London

Tuesday, October 21, 2003

Havent written in a while. Too much midterm stuff going on. Just came back from a play…After Mrs. Rochester….very weird and dark and deep,. and it made my head hurt after the 3 hour essay test that I had taken two hours prior. Midterms have been kicking my butt, but they are almost over. Stonehenge and Bath are Friday, and then I am done with midterms! But not papers School has been the main focus, ever since Paris, ah…Paris….Friends are good, family is good, graduation scare is over (well, not the acutally graduation, anyhow) and thats about it. Kinda boring, I know, but its midterm month! In Nov, I am going to Paris again, Barcelona, and Italy, with a possible trip to Germany somewhere in there….that means no weekends free from this girl! I am so excited for those, I will have loads of stories for those trips. I am just living it up, going pub hopping, but not too much because I dont like the beer…except for the MGD they sell at the Sports Cafe (shout out to GM)…just really preparing for my november trips. Everyone is getting jobs and stuff back home, and I am living it up in London…not a bad way to spend one of the last semesters of college! I will write more later, but for now, I am tired. Insominia hit me and I didnt get to bed until 4 am!!! Icky. Let me know how things are going with you guys…I MISS YOU GUYS!

Brick Lane

Thursday, October 23, 2003

Had Indian food for the first time…didn’t agree with my stomach, but it was damn good…Brick Lane was so much fun, way too much history in London though…nothing much else, have another essay midterm tomorrow, not really fun…but not stressing out either..whats the point? life is too short! Cant wait for the 5 day weekend!! although I have to write two papers so I dont have to deal with them when I go back to paris in two weeks. So excited. Then Barcelona. Then Italy. Oh what fun it is to be studying in Europe

Stonehenge and Bath

Friday, October 24, 2003

Just got back from Stonehenge and Bath.Amazing trip. Minus the bus sickness, but we arent talking about that. So, besides getting up at 8:15 am for an 8:30am trip, things didnt start off very well. Tiredness crept in, and the fact that I still havent learned my lesson about sitting in the back of coach busses when I get carsick didnt help the matter either. So as I desparatly tried to zone into the Liz Phair album (Track 11 for those of you who know), I got sick. Didnt fully, but man, was I glad when I saw the rocks in the distance…aka Stonehenge. I got off the bus into 40 degree weather (THAT IS NOT A COMPLAINT! merely a comment..:) and walked around the stones. It was actually quite impressive, seeing these stones in person. I thought it was going to be like the Mona Lisa or just overrated, but standing there, (freezing), amoung 500BC stones, it was actually quite a little glimpse into history for this girl…did you know that stonehenge is surrounded by burial grounds that look like hills that are still full of ancient bodies with arrows in their heads? And that there are circles around the stones that are measured exactly to the middle of the circle in the center of Stonehenge? It was kinda cool, all that history, all that mystery…People think they were great mathematicians, but really, I just think it was a gathering place, possibly a party place? where they set up lights around the circle, or maybe just some karoke? I like that idea. Picture of rocks to follow

Then we hopped on the bus to thaw out, and headed to Bath. It is home to Georgian architecture, and was built to look like one continous palace…even though I didnt like it because everything looked the same…but, that was the point. We headed towards the Roman Baths, which was the public baths that the Romans used to bathe in…I know, ew, but it was kinda cool. You saw the Roman ruins in all their glory, statues and even drain pipes that were still intact. I cant beleive central heating and drainage was made back then! Worked better back then than it does now in my flat! And then I touched Roman Bath Water! It was lukewarm and really algae invested, but now I can say I touched it. The whole thing was that the Romans had these public baths and they were found from underground springs, and the springs were supposed to have a healing effect. if u really want the story, talk to the tour guide…:) So, after we touched the water that you arent supposed to touch, we drank the water…well, I sipped the 50p water that Alex bought, and it tasted like Sulfer, magnesium…and counteracted with the metal fillings in my mouth. It was wonderful! After that, I bought a sandwich for £1.35 (which for all of you non-converts, that is CHEAP!) and did a little shopping for souviners for certain people…and then went with Faralyn (my other roommate) to the Museum of Costume and Fashion..and even though it cost £5.50 (thank mom!) it was well worth it. I saw 20’s era clothing, which I love, and the history of fashion and more importantly, SHOES! : ) It was awesome, which made me decide that when I am rich enough to afford Jimmy Choos, I will know that I have made it.

After about 3 hours it was time to go back and defrost on the bus, so I decided to sit in the front of the bus…so happy I did. Not only did I not get sick for two hours, but I talked to the tour guide named Angie, who is awesome, and learned all about British culture, and discovered that one of her good friends was a film professor from Dartmouth, and talked all about film and whatnot, her days of boarding school, and then getting expelled, and then she ran off to Paris for a year…then after university went to Brazil on a whim with four friends for three years…then shot films in the Amazon rainforest…it was sooo interesting to hear her stories, I almost didnt realize we made it back to London. I was SOOO happy not to get sick, but not so happy when I learned that it was the last time Angie would be our tourguide…but I did learn that people have stories, you just have to listen.

So, now, Back at ACCENT doing the email thing, and off to see George Clooney and Catherine Zeta-Jones in Intolerable Cruelty in Lechister Square. Tomorrow is study day, and then I might finally get to see a Trojan football game at the Sports Cafe out here!!! I AM SOOO EXCITED! So, for now, FIGHT ON!

Sidenote: I totally thought Stonehenge and Bath were gonna suck, but I realized that life has a funny way of surprising you…yet again:)

Loves and cheers, misses and kisses, LondonChik

Missing the Fall

Monday, October 27, 2003

It’s been a rough weekend, homesick-wise. Not that I am complaining, merely commenting. I miss fall. Although there are chesnuts actually roasting on an open fire outside the British Museum, I find that I miss the comforts of home. Little things. The falling leaves and all their color. The smell of fall in the air. Apple picking. Sweater-weather. I miss my dog. I miss my parents (I DO!:) I miss Chicago. I miss my boy. Don’t worry, folks, do not psycho-analyze this like I would, I am fine. I am more than fine, I am in LONDON! But I do miss fall. Long distance has proven to me that, no matter where I am and what opportunities arise, I am nothing without my family and friends.

Lost In Translation

Tuesday, October 28, 2003

My faith in Hollywood returned today with a viewing of Lost in Translation…not only did I stand in line in the freezing cold for 2.5 hours, and see the hottest man alive (Jake Gylenhall, hello!) but I saw a rather good film directed by Sophia Coppola..who just happened to be there! Yes folks, I went to my first premiere tonight at the London Film Festival, and it was amazing..not only that, but I was in the FRONT row!!!! It was great, but I will write more on it later..my baby is feeling sad, so I want to go cheer him up…and the computer lab is 90 degrees because someone thought it would be funny to turn the heat up and break the thermostat!!! Write more later!

 

Hollywood visits London

Sunday, November 02, 2003

So the film festival was amazing…standing in line definitly was one of the smarter things I have done here. It restored my faith in the Hollywood dream for about 2.5 seconds, but it was fun while it lasted! The program is going to Paris next weekend, and I couldnt be more excited to spend time with everyone in another country. I have decided to be psycho though and travel to 4 different places in 4 weeks! I know, I know..>CRAZY STEFI! But it should be fun. I cant wait to go to Italy, I am way too overly excited about that. The computer labs were not working this weekend, so while I was supposed to be reseraching, I spent partying instead….:) Halloween was ok, but just walking around london was so much better! The pictures explain my weekend, so I will just have to upload the site later. I hope eveyrthing is going well with everyone back in the states…I am starting to miss home and fall with the seasons and holidays coming up, but still…IM IN LONDON!

Paris Part Deux

Sunday, November 09, 2003

Ah. Paris. That city is starting to grow on me. Although it started out with frustration galore, it ended with a sweet taste in my mouth, much like the numerous crepes and pain au chocolat that I had this weekend. After getting up at the butt crack of dawn (aka 5:30), we boarded the EuroStar to Paris. I am spoiled, because I already went on the Eurostar, but as we arrived in Paris, I was utterly exhausted and just wanted to sleep. We got to our hotel that was in the Latin Quarter, and napped for a bit, then took a boat tour on the River Seine, which was quite nice and relaxing. I did get the quintessial Effiel Tower and Stefi picture, so I was quite happy about that. Then we had a HUGE French feast, on USC of course, filled with green beans salad, monk fish, and an apple crumble dessert that was to die for! It was incredable, but my stomach couldn’t handle all of that food, so I just stayed in for the night.

The next day we got up and went to the museum d’orsay by the louvre. Although it was early in the morning, and the tour guide kept talking about art history because USC lied about our majors to get a discount, I was impressed. Not only did I see an ACTUAL VAN GOGH!!! We “accidently” stumbled upon a Monet room…the same room that had the water lilies in it!!! It was amazing, and although I dont know anything about art history, just being able to see the brushstrokes of Van Gogh, Renoir, Degas, and Monet was awe-inspiring….after that, I grabbed some lunch (and a crepe from Gordon and my own personal crepe stand off the Champs Elysses:) and headed off to do some shopping, but never really got anything because they were all out of the Louis Vutton bag I wanted from the Champs Ellysess…:) After a whole lotta walking, ‘the group’ decided to have a little wine tasting of French Borduex….and taste we did…about 6 different wines and cheeses…it was amazing! And we got amazingly tipsy and had the wild idea of going out to the bars…we ended up at a CANADIAN BAR!!! Yadda, yadda, yadda…I ate a lot of crepes and went to sleep by 3:30, just in time for my drunkin roommates to come stubbling in:)

the next day I was up early and headed out with a smaller group just around Paris. The best time I have had thus far. All we did was stroll around neighborhoods of Paris, taking in the food, culture, and the beautiful French people. And I have decided that when I am rich and famous, I am going to buy a house in France so I can buy bagettes and pain au chocolats whenever I want them! Paris definitly grew on me at this point, and it was great because I was able to enjoy it, and not be frusterated travelling around with a large group. Blake, maggie, and I just had fun walking around, trying ever crepe known to man, and of course finding the Japanese resturant so that Blake could have his fill…but it was a great night, that ended up at the Notre Dame (which was right by the hotel), and some French accordian playing…:)

today we left so early, and I was supposed to wake everyone up, and of course, we woke up 10 minutes before we were supposed to leave…but somehow we made it. Might have been because I told everyone to pack beforehand…:) We ended up going to Versailles, which I know everyone said was unbeleiveable, but I found dull. Probably beacuse the Stanford Alumni Association and such tour groups lead to my numerous crowd-ophobia panic attacks, adn some Asian lady hit me in the head with her Louis Vutton bag…NO JOKE! The gardens and grounds were impressive, but somehow I think the landscape would be better in springtime with all the flowers, and not how I saw it with dreary raining london weather. So after the tour from hell, we all went to McDonalds in Versailles and ordered Royale with Cheese. And yes, the French do dip their fries in mayo. Ick.

So after another Eurostar trip I am back in London, and glad to be home. I have papers to write, gross food to eat, and then I am back on a plane on Friday bound for Barcelona…I am just practicing for when I have to jetset around to promote my band/movie…:)

I did learn this weekend though to be patient, and when one group doesnt fit, find another. I also learned that the French are not as bad as everyone points them out to be, they were nothing but hospitalable to me…probably because I bought two perfumes from them, and I started speaking French-lish….:) But I had a great time just strolling around, eating crepes, and taking in the Parisian life…it was a wonderful weekend. Cant wait for another adventure…and to go back to paris

Time Out

Thursday, November 13, 2003

No sleep for the procrastinator. I finished my 10 page pop culture paper (on What is culture?) at around 2:30 am, and made my way back home. Got up early this morning for the media class, that had added on an extra hour in order to visit a place called TimeOut. TimeOut is this company that lists all the happenings going on in london, complete with articles, listings, and whatnot. It’s basically the Village Voice of NY in magazine form…well, let’s just say the tour was really informative….so much so that I think I have shifted my fallback career into the magazine genre…And, get this, they are opening a division of TimeOut in Chicago in the spring of 2004…just in time for my graduation!!! So it was really cool, and I wouldnt it just be a cool thing to tell everyone that the reason I decided to get into magazine publishing was because of some stupid tour during my london semester abroad!!!

I am so tired. 2 more hours of listening to the Beatles in pop culture, and that bed is MINE! (mineminemineminemineminemine….:)

Barcelona

Tuesday, November 18, 2003

Barcelona was fun. We didnt do too much touristy stuff because there really wasnt anything to see-except for Gaudi houses, which are very cool and Gothic-looking, but that’s about it. So let’s start from the beginning-

Friday: Jen and I left for Stansted Airport at 8am to begin our 7 hours of travel. I am so greatful that the tickets are cheap to places like Barcelona, butthe traveling time sucks. 15 minutes to Waterloo Station, one hour to Stanstead via the train, one hour sitting at the airport, 2 hour flight to Girona, Spain, one hour bus ride into the heart of Barcelona, and we’re there! Barcelona is a beautiful Spanish city, with not a lot to see except shopping! And shop we did! The first night we walked around, got our bearings, had some lunch and dinner, and went on a hunt for the best Sangria in town. The Travel Bar, a favorite among backpackers, turned out to be crap, so we started wandering ardoun town, and soon found a little bar that offered sangria. We stopped in and although the sangria wasnt bad, everyone in the bar was drinking mojitos (which for all you non-alcoholics or bartenders, is a Cuban drink made with sugar, mint leaves, and limes, palleted together, add ice and white rum, and shake shake shake!) So we decided to order one, and oh-so-glad we did! They ended up being the best mojitos I have ever had! The people were very nice, and we ended up just heading home after that…we stayed in a loft, so all 6 of us were able to stay together without anyone else. It was kinda sketchy, but it was what it was for the price. On Saturday, we decided to see some sights, but all the tours were very expensive, so we ended up walking around again. We ran into a film crew shooting a movie in the middle square-Playa Catalunya-so that, of course was cool to only me…We even siesta’d with the rest of Barcelona-which is a very strange concept that I have yet to grasp-everything closed down during siesta, and when I say everything, I mean everything! After about 3 hours, everything was back on, and we headed to a pub crawl that was recommended to us by our London mates. So we paid our 15 Euros and planned to drink the night away. It was so lame that we ended up skipping out of one of the bars to go have another mojito at the same bar as before!! It was called Bar El Trece (Bar 13). It was actually quite humerous! So after about 6 hours of the girls drinking and Blake and I taking pictures of them (since Blake and I are soo much a martini crowd..:) I led the crew back home and we slept all night. But dont worry-I did have a Guiness at an Irish pub and got a free hat, and pretended I was a stripper at the club (completey sober, no less!) It was fun, but it was a frat party on wheels w/accents. Highly overrated!

On sunday, we were planning on bif time shopping-until we realized everything was closed on Sunday-we are talking Vanilla Sky-nobody in the center of town- empty. So we just wandered the city, played in the intersections, it was fun. For hours we just walked with no destination in sight, and it was actually quite cool. We bonded, ate some more food, and planned for a nice finner. We ended up at this resturant that had the cheapes prices I have ever seen! Let’s just say for 6 people, a three course meal plus sangria came out to 77 Euros (equvil to $90)! I had my first taste of paella, which was pretty good, and sucked on the brains of a crawfish named Henry. It was great fun. Conversation about oysters and a Spanglish album about food were the conversation, and before we knew it, we had spent over 3 hours just talking and eating! It was great fun and bonding. Then we headed (in the rain) to our mojito bar again to have our last Barcelona mojitos. We all went back to the loft and crashed, seeing that it was 1 am, and we had flights in the morning.

Monday I did some major shopping since the Euro is so much closer to the dollar than pounds. Bought myself some clothes, and also managed to pick up xmas presents…amazing. It was the chillest vacation I have ever been on in my life, and it was all sorts of fun. Definitly a great worthwhile trip! Forgot to meation the Picasso museum. Kinda cool, kinda lame since I think my finger painting is better than Picasso’s, but whatever…

I cant beleive I have only a month left our here. It’s gone by so fast, yet it is just fast enough. I dont want to leave persay…but I am starting to miss my family (yes, I AM!), my dog…my car…oh, yeah, and my boyfriend…I am sad that I wont be there for Thanksgiving, which is one of my favorite eating holidays…by this time in LA, I would have been home at least twice. And I love London….dont get me wrong, but I dont feel like I feel at home during the holidays. I need the xmas tree in Daily Plaza, and I need the Marshall Fields windows–I need Glenview Road’s tree lights–that to me is home. And I love it. So although I love london and all the traveling I have been doing..nothing will ever be able to take that away…I still miss/need home for the holidays. I cant wait for the holidays in london, but I cant wait to celebrate xmas in Chicago. Aint nothing like it in the world! and I should know…I have been jetsetting all semester!!

Loves to all-LondonChik:)

 

Politics in Unlikely Places

Friday, November 21, 2003

Have I grown up on this trip? Yes.

Am I different than when I left? Yes.

Am I still the same old Stefi? Yes.

I have never been one for politics. Although I love arguing with people about shopping and which shoes look better on me, I tend to stay away from politics for all the obvious reasons.

But ever since I stepped foot in this country, it has been hard to avoid them. Between Tony Blair and the Hutton Inquiry, to Arnie in office in Cali, I have found that I have become more educated and more interested in politics even more since I have been here….so it disturbed me yesterday with the protest against Bush happened right outside my window. People have a right to protest, no doubt…but people in my program wanted to go to the protest, and couldnt understand why I wouldn’t join them.

The fact of the matter is that the protest, no matter how much they say it wasn’t, was about anti-American…Yes, people hate Bush. I dont agree with everything he has done either…but he is still the President of the United States–whether you voted for him or not–and he still represents America. It disturbed me that people wouldn’t let me have an opinion about it, and were literally forcing me to go to the protest…but I was stubborn about it, because for once, I beleived in what I beleived in…any protest that burns an American flag is not some place I want to be…and I watched not only from the comfort of my own home, but with a better piece of mind to myself…

I am all for freedom of speech…that is what democracy is all about…but being an American minority in London has just made me believe even more in democracy…made me care about politics and government, and respect the differences between countries…but most importantly, being an American minority out here in England has made me more proud to be an American than ever before…because I finally found my political voice.