Born in the USA

Our all-nighter was a complete success! I drank one Monster at 7 p.m. and it kept me wide awake until 11 a.m. the next day. Yeah caffeine and I don't mix well.

We played loads of games all night, ate pizza and sweets, and took tons of photographs. It was the perfect way to end the semester!

  

We did temporary tattoos (like Hannah's lovely shark) and had a dance off. Above Eric and Ryan are having a lovely time, haha. 

Now the other photo needs explanation. Ryan and I were challenging Hannah and Eric to dance battle, Ryan and I were doing really good until this point. He had the brilliant idea of swinging me between his legs like they did back in the day. Our kitchen floor has no sliding power at all. So because I couldn't slide I just fell straight on my back. Stephen's face is the best in the entire photo. Then Hannah is laughing and Eric is thinking, "You absolute idiot..." 

I could not have asked for better people to stay up with. Everybody was so supportive of us Americans who were leaving. It was so sad to leave, I have not cried in front of that many people since I was a child. Everyone staying up and saying farewell meant the world to me. THANK YOU SO MUCH ERIC, GEORGIA, HANNAH, RYAN,  and STEPHEN!!! 

We got to Heathrow at 7 a.m. (yeah we left at like 5.30) and got sorted and all that by our caretakers Sandy and Denise. Absolute gems, they are! So to pass the time before our flight, Emily and I laughed and sang "Fergilcious" (above we are flying first class). 

The flight wasn't bad at all and seriously the food on British Airways is amazing. You should go just for the food, I swear by it! 

My family was waiting for me at the terminal and we went home and got IHOP on the way home. I was dying for proper American pancakes! 

Now that I'm home it's quite odd. Everything seems exactly the same as when I left. I don't know what that says about Williamsport but it may be that nothing happens here. 

Does this mean my blog is over? Most likely yes. We'll see.

Did I enjoy living in England? Absolutely. Do I want to return? If I could go right now I would.

I miss England and my friends very much but I know that I will see them all again soon. 

Farewell and thanks so much for reading/skimming my blog for these past few months. :) xx

I have to leave why?

So the world is making me return to America tomorrow and my question is, why? I really don't feel like not sleeping tonight, sitting on a coach for two hours to sit in a flying tin can for almost 8 hours. I am quite content staying in England, why can't everything else just move here?

It is inevitable though. I must leave this wonderful country filled with some of the most wonderful people on this Earth. At least I had a fantastic week of good things to make my leaving bearable (or did it just make it all worse?).

On Tuesday we celebrated Kirsten's 21st birthday at one of her favourite restaurants, Harvester. There was supposed to be more people present but our friends on film course had to continue working on their movie. Their film is going to be amazing so they were all forgiven. We still had a lovely time with good food and friends. 

Wednesday flat 4100 and 5300 had a game night where we played Cards Against Humanity with homemade cards that they wrote up last term. It was a laugh! Some of the oddest things that I've ever experienced during a game of CAH. After that Kirsten, Eric, Hannah, Ryan, and I went to the cinema to see the midnight premiere of X-Men Days of Future Past. All of us really liked it! Hannah, Kirsten, and I especially enjoyed Evan Peters from American Horror Story as Quicksilver. 

Yesterday I said goodbye to Kirsten which was absolutely awful. She has been my best friend while here in England. I could not have survived without her. She's now back in Cardiff to see McFly and Busted for her birthday.  

But before she left we had to do one more prank on Eric. We cling filmed his door but it kind of failed because he saw it before we walked into it. Boring! To get me back Eric tried to do it back to me when he thought I was still at uni. I happened to have just gotten back and heard him putting it up. It literally just looked like a massive cocoon on my door by that point.

Then that evening the flats had a video game night where Eric and Daniel from upstairs played a game called Amnesia, then we played Slenderman (I wasn't even scared, so disappointed), and then most of us had a go at Surgeon Simulator. Ellie and I did the best of the group by far. Go us! After the games her, Munya, and I were listening to some old tunes like Chingy, Pretty Ricky, and Snoop Dogg. What a laugh! 

Tonight we are pulling an all nighter!! WHOOO!!! I'm actually pretty jazzed even though all of us are going to look like Eric in the photo above. We are going to drink energy drinks, eat pizza, probably play games and go to the park if it's not raining. Should be a laugh. Should be amazing. Should rule.

A Good Laugh

Life has been great since uni is now over for everybody (except Eric and Hannah)!! On Saturday we watched Eurovision which is a singing contest which goes on across all of Europe. Austria won and the UK didn't come in dead last, I guess it was a half decent turn out.

Monday we went out to say goodbye to our friend, Sean who is going back to America this week. Sad day. Everything got pretty insane when Sean got punched in the face by some guy who called him a "faggot". Crazy stuff!

Then Kirsten and I got Rick rolled in real life! They played "Never Going to Give You Up" by Rick Astley and the lines "never going to make you cry, never going to say goodbye" got to Kirst and I. We had a moment in the middle of the dance floor.

I don't want to leave but I know that it is inevitable and I know that I will see everybody again sooner or later. It is not goodbye, it is see you later.

Anyway, back to something less real.

Tonight we played hide and seek between our flat and 5300. We hid in each others rooms so of course it got crazy quick. My first place was probably the best. I went in Kirsten's room and dumped all of her clothes out of her laundry basket, placed it over my head and covered my legs with blankets. She found me in a hot second. Sorry for that, Kirst.

                       

    

Last night Kirsten told Eric that he could do her makeup. So she did hers which turned out as well as you think it did. Fantastically. After he finished with hers he wanted to give it another go so I offered my face as a canvas. He called it, "Cleopatra who commands respect". Yup.

The rest of the evening was dedicated to Ryan doing Kirsten and I's, Kirsten and Hannah doing Ryan's and Eric's, and Bri and I doing Ryan's.

Of course on a night like this Eric and I had to come up with something that was hilarious. So he spit water on his crotch and then we continued to make Snapchat videos of him spitting up water. We were weak!

Nights like this are what people remember from going to uni. Sure studying is important and all that, but the friends that you make and the stupid stuff you get into with them is what you remember. I'm not going to cherish the moments that I was stuck in the library doing work, I'm going to relish in the days of staying up late to make chips, go to the park, and do each other's make up.

PREACH.

My Favourites

This post is inspired by my lovely friend, Emily who wrote about her favourite films and books that have altered her life for the better. I thought that I would actually write a fun post for once in my life. As much as I love writing, I hate writing blog posts. I just feel that they are a nuisance to the Internet but I am going to get over it and just write this dumb post.

1. The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

This is the best book that I've ever read in my 21 years on this planet. I read this for the first time when I was 16 or 17 in high school because I couldn't decide which other book to read for Mrs. June's honours English class. I had read of the book and assumed that it would probably suck like most of the books that we read for school. For once it didn't suck at all, not even a little bit! I immediately fell in love with this book because it is so honest and hilarious. Salinger is one of the most brilliant writers ever published. Seriously, if you haven't read this book go out and get it.

2. Midnight in Paris

I have always had a difficult time selecting my favourite film but this one is without a doubt my favourite. I saw it for the first time over Christmas holiday because I had heard so many good things about it and it did not disappoint. Just like Catcher I immediately fell in love with it. It is about time traveling (which I love) in Paris (also love) to the 1920s (love) where Owen Wilson meets famous writers and artists (love). They bring up a lot of themes of golden age thinking which is believing that the past was a better time than the present which is how I have thought for most of my life. It's a great film, just watch it.

3. Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling

These books made me love reading. I remember reading them in school, borrowing them from friends, and spending hours upon hours reading them. This past semester I read a fantastic book called Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman which made me feel the same way that these books made me feel the first time I read them. So I have been rereading them and it's been wonderful. You have probably read these and can vouch for their greatness. Seamus Finnigan rules!

4. The Boy in the Striped Pajamas 

This story is amazing and it just in general makes me so sad. It's about a boy named Bruno whose family loves outside of a concentration camp in Nazi Germany. Bruno meets Shmuel and they become friends. The end makes me cry but it's still a great film.

That's about it. Do I need to have five? Is four okay? I think this is fine. Yay books and films!

Holiday and English life

So here's the story, I started to write up a holiday post but then it didn't save so I really cannot be bothered to write up another entire post about my trip. A general overview is that it was wonderful, my favourite places were Paris, Venice, and Amsterdam. I would go back to any of them in a heartbeat. I became better friends with Emily and Laura which was fantastic. They helped make my holiday the best ever (Ben made it truly hilarious).

Today is the last full day that my friend Ben will be here in England with us. Sad day. But the good thing is that him and I go to Messiah together so we will still see each other in America. Him and I have been friends for ages but our friendship has really grown this past semester. I could not be more glad to have had him in the flat with me.

On Monday the lot of us celebrated Ellie and I's birthdays which was a laugh. Kirsten got very bruised.

Last night we went out to the Frog and Fiddle to celebrate our friends' engagement. There were about 15 of us sitting around a table talking and laughing. The pub closed at 11 so we left and Bri, Eric Kirsten, and I went out to the park. The park is sometimes all we have to look forward to.

Today is our newly blue haired friend Stephen's birthday so we will all be celebrating that tonight. As always, it should be fun! 

There has been so much to celebrate and there is only more on the way. This weekend Kirsten's friend from home is coming down then in a week or so there will be more going away and birthday parties to be had. May is going to be a crazy month!

Uni wise I have more or less finished my magazine layout. I just have to be at peace with how it looks, tweak a few bits, and print it all out. After that's done I have papers for my study abroad programme to do then I will officially be a senior! 

WWHHAATTT! One more year of college and I will never be in school again. A sigh of relief and an anxiety attack. I love going to school but I abhor schoolwork. I cannot wait to never have to complete another graded assignment again. 

Until later xx