Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Happy Happy Birthday!

Hello All!
Or should i say cheers which here means: hello, goodbye, thank you, your welcome, yes, no, maybe, please, shit, red, tomato. Well not really all of that but honestly the British use cheers as a response to everything.

Me: Hello
Them: Cheers

Me: Thanks
Then: Cheers

Me: Let's Drink
Them: Cheers

Me: You're cool
Them: Cheers

Anyway I think you guys get the point lol. Furthermore as you know it was my birthday on the 29th of last month so I've been dying to tell everyone about it. However I'll start with some of the things that happened before the greatest day in American history. Firstly, the International Welcome Dinner which was put on by the school! I was so surprised by the sheer amount of activities that the schools put on for the students. Here i was thinking that this dinner would be lame but when we actually got there we were all impressed! There was wine on the table, candles, glass cups (very surprised about that), and a live magician going around to entertain us all. To the left is a picture of the table setting, btw it's a totally American phenomena to take pictures of your food. All the English/European people sitting around us thought it was very odd that we were taking pictures of our tomato and mozzarella salads lol. After our lovely dinner, we were escorted to a campus club called The Attic for the International night. Unfortunately the DJ was awful and actually did not know who Lil Wayne was but it was still fun to dance around to what the British call music. It was particularly amusing to comment on the total lack of dancing ability that the British exude. Seriously, I was an amazing dancer compared to everyone else, made me feel pretty good about my "getting low" abilities. On the way out of the club, fellow Californians and I stopped to take pictures with this crazy looking chihuahua! I thought you all would enjoy seeing a picture of it also.

 The school also organized a trip for us internationals to Leeds castle, they even paid for our transportation and tickets! I could never see UCSB doing that but then again we probably have like 10x the amount of International students. Anyway, it was my first castle and it was very cool. It was exactly what you would imagine it to be, with ducks and swans and peacocks and a moat! It had a moat! We were able to explore inside the castle and after countless photos we ate lunch outside on the lawns looking towards the "Fortress". I included the panoramic shot my roommate Josephine took. After lunch, we braved the maze located near the castle's aviary and after a few dead-ends we made it to the center of the maze. From there you could basically yell directions to whoever you wanted, not sure if everyone was telling them the right things poor people. Then to exit we walked into an underground grotto which they made very disneyland-isque and included creepy British voice overs about mermaids and ghosts. All in all it was a great day. Not quite as great as last Thursday, my Birthday!
I'm lucky enough to have great roommates and friends abroad (in case anyone is worried) and I was called down, mid-getting ready for the birthday club, so that my neighbors and roommates could sing me happy birthday and present to me flowers, a cake, cupcakes, a banner, balloons and a hello kitty birthday badge! To the left is a picture of some of the things I mentioned and my roommate Joren (he's Belgian) screaming at my birthday cakes. Then my fellow Californians and I went to Picturehouse, a restaurant in Canterbury, where we had a very nice Canadian waiter and ate semi-American food. Following our dinner and adventure to find Chemistry Club, the club i chose to celebrate at, we met up with the roomies and neighbs for some dancing and drinking. To the left is a picture of me drinking a "Snakebite" which is cider, beer, ribena (black current syrup), and something else. As you can see my face has been painted, which they like to do here and i'm sporting headband breads which i did with my own hair! (I was very proud that i could get it to wrap around so far). Eventually, we headed home in a cab. Luckily, i was pre-warned by Matt and Laura that the cabbies could be mean and take you a long way to make you pay more, so i decided i would be nice so that he would also be nice! And he was! When we finally got home he took 2 pounds off our bill since it was my birthday =]. Definitely one of the best days I've had in England thus far, Yay for Birthdays! Once we were all safely home, we had birthday bedtime tea and then it was off to bed. So sad it's not my birthday anymore =[ but i hope everyone is looking forward to a Vegas trip when I get back! =]

Love from Canterbury,
Sammy


People from left to right:
Top row: Random guy that's always at our neighbors, Toni (my Barcelona roommate!), Rosa (Californian), Jenny (roommate from China, she lives in a province known for Pandas!), Jennifer (best friend and Belgian of Joren), Joren (roommate from Belgium).
Bottom row: Most beautiful girl in the world, Josephine (Roommate from California, we're the same person!), Cathy (Californian), and Aurora (Californian).

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