BONJOUR, BONJOUR, BONJOUR.. OH MY GAH!

(We have been endlessly thinking about and quoting Passport to Paris ever since our adventure to Paris last weekend… So I thought, what an appropriate intro for this blog post!)

Where to start, where to start.  First of all, I’ll start by apologizing for not doing a better job at updating this thing more regularly! Guess I’m just a little busy exploring London and venturing to Paris, but I figured I better catch up on blogging before all the adventures turn into a blur of excitement.  Paris, the “City of Love” or “City of Lights” (whichever you prefer, there’s lots of both -love and lights), was absolutely fabulous.  Honestly, I did not know what to expect since I knew very little about Paris and France in general.  I knew they didn’t speak English.  And I had heard rumors that the French are smelly people.  These are both true.  Not much English and apparently no deodorant either.  I might have to finish this tomorrow, because I’m starting to fall asleep at my computer, but I’ll get started by giving ya’ll a quick break-down of each day:

Thursday:  This was a very early morning for us.  Unfamiliar with the train station and not knowing how similar it would be to airports, we wanted to leave plenty of time to ensure that we are not missing our train for our first out-of-England excursion.  Our train left at 8:55, so we made all the right calculations and decided to be at the Middlesex bus stop by 7am sharp (when the bus starts running).  All 5 of us made it to the bus station on time, all packed and ready to go - I was so proud of us!  The journey could not have gone smoother.  Nicole was my seat buddy, which was nice, and the Chunnel was such a great experience.  Definitely the way to travel around here!  I really enjoyed napping on and off, reading one of my many great books I have acquired, and listening to my iPod.  Kate’s seat buddy was a very nice actor that had previously lived in Paris and often traveled back to visit family in Paris.  He informed Kate that the best way to get to our hotel would be to take the metro underground because it is cheap and easy to navigate.  Kate was convinced, so we trusted him and did it! It was a very good decision.  The people at the information desk spoke english and pointed us in the right direction.  Now the smelly tube - that was hard to get accustomed to.  Nobody wants to cram on an underground train, packed in like sardines with people that are unaware of what good hygiene means, sweating like nobody’s business, lugging around a suitcase, not quite sure of where exactly you’re going.  But not to worry, us girls overcame our fears and discomfort, conquering that underground train and arriving at our hotel easy cheesy.  We got SO lucky with our hotel choice! Hotel Belfast was located only a few hundred feet from the massive Arc de Triomphe and only steps away from an underground station.  It was elegantly decorated with French paintings and furniture.  The guys at the receptionist desk were so helpful and resourceful.  Kate and Nicole’s room had a balcony with an outstanding view of the nearby Arc de Triomphe.  The beds were comfy.  The bathrooms were spacious.  There was WIFI (weak connection, but still it was there - so I got to actually Skype with David on Saturday!!!). It just could not have been better for what we paid and I recommend it to anyone visiting Paris! Anyway, the rest of the day just consisted of exploring the Arc and the Eiffel Tower, stumbling upon a cute sidewalk cafe, and walking along the River Seine toward the Louvre but getting too tired halfway there and turning around to head back to the hotel for an early night in.

This is going to seem abrupt, but if I don’t go to sleep now, I may start typing jibberish that you all won’t understand… I’m sorry for not being more punctual with this whole blogging thing! But just bear with me, more to come soon. Au Revoir!

THE LONDON BUG… NON-STOP!

For our first weekend in London, Middlesex University was kind enough to arrange a few guided tours for us that were more than helpful and quite enjoyable.  It was such a wonderful way to first see the city! On Friday, we went on a coach (British word for “bus”) tour around London and saw many things including the financial district, Finchley, the mayor’s house, Prime Minister David Cameron’s house, London Bridge, Tower Bridge, the protesting square near the Houses of Parliament (which actually just got outlawed!), Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, the London Eye, St. Paul’s Cathedral, Millenium (Wobbly) Bridge, and so much more.  On Saturday, we went on a walking tour around the beautiful Hampstead and then spent the afternoon freely shopping and bargaining at markets in Camden.  The two places are extremely different, quaint Hampstead known for it’s ancient baths and celebrity residents and wild Camden known for it’s eclectic inhabitants and unique shopping.  For both Friday and Saturday, our lovely tour guide was Margaret, an older Irish sass-a-frass who fell in love with London 30 years ago and never left.  Margaret said some very funny and interesting things to us during these tours, one being “It’s the London Bug - You come, you fall in love with it, then you never want to leave.  I don’t know what it is, it’s just magical.”  

I could not agree more with Margaret on this statement.  All Londoners will agree with that, and I’ve begun to experience it myself.  Upon arrival, I quickly obtained this so called “London Bug” and within the first six days of our trip, we conquered most of this captivating city and we did it NON-STOP.  We woke up early and went to bed late.  We walked blocks and blocks, maybe even miles and miles.  We rode the tube several hours (50 pounds worth actually… OUCH!) getting into Central London every day.  We laughed until we cried, several times.  We laughed endlessly and loudly on the Tube because of delirium.  We sat in silence on the Tube because of sheer exhaustion.  We climbed 500 steps to the top of St. Paul’s Cathedral.  We saw 3 incredible, FREE museums already. We attempted to celebrate the 4th of July at the Texas Embassy restaurant.  We shopped at the almighty, classy, snoddy Harrod’s department store.  We wandered through beautiful parks at dusk.  We bargained for cheap Thai food at Camden Lock.  We went on a Ghost Walk (which was about as scary as watching Barney). We had a quiz night in our Student Union regarding pop culture and London trivia.  

We did all that, plus so much more.  I am constantly pinching myself, reminding myself that this is no dream, but that I am actually experiencing these once-in-a-lifetime moments!  They are so breathtaking, overwhelming, exciting, captivating, unreal, exhausting, and fun that I have even been a bit too busy to stay on top of my blogging.  This is Day 13 of my European adventures and I still have so much to catch you all up on.  For the past 4 days Kate, Jordan, Taylor, Nicole, Lindsey and I explored and conquered the fabulous, but sweltering hot city of Paris, also called “City of Lights” or “City of Love”.  We saw lots of lights and we saw lots of love.  We enjoyed our weekend excursion, but were more than happy to arrive back “home” to Middlesex this evening where the weather is cool and the people speak english!  Tomorrow morning we will start our summer class, so I ought to get some rest and recover from all this recent, abundant excitement.  Hopefully, I will be writing again very, very, very soon to tell you more wonderful details about our first 6 days exploring London and our quick Paris trip.  To be completely honest, I’m not quite sure how I plan to explain the things I’ve seen and done in the last 12 days.  However, more to come soon - I promise! Until then, don’t forget to share a little of God’s sweet, generous love.  We have definitely received plenty of it this trip, in many unexpected ways.  It’s not hard to give and share… so why not give a little and share a little LOVE? :)

THE LONG-AWAITED ARRIVAL… SAFE AND SOUND

We did it.  We made it! The trip has been completely consuming my thoughts for months and months is finally here.  The journey from Tulsa to London could not have gone any smoother, what an answer to prayer!  Never has flying made me nervous, but it did yesterday because this trip is different.  It’s HUGE, and opportunity of a lifetime.  I was overwhelmed with emotions of nervousness, gratitude, hope, uncertainty, and excitement.  The flight from Tulsa to Chicago made me a little bit nervous because we were flying on the tiniest plane I’ve ever been on.  It was a plane with one seat on one side, two seats on the others side, you had to kind of walk sideways down the aisle, and anyone over 6 foot had to hang their heads.  Also the time of the flight, 2 hours, was a little bit awkward for me.  I couldn’t really fall asleep on this small aircraft, I knew I was about to have a 4 hour layover so I didn’t really want to start digging into any of my good books, and really I was just too excited to do anything but sit and ponder my arrival in London!

Once safely arrived at Chicago O’Hare, Kate and I wandered around terminals and managed to spot many very interesting things that made the 4 hour layover fly by.  Some of the things we witnessed were so hilarious or out of the ordinary that I would be doing you all an injustice if I did not tell you about them, so here we go…

Observation #1: First of all, before even boarding in the plane in Tulsa, Kate and I were burning up.  Stupid hot Oklahoma summers.  I was dressed for London 70 degree weather, carrying way too much heavy luggage, and just WAY too excited and filled with adrenaline, which all lead to me believe for half a second that I was possibly experiencing a hot flash.  Oh wait, I’m 20 years old so that’s not possible.  Naturally, Kate and I came up with the term “travelpause”: a state someone experiences while traveling feeling like a hot flash from uncontrollable, sheer excitement.  I know you all know what I’m talking about, so now you can say you’re going through “travelpause” next time you experience this.

Observation #2: I noticed two things in particular on the flight to Chicago, one being a young couple that I’ll come back to later and one older couple sitting right next to me across the aisle.  This was the cutest old couple I have ever seen! These 2 were happening, stylish, fun-loving people.  I overheard them talking about their trip to London, looking at maps and planning their attack on the city.  I watched them hold hands to console each other during takeoff, every once in a while gazing into each other’s eyes or softly rubbing each other’s backs.  Seeing this older couple just made me realize how badly I’d love to travel the world with my future husband and best friend until we are wrinkly, senile, using dentures and too old to even walk.  Now back to the younger couple… They, too, were an adorable couple to observe. It was obvious for anyone to see that they were newlyweds, sooooooo in love with each other.  After we got off the plane, Kate and I started walking to our next terminal closely behind this couple.  She noticed their love-sick mannerisms as well and naturally we started analyzing this couple.  Within in seconds we had decided that they were definitely on their honeymoon, probably married a few days before on the weekend because no one gets married on a Monday or Tuesday, and they were headed to Miami to leave on a cruise.  Next thing we know, Kate and I are walking to their terminal instead of ours and we realize that we unintentionally, creepily, and obsessively spent the last 5-10 minutes following/over-analyzing this adorable young couple. Haha WHOOPS.

Observation #3: Boy sitting near us at our gate for London looked EXACTLY like Simon from 7th Heaven, almost to where it was creepy.  He was rockin’ a late 90s style.  He had the very light blonde hair and cut just like Simon.  He had a striped t-shirt on, something just like Simon would wear.  He had too dark, bushy eyebrows for a blonde just like Simon does.  His mannerisms, EVERYTHING, brought me back to when I was obsessed with watching 7th Heaven everyday after school.

Observation #4: One very young couple had 3 kids with them, ranging in age from 2-5ish if I had to guess.  These kids were curly-headed blondes with captivating blue eyes, and if my children come out looking like these kids then I will praise the Lord every day for giving me the most beautiful children in the world (I mean I’ll do that anyway no matter what, I know I’ll think my kids are the prettiest kids on earth, but you get what I mean! Haha).  Those parents let their children run WILD AND RAMPID all over the airport terminal, and it didn’t even seem to worry/phase them. One of their kids could barely walk/run and looked to be MAYBE 2 years old!!! The parents started scanning their boarding passes, about to walk onto the airplane, and the youngest boy runs off (again) and toward Kate and I.  Did the mom or dad run after the child or make sure that all 3 of their children were about to get on the plane with them? Nope not at all.  Feeling awkward and obligated to help, Kate took the small boy by the hand, delivered him back to the mother and didn’t even receive a thank you.  Was she trying to knock-off and get rid of one of her children? I think so.  Good thing Kate is not a kid-snatcher, because she could have easily walked off with that adorable, precious child. Some people are not meant to be/prepared to be parents.  CRAZY.

Observation #5:  The complete and utter opposite of what I just described to you, we witnessed an overbearing, overprotective father at the same time.  He had his little boy in a full-on harness/leash contraption.  I felt so sorry for this poor kid.  All he wanted was to be free, to run, to play! Instead, he was constantly tangled up in his body leash and getting yanked back into close proximity to his father.  There is a happy medium between observations 4 and 5, people!

Observation #6:  While waiting for our 8:15 flight to London, we probably witnessed at least 12-15 having to RUN to make their 5:00 flight to London.  Some were young, some were old, some were pregnant, some were pushing 1 or 2 strollers, some had way too much carry-on luggage, some made the flight, some missed the flight… and THIS made me happy to have a 4 hour layover.

Observation #7:  Right by our gate there was a young foreign woman attempting to sell credit card subscriptions.  She, poor thing, was getting hit on by a short, extremely buff guy wearing a “Wisconsin Wrestling” shirt who obviously thought he was too cool for his own good.  Probably about 15 minutes of this went on, and we started to feel sorry for this girl.  She kept taking her phone out (we thought she was playing with it as a distraction), and we were going to go save her or share our sympathy with her. This poor girl was trapped by creep-o guy!  Suddenly and awkwardly, creep-o guy walks off and she packs up her things at her booth and walks off.  We thought her shift was over.  However, 30 minutes later, while we were eating at Macaroni Grill (our absolutely delicious, last American, but Italian meal), we see credit card girl and creep-o walking by together!!!!!!!!  Little did we know, they were probably exchanging numbers and we probably witnessed them falling in love.  Weird and awkward, to say the least.

Observation #8 (and probably the funniest one):  While eating outside of Macaroni Grill, we see an older foreign couple walking with their adorable, tiny miniature poodle puppy dog.  Everyone was oo-ing and awww-ing over this precious creature.  THEN, all of a sudden, the cute dog starts taking a CRAP in the middle of the BUSIEST terminal in Chicago O’Hare, RIGHT outside the Macaroni Grill mind you.  The older man non-chalantly picks up the dog’s “business” in a baggie like it was a normal, no-big-deal thing.  OH BUT WAIT, IT GETS MUCH WORSE.  The older lady then picks up the poor dog’s hind legs, putting it’s butt straight up in the air, and vigorously starts wiping the dog’s behind with a paper towel for a good 5 minutes.  Everyone was staring, and suddenly the ooooos and awwwwws turned to snickering giggles and disgusted whispers/faces.  HAHAHA

I hope you all enjoyed those observations as much I enjoyed experiencing or witnessing them.  The four hour layover was a great success, as was the long flight to London!  I was lucky to sit by a really, really nice guy named Paul from a small town in Missouri.  He plays baseball to Lambuth University and was traveling with 20 students and 2 professors to study in London, Paris, and Edinburgh for 6 weeks.  We had lots to talk about and he helped the 8 hours fly by!  I prayed for a seat buddy that would provide me with interesting, comfortable conversations and Paul was definitely a wonderful seat buddy!  Also in our row, sat a middle aged British woman named Carol and her precious 7-year old daughter, Jessica.  Carol was born and raised right outside of London, but now lives in Reno, Nevada.  Every summer her and Jessica return to the UK to visit her “mum and sis”.  Carol was the sweetest, kindest woman and it was a blessing having her sit near me.  She was eager to ask all about what Paul and I are doing in the UK and she was wonderful to give us advice, tips, and best wishes as we parted.  Thank you, Lord, for blessing me with beautiful, kind-hearted people to sit by on that long flight! It was a joy.

Now that I’ve already talked your ear off (or blogged til your eyes are probably sore from reading haha), I’ll get to the important stuff! We were greeted in the airport by super friendly, smiling people on the Middlesex Summer School Staff, who genuinely cared for us and guided us to our bus.  Once we arrived on campus, the friendly and generous smiles did not stop! EVERYONE on staff here is overly friendly and will go out of their way to help you and make you feel comfortable, asking to carry your bags and personally escorting you to your rooms.  I LOVE IT! It is so refreshing.  The campus is absolutely beautiful and the weather is perfect.  We had the afternoon to get settled into our dorm rooms, rest, and explore the campus.  Then, yesterday evening we had a lovely “Welcome Reception” in the beautiful Mansion Hall.  We heard from the Dean of the Summer School, the Dean of the Arts and Education College, and many Summer School staff.  Following, we had a nice glass of wine and mingled (which about put me to sleep, I was already so exhausted!), a nice English dinner, and delightful desserts.  It was the perfect, warm welcome I had hoped for.  Most of the summer school students here are American, some from Hong Kong, some from Africa, and 11 of us from OU! Boomer Sooner!  I’ll write more later about campus and the students, but for now I am busy.  Today we are formally enrolling in our course, and tonight we’re thinking about going into Central London for the first time!!! Tomorrow we have a barbecue lunch picnic, and a guided tour of Central London, including Buckingham Palace and the London Eye!  Satuday, we will venture off to Hampstead and Camden Town for walking tours and shopping.  

Middlesex is impressing me more than I could have imagined! More to come!