Jet Lag

I am awake right now.  It is 20 till 7.  Apparently I am jetlagged.  The wrong way.  Travelling to Europe from the United States, one gets jetlagged by staying up late, and sleeping in late.  Instead, I am jetlagged the other way around.  I am exhausted by about 9 at night, but then wake up super early.  I don't know how that happened, but I think it is funny.

I am back in England ( in case you didn't notice by my mention of jetlag).  I am thrilled to see all my friends.  I have had a great week, not only in lectures, but socialising as well.  I even went out to the pub my first night back.  My lectures are great,  I especially like my Spanish conversation class.  It is a comfortable setting to practice (practise?)  my speaking in.   I am excited for this semester.   

Airport

So I am sitting in Columbus Airport...waiting for my flight home.  The current 'Threat Level' is set to orange.  I arrived here two hours early, on my grandmother's advice to get here early.  Now I have to wait another hour until my flight actually leaves.  Oh well.  I am enjoying people watching.  There is a man in the corner playing his DS, and talking to his friend on the phone.  A policeman rode by on his bike...in the nearly empty terminal.  It seemed a little unnecessary that he was on a bike.  Everyone here is in 'Buckeye Gear'.

Ohio State University is a lot like UCLan in that it is a really big school.  However there are some differences.  OSU is a home to a million Buckeye fans. Buckeyes are the school mascot. Football is the most popular sport.  That is American football.  Even the people in the towns around the city of Columbus support OSU.  Never where yellow and navy blue together in Columbus...you are bound to get beat up, because those are the arch rivals, Michigan's colours.  Everyone wears the school colours...grey and red...and everyone tries to get seats at the 'Horseshoe' which is the big football stadium in the middle of Columbus.  Traffic is horrendous on days when there is a football game. Local ice cream shops I have noticed that UCLan is not really like that.  There are sports, but no one is fanatical like they are over here. I have only seen a few people wearing UCLan sweatshirts  around town.  

Also, can I just say Airport food is ridiculously expensive.  I almost paid $7.50 for a turkey sandwich.  When I saw the price I just walked away.  I dont have that much American money on me!  Its all English money right now.  

Home

I am home. Well technically I am not home home, because I am out in Ohio visiting my grandmother. (I don't think my grandmother is thrilled about the nose piercing...)However, I am back in the states. Its amazing how quickly I have picked up American slang again. I am still using some British slang, which my brother always teases me for...yet I know he secretly is trying to learn it. I spent quite a lot of time trying to explain what a chip butty was to my brother the other day. "Chips? as in potato chips?" "No Andrew, chips as in French Fries, those are crisps." That was fun. I wish we had chip shops around here so I could get Andrew to try one, I am sure he would like it.
On Christmas we watched a bunch of old family videos. It was strange to see me as a little kid. I was precocious! It was strange because a lot of my family members have stayed the same. My father is still making the same jokes, my aunt is still the entertaining one, and my grandmother is still the one who hangs out by the dessert table. You would think that in 20 or 21 years they would have changed a little bit, but nope, they have stayed completely the same. In some ways I find that reassuring. The only one that has changed from the videos was my brother, because he can walk and talk now.
I am going to see the Andy Warhol exhibition at Ohio State University...its the only US stop for the tour. Apparently the installation for it is pretty amazing as well. I will have to report back on how it was, I have been looking forward to seeing it since I heard about it.
Well its off to breakfast with my grandma, hopefully I will be writing in this more often, now that I have a bit of time.

3:20 AM

It is currently 20 past.  Why am I not sleepy?  I had a great night with my housemates, we all went to Pizza Hut, and then we had a film night in.  I got some work done as well, which is awesome.  Yes, I am American, so I tend to say 'awesome' a lot.  I think that what I am typing are just the random musings of a sleep deprived person.  But I am not sleep 'deprived' so to speak...I am choosing to stay up....My brainnnnnsss!! I don't even know what I am talking about anymore.  I wonder what I will be like if I pull an all nighter...Maybe I should blog after that.

Some Spanish Thoughts

Quiero una tortilla de patata, pero es mas tarde para cocina. Hay una receta.

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Tortilla-de-Patata-Tortilla/Detail.aspx  Pienso quiero cocina manana.

New Nose Piercing...again....and more news

Ok, so apparently technology hates me, and did something crazy to last post.  So I got my nose pierced this week.  Just in time for going home and freaking out the 'rents.  Surprisingly, it didn't really hurt.  It just made my eyes water.  It isn't sore anymore, it just feels like its getting in the way sometimes.  I am sure I will get used to it.  

I turned in my French Portfolio today.   It is a collection of work I am really proud of, work that I put a lot of effort into.  I was feeling a bit down today about my French class, and I was worried that I was not at the same level as the other people in my class.  However, then I wrote the self-reflection bit of my portfolio and looked over all of my work.  I realised how far I have come in one semester.  I could barely remember how to formulate sentences in French before I came here, and now I am turning in essays that are showing promise.  That made me feel proud.  It made me feel like I am actually in the right place, studying something I love.  I am feeling really positive about starting next semester and learning more in the way of languages.

New nose piercing