Eyes on Me

2007-07-16 09:09

I left behind my iPod on the train from Paris to London. But no one has reported it in or found it, which means it's probably been stolen.

But for the rest of the day, it wasn't so bad, except I think I'm slowly becoming addicted to tea.

There's so much to write about London, and how my friends are doing. I'm glad I can talk to DG as much as I do, and it's really nice to just let the bad blood out between us. It takes so long to build trust. But what happens when the trust you thought you built was never there?

What happens when the sister you thought you had for years turns out to be no more than a stranger who cries because I tried to say the truth?

I'm so tired. And I'm in England, the place I've always wanted it to be. I want to be here, and at the same time I loathe to be here.

Relationships are so strange.

To give her credit, she is in a very stressful place. And to be fair, I was pretty mean. I just don't know if it's going to iron out, but maybe this kink defines who we are as people, and I am shamelessly a lot stronger.

And much more than any one person can understand.

Sweetest Thing

2007-07-13 03:31

I apparently went to town alone only to meet up with 4 girls I know well at the train station. It was a rather odd coincidence, all of us wearing about the same color as well. But anyway. I got to buy laundry detergent and walk around for a little bit. It was sort of freeing deciding what to do on my own, considering I left the girls at the train station.

But I have a crapload of laundry that's going to sit around and ferment because the launderette is closed.

Oh well, after Paris!

England Adventures Part I

2007-07-11 05:06

This'll be a summary of the first three days. I know, it's like, 3 weeks into England all ready, but this shit's pretty funny.

It all began at 5AM on Wednesday June 20th, 2007. Sam and I woke up miserably. Then we proceeded not to sleep for 2 days. We had a shitload of luggage! But I'm getting to far ahead of myself.

We met up at 8:00AM in LAX. Finally said goodbye to parents and siblings at 9:00AM – much small talk after all – only to stand around for 2 hours inside terminal 22, where our flight was coming in. NWA flight 312. Once we got on the flight, we met this lady named Mary, who lived in Placentia next or near to the Wells Fargo thingie on Rose. We sat for 3 hours. Landed in Minneapolis and had about enough time to turbopee and run towards our next flight. Who knew they would be boarding 10 minutes after we landed?

So onto our second flight, which was the long ass 8 hour+ (with about 4 hours of night and 2 hours of intermittent sleep time) arch to England, which kept us close to land in case we started going down. Which obviously isn't the case as I'm able to write this now.

The longer plane had TVs for individual passengers (even coach), pillow, blanket, and an awful headrest that wasn't restful at all. Sam and I ended up perusing their free movie/music/plane maps. I watched a movie called “The Namesake” which was all right, I guess. Sam watched “Breach”, did not remember what she said about that so it must have been not that important.

When the airline served us food, there was a lot of it. Surprising. We both ordered chicken, and it wasn't terrible but it wasn't good. We met people (boys) from UCSB going to Sussex as well, and girls from UCLA and UCSB going to Spain. The flight was over soon enough, though sitting for 8 hours does no one any good. Also the lack of sleep would prove pretty frustrating. We landed in Gatwick, talked to the UCSB boys (one named Jesse) while we shuffled to get clearance with the passports/student visa. After that there was baggage claim.

Sam and I were not as exuberant as we figured we'd be once arriving in England – we were still in an airport and entirely lost as to what the bloody hell to do. After passing through customs and being thrown straight into the main airport, I tried to get change for pounds from 2 different stores, who both refered me to a third. I called and left a message for Kyaw Zyaw, whose phone number I nearly lost.

Sam and I traveled to the info booth and talked to a cute 30+ guy and booked a hostel for Friday and Saturday. By that time we spent 52.5 pounds already (not to mention the phone machine took up the entire pound I put in for a 30 second call

. Next up was to find a buy a young person's railcard, which I needed a passport sized picture for, which of course I didn't have. 4 pounds gone there.

Ticket bought to London Victoria, since I couldn't reach Kyaw Zyaw and since we needed a place to put our shitload of luggage. We needed trolleys, but they wouldn't let us take them to the train station downstairs, and the porters made me angry since they were adamant about “helping us” on the train, but Sam and I didn't want to spend more money than we already had to though the luggage was being rather difficult.

We missed the first train because we were slow. We ended up standing to protect our luggage. “Patience was wearing thin”, said Sam.

Once we got to Victoria Station we decided to chill for a bit. At that point we were probably awake for about a day. Whatever rest we got on the plane (2 hours max, remember) was unhelpful. I got this brilliant idea of strapping on Dad's squeaky rolley to the big rolley, and it worked for a while until we got to a ramp. Most of the Londoners thought we were retarded or something (or ignoring them, which wasn't the case. I'm just stiff and quiet when I'm tired).

One guy working at assistance helped lead me to a trolley to stack both Sam's and my packs to go to “Excess Baggage”, where of course I get into more trouble because I had a bag of food. (So did Sam, but they didn't stop her) The guy said he would store it on the promise that I would be there 24 hours later. If not they would throw it away! I still had clothes in there. He kept getting my “I can't store it here!” mistaken for “I'm NOT GOING to store it here!” I said I can't because I didn't think we'd be back in 24 hours.

After that Sam and I went through the London Underground (a certain type of hell for a new tourist) to try to find the right connection to Birmingham to see Kyaw Zyaw. Apparently the directions from the travel info guy were wrong. And then the trains we got on to reach the right stop traveled in the wrong direction! Frustration to the max.

And once we got on the right national rail train, we were charged once more for having the wrong type of ticket.

But at least we got some rest on the train, even though our money (200 quid) was almost out all ready. Once we got to Birmingham, I tried calling Kyaw Zyaw again, but he said to go to Wolverhampton bus stop so he could pick us up there. I had the impression that he wasn't all that fond of talking to me, so I said “Sure, we'll meet you there.” But Sam and I just walked around Birmingham to take in the view, there are some pretty pictures in flickr if you'll head over there. We walked around for a bit, saw Victoria Square and finally got on a bus to head to Wolverhampton, though we had NO idea where it was.

At the Wolverhampton bus station, I called again and Kyaw Zyaw said he'd come to pick me up. We waited a good 30 minutes or so in the fucking cold! AAAhh. It started to rain, and then I finally see Kyaw running to us after Sam and I walked up and down looking for him on apparently the wrong side.

To give one of my Dad's best friends credit, Kyaw had a niece named Yolanda who I got mistaken for, and she knows her shit, so he was probably annoyed that I, the YOlanda, didn't know what to though she had been in Wolverhampton (I assume) many times. After he picked us up, he and his wife took us to a wonderful Chinese restaurant near their home and paid for our meal. They pressed us to keep eating, which I didn't mind since I figure it was a buffet and that I wouldn't be eating nearly as well when I got to Sussex.

After dinner, he took us to his home, which was pretty cute. His dogs were super cute. And I can dig a person who loves dogs. He let us call our parents from his phone, and I had to talk to Grandma, which meant nothing was really communicated. I gave the phone to Kyaw, who explained to her that I was all right. Sam and her parents talked for a while, and it was pretty much done. I took a much needed shower, and Sam and I headed off to sleep, real sleep!

When we woke up in the morning, the Zyaw family treated us to a mini English Breakfast. And then Kyaw gave me his daughter's former cell phone so I could use it. He even paid for my calling card, which was super nice and I don't know how to pay him back.

I just gave him a box of chocolates that my family wanted to give to his. He packed some water bottles for Sam and I, as well as some drinks, and I forgot to pick up the bag of candy he had ready for us O_o

Though he wanted us to stay a bit longer so he could show us the sights around his place, we had a deadline with the fucking London Excess Baggage company. Past 2:45pm I thought my bag would be trashed. So we hopped train stations to get back to London and ran to the place storing our baggage, to get it JUST in the nick of time.

And then we decided to go to our hostel using a taxi. I lost another quid because the cart thingie “costs” that much.

I'm going to stop here for today 'cause it's already past midnight and I just done fisiks.

Epic

2007-06-27 01:36

Everybody wants something… epic. Something that lasts for a long while, to be remembered, to be looked up to, to be an example for something spectacular.

There's something… almost storybook-like seeing the hills of England, even this far south. Open green fields, dark forest paths, the ever present wind that speaks, the rain, the cottages, the sense of adventure while being in a completely tame area… Of course, I've been in Sussex for about 4 days now, maybe the magic will wear off…

But I hope it doesn't.

It was really cold today. And I felt like it was all going to be okay.

Give Me A Chance To Hold On

2007-06-25 07:49

8 hours later it's nearly 4pm in LA. HAHAHAHA You have to catch up to me! I flew into the future!

I think I'm in love with the kind of person my guides are. They love their jobs, they love learning about new people, new views, new styles – and they love talking about how they view things, how they deal with life, how different things really are. While still being really proud of who they are, where they came from, why they do things.

Ok, the accents are superbly sexy, too.

And one thing's for sure, they are all super sweet. They're willing to be patient, they're willing to lend a hand, let you finish your drink, lead you the RIGHT way, keep their minds on getting off at the right stop while still actually LISTENING to what we American Imports are trying to say.

And they're really good with phrasing things. I'm sure it comes naturally with the sort of practice they've had with their job, but on the same hand they do actually know what they want to ask and what they want to defend.

My guide Chaz is so quirky cute that I want to hug him and put my head on his shoulders. He's sort of scrawny, but that's quite all right. It would be really wonderful if I met the perfect man for me in this oh so sunny part of England. But I have to leave in 8 weeks. Not much for romance there. It's just so wonderously… right, being so far from home. Maybe it's the wanderlust. Maybe the perfect man is another wannabe traveler. And maybe it's just not the right time for love, and I'll meet someone who wants to settle down in Southern California, raise up children in a comfortable neighborhood and teach me and our children (should we have any) just how wonderful having an actual home is.

Whatever comes, I hope I'll have open arms. And right now, my mind is slowly succumbing to the idea that everything is wonderful, even if it's painful trying to get a grasp on my dreams and desires.

I will get what I will get. And I will at least try to be happy with it. I will be overjoyed to get anything at all.

It's 4pm in England

2007-06-25 00:37

And it's just about as dark as 7pm in California. Why? Rain. IN THE SOUTH? Then again, it is still England.

While there's no reason to go out, I really should . It's pretty depressing inside, and the clouds are moving faster than I am. I gotta warm up somehow, but the gym membership opens tomorrow. I could go outside and run, but again, it's fucking raining. I don't think I'm homesick, but if this was my home, I'd be sick. I just miss all my friends, that aren't here, and those that are here are pretty much suffering too.

I start school school tomorrow. I moved in yesterday, there are flickr and picasa photo albums online 'cause I'm easy (and cheap) like that.

I think it's time to dress up and start heading out!

The Inferno

2007-06-19 06:48

It's hot today in California.

And I'm reading Dante's Inferno. It got me wondering if in a simplified view of hell and heaven, where the plane between the two is actually this smallish region called Earth… would hell ever explode because there were too many people? If hell was essentially underneath our feet with the lava-y fire and brimstone, it would be able to comfortably hold roughly 3,431,409,193,751,696,086,957 people. I get bored easy and do weird calculations, thanks.

What if there were too many people going to hell?

I imagine a workaround. I'm pretty sure if it gets stuffy in there, people will be shrunk just a little bit to add that extra person in. Enough so that hell doesn't go bursting out, but not so much that people actually get comfy again. As more and more people are added, people keep shrinking and shrinking and are reminded that they are becoming insignificant – a fear to a lot of people, no? – until they reach sub atomic levels. That's a whole lotta sinners. After that I'm pretty sure people do some weird fusion thingie.

Yes, I'm ignoring gravity. Gravity is overrated.

And about heaven, well, if it's the part above us, heaven's a pretty awesome playground. It's… INFINITE. Or at least 700,000,000,000,000 light years across (per side?), last I remember. That's pretty effin' big. I don't think I can do calculations on that one, but the number probably approaches infinity.

I don't know if there IS a heaven or a hell. But it's fun to think about.

I'm going to England tomorrow. Don't know if it'll be a heaven ('cause EUROPE OMG ) or hell (physics ). Either way I'm still pretty Earthbound.

You've Got This Strange Effect On Me

2007-06-09 12:29

And I like it!

Guess who's been listening to Hooverphonic! &hearts;

Buckling down on finals week. And it's a pain in the ass. As well as my neck. And I'm physically suffering stress through the forms of headaches and lack of energy, though that could be caused by too much food and lack of exercise

I don't usually have coffee. I usually get watered down creamer with sugar and ground, roasted bean. Mmm.

Battlestar Galactica is good! Jay and I are watching it. We're also watching Firefly together, so it's all good :D Better than moping about it. Next on the list of Stuff-To-Do (besides the Avatar comic) is Paranoia Agent. Yay revisiting good shows!

I have to finish up molecular biology and chemistry this weekend. I'll start on Neuro tomorrow.

What is that Sound?

2007-06-04 02:20

Ok, I think I'm going to do some smilies of my own. Though I love the little ones that Beccary made, I think I'll throw in more unique stuff to unify things.

Back to life. I spent a weekend hanging out with my friend CG. It was pretty neat, going to Monterey Park, Santa Monica, Hollywood and Pasadena. We also visited Gallery Nucleus (Alhambra), Ripley's Believe it or Not (Hollywood ), Famima!! (also Hollywood), and a crapload of restaurants.

It was great to know that I could do that without having to DATE someone.

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