The Travel Bug bit me but Good!

The travel bug bit me but good! I've been home from London for only 3 days now, and I am already having major withdrawls. I miss the theatre, I miss the architecture, I miss the food, the shopping, the culture, and the weather over there. You know I've really got it bad when I even miss the shouting drunks that would stand outside my window at all hours of the night.

There was always tons to do in London. You wouldn't be able to cover everything there in a year. I miss the museums. There are so many museums in London that range from history to the arts--they even have a Ripley's Believe it or Not museum. Some of the castles over there have been converted into museums that the public can tour.

Furthermore, I'm missing the food. Even though people rave about New Orleans food, I've never been one who enjoyed it. London food is more my style. Fish and chips are so delicious. But I really miss the little Chinese take-away place and the Thai restaurant we discovered over there. I've never had such great oriental food in my life. Just the quality of food over there is so much better than the quality of food in America. There standards for food are so much higher. They don't take short cuts with their food like Americans do. When you eat chicken, you know it's real chicken, not some sort of crappy pressed meat substitute. And all the food over there is so fresh. Most people shop at these huge farmers markets that get fresh produce, dairy, meats, breads, and sweets delivered daily.

I think being in London turned me into a bit of a culture snob. Out of all the things I miss about London, the one I miss most is the theatre. They have the greatest theatre over there. And even though I saw a ton of shows during the two and a half weeks I was there, there were still so many more I really wish I had gotten to see. There is something so magical about live theatre that TV just can't compare. And I loved being able to meet the actors after a show and have the opportunity to talk with them and get their autographs. It was really cool to see that these actors were really just regular people. They weren't stuck up or snooty. After a show, all the makeup would come off and they'd walk or ride their bicycles home just like any ordinary person would.

It's been difficult readjusting to being back in the South where it's hot as blazes and people have very little access to theatre. Over here, schools often cut the theatre and the arts first when the budgets have to tighten their purse strings. It's a shame. Theatre is such an important creative outlet. It should be promoted. Plus there are so many beautiful theatres in the New Orleans area that have been sitting, rotting since Hurricane Katrina. It would be fantastic if people would invest to renovate them and revive interest in theatre in the South. Going to plays and musicals is such a fun way to spend an afternoon. And it's good for the economy. It draws in tourists, generates money through ticket sales, and creates jobs too! New Orleans would be a perfect place to try to create a Broadway of the South just as it is trying to also become Hollywood South. Hopefully there are others who feel the same way I do and will try to make this idea a reality.

London was such an extraordinary experience. I had the privilege of traveling with such a great group of people and seeing so many incredible things. It's really hard not seeing all my new friends all the time even though we all promised to get together as often as possible. However, I'm already looking forward to next year's trip back to England. I'm ready to explore London even more and come home with a whole new set of fun tales of our adventures.

If this trip taught me one thing it's that I absolutely love travel. I love the energy of a big city, the thrill of experiencing new places and new cultures--I discovered that I am not one of those people who could settle down in one place for very long. If I could move somewhere new every couple years after I'd done just about everything there is to do in each place, I would be extremely happy. For me, I don't need a particular address to call home. For me, home is where my family is. And as long as I can visit them whenever I want, I don't see the point of ever settling down in one place. The world is too big to stay in one place for too long. And there are too many places I want to see. The travel bug has infected me big time. I'm ready for another adventure.

Til next time,
Cheers Y'all.

Never A Dull Moment

Saturday—a very sad day. The day our wonderful trip to England would end and we would be forced to go home to the horribly hot, humid Louisiana weather. We would have to say good bye to the incredible theatre, architecture, shopping, and dining of London—a very sad day indeed. My one consolation was the fact that after being away from my family for almost three weeks, I would finally be able to see them and fill them in on all the amazing (and sometimes unbelievable) experiences I had had since I’d been gone. I was very excited to see my family again.

That morning we left our dorms at 6:30AM to make the half-mile walk with all of our heavy luggage to the tube station where we would catch the tube back to Heathrow Airport. The ride to Heathrow was quite long and relaxing. We had plenty of time to go through security, grab some food, and wait for our flight back to Miami…yeah right!

From the moment we got to Heathrow, chaos ensued. The moment our group made it to the self-check-in line to check our baggage, all the self-check-in machines went down. So here we are, stuck in a very crowded line with hundreds of other people trying to check their baggage, and all the machines are down. So my professor goes over to one of the attendants to see if she can help move us up the check-in line. The lady pulls our group out of the line and tells us to wait and she’ll move us up. So we wait. Ten minutes later, a different attendant tells us we need to get back in the line, that the lady had misinformed us. So we get back into the line. And we wait some more.

Then a third person comes and pulls our group out of line and tells us to wait on the side. Three times! Three times, different people would come and pull us out of line then put us back in. Time is ticking away before our flight and we still haven’t gotten our luggage checked or gone through security.

Finally, we make it to the front of the line after waiting for about 45 minutes. I go up for my turn, and the lady at the check-in desk takes my bag. I asked her if my bag was going straight to New Orleans or if I would have to recheck it in Miami. She said I would have to claim it, go through customs, and recheck it in Miami. Great. We only have about an hour and a half layover in Miami. If we all have to go through this process, it would take a miracle for us to make our connecting flight.

But we all got our bags checked then proceeded to go through security. Though going through security is always a pain in the neck, at least this time, we all went through without anybody getting ‘randomly selected for additional screening.’ Yay!

We’re running through the airport trying to find our gate since our plane leaves in a few minutes. Out of breath, we find our gate, and discover that our plane has been delayed by about an hour. This cut even more into the very short time we would have to go through the customs process in Miami. But my professor tried to keep positive by telling us there was a good chance the plane would make up for lost time in the air. So we held out hope.

Now it’s almost 11AM, and none of us have eaten because we had been rushing all morning to catch our plane. And due to security, none of us could have packed any food with us in our carryon. But, because security was so strict at the Heathrow they wouldn’t let us go back into the airport to get food once we had made it to our terminal. And no food does not make for happy campers. But they did tell us the plane would serve food.

Our plane arrived, we boarded, and soon after took off for the 10 hour flight back across the pond. The plane was equipped with TV screens on the back of each chair so everyone could watch movies and TV shows, and they offered a pretty good selection. I was ready to settle in for a nice, relaxing flight…until…I discovered the kids from hell were sitting in the seats right behind me.

When I say kids from hell, I’m not exaggerating. For 10 hours, those little monsters kicked the back of my chair and proceeded to poop their diapers and fart incessantly. It was all I could do to keep myself from gagging the entire flight home. And then they would start shrieking at the top of their lungs on this confined aircraft. And what really aggravated me was that their parents did absolutely NOTHING! You’d think any normal parent would see their children behaving like demons, and do something to stop them. Entertain them, punish them, drug them—I don’t care what you do but do something! Those little minions terrorized the people around them the entire awful flight!

3:30PM we finally landed in Miami. I couldn’t have been happier to finally be rid of those children. Only thing was, our connecting flight was scheduled to leave in ten minutes. And we still had to fight our way through immigration, baggage claim, customs and then on top of that we would have to recheck our luggage, and go through security. Again. It dawned on us that there was absolutely no way we would make our connecting flight home.

Plan B. After standing in line for over an hour to get through immigration, then having to wait for our luggage which came out last on the conveyer belt, then having to wait another hour for everybody to get through customs, we were then guided to the line for all the poor saps who had missed their flights. It was a long line. The only other flight we could possibly get on would have been an 11PM departure. Which meant we wouldn’t get home til midnight. But we prayed and held out hope to get on that flight because by this time we were more than ready to be home.

We stood in line for check-in for yet another hour. By the time our group made it to the front of the line, we were overjoyed to hear that the 11PM flight had room for our entire group! The lady at the check-in desk pulled our group out of the line so she could check us in one at a time. Being pulled out of line again should have been a tip-off. But we were optimistic that maybe this time, being pulled out of line would be a good thing. Sure.

The very nice lady who had saved us all seats on that 11PM flight started to help checking us in. She got about three or four people in our group checked when all of a sudden we saw her walk away. She just up and left. We were all standing around fuming. She did not just up and leave us standing here to take a break, now did she?

Oh, yes. She did. By this time we were all so hot-headed and just about ready to cause a very ugly international incident on our own home soil. Here this woman had pulled us out of line to help us, then LEFT US! You have got to be kidding me!

For yet another half hour we waited and waited for this woman to come back. She never did. Finally, one of the guys working at the next check-in booth was kind enough to check the rest of our group in. And mind you, it’s almost 6PM and we still haven’t eaten anything. Pissed off+hungry=not good.

At last we got our baggage checked. All we had to do now was go through security one last time. Then we were free to get some food and relax for 5 hours til our plane came to bring us home. There was a faint light at the end of the tunnel. And at least we would have one more, great story to tell our folks.

Thankfully, we all went through security smoothly and without event. And for our trouble, the airline had given us each $10 food vouchers to use in the airport. Food! Free Food! Finally! Things were definitely starting to look up.

We went on a desperate search for sustenance. And thankfully the airport had lots of options. We used up those vouchers and were delighted to be able to sit, eat, and hang out. A lot of us even got to catch up on some sleep while we waited for our plane.

11PM rolls around, and our plane is on time! And what’s more, there are no babies or young children waiting to board our flight! Whoopee!!! Thankfully, we were able to sleep the whole way home. And the flight couldn’t have been smoother.

We landed on time at the New Orleans airport, and I was ecstatic to see my family waiting for me! It was so good to see them. Everyone’s luggage made it home without getting lost. The icing on the cake.

Unfortunately we were all so excited to be home, we didn’t get to say proper goodbyes. As soon as each person grabbed his or her luggage, we split. I still had an hour long drive back to my house. But it passed quickly as I relayed all the tales of my travels to my family and handed out their souvenirs to them.

And it was fantastic to be able to sleep peacefully in my own bed without any crazy drunks standing outside my window yelling at all hours of the night. But I certainly did miss the beautiful London weather.

Coming home was very bittersweet. It was wonderful seeing my family, but at the same time, I had fallen in love with London and missed it terribly. It had been the best trip! I can’t wait to go back next year.

Til next time,

Cheer Y’all.

And All That Jazz

It was our last full day in London, and I was determined to make the most of it. What better way to go out with a bang than to spend the day shopping before going with my two best friends on the trip to see Chicago The Musical! Yeah, I was pretty much psyched about how our last day was going to unfold.

And thankfully, for once, not only did things go as planned, they actually exceeded the plan.
My friends and I decided to sleep in a little on our last day, something we hadn’t done at all the entire two and a half weeks we’d been in London. In fact, sleeping in general was something we hadn’t really done since we’d gotten to London. And boy, oh, boy, did it feel wonderful to get some sleep!

I awoke with a ton of energy ready to enjoy our last day to the full. So my friends and I hit the streets to go to Camden Town. Camden Town is a really cool place full of outdoor markets where all the hagglers do business. I had been dying to try my hand at haggling! This was my chance!

We arrived at Camden Town and there were literally blocks and blocks of outdoor markets with the coolest items for dirt cheap prices. Leather jackets for less than $50, hilarious graphic T-shirts, cute handbags, hats, and wallets—any clothing or touristy item you could imagine was at Camden Town.

I started looking through one of the little kiosks and found an awesome t-shirt I wanted to get my brother. No sooner did I stop to pick up the shirt, a middle-eastern man pounced to make a hard-sale. Before I even got the chance to tell him I was interested in the item, he already told me he would give it for me half price. I was thrilled! Half price! This haggling stuff was way too easy. I was ready to buy. I asked the guy if he took credit cards. He said no. He must have seen my disappointed look because he marked down the item another 20%. I would have been ecstatic had I remembered to bring cash with me to the market. But I had not. But still the guy so badly wanted to sell me that shirt, he knocked it down another 10%. Here I had done absolutely nothing, and this guy was going to give me this T-shirt for 80% off. I’d never experienced anything so wonderful in my life! If only I had brought cash!

After about an hour of wondering through the market and being pursued by every dealer there with incredible offers up to 80% off, yet having no cash with which to indulge, my friends and I decided to head back to Oxford Circus where we knew shops would accept our plastic form of
payment.

We spent the afternoon shopping with great success at Oxford Circus. One of my friends found some cute clothes while I was thrilled to find a purse on clearance at a store that also gave student discounts. Score!

And of course, we couldn't say good bye to London without having stopping for one last fish-and-chips. The Fish-and-Chips place we found off of Oxford Circus gave ENORMOUS portions. And while, mind you, the food was awesome, I couldn't help feeling that I might go into cardiac arrest at any moment. This place served the largest portion of chips I've ever seen. Ahhhhh...I'm gonna miss fish-and-chips.

Then it came--the moment I had been waiting for all week was finally here! We were really going to get to see CHICAGO!!! My friends and I went to the West End theatre district and made our way to the Cambridge theatre where Chicago was playing. The tickets we had bought several days earlier for incredibly cheap prices were for a matinee performance. The ticket salesman had said our tickets would be front row on the second balcony. Not bad seats. But when we arrived to the theatre, the ushers said we were eligible for a ticket upgrade since the performance had not sold out. I was so excited.

I went to the box office at the theatre and gave my tickets to the ticketmaster. I could hardly contain myself when he moved us from first row balcony to fourth row center aisle on the ground level. We were literally ten feet from the stage!

It was so cool to see the show live. The show itself was phenomenal. The singers, actors, and dancers were extraordinary. As if this wasn’t enough, after the show, I dragged my friends to the stage door to see if I could catch some autographs. Forty-five minutes later, I ended up getting the ENTIRE cast to sign my program. I was so thrilled to meet the cast and get to hang out with them and get all their autographs. Even though my friends were not as thrilled as I to stand with me for almost an hour in the cold, they were really good sports. The entire way back to the dorms, I could not stop jumping up and down singing All That Jazz.

And since it was our last night in London, we decided to frequent the Chinese take-away place just one last time. This little Chinese hole-in-the-wall had the BEST Chinese food I’d ever had. We must have gone there at least half a dozen times since we’d been in London. It was cheap, it was fast, it was right around the corner from our dorm, and the food was fabulous.

And of course, what better way to end a trip then with tons and tons of candy and junk food! We stopped into the little convenience store and nearly cleaned them out of Kit Kats, Snickers, Doritos, sodas—if it was junky, we bought it. England just has way better junk food than America
does.

We were set. We headed back to the dorm, met up with our professor, and hung out and enjoyed our last night. With all the sugar and caffeine we had consumed, we probably could have stayed up all night trying to make our last night last as long as possible, but we had an early flight to catch the next morning.

All-in-all, it was just about the best last day in London one could have.

Till next time,
Cheers Y’all

Jolly Good Trip, Mate

Southeastern Louisiana University’s London study abroad students arrived safely back home late Saturday night with many stories to tell about their experiences in the United Kingdom as well as some wise advice for future students considering study abroad trips.

“Be prepared to walk a lot. Try to pack light, take it from someone who knows. Be prepared for rain as well as hot and cold weather because you never quite know what you’re going to get there,” said theatre student Kaci Davis.

“I second packing light, but at the same time there are some things you can bring with you so you don’t have to buy it there and have it cost more: small bottles of shampoo/conditioner, shaving gel, razors, etc—of course these should go in your check-in luggage, not carry-on,” suggested sociology major Bonnie May.

“Definitely pack light and consider shipping some of your luggage home. Be prepared to cut back a lot on communication if you don’t already have an international phone. We had trouble getting online and I had trouble finding a phone that would work in London to temporarily replace my Blackberry,” advised recent Southeastern graduate Kathleen Kelly.

“If there are some things that you won’t absolutely need, leave it at home. Especially if it is to entertain yourself because you will barely spend time at the doors and when you do, you are mostly sleeping or getting ready to leave again,” said communication student Tiffany Baptiste.

Theatre graduate Will Stacey advised, “Bring a lot of extra money! There are a lot of cool things to do in London but it’s very expensive.”

Sophomore, Jessica LeBlanc, also recommended to bring at least one nice outfit because you never know when you may need it. She also warned to bring comfortable shoes since you will be walking most places.

Some of the highlights of the trip included the following places:

-Big Ben

-Victoria and Albert Museum

-the Globe theatre

-the Leprechaun Museum in Dublin, Ireland

-the Imperial War Museum

-the West End theatre tour

-the Tower of London

While in London, the study abroad students got to see a variety of plays and shows such as Wicked, We Will Rock You, Henry VIII, the Tempest, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Chicago, Avenue Q, and more.

When asked what students would like to see done differently next year, many agreed they would have liked to stay in London and Ireland longer.

“This might sound corney, but stay longer,” Stacey said. “I also wish we could have spent the night in Ireland.”

Davis agreed saying, “It’d be nice to have a longer time in Ireland to really be able to get out and see stuff without having to worry about catching the flight on time. Also it’d be nice to go to Stratford-upon-Avon again.”

“I’d like to stay in London a few more days because there is so much that we did not get to do,” Kelly added.

May suggested that it would be nice to have made use of the kitchen more or had a meal plan of some sort to keep the cost of food down, but added “We were just so busy.”

One of the major problems faced on the trip was trying to find free internet. All the students agreed it was difficult to get assignments done or communicate home since the dorms did not provide internet and even the free Wifi connection at the local pub and Starbucks were very unreliable.

“I would like to stay in a place that free internet in the building,” LeBlanc commented.

“It would help if we had access to wireless internet in the dorms,” Baptiste agreed, “It would cut down on the time it takes to post stories for class so we can have more free time and let us communicate back home more. My parents gave me grief about that.”

But even with the communication difficulties, all the students raved about the great time they had on the trip and many said they would love to go again next year.

Til next time,

Cheers Y'all

So Long, London. Pip Pip Cheerio.

Wow. I can’t believe my two and a half weeks in London are already at an end. So much has happened, yet it seemed to fly by too fast. The thought of returning home tomorrow is very bittersweet. The friends I’ve made on this trip have become like my family away from home. We all got along so well and had so much fun together—it is so hard to say goodbye. But I have so many good stories to tell my family about all my excursions in England. And of course I’ll always have the nearly 1800 photos I took—and those are all good photos. I didn’t count the ones I deleted. I’m such a photo junky.

I have fallen in love with London and the whole UK in general. I love how London has so much to do and is such a cultural mecca of arts and history. I have discovered an obsession for theatre. Everything from West-End musicals to Shakespeare—I love theatre. And I love how I can go hang out at the stage door after a show and get the actors to sign my programs. The actors are such great people. They are so down to earth and willing to hang out, sign autographs, and talk to us. They are so appreciative of the attention and complements about their performances. Theatre was definitely my favorite part of London.

My favorite places I visited were definitely Dublin and York. Dublin has such a cool vibe. It still has all the amenities of a big city like London, but it’s much slower paced, more relaxed, and has friendlier people. York is the same way, except that York is only about a two hour train ride from London, so you could easily commute back and forth. I could easily live in either city…or both at some point.

I also fell in love with London food. It is definitely not at all like people say. Pub food is awesome. Fish and chips are so delicious, and I don’t even like fish, so that’s saying something. I also found the best Thai and Chinese restaurants over here. The menus are huge, the food is incredible, and the price tags are extremely reasonable. I never went hungry over here…far from it in fact.

Another thing I love is how easy it is to get around London simply by walking or taking the underground railways. I actually much preferred that to driving back home. In the time I’ve been here, with all the walking I’ve done, I was able to eat whatever the heck I wanted to eat no matter how junky or calorie filled it was, and still lose weight! I kept wanting to pinch myself to see if I was dreaming. For that reason alone, I don’t want to return to the supersized portions of American restaurants. And the food over here is so much better quality than American food. They use much better quality ingredients over here since their food is regulated at a much higher standard than American food. Even the tap water over here can be consumed without having to worry about getting sick, and it tastes just as good as bottled Evian. I will definitely miss the food here.

I’ll even miss the dorms where we stayed. Despite the fact that they had no air-conditioning, no internet, and a shower that was possessed, the actual dorms were great. Every dorm was relatively spacious, had a comfy bed, very large desk, two chairs, closet, its own bathroom, and a mini fridge. It was awesome! And each suite of rooms had a communal kitchen which was great for hanging out at night. We could even cook if we didn’t feel like going out every night. Plus the dorm security was as tight as Fort Knox. Everybody had a key card to get into and out of the building, each suite had a key card to get in, and each room had a dead bolt lock. No unauthorized personnel could have access to the dorms. At all. It felt so safe. I really appreciated how tight the security was.

But perhaps what I’m going to miss the most is the sense of independence I had when I was here. It was great being on my own, being able to go where I wanted, when I wanted. Even though I honestly have the same privilege back at home, it was different because my parents weren’t here to watch over me, even though I checked in by phone multiple times a day. It was just a neat feeling knowing that I could survive by myself in a new country and figure out how to go places on my own. It was even really cool having to support myself over here. Back at home, I’m a super-scrooge when it comes to spending money on anything; but being over here and having to pay for things gave me a sense of accomplishment. But when I get back home, I’m sure I’ll get over it quickly and readjust to how things were before. Haha. But I really learned that I could make it on my own, and that I could enjoy being on my own.

Words can’t describe what an amazing experience this trip was. I enjoyed it so much, saw so many cool things, met so many new friends—going home is going to be very bittersweet. Though I missed my family immensely, I really feel like I won’t be happy living in one place for too long. I love travelling and exploring new places, new cultures, new people and I would honestly get very bored living in one city for too long. I feel like wherever my parents live will always be home where I can come visit when I start to miss them too much; but I like being on my own.

Honestly, I am so sad to be leaving. Even though I was unbearably homesick upon arrival, I have had a complete change of heart. I dread leaving the beautiful city and weather of London to go back to stupid-hot and humid Louisiana. I dread leaving behind all the theatre, museums, shops, and great restaurants. I dread not being able to see my study-abroad family all the time even though we are already making plans for multiple reunions. I also dread not being able to play ‘That’s What She Said!’ But I am very ready to see my family again. And my puppy. I can’t wait to give them all their souvenirs. (I got them some REALLY cool gifts!)

But I certainly won’t miss the crazy drunks standing outside my window at all hours of the night screaming at each other. Or the super loud sirens and motorcycles racing down the street at 3AM. Or the creepers that have tried to hit on me.

And there is a lot I miss about home: my family, of course; air-conditioning!!! (that’s a BIG one), my iPhone, my church, Diet Orange Sunkist, using the internet at home from the comfort of my own room, my own room, free wifi, my bed and pillows, Vietnamese food, iced tea (another big one), chips and salsa, a shower that isn’t temperamental constantly going in cycles of scalding hot to freezing cold, a bathtub, and southern hospitality, just to name a few. Even though England is in no way anywhere close to being comparable to a third world country, being here made me realize how spoiled Americans really are. We have so much yet take so much for granted.

In retrospect, London has been such an extraordinarily phenomenal experience. I feel like I have grown so much during these last few weeks and gained a great deal of self-confidence and independence. I want to do everything in my power to make sure I can come back for study-abroad next year. And even though this is my last blog from London, my blog will continue. I will not abandon my readers. You’ll just have to settle for stories from home.

Til next time, dear readers,

Cheers Y’all