Hello!

Well, since my last blog was unsuccessful, I will just start at the airport. When we got to the airport, we realized our flight was delayed from its original time of 7:30pm until 10:00pm. So me, Cory, Jim, Megan, and Sara all sat around the airport for a really long time. Megan and I walked around for quite a while and I bought a sweatshirt at a duty-free shop because I was so cold. Later, Megan waiting outside a place while I got something to eat and when I walked out I saw this guy..probably just a little older than us...creeping on her. When I walked over he was trying to make conversation and asked which one of us was single and when we said that both of us were taken, he proceeded to still ask for our numbers. Obviously..we told him no and politely said we had to go back to our friends. Later, the guys got up to go get a drink at the bar and the creeper (who was on our flight and at our gate) walked right over and sat down next to Megan. He was so strange! He asked if we had cameras so he could see our pictures and when we told him no, he pulled out his camera phone to show us his pictures. Poor Megan had to sit through a 20 minute convo and see hundreds of pictures of his family and dogs. Since I wasn't next to him, it was easier for me to look around and not really pay attention. Megan is too nice and sat through the whole thing. Finally, the guy left when I asked Megan if she had to "go to the bathroom." Our plane finally took off at about 10:30pm. By that time we were exhausted and just wanted to get home. If you've ever flown RyanAir before, you know that it is super cramped and the seats don't recline, so we were happy it was only about an hour flight back to London. When we arrived, we got in line and waited at customs and right when we got to the front, they told us that people arriving from the Republic of Ireland had to go in a different line. So, we walked over to another line and didn't even have to get stamped or anything. After I got my bags, we headed up to the coach stop and realized that the next bus wasn't coming until 1am. It was 12am, so we were mad that we had to wait that long! It had already been a long day, so we sat our bags down and laid on the floor while we were waiting. Finally, 1am rolled around and we were able to get on the bus. I closed my eyes and hoped to fall asleep. I don't know if I was ever totally asleep but during the ride, I noticed we started to stop and go like we were off the highway. I thought we were in Oxford, but when I opened my eyes I saw an airport....which turned out to be London Heathrow. haha...That sucked, since I really thought we were home! So, I closed my eyes again and eventually we arrived in Oxford at 3am. As soon as I got home, I took a shower and went to bed.

On Monday, we had class in the morning and right after class, I took a long nap. Being delayed yesterday and not getting that much sleep after a long weekend in Dublin took a toll on my cold and I was not feeling well at all. That night, me, Megan, Megan, Stephanie, and Liz all stayed in and watched 27 Dresses on Liz's lap top. It was a much needed night off. On Tuesday, I went to class in the morning as usual. Today, Dean Milligan (Dean of the College of Business) and her husband came in and talked to us because they were visiting Oxford. Between classes and went to talk to the girls in the office. I went in and asked them about seeing a doctor. At this point, I felt like I had a sinus infection and since I get those pretty often, I didn't want to take any chances. It was nice because they made the appointment for me and then they go with us to the doctor's office. After class, I took a nap and set my alarm for enough time to shower before my appointment. When my alarm went off, I was still pretty tired, so I reset it for 4:40pm to be able to get ready to meet at 5:10pm for my appointment. Well the next time I awoke was to someone knocking on my door. I shot up out of bed and answered the door...it was Bryony. She asked me if I was going to my Dr.'s appointment and I told her that I didn't think we were meeting until 5:10pm. She told me it was 5:20pm and I was so confused on why my alarm didn't go off. Right away, I got everything together and headed out the door. The doctor's appointment cost 50 pounds cash, so I had to go to the ATM on the way. We got there just in time. Kim, another girl on the Nebraska program was there too, so she was able to go before me. When I went into the Dr.'s office, the doctor checked my nose, ears, and mouth and decided to put me on some antibiotics for a sinus infection. The doctors offices here are much smaller and more homey than the ones at home. Right when I walked in, you check in at the desk and when they call your name, you immediately see the doctor. The doctor's office has his desk and nice chairs and the bench type thing that our doctor's offices have was in the corner. It was a nice little place! It probably only took 15 total minutes of waiting and seeing the doctor. When I got out Boots was closed, so I wasn't able to get my prescription until the next day. That night, Megan and I went down to the 4th Quad pub at Jesus College and had a few drinks with everyone. At 11pm, when it closed and some people went out, I decided to go to bed. Being sick is not fun and plus, most people still needed some rest from Dublin!

On Wednesday, I went to class like usual. For lunch, we all decided to go to the Pizza Hut buffet. Sometimes, it is nice to have American food...and it was really good! In the afternoon, I attempted my blog. You all know how that turned out, haha. That evening, we all went to see Shakespeare's, "Much Ado About Nothing" at the old Oxford Castle. It got kind of chilly toward the end because it was outside, but it was worth it. The play was so good and hilarious! The actors and actresses all did such a great job. During intermission, we went to the bathroom but some of the guys went to look in the castle. The castle was an old jail and now is converted into a nice hotel. I didn't actually see it, but the guys showed me pictures and the hotel really looks like an old prison on the inside...similar to one you would see on "Shawshank Redemption." It seemed like a really nice hotel, but I don't think you could pay me to stay in a creepy old prison! Anyways, after the play...Megan and I decided to go get some food from the local grocery store. We didn't eat dinner because we were so full from lunch, so we were pretty hungry. I got a sandwich, some fruit, and a Twix bar :) and we went back to the 4th Quad pub at Jesus College to eat it. When 11pm rolled around, the pub closed and everyone was ready to leave. I think everyone had finally recovered from Dublin and were ready to go out. There were SO many of us that went! We all walked down the street and, of course, the boys were yelling "Go Big Red!" I have decided that...you know you go to school at Nebraska when you constantly hear "Go Big Red" or the fight song in public places, in different countries. I love it! :) Anyways, we attempted to go Po Na Na, but it was closed so went to Mood again. The place is a little small for as many people that we brought along, but we made it work. Last time we went there, we were the only ones there, but this time there were a lot of other people there, also. Mood is a ton of fun to dance at because they play a lot of fun music. One time, I decided to order a dirty martini and it tasted really funny. I decided to go back and ask for more olive juice because I thought that might be the problem. Well when it still tasted funny, I had Hawks try it. Right away, he goes..."That is olive OIL, not olive JUICE!" As soon as he said that, it clicked and I realized that was exactly what that was. I was wondering why the "olive juice" kept separating from the alcohol. I also realized why my lips felt slippery after every sip too. SICK! I can't believe that it had olive oil...that is so disgusting. I didn't finish it, but at least the olives were tasty. Eventually, Megan and I decided to leave. As we were leaving, I saw a guy eating out of a box with a chicken on it. I remembered the chicken stand by Gloucester Green that Morgan told me about and got really excited. haha...I asked him where it was and when we found it, ordered delicious chicken strips. While we were eating it, we talked to some English kids and their friend from California. They said they were having a party on Friday and that we should come. The girl from Cali even gave me her number. They were 18....and we are not going. After we finished our food, we left and went back to Jesus College. We wanted to talk to everyone, so we banged on Taylor and Jason's doors (there ya go Jason..there is your shout out). Jason woke up, answered the door and went back to bed and Taylor didn't answer. Then, went over to Steph and Megan's room and talked to Steph for a little bit...and then we decided to go to bed.

On Thursday, there was nothing new with class and after class, I took a shower and got ready for that night's excursion. We all got on the buses at 3pm and left for Stratford-upon-Avon. We were going there to see Shakespeare's "The Taming of the Shrew." Stratford is where Shakespeare was born, lived, and is now buried, so that was cool seeing one of his plays in the place he grew up. When we got there after an hour and a half, we had some time to kill, so a bunch of us walked around. It was a really pretty little town with a small river running through it. We walked over to Trinity Church and saw a really old graveyard. The inside of the church was really old and pretty and had a lot of history. Shakespeare was baptized and buried in the church. They had the old records of it and we were able to see his and his family's graves, which lie right in front of the altar. After that, we didn't have too much time before we could meet, so we went to an old pub called the "Ugly Duck." They had an outdoor terrace in the back, so it was perfect for all of us to sit and hang out at before the play. When it was time, we all met up at The Courtyard Theatre, got our tickets and went and sat down. The play was put on by the Royal Shakespeare Company and the theatre was newly renovated and very nice. The play was kind of hard to follow, but I had a general idea of what was going on because the movie, "10 Things I Hate About You" was based on it. The play ended at around 10:30pm and we headed back to the buses. I thought it was pretty good even though it was hard to follow. It was probably my least favorite out of of the three that I have seen thus far, but it still entertained and humored me. Some of the boys on the bus were pretty drunk, which was entertaining. If you haven't guessed already...the fight song was sung. haha. When we got home, I hung out in the quad with some people for just a little bit, but then I went to bed.

Today's classes went pretty fast. Besides getting up in the morning, I don't mind going to class because it is interesting. The professors are so smart and make each lecture appealing. It is amazing how much each of them know. When people ask questions in class, they shoot back with a long, detailed answer and then go on to explain something that has to do with the subject. It is never a short, to the point answer or an, "Oh I am not sure, go look it up." They are extremely educated, know so many people, and know many different things about EVERYTHING. I feel like if I had a question about anything going on in the world, they could probably answer it. I just wish we had professors like that at UNL because class would be much more motivating to go to. Megan, Megan, Steph and I all decided to go out to eat because the menu didn't look good today. We walked by the realized that it was fried fish and chips and we changed our minds. We got in line and right when we got up to the servers, the fish ran out. Nothing else looked good, so we decided to go to a little place in the covered market. We all got chicken, tomato, and mozzarella paninis. I am going to miss seeing paninis at every place we go to...they are so good! After we ate, we knew it was imperative to go and get a cookie from Ben's Cookies. They are soooooooo good!!! I got a huge, warm peanut butter cookie. Of course, it was mouthwatering! After that, the girls decided to do a little shopping, but I had punting at 2pm, so I went back to the college. When 2pm rolled around, I met everyone and we walked down the road a ways to the small river where we could do punting. Punting is basically like a gondola, a boat that is rowed by a huge silver pole. When we got there, we all split into groups of five and got into our boats. The difference about this and the gondola rides was that WE got to do the pushing! Sara started out doing the punting and Brent, Lindsey, Jess, and I all rode inside. It was so funny because it is pretty tough to do! We ran into quite a few banks, trees and other boats! After Sara was done, it was Lindsey's turn and then I gave it a try. I was TERRIBLE and ran us into quite a few things. It was definitely harder than it looked because the pole was long, heavy, and hard to pull back after it had been pushed. One person in the boat had a small oar to help steer, but that didn't really help. Even though it was hard, it was really fun and we all had quite a few laughs. It was cool because we rowed passed an area by Christ Church and could see it and other pretty sites in the background. After I was done, Brent decided to do it. He was AMAZING at it. We all joked around with him and asked him if he had secretly done it before or was a pro. He didn't hit anything and was maneuvering around the trees and boats like it was no big deal. He even passed the two Nebraska boats that had passed us and got really far ahead while I was rowing. When we got back to the docking place, he pulled into the tiniest spot between two boats with no problem at all. It was hilarious and we all had a good laugh! We were lucky that we had him because we may or may not have made it back. After a couple more groups got done, we all got together and walked back to Jesus College and that is where this leaves me.

Now that I am finally caught up on my blog, I am going to take a shower and eat. Tonight, we have a beach themed party that Bryony and the other student assistants are putting on at the 4th Quad pub in Jesus College, called Bryony's Beach Bop. It should be a lot of fun! It is so crazy to think that this is our last weekend here and that we only have 2 lecture classes left. This whole thing has gone so fast and I am not ready for it to end yet!! Anyways, hope you all enjoyed this..I know it has been a while!

Love and miss all of you!

Sarah