this lovely British girl who I met from CU, Hannah, invited me over to her flat for dinnner. I was expecting maybe a handful or two of people, but there were about 25-30 people??? Just the fact that she so graciously opened her flat and cooked a meal for all of us was such a blesssing. such hospitality is rare for kids like us these days. anyways, these weeks in Manchester are flying by. betttter get to some reading, or else exams will definitely kick me in the butt
xx
so far
- brussels
- rome
- florence
- venice
- budapest
- paris
- where to next???
game plan for spring break
Liverpool
ahh it’s difficult to stay committed to a blog. but I’ll try to update frequently. so I’ve been in Manchester for about two weeks now (although it feels longer). i’m feeling comfortable, and everything is mmm going as expected. Lectures have been most boring though. Somehow I always get the professors with the worst monotonous voice’s. Definitely have been nodding off, and it’s only the second week of classes. haha
A great thing about the UK is how easily accessible other parts of England. This past Monday (no classs on Monday’s whatup!) me, Kristyn, Gillian and Tess went to explore Liverpool- the home of the Beatles.
my first time taking the national express coach- tickets were quite reasonable! 14.80 pounds for two people, round trip. I reckon that’s pretty great.
rare england sun!!! I desperately need to get some color..(a trip to Spain will do)
Albert Dock!
Beatle’s Story- magical mystery tour. the tour took us about an hour and half? They gave us audio guides and when we got to each station, there would be an except/dialogue about the particular scene. The audio was narrated by John Lennon’s sister, so that was pretty neat. the amount of information was overwhelming. but I guess it’s expected with the Beatles. so much memorabilia
me and Kristyn
ah the day started out sunny, but as soon as the sun started to set, massive amounts of fog rolled in. so thick, you could cut it with a knife. The boats in the dock were impossible to see. therefore people’s faces were impossible to see! We were wandering around a dodgy area (by mistake), and the fog made everything a hundred times eerier. haha as soon as I saw this fog, I knew it was too late to go to the Tate, or Chinatown. maybe next time? I wish museums didn’t close so early.
but through the fog, we made our way to Mattttchew street! lit up! for our convenience.
Matthew Street- where the Cavern Club is located, also known as where the Beatles had their first show. The atmosphere was lovely. There was a charming old man with a mighty voice, playing Beatles song’s all night. It was a bit touristy, but Kristyn and I had a couple drinks and got our Beatles fix.
next up is Leeds on Saturday! to visit my babygurl, Annie :3
so I probably am in a constant state of swoon bc of all great British accents. It still hasn’t hit me that I’m going to be here in Manchester for five months. Right now, it sorta feels like I’m at camp or something like that. Maybe once classes start, it’ll kick in. I’ve spent the majority of this week wandering around city centre, uni campus, Chinatown, the Northern Quarter, etc. Manchester city centre reminds me a lot of downtown San Francisco. haha a little bit of home here.
downtown city centre- haha famous Primark, aka ridiculously cheap clothing
cobblestone roads
some beautiful buildings/architecture around campus
ridin top on the double decker bus- ah and the reversed traffic flow is killin me. definitely got to triple check for cars when I cross the streets
Chinatown!, looked beautiful in the rare Manchester sun- now I know where to find my asian fooods when I’m missing home..
at my very first pub (the Footage)- my very first cider (strawberry, mm it was pretty delicious)
I hope there will be more first times as my stay here continuessss. post on Northern Quarter will be up next?
it’s 7:28 am. the sun still has not risen
1/21/12
Dallas, Chicago, Manchester.
What I thought would be the most painful flight ever and planned with two tedious transfers (12 hours!) isn’t bad so far. But maybe it’s because I’m just about to board the ten hour flight from O’hare to Manchester. They don’t call em red eyes for no reason. I’ve been up since 3 am. The bags under my eyes, along with the disheveled (but clean..) hair makes me really approachable. But nevertheless, the anticipation of arriving to a new place, meeting my flat mates, the accents, orientation, endless possibilities/explorations etc.= uh I’m stoked! seeee you soon Manchester.
three days till I leave for what will probably be the biggest adventure of my life.
