Both of us apologize for not updting sooner. We're out and about most of the time, and even when we find wifi hotspots, they don't always work.
This was going to be a very long post with lots of pictures and information about what we have been up to but we are experiencing incredibly annoying technical difficulties on this side of the pond, and will have to get back to you all at a later time.
~Crumpet
Sunday, March 31, 2013
Wednesday, March 27, 2013
Hello America!
It is just after 1 in the afternoon here, the 27 of March. Tea and I, along with our roommate, are in a pizzeria having lunch, because they have free wifi and wifi is hard to get over here. We arrived in London after a short delay in the airwe, directly after which Tea lef t her hat in the airplane. This resulted in me being dubbed "Tennant" as we raced back to retrieve it, due to me sprinting down the terminal to get there before the plane was closed. We managed to get it back thanks to some nice flight attendents.
We then made our way through Customs and onto the Tube, and spent two agonizing hours getting to our final stop. Apparently it has been snowing here, so it's been very pretty.
We enlited the help of a car rental agefncy to call our homestay and let them know had arrived at the station. They were fantastically nice and pleasant, and to be honest yesterday is really a blur because I didn't even get an hour of sleep on the plane.
Anyway! We miss everyone back home, but are having a good time. We visited Camden Market and managed not to buy anything (the prices certainly helped with that, but the shopkeepers didn't) but ended up in a bookshop where we caved due to fantastic prices and got some souvenier's for people there. Now we hope to go to the Sherlock Holmes Museum, because we really don't have anything else to do!
We then made our way through Customs and onto the Tube, and spent two agonizing hours getting to our final stop. Apparently it has been snowing here, so it's been very pretty.
We enlited the help of a car rental agefncy to call our homestay and let them know had arrived at the station. They were fantastically nice and pleasant, and to be honest yesterday is really a blur because I didn't even get an hour of sleep on the plane.
Anyway! We miss everyone back home, but are having a good time. We visited Camden Market and managed not to buy anything (the prices certainly helped with that, but the shopkeepers didn't) but ended up in a bookshop where we caved due to fantastic prices and got some souvenier's for people there. Now we hope to go to the Sherlock Holmes Museum, because we really don't have anything else to do!
Monday, March 25, 2013
Sunday, March 24, 2013
It's Nearly Go Time!
Crumpet here, just letting you all know - in less than 24 hours Tea and I will be on our way!
We've checked in, picked our seats, printed our boarding passes, and now we just have to snooze a few hours away before getting up bright and early for last minute things. We don't have to be at the airport until 4pm, but things still have to happen. I have some last minute appointments tomorrow - a breakfast with the boyfriend's mum, a final run to the bank, and then a lunch with a friend before I have to head back home to grab my luggage and await the arrival of Tea.
Time sure has flown, and while we're both very excited about the trip, the jitters that come before such a long trip are certainly making themselves known.
But all will be well! We have books and our tablets, and I just baked some cookies for us to take on the airplane.
As long as we have plenty of time left over, we will definitely put up one last post when we get through the checkpoints, just to let you all know that we are in fact in the airport. And we'll update as soon as we can after arriving in London. It'll be shortly after 11 a.m. there, so just after 3 a.m. here, and then of course we have to find our way through the Tube, so that'll be a few hours, but we'll let you all know as soon as we can!
Have a wonderful couple of days, everyone, and expect pictures soon!
~Crumpet
We've checked in, picked our seats, printed our boarding passes, and now we just have to snooze a few hours away before getting up bright and early for last minute things. We don't have to be at the airport until 4pm, but things still have to happen. I have some last minute appointments tomorrow - a breakfast with the boyfriend's mum, a final run to the bank, and then a lunch with a friend before I have to head back home to grab my luggage and await the arrival of Tea.
Time sure has flown, and while we're both very excited about the trip, the jitters that come before such a long trip are certainly making themselves known.
But all will be well! We have books and our tablets, and I just baked some cookies for us to take on the airplane.
As long as we have plenty of time left over, we will definitely put up one last post when we get through the checkpoints, just to let you all know that we are in fact in the airport. And we'll update as soon as we can after arriving in London. It'll be shortly after 11 a.m. there, so just after 3 a.m. here, and then of course we have to find our way through the Tube, so that'll be a few hours, but we'll let you all know as soon as we can!
Have a wonderful couple of days, everyone, and expect pictures soon!
~Crumpet
Sunday, March 17, 2013
Tea's Early Going-Away Party
Today I had an early going-away party with my family. I was under the impression since last night that it would be a Saint Patrick's Day celebration, since we do a sort of family meal every year for that, usually with corned beef and cabbage, the usual. I do have a bit of Irish heritage, so that's normal enough.
It wasn't until mum had finished cleaning a bunch of antique teacups that both of her grandmothers had collected before I realized it would be a bit of a tea party, but I figured with a bunch of nieces (4, counting the step-niece) that it would be mostly for the kids to have a bit of a tea party.
It wasn't until today that I really picked up on it: Mum made sure I was awake and told me she'd made Yorkshire Pudding for me for breakfast, so we could have some with food. We'd been talking about it, so that wasn't too unusual. I had some Yorkshire Gold tea to go with it, and it was fantastic! Yorkshire pudding with Jam is definitely a plus. I noticed by the tea was a little bitty framed image of some scrapbook stickers of tea and the like within it. I thought it was pretty cute, and mum said "Yeah, you'll see a few of those around today!" Two in the entryway, two in the bathroom, two by the food, one by the tea, and one in the other living room, to be precise. She gave me the other stickers. Cutest little things around. Then I passed the entryway and saw a "Keep calm and carry on!" poster on the entryway. I realized it was a bit of a going-away party! It was fun, we had english-style food (Yorkshire puddings with beef-onion gravy, Oaty Beef, boiled vegetables (potato, cabbage, carrots), corned beef, British cheddar cheese, French ciabatta bread, branston pickle) and tea snacks (or whatever they're called) (French fancies, digestive biscuits, jam tarts, Viennese whirls, and some sort of layer cakes with filling), as well as some fantastic gluten-free chocolate cake (which was fantastic, brought by my sister, who would know the name of the bakery better than I.)
We had a fantastic time, chatted, played with my sister's baby, looked at old family photos (not nearly as embarrassing as usual), and a grand time was had by all. I'll be putting one of those "Keep Calm and Carry On" posters in my room when I get back, I think.
The middle sister's family gave me a sweet card with warm wishes for my travels, and letting me know they'd miss me. I teared up a little (not that I'd show it). My eldest niece gave me a little blue crocheted bracelet, which I'm still wearing. I'm hoping to bring it with me as a sort of good-luck charm. It's been a fantastic day, and all that tea will probably keep me up until far too late. I'm supposed to be adjusting my sleep schedule, but how can I when there's so much tea to drink?!
We've ordered me another tablet (This one will be named SHODAN, for those keeping track of my technological theme-naming), and I've finally started packing. There's still so much to do, I don't know how I'm going to get it all done! But I'm INCREDIBLY excited about it! Prepare for our blogging to increase as we begin to report all of our exploits!
Happy Travels!
-Tea
It wasn't until mum had finished cleaning a bunch of antique teacups that both of her grandmothers had collected before I realized it would be a bit of a tea party, but I figured with a bunch of nieces (4, counting the step-niece) that it would be mostly for the kids to have a bit of a tea party.
It wasn't until today that I really picked up on it: Mum made sure I was awake and told me she'd made Yorkshire Pudding for me for breakfast, so we could have some with food. We'd been talking about it, so that wasn't too unusual. I had some Yorkshire Gold tea to go with it, and it was fantastic! Yorkshire pudding with Jam is definitely a plus. I noticed by the tea was a little bitty framed image of some scrapbook stickers of tea and the like within it. I thought it was pretty cute, and mum said "Yeah, you'll see a few of those around today!" Two in the entryway, two in the bathroom, two by the food, one by the tea, and one in the other living room, to be precise. She gave me the other stickers. Cutest little things around. Then I passed the entryway and saw a "Keep calm and carry on!" poster on the entryway. I realized it was a bit of a going-away party! It was fun, we had english-style food (Yorkshire puddings with beef-onion gravy, Oaty Beef, boiled vegetables (potato, cabbage, carrots), corned beef, British cheddar cheese, French ciabatta bread, branston pickle) and tea snacks (or whatever they're called) (French fancies, digestive biscuits, jam tarts, Viennese whirls, and some sort of layer cakes with filling), as well as some fantastic gluten-free chocolate cake (which was fantastic, brought by my sister, who would know the name of the bakery better than I.)
We had a fantastic time, chatted, played with my sister's baby, looked at old family photos (not nearly as embarrassing as usual), and a grand time was had by all. I'll be putting one of those "Keep Calm and Carry On" posters in my room when I get back, I think.
The middle sister's family gave me a sweet card with warm wishes for my travels, and letting me know they'd miss me. I teared up a little (not that I'd show it). My eldest niece gave me a little blue crocheted bracelet, which I'm still wearing. I'm hoping to bring it with me as a sort of good-luck charm. It's been a fantastic day, and all that tea will probably keep me up until far too late. I'm supposed to be adjusting my sleep schedule, but how can I when there's so much tea to drink?!
We've ordered me another tablet (This one will be named SHODAN, for those keeping track of my technological theme-naming), and I've finally started packing. There's still so much to do, I don't know how I'm going to get it all done! But I'm INCREDIBLY excited about it! Prepare for our blogging to increase as we begin to report all of our exploits!
Happy Travels!
-Tea
Friday, March 8, 2013
Darn Time Zones
Hello darling readers! It's 12:33 in the morning, but Tea and I are practically bouncing as we sit here on my bed (she is staying the night for reasons that you'll understand in a moment)! We were informed of our host family on Monday, and as we hoped, the two of us share one! We also have a third girl staying with us, who will be given a nickname at a later date. Now, the reason for our excitement is that we just called our host family for the first time, and they sound fantastic! Very nice and welcoming and excited that we're coming, and helpful on giving us some important information ahead of time. After the call was over (and Tea adds "during the call"), we emitted a sound that only dolphins could hear. Though we were nervous before the call (especially since it was 8 in the morning their time), we finished it obviously overly excited!
Tomorrow (well, today, since it is after midnight) we have our second orientation, which will FINALLY mean that we can....START PACKING!
On an unrelated note, Tea has been gifted a small talking Turret figurine which she has named Sec, which she is currently doting over to a rather suspect degree. On a note related to her unrelated note, I was gifted a Wheatley plushie from a different source (namely, my boyfriend) and am very excited about that!
Back to our study abroad session on London, we will now attempt to do that strange and unusual activity called sleeping. Not too sure how that will go, but we can at least attempt it!
Tomorrow (well, today, since it is after midnight) we have our second orientation, which will FINALLY mean that we can....START PACKING!
On an unrelated note, Tea has been gifted a small talking Turret figurine which she has named Sec, which she is currently doting over to a rather suspect degree. On a note related to her unrelated note, I was gifted a Wheatley plushie from a different source (namely, my boyfriend) and am very excited about that!
Back to our study abroad session on London, we will now attempt to do that strange and unusual activity called sleeping. Not too sure how that will go, but we can at least attempt it!
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