Just a normal Friday with French boys

So basically, I use my blog to write about all the weird/unusual experiences here that I have DAILY! Well, this one is for the books. So my flat is pretty much like a hostel. All the time. With friends coming and going and there is always at least one person on the couch, so if you are in the area and need a free place to stay, I will check the couch's availability. Anyway, we currently have 3 guests staying with us. One is in an extra bed and 2 are on the couch. I came home from classes yesterday to my french flatmate, Marc Antoine, with his 2 french friends. They asked me to sit with them so I did and found out that one of the boys got a 5 out of 20 in his English class and the other boy speaks 0 English. His English is like my French. I know how to count to 10 and I can say: Hi, bye, how are you, & I love you.So basically all the essentials. not. Well I sat down with the boys and we proceeded to become besties. They would speak french to me and I would say yes or no depending on how I felt and smile. Then I would speak English and they would respond with something in french. It was a true relationship. Every now & then Marc Antoine would translate but for the most part, I just laughed. 
That is pretty much all for now. Have a great weekend.
Cheers!

Cultural learning

As many of you know, I have not just had to adapt/learn about the British culture while in London, but more of every other culture because of my flatmates and classmates. In my MA program, there is one other American and one girl from Canada. Besides the three of us from North America, there are people from Sweden, France, Norway, Portugal, Russia, Germany, India, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Bulgaria, Pakistan, Greece, and many other countries as well. It is amazing to hear about their culture, life, goals, religion, etc. Most of the time, I have to start off a sentence with "I am lacking knowledge about your culture but..." In the same way, I am often asked plenty of questions. Yesterday, my friend, Bader, from Oman, asked me about the ease of obtaining weapons in the U.S. or in Tennessee. I somewhat did not understand what he meant so I asked him to continue explaining. He said that he pictured most of the U.S. having the ability to easily get a gun and he also pictured lots of gangs. He asked me if I had seen any gangs in my neighborhood. True story, I then tried to explain "the South" to him and what life was like. 
Right after talking about this, a guy in my class from Saudi Arabia began talking about hybridization or lack of that in his country. He was telling us a recent story of a brave woman. In Saudi Arabia, women are not even allowed to drive (I did not know this). Also, if they want to leave Saudi for work or holiday, they have to ask a male's permission. This male can be their husband, brother, dad, or even their son! Anyways, one courageous woman recently wanted to end the rule set by their religion which forbids women to drive a car. She said that she could not afford a driver and was tired of being dependent on men to do simple errands like go to the grocery store. The woman started a Facebook group to try and encourage women to all drive on a certain day. She even videoed herself driving and uploaded the video to show women that they could do it. Unfortunately, the police came to her house in the middle of the night and took her away. While that is the story/ situation of events that I heard, who knows the real story and what really happened to that woman. All I know, is that I feel blessed and glad to be an American! 
It is very interesting going to school with so many cultures and constantly working with different people in groups. I have learned that many males do not feel comfortable with females taking control or if they accept it, they need to feel that they are right and I am wrong. Sometimes I do feel attacked and disrespected. It is tough, but that is how many have been raised. Honestly, I think it is good motivation. It encourages me to do better and try to prove my worth. I know why I am in school and I know my goals in life. These are just times to remind me of the speed bumps that I may encounter along the way. 


On other news- I just found out that my sister-in-law & brother, along with their friends, are coming to London for Thanksgiving! yayay Nothing gives me more thanks than Americans coming to the U.K.  


Cheers!

Our Humble Abode

I know everyone has just been dying to see our "lounge" AKA Bianca and my new laundry servicing center. This weekend, we spent the majority of the time doing laundry and moving ALL of our stuff out of the room and into the lounge. The bug man came today & sprayed the chemicals, so we are not allowed to go into the bedroom. Therefore, we are sleeping on our couches. Fortunately, I am somewhat excited about sleeping on the couch because I think it may be more comfortable than my old mattress. We shall see.

Cheers!

Steve Jobs

Yesterday, I was walking back from Chinatown and on my way home, I passed the Apple Store. The Apple Store is on Oxford Street which is always terrifying to be on a Saturday because of all of the shoppers. Yesterday, it was the same except at the Apple Store. One couldn't just walk by fighting the crowd because everyone was just stopped and starring at the windows. A memorial of flowers, hand- written notes, and bitten apples had been collected over the days and people were still coming to pay tribute to Steve Jobs. It was really a cool experience. I had been talking to all my class mates about Steve Jobs and realized again, the impact he had. In a way, he helped bring the world together. We were from Spain, Italy, France, Chile, Sweden, Pakistan, Germany, and of course, the U.S. While there are many differences in cultures, the way we were raised, and the languages we speak, all of us knew of Steve Jobs and the impact he had on the world with technology. Not to mention, we all had at least 1 Apple product. In a way, he is bigger than a great celebrity, or a person in control of a country, because he touched everyone's life and his creations will continue for many generations to come.
"Stay hungry, Stay foolish."- Steve Jobs







- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Apple Store on Oxford Street, London

Bed.Bugs.

So this week was just another normal week in Flat 9 until Bianca convinced me that we had bed bugs. Last week, the weather in London was incredible. With incredible weather here, it was actually hot. It never gets hot in London so our windows were constantly open and everyone in London spent their weekend at the park. At the beginning of the week, Bianca and I noticed bug bites on our arms. We thought about it and narrowed it down to the windows being open and the heat bringing bugs in or that they were from our weekend spent at the park. Little did we know, we had bed bugs. Every morning, Bianca would wake up and show me all of her new bites. That is when I started to grow concerned. She had clusters all over her arms, while I just had a few welts on my forearms and back. By Wednesday, we had done the research and decided that it was probably bed bugs so we went to a pharmacist. The pharmacist confirmed this idea of ours and while I began to scratch myself by instinct just thinking about it, she consoled me by saying she had bed bugs in her flat this year too. That definitely did not help my feelings and concern. We asked about sprays or anything we could buy there to get rid of them and the pharmacist insisted that we would have to hire professional help and that it was very pricey. YAY!
Bianca and I returned that night to begin our bug hunt investigation. We tried to be very tricky and almost sneak up on them by turning off all the lights and then quickly turning them on and ripping the top mattress off the bed. We could not see anything, so we searched further & finally had success. A dead bug! I, of course, wanted to save it. Not for a collection but rather to show the bug man/ our flat tenant, so we put the dead bug in a tupperware container and placed it on the mantel. Lovely. I am not going to post a picture because that is just gross but you can definitely google it.
Since I am kind of over this bug talk, I will just get down to business. The flat tenant apologized and was immediately bringing the bug man into our room on Thursday. He then told us the news that we would have to wash EVERYTHING and the room would be sprayed on Monday morning. So this weekend, I have spent my time washing clothes, drying clothes, and then ironing clothes.
Please do not think we are dirty people. The bugs were here before us they assured us. We are just blessed and have to deal with it. When in Rome.
Cheers!

Cheek Kissing. European Style

Not going to lie, I think one of the biggest adjustments I have had to make, accept, adapt to is the cheek kissing. Cheek kissing is the way girls greet girls and girls greet guys throughout Europe and the UK. It is done when you meet someone or just see a friend. It can also be done when one leaves. But in my case, it is sometimes, and by that I mean almost always, awkward or uncomfortable. In the beginning, I was all for it. I loved being so "european" and meeting all of these people and doing the cheek kiss. But now, it is mostly just weird. I never know if a person is going to go for the cheek kiss or not, so I just wait back and make them make the first move. Then, if they do go in for the cheek kiss, I never know if it is going to be just one cheek kiss, two, or even three. It is so confusing. With different cultures comes different number of times one kisses. But sometimes they will know I am American and I think just kiss once because of that regardless of their culture. Again, SO confusing. It is a new adaption that I am having to make. Especially getting over my American bubble of personal space. Lately, it has been so hot outside with no air con. and so one is rather sweaty/sticky/smelly. And at that moment, you really do not want anyone, especially a complete stranger, to get inside your bubble and touch their face with yours. 

I will now give an example of an awkward moment experience with the cheek kiss:

On Saturday night, I was at a formal bar for a friend's birthday. A male, Norwegian classmate arrived and instantly came over. He came to me first, so I just assumed that we would kiss cheeks at the normal number of times, 2. I went to the left to kiss his right cheek first and then after was going to the right (his left). He, in the mean time, had moved on to my friend, Charlotte, to kiss her cheek while I was kissing the air. Luckily, it was a dark and noisy bar so no one noticed but yes, I found myself confused again about the kiss cheek and that ultimately, made me decide to write about this topic. 

I have had this discussion with some friends here from other countries and they normally just laugh at me because I have made this more into a studied science than a greeting. Regardless. It is tricky stuff. I guess I will just have to keep practicing. Happy Wednesday!

Cheers!

Living&LovingLife

So I have finished my first week of graduate school and it is going to be a good year. I have to take accounting again this semester so that will be.....not so fun. Brittany Ross did tell me that she was jealous because I am learning the IFRS (International standards). I do not think my attitude is quite to her excitement for accounting, but other than that class, I enjoy the rest. Especially with a global view and constant inputs from my fellow colleagues from all around the world. It is a little outrageous how cultures sometimes clash. Regent's makes a huge deal about being on time to lectures and seminars. It is because these Europeans will show up 20-40 minutes into class. I really do not know what they are thinking.


Other than class, I am absolutely, positively, 100% living&lovinglife. I could not have imagined it going better. I know that I have only been away from the U.S. for a month and away from my parents for 2 weeks but I think that these 2 weeks have been incredible.


I am really trying to speak British. Not necessarily with their accent to the Brits here but at least pick up on slang and then practice privately with friends. The word for the day is one of my favorites: Dodgy. It is pretty easy to use because it is the replacement of our word, sketchy. You can also abbreviate it and say "dodge" too. So whatever way it is used, that person,place, or thing should be avoided.


One last thing, last night I did a pub crawl up the River Thames. This was my first view, St. Paul's Cathedral and Millennium Bridge. We later walked up and saw the London Bridge and Tower Bridge. The Tower Bridge was absolutely beautiful at night. It was probably around 21 degrees Celsius so like 70 degrees fahrenheit. Watch out, London is having a heat wave! & today I am going on a French pic-a-nic.
Cheers!