Feb 6 and 7: York and Birmingham and Random, oh yay!

So. I figured out today a fantastic series of events that could potentially happen, if only there was funding.

Kelly's potentially FREAKING EPIC (but overpriced) next few months:
-Four days in Rome with Rachel (or some other part of Italy with the Draimes)
-Four days in Greece with ???
-Finish program in London
-Week with Mom in Florida!
-One week with Elodie's family in Paris (and/or visit with Kendra, Rachel L.)
-Two weeks with Lou's family in Germany (and/or visit with Mahaffey)
-Passion Plays in Oberammergau near Berlin in May with Annie, Ro, and other program peeps
-Chill weeks in Hawaii
-Wedding!!
-Life resumes

...ahhh. It's fun to dream. Still, it would be pretty sweet to see France and Germany while people I know are chillin' there.

OR!

A trip to New Zealand post graduation to live/work for a few months/year. That'd be kinda cool too.

OR BOTH!! :D

haaaa. Just kidding. I know my family wouldn't go for that both option, and there wouldn't be enough money for it anyway. Unless I won the lottery or something...



...Anyway. Sooooo my weekend.

Feb 6
On Saturday we woke up waaaay too early for a Saturday and made our way to King's Cross Station (no Emdowd and Maisha, I have not seen 3/4 yet. I know, I fail.) at which point we took a suuuuuuuuuper long train ride alll the way up north to Original York (home of Nestles chocolate, apparently.) The ride would have been great...except the seats we had were facing backwards, so my head kept getting weirded out and my view from the window was really small and disappearing faster than I could pay attention.

Sooo then we got to York and took a tour of the city, which was pretty cool. They had this giant castle style wall which used to be the barrier between York and Yorkshire, and it was all small so we could figure out the streets fairly easily, and there was a bridge, and stuff. So many stories to tell!!

We went walking past an open market where there was a guy balancing a ladder on his face. We didn't get to watch for very long though, because then we turned a corner and appeared in Diagon Alley. Literally.

Well, okay, maybe not literally, but for sure one of the reference locations, if not the actual filming site. Jon and Annie were pretty happy about this. Originally an entire lane of butcher shops, it was now filled with chocolates, taffy, and tourists. We went down another lane, and there was a registered gun shop (which is weird because owning a gun in England is hella difficult) and and an 'armory' with big fatty over sized swords, daggers, and a weird sharp zig-zag jaggety thing in the window. Looked like something out of Star Trek.

Then we spent three hours on a tour of Yorkminster. It was a three-layered building of Roman, Saxton, and Midieval archetecture, and oh yeah- HUGE! But beautiful. I went back for evensong with Jon Will and Ethan, and Cat and Rachel and Anna were there too. Super cool, and pretty, and simple, and yeah. Then Rachel and Anna went on their way again, and the rest of us went to this pub called the Crossed Keys. SO cheap! It was wonderful. There was a soccer game going on that had everyone's interest and excitement. Jon managed to order several drinks AND a steak and ale pie with chips for under 10 pounds, which is excessively unheard of in London. Cat and I split ribs, chicken, chips, and sticky toffee pudding, so I have no idea how much we spent. Side note- OHMAIGAWDSTICKYTOFFEEPUDDINGWHYWHEREISTHISINAMERICADOWANTLOVE. -Anyway. I learned something interesting that night. A Bailey's latte, gin and tonic (or a Gin and Jesus, as we ended up naming it after Jon had a bit too much and the comments "oh my god did I just say Jesus? I meant to say Juice!" and "mm, need more Jesus juice..." destroyed the conversation for awhile) half of Cats gin and tonic, and sips of Sex on the Beach did nothing to me. I remained sober the entire night. I can have all of that and be fine, but drink a single cider and be tipsy. So freaking random!! People have tried to explain the food eating thing and % alcohol, but it still doesn't make sense. Not sure it ever will.

Uhh, after that Cat was fairly drunk, so we all came back to the ace hotel hostel thing, which was actually really nice and the beds were super comfy, even if the bedframes squeeked something awful. Accidentally bumping one would wake people up, it was that bad.

So we manage to successfully wander around until we find somewhere we recognize and get back. Will reaches up to open the door and it opens right before he touches the doorknob- to release six superheroes. Six fully grown men, in full detailed costumes including Mr. Incredible and Wolverine. I really wish I could have gotten the picture, but they were drunk and I couldn't get them to stand still. The guy that opened the door saw us staring at them in surprise and amusement, sticks both hands out in a calming gesture and goes "it's okay don't worry, we've solved the worlds problems and now we're going out to a club" in a macho superhero voice. Will responds with an "alright, have fun" (something like that) at which point one of the guys already walking down the sidewalk goes "BLOODY HELL THEY'RE AMERICANS!" and continues to walk off.

Classic.

So we get into the main lounge, the boys go upstairs, and I force Cat to drink four glasses of water. In the lounge Erin, Petra, Noelle, and someone else are playing cards, and Barra & Co. are watching 'So you think you can dance' british style. An american got voted off, which was weird, and the guys were odd ballerinos. Eventually everyone decides to split off and go out, either to the waterfront for wine, to a bar, or to a club. I go with Erin & Noelle's group to the Evil Eye Lounge, which turned out to be a mixed drink cocktail bar (which apparently hosted Johnny Depp during Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, which just made it cooler than it was then). Here's an excerpt that describes the place pretty well:

The decor is neither like a homely, old fashioned pub nor a chic and sophisticated wine bar. Instead, it is decorated in East Asian style, giving the bar a more bohemian, raw feel...In front of the bar are a few stools, and behind is every type of alcohol imaginable...the 'Hellshot' was banned by the local authority for being too dangerous. This is not surprising, considering that it was a mix of 88% vodka and 89.9% absinthe."

Thanks BBC2 for that summary!

Oh, and also on the second floor, there were two beds. Sketchy mcsketch-sketch, but probably interesting to note. Erin somehow managed to down an entire drink called the 'Evil Zombie' which was essentially 6-7 different types of rum AND absinthe in a full glass (like, a real glass, not a drinking glass) and manage to only get somewhat tipsy, if anything happened to him at all. So crazy! I wanted to get something, but after the cheap prices and drinks at the Crossed Keys, I was too afraid/cheap to get anything. I really wanted the Heaven though. It looked exactly like a chocolate milkshake, made with Baileys, Amaretto, Kahlua, ice cream, whipped cream, some other alcohol and a cherry on top. I figured I could find it in other places though, so I didn't regret the decision too badly.

After that Noelle's group went to a club, and I headed back to the hotel and went to sleep. Unfortunately, I got woken up at 8am, and the bfast plans with people fell through, so I ended up getting lost downstairs on the way to the kitchen, met and talked with an Aussie girl named Val who was apparently traveling through Europe on her own for four months, and attempted to make something resembling a mocha using instant coffee and hot chocolate dispensers. Then it was checkout by 10am and off onto another train for two and a half hours (backwards! Again! blegh.) until we got to Birmingham.

Feb 7
Birmingham...was a complete disappointment. It basically looked like a sketchier, uglier, smaller modern New York. Dirty buildings, warehouses, half-sized skyscrapers...meh. Again people split off into groups, and this time I went with the 'theatre + Toni' group to find a place to eat near the concert hall we were going to. We all bought this 'beer and a burger' deal. Chips, a 6oz. burger, and a beer/cider/drink of your choice for 4.95. It was delicious and filling, and really fun, since I never hang out with Annie, Allison, or Emily.

Then we went to the really nice concert hall to watch the Black Dyke Band. They're a super-famous and extremely talented brass band. I mean, seriously. Just listen to the first three minutes of this vid, and you will understand how underestimatedly epic this damn band is:



Keep in mind that the only instruments in a brass band are percussion, trumpets, trombones, euphoniums, horns, and tubas. All the ones that require your lips to buzz at a certain speed to make a note, lots of air, and lots of skill. And they play like they've got freaking stringed instruments or something. Seriously. I demand you watch that video up above. Don't worry, I'll wait.



I know right!? At the two minute mark, when that euphonium (assuming) just explodes? It's my favorite part too. That video just screams "we are amazing and incredible and terribly badass" and it's totally true. Unfortunately, all of us were so crazily tired that most of us nodded off during the performance. I felt bad, but I also felt sleepy. Sleepy won. Especially crazy, considering we were listening to tubas and the like. I was awake however when they brought a special conductor/composer onstage to conduct the world premiere of his new song, created specifically "to challenge the Black Dyke Band" It was alright, but a bit too big band-y for me. Still, the Xylophone and triangle player (no joke) were freaking awesome.

After the concert all of us wandered our way to the train station and boarded a train back to north London. We passed the time by attempting to cast the trip members in Harry Potter (I mean, we were on a train back towards Hogwarts after being in Diagon Alley yesterday..it had to be done.) I was cast as Justin Finch-Fletchley, which I found amusing considering I'm the only girl of Asian ethnicity (at least I'm pretty sure) but I guess none of us wanted to cast Cho. I stand by my decision that Tony is Sirius, though.

Anyway, then we boarded the underground and made our way home. I sort of wandered the internets, found nothing of value, and then went to sleep. Today, I did much of the same. I talked with Lou, which was super cool since I haven't heard from her since she left for Russia. Apparently she's in love (as expected) but everythings difficult, and her charger/internet are broken. Our convo was randomly interrupted by the appearance of a guard dog that hates people, so Lou had to go hide, which I found amusing.

Then I cooked some corned beef and rice, filled out and sent in an internship application for next year. No idea if I'll get it, no idea if I can really accept it, but it sounded like a fun internship and really, I'll never know if I don't try.

So, I think that's it.