore! They are all so close, and are all living in a house together next year. The club was amazing, it was probably the biggest club I have ever been to. The crew from Nightingale have a certain area that they go to, so I didn't get lost! All in all, I had a great time and am so so so happy I went out! This morning (bright and early) I had to meet with the Department of Art History to discuss my courses. All of the registration is done in person here which is STUPID because it is so much more convenient to do it online. The classes that I have chosen seem interesting yet slightly daunting because I have never studied Art History before. I may still talk to the English department to see if I could study with them instead. After that, I headed over to the Portland Building, which is the equivalent to UBC's Student Union. They were having a fair on where they display all of the different clubs/societies that you can join. I am looking into joining the chocolate society, the cheese society (because I love food), the softball team. and the student volunteer association. I have also bought a pass to the Fitness Centre for the year which is literally a hop, skip and a jump away from my hall...how convenient! Also, my hall is going on a coach trip to Amsterdam in March that I am 100% going to go on! It sounds so exciting! I am also going to look into getting a part time job over the next couple of days because I don't start classes until next week. I am just having a lazy night in tonight with my room mates which I'm really looking forward to! I will post again in the next couple of days!
Missing you all a lot!

Back to School Part 1

Woo, its been awhile since I last blogged mainly because I have been so ill/busy...which is a deadly combo. This bug has been dragging on like crazy, and I just can't seem to shake it off! I haven't been able to rest it off so its just continuing to get worse. But anyways, on to bigger and better things. My dad has been visiting this week, and we have had the nicest time together. We walked down to the local pub on Saturday and shared a tasty pizza. On Saturday night, Leah and I went to her friend's 21st birthday party which was really fun, but I really should have been at home sleeping. On the Sunday morning, Dad and I started the drive to Nottingham bright and early and ended up arriving here around noon. The drive was beautiful, as we saw some great stately homes and castles along the way!! My residence is called "Nightingale Hall" and its stunning! Its definitely one of the nicest halls, and it even used to be a hotel. When we arrived, everything was perfect EXCEPT for my bedroom. It was a "discounted single" room which in other words means "a closet". There was room for one single bed, a tiny desk, and maybe one person. Thankfully, a larger room was potentially available for me to move into the next day...we really lucked out with that because this is apparently a very hard hall to get into! I felt awful though because the girls who I met on my floor were SO kind and seemed to be genuinely upset that I was relocating. To be fair, they were slightly awkward (my dad will back me up on this) so I couldn't really see us being best friends anyways...one of them was called "Egg" for christs sakes. Because of the fact that my room was half the size of a jail cell/I really felt under the weather, I decided to stay with dad at the bed and breakfast that he had arranged for himself. We were told about a great pub nearby called "The Victoria" so we decided to check it out, and have our dinner there. It was "Robbie Burns Night" which is basically a celebration of everything Scottish so the place was packed. They had a live band on who were playing Celtic music, and dad even ordered haggis for his dinner! I tried it just to say that I have...but its definitely not my cup of tea. Towards the end of the night, a man came out of the kitchen playing the bagpipes, along with another man who was carrying steaming hot haggis and ANOTHER man holding 2 bottles of whiskey in the air. They then went on to stab the haggis with a knife while reciting Robbie Burns poetry...oh whatta night! I will definitely have to go back to the Victoria again soon because it had such an amazing atmosphere...I absolutely loved it! It was a great moment in time to share with my dad...

In Sickness and in Health

So the Broadcasting interview was interesting...and actually really hilarious. I had to speak about the reasons why I chose to go on exchange to the UK and a little bit about my experience as a student in Vancouver. Leah and I had a major moment of almost getting the giggles when we were taping the part where Leah asks me questions and then I don't answer, I just "pretend" like I am answering. We seriously almost lost it. There is also another Broadcasting strategy called "noddies" where Leah just sits there and silently nods for a couple of minutes...hahaha it was actually one of the funniest things I have ever. I am really angry because I took a few pics of the interview, and then I totally forgot to put my memory card back into my camera...soooooo I don't have any pics...ugh I am such an idiot! When we got home that evening, I was feeling a little under the weather but I just figured that it was because I was tired. I got a major migrane and ended up going to bed really early, so that I would be bright and breezy for our big night out the next day. Unfortunately, I woke up feeling even worse the next day. I had the sweats, and just literally felt like I was on my death bed...and all I could think about was that I REALLY didn't want to miss the night out...haha. Anyways, Leah's dad, John ended up driving all the way from Leah's house in Yorkshire to come and get me because I was becoming slightly delirious, and was basically hitting a low point. Leah was having friends over to sleep later on that night...about 5 of them to be correct, so I really had no choice but to go back to her family's house...bummer!! I am feeling a tad bit better today, but unfortunately have completely lost my voice. I am just going to rest up for the next couple of days so that I am well for when I move down to Nottingham on Sunday!! Speaking of which...I am started to get really excited! My dad flies in tonight, so I can't wait to see him too. ALSO, I have been in touch with a friend of a friend of mine who goes to Nottingham via facebook and he has already invited me for a night out with him and his friends on Monday! I have a friend, yippeeeeee!! I said maybe though....just in case something better comes up...hahaha! I still don't know what courses I am taking there...which could be a slight issue, but we have an orientation on Monday where I hope everything will get sorted out. Ok, I will message again in the next couple of days. Oh and I was going to attach one of the photos from the interview, but like I said...I don't actually have any...so I have added one of me bundled up in bed because I thought it was appropriate, haha! Missing you all!!

Peace and Pressure...

The last couple of days have been full of both calming and stressful moments. I went out for a lovely lunch with my Grandpa yesterday, and I had a taaaaaasty curry! We had a nice chat, and he gave me a beautiful locket and necklace that once belonged to my Grandma. The only problem was that we arrived to lunch with the weather being fine, and then by the time we left the pub it was blizzarding so much that you could barely see 5 feet in front of you. I felt awful that my Grandpa had to drive 1 and a 1/2 hours back to Manchester, but he made it home in one piece. Today, I went out for lunch with my mom's good friend Vanessa, and her daughter Amy. I was planning on taking the train to Leeds to stay with Leah directly after we had finished lunch. But...to my dismay, we went to lunch in a part of town that I'm not used to so they ended up dropping me off at a train station that I had never been to before, that had tons of platforms and trains coming through...the only train station that I have ever been to before had only 1 platform, and 1 train...easy peasy. I thankfully got on the right train to Leeds, and got here safely. BUT I took a taxi from the station, in which the driver took full advantage of my Canadian accent so overcharged me (he looped around the same park 4 times), and then dropped me off at the wrong address. Thankfully I gained my barrings and was able to find Leah's house before the sun went completely down. PHEEEEW. I am really proud of myself for getting here because to be honest...it was a bit of a song and dance. Anyway, Leah is studying Broadcasting at the University of Leeds, and really wants me to be her special guest in her assessment video tomorrow...Live TV + Nicky = YIIIIIKES. She was asked to interview someone interesting so apparently I fill the bill. I am kind of nervous only because if I mess up...her grade will suffer! Also, my friend Lauren who is back in Canada has officially booked our hotel for Ibiza in June. It's going to be an amazing trip, I can't wait! I will update you all about my starring role in the next couple of days...wish me luck!

The First Week

I have been in England now for a little over a week, and I feel like I have already accomplished so much! So far, I have done a lot of sleeping, eating, and maybe a small amount of drinking...that, in turn, has equaled happiness. I have been staying with the Wilson family, and I also went to the University of Leeds with Leah for a couple of nights last week. Leah and I have known each other since birth so it was pretty funny to go grocery shopping with her and make dinner for ourselves...its like we have suddenly turned into adults....weird! Because Leeds is a student oriented city, we went out and only ended up spending about $20 each yet had an amazing time... now I call that a good night out!! I am back in Yorkshire now, until Tuesday (when I am going to Leeds again) and have been going for some beautiful walks in the countryside. Yesterday, I went to visit the house where I grew up, and actually ended up knocking on the door, meeting the owners, and taking a guided tour. The house has changed a lot...but looked fantastic! Today, I walked to my old elementary school and once again, played the creeper, and peaked through the windows. It is just like I remembered. Leah and I went out locally last night and did an unexpected mini pub crawl. We ended up at a bar called "Bridges" which was packed full of muttens dressed as lambs, but we had a great time nonetheless. I have also managed to score myself a job at the local pub called "The Alma", where I will be mainly working over the month-long Easter holidays. The thought of myself pulling pints in a British pub is just too classic to pass up. I am starting to miss everyone back at home but am very excited to move to Nottingham, and start university next week...I am strangely anxious to get back into some sort of regular routine. I will update my blog again in the next couple of days and please feel free to make comments and update me on what YOU have been up to!!! xoxoxo