"The Cardiff Bus is the Only One I Take"

Cardiff is a very classy city. It is located right up to the coast and has lots of interesting architecture.

The buildings are not old, like in Oxford, although some are. Mostly the buildings are newer and more modern looking. Large glass windows, shiny, steel structures, and crowds of people walking about are the main things you will see there. (And the ocean, of course!)

There are almost two sections of the city, the area near the bay, and the more dense part, further from the city. The area near the bay is where the Doctor Who Experience is located, as well as the BBC Studio, Millennium Centre, and Roald Dahl Plass. In the Roald Dahl Plass is where the iconic Millenium Centre is located, along with a tall silver fountain, which any Torchwood fans would recognize as Torchwood Tower.

The buildings are shorter and only go up to about four or five stories max, besides a few specific ones. There is also lots of space to move around and the sidewalks are large and generally empty.

In the area further from the bay, the buildings are much taller and closer together. There was a giant mall right in the middle of it, and several tiny streets that could take you to different sections of the city. There were quite a few museums, such as the Cardiff Story, and churches located in this section of Cardiff, but we did not get to spend much time there.

However, all over Cardiff, you can smell the sea, and get just a taste of the salt in the air. Seagulls fly around, circling people for scraps of food, and the waves crashing against the bay is echoed around the city. There are also signs written in welsh everywhere, which just looks like nonsense unless you can read it. And every now and then you catch some people conversing in it, and it sounds a bit more elegant than it looks.

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We had been planning to visit Cardiff for a long time, because of the Doctor Who Experience being located there. (My roommates and I are huge nerds, if you haven't noticed.) And we were very excited to get the chance to see all the cool costumes and trivia about one of our favorite shows. Technically, Libby was not caught up on the latest series, but we let her come anyways.

The Doctor Who Experience was amazing. Mostly because of the 'experience' part. You were walked through different rooms at the beginning of your visit and were told my the Doctor that he needed your help to escape the Pandorica 2. Once we helped him escape, we got to fly the TARDIS, but then crashed on a planet and had to run through an area infested with Weeping Angels. Then the Daleks tried to convert us, but luckily the Doctor assured them that we were poor stock for the Dalek race. Finally we were saved by the Doctor and transported by to the Doctor Who museum safely, although I did have a few black marks on my arms for some reason.

The rest of the Doctor Who museum was just like any other museum. It had costumes, props, and information on all things Doctor Who. And luckily, it had information on how history actually went, and none of the silly nonsense that teachers tell us in school. Such as that Queen Elizabeth the first never married because she wanted to elope with the Doctor but he left before they could get married. This is clearly all true, haha.

There were also set ups of some of the bad guys from the series, like the evolution of Cybermen and Daleks, and some of the Weeping Angels. And by the way, Daleks are huge! I am pretty tall and they even towered over me. Their plunger and whisk combo also made me a bit nervous around them.

All in all the Doctor Who Experience was amazing and well worth the money. Except I came out with TONS of weird black lines on my arms, almost like tallies. But worse things could have happened, right?

Afterwards, we continued our geek fest over to the fountain in Roald Dahl Plass, which is 'Torchwood Tower' in the Doctor Who spin-off show 'Torchwood'. There was also a Ianto Jones fan board that we saw near the bay, where people places pictures and letters about how much they loved Ianto Jones from Torchwood. We also ate at an 'American' restaurant called Eddie's, which I did not want to go to at first because we can eat hamburgers and pizza anytime we want, but it turned out that an episode of Doctor Who was filmed there, so I quickly got over that problem.

Lastly, we visited a museum called 'Cardiff Story'. It is all about how Cardiff was made and established from the point of view of people who lived there. We sat down for a while and watched a few videos about different people from Cardiff and their life stories living in the city. It was really exciting and interesting to get to hear about real people and see why Cardiff is special to them.

Until next time...

Embrace the Odd,
Caitlin

P.S.- The title is from a song called "The Cardiff Bus Song" by I Loves the 'Diff. Also, thank you Austin for the pictures of Cardiff since my camera was not working properly that day.

"Fish and visitors smell in three days." -Benjamin Franklin

Sweet Tooth II: Sugar Rampage

This post is a sequel to my previous post "Sweet Tooth". If you want to go back and read that one first, just click the link I attached to the post's name.

I have been to England three times now, and every time I go, I make sure to visit a candy shop in London called 'Hope and Greenwood'. It is a small candy shop that is very traditional looking with all the jars full of candy on the back wall and small tasty treats all around. (You can visit their website here.)

I just love the glass jars filled with colorful nonsense, and labels that all match with a striking penmanship. And the light 'clink' of candies falling into the small silver weigh machine. And the smell of sugar and cinnamon that floats around the shop. It just reminds me of the idea of joy. I never went into candy stores like this as a child, but I still cannot help but feel like one when I visit.

When I go, I usually get random candies that I have never tried before. Once I got rose flavored turkish delight (since Edmund on Narnia liked it so much) but that was a bad idea. It did not taste very good, although I am not sure if it was due to the rose flavoring or the fact that it was turkish delight.

But besides that one instance, everything else has been delicious. I have tried different types of truffles, gummies, toffee, chocolate, hard candy, and marshmallows. (This is mostly because I usually go with other people and we all try each others candy, but also because I try to visit more than once each trip to England.) Recently, I forced my roommates to come along with me while we were in England and I chose to try some pear drops and cherry bakewell. I later found out that Cherry Bakewells are also a type are desert, which is what the candy is based on.

The cherry bakewells are delicious. I got everyone hooked to them on the way home from the candy store. My roommate Amy and I also really liked the pear drops, which come in red and yellow. Luckily for us, Amy prefers the red, while I prefer the yellow so there was no issue with splitting them up fairly.

Yesterday we went back to Hope and Greenwood since we were in London, and Libby had not gotten to see the candy shop yet. (Also, I was out of candy.) While there we each took our time to decide what we would like to try next. Libby and I both got Birthday Cake hard candies, Austin decided to try Ginger Beer hard candy, and Amy went for Lemon Meringue hard candy. But we all got Cherry Bakewell to go along with it.

The store clerk found that rather humorous and asked if we had actually tried any real Cherry Bakewells, to which we responded no. He then told us what it was made of, and how they should be sold at most grocery stores since they are a rather cheap desert. We got into a small conversation mentioning that we were studying in Oxford for the semester, and I told him how I always have to come back to this candy shop every time I visit England.

He then offered for us to get another piece of some candy we had never tried in case next time we might like to get that one. Libby asked for 'Sunshine Festival', which he got a piece out for, but then he just went ahead and added three more; one for each of us. He also began picking other candies he thought we should try. We ended up getting a piece each of Sunshine Festival, Treacle Tart, Rose and Lychee, and Sugar Plum. Which he put into a small bag for us, with all the different colored candies poking out the top, just waiting to be chosen.

I have only tasted the 'Rose and Lychee', which is the one he actually went into the back to get for us since it is a new flavor that they have not started to sell yet. It was a light pink color and tasted like the smell of roses mixed with powdered sugar. It was very yummy. And it leads me to the idea that I just do not like turkish delight.

I have also visited Cadbury World, which is a small museum theme park for the chocolate company Cadbury. It was well worth the 10 pounds that it cost, and we ended up with four free chocolate bars, as well as a cup full of warm, melted chocolate. I was in candy heaven. Although, to be honest, the warm, melted chocolate was really good, but the cup of it was so big that I could barely finish it. Barely. I did, but I definitely had to take some pauses in between bites. (I would explain the candy bars we got, but they are ones I have already mentioned in the previous post.)

There are also some local milkshake places near by that I have visited. MooMoo's is really popular with the other American students that I cam over with, but I prefer Shakespeare's. MooMoo's has nearly seventy flavors to choose from, and their shakes are really thick. The main downside for me is that you can hardly read everything before you are suppose to know what you want, and the straws are really wide. I know that is a weird issue to have, but I do not like thick straws.

Shakespeare's on the other hand has a smaller menu to choose from, but most of the flavors all seem good. (Where as at MooMoo's I randomly picked a flavor I did not understand and ended up with a gross milkshake.) They also have milkshakes named after some of Shakespeare's plays, such as 'Othello', 'Much Ado About Noting', and 'Romeo and Juliet'. You can also get warm milkshakes there, which I find odd, but to each their own, I suppose. I got a cherry bakewell milkshake there and it was delicious.

Until next time...

Embrace the Odd,
Caitlin

"Television has done much for psychiatry by spreading information about it, as well as contributing to the need for it." -Alfred Hitchcock

TV Show Trials

I have begun watching an interesting show called 'American Horror Story'. I am all caught up on my main shows (New Girl, Doctor Who, Downton Abbey, etc.) and needed something to watch in my down time.

The show is interesting to say they least, and it definitely lives up to the 'horror' in it's title. i am not on the sixth episode and I am not sure if the show is getting less scary and creepy or I am just becoming acclimated to the scary parts.

I admit, I do like a bit of horror every now and then when looking for something to watch. Romantic Comedies actually upset me as to how easy the plot is to figure out. In horror and suspense movies the plot is usually more difficult to figure out, which I love. I think I also like them because of the adrenaline rush. I am quite a big baby at scary scenes, and usually cannot sleep for a few nights after watching a scary movie, but I cannot help but watch them. It's like those iced cookies at Walmart that always look delicious, but then you actually eat one and you remember that they taste horrible.

Also, if you end up watching 'American Horror Story', feel free to tell me what you think about it. There are some weird characters and some plot twists I am trying to foresee. And let me just tell you some of the weird, unimportant scenes that really stick out to me. This will either make you want to watch it, or really turn you off from it.

There is a girl who lives next door to the main (haunted) house who has down syndrome, and loves to break into the haunted house. The mother will be painting and Adeline (the girl I just mentioned) will show up out of nowhere and tell the mother that she is going to die. The daughter will be upstairs dancing to her music, when suddenly a hand grabs her, but lo! It is just Adeline being silly. There is even a scene where the family wakes up in the middle of the night to an intruder and they find out that Adeline has broken into the basement and is playing down there, just for fun. Yeah, I love hanging out in creepy basements at 2 AM also. But when the anyone talks about it, they are just like, "Oh, Adeline. She just does that. Isn't she precious?"

There is also a scene where a strange goblin-thing attacks these two girls in the basement. But instead of killing them or really hurting them at all, it just wiggles its fingers around in their faces while the lights flicker. Don't get me wrong, I would be scared to death if that happened to me, but what? This is a horror show, shouldn't it be doing something a bit more... horrible? Especially after it killed some little boys earlier in the show (it happens in about the first five minutes, don't worry).

Besides TV shows though, I have really been wanting to see 'Wreck-It Ralph'. I think it looks really cute, even though I think it got some bad reviews. I also wanted to see 'The Raven', which is about Edgar Allan Poe helping to solve a murder case (that is based off his stories), but apparently that came out in about February so I guess I missed that one.

I also saw a trailer for 'Taken 2', and I really do not understand why someone would steal Liam Neeson's daughter ever, but especially for the second time. He is clearly a bad a** so why would you mess with him? Besides even the fact that he played Aslan in Narnia and Batman's coach in the Dark Knight series, he is still awesome in the Taken series. He tracks down his kidnapped daughter all across the globe in less than 48 hours, using nothing more than a description of a tattoo and a few matches. Don't mess with that guy. One of my roommates thinks that Taken 3 is going to be about him kidnapping someone, I disagree, but that's alright.

There has also been the 'Perks of Being a Wallflower', 'Breaking Dawn Part 2', and 'Looper' out since I have been in the UK. Two out of three of those sounded interesting, but I (luckily) am not really excited about seeing any of them. This has allowed me to resist going to the cinema and spending loads of money, as well as keeping me from missing home and all of its amazing films.

Until next time...

Embrace the Odd,
Caitlin

"It never hurts to ask. Unless you ask for hurt." -Takayuki Ikkaku

Giving Thanks for Maniacs

Today I want to talk about that lovely American (and Canadian) holiday called 'Thanksgiving'. I feel like I have talked a lot about holidays recently, but there are just a lot happening all around the same time in the fall/early winter.

Thanksgiving, for those who may not be aware, is the celebration of food, people you care about, and other things you are thankful for. For a long time, I thought the holiday was celebrated because back in pilgram times there had been a big feast between the pilgrams and the Native Americans, which is because that is what my teachers told me. Well, that is all a lie. It was probably a celebration in honor of stealing other people's food and having stored up enough food for the winter. But now a days, it is more of a day to eat enormous amounts of food and be surrounded by family you love/are forced to love.

My extended family lives rather far away, so Thanksgivings at my house are just my parents, sister, and me. Although I am not missing Thanksgiving too much (most likely due to that we are having a Thanksgiving party here in England), I cannot imagine what it must be like at my house. When only four people attend Thanksgiving, one person missing is quite a large percentage.

I also find myself wondering if they will go 'Black Friday' shopping. (That is when people go to stores really early in the morning (like 12 AM) to try and buy really cheap stuff.) Last year I had to stand in line for four hours, waiting for a TV to be released. You could not even go to the restroom, because you would lose your spot. I ended up being the first person in line since I got there so early, and it turned out I did not need to stand in line, because hardly anyone even wanted those TVs.

But the main thing I remember was being glad that I was in line instead of walking around the store (we were in Walmart, which pretty much turns into some variation of hell on Black Friday). At Walmart there are certain items, which are not released until 10 PM, midnight, 2 AM, etc. and these items are wrapped in plastic wrap so you can find them but not take any until they are opened by the employees. There were literally people walking around with box cutters out, slashing randomly at wrapped items, taking the items, and then running off. Specifically, I saw them do this with a Dora the Explorer coloring set. What? Is Dora's array of colored pencils really worth it?

There were also people who would stand next to you looking at an item and then when you looked away, they would steal items out of your cart. And speaking of carts, I saw at least three carts entirely full of mini crock pots. What? How many fondues are you planning to make at once? Maybe just one large one would suffice?

Oe woman who was in line behind me, told her husband about how she had tried to get an electric car for their young son, but that these other women had box cutters and were threatening to cut her with them. Again, what? You do have to go back to real life after tonight. A real life where stabbing people is illegal.

Yes, I was glad to be in line, safely behind a barrier where I could watch as thousands of years of building a civilization came crashing down, because of some colored pencils. It was probably one of the scariest moments in my life. Only second to when I was in ninth grade and some insane girl was screaming at the bus driver and we almost crashed about three times.

But here in England, they do not have Black Friday shopping, although they might have a varient of it (like Boxing Day in Canada). And even if they did, I would not be going. Hell is not a place I like to make frequent visits at.

But another thing about Thanksgiving, is that for some people it is more of a seque holiday. Like, we have to get through Thanksgiving before we can get to Christmas. I feel that way, in a sense, in that I refuse to listen to Christmas music until Thanksgiving. I used to not have this rule, but I would then get tired of my favorite tunes way before it was even time for Christmas.

England, does not have Thanksgiving to get through though, so they have had Christmas decorations up since Halloween, some places, even before that. And tons of businesses have signs saying, 'Book Christmas Dinner here', a few restaurants even have New Year's ones.

Overall, I am a bit sad to be away from my family on this family-centered holiday, but I will get to see them in about a month, so nothing to be too sad about. And I am really excited for the Thanksgiving party we have having. All of the study abroad students from our school are getting together to eat together today in celebration. I have never had a big Thanksgiving, so I am excited to experience it.

Until next time...

Embrace the Odd,
Caitlin

"The difference between a violin and a viola is that a viola burns longer." -Victor Borge

Happy Birth to You!

Today is my little sister's birthday, and I just wanted to congratulate her on being super, duper old! Have a great day, little sis! I love you more than ice cream, which I like a lot.

Speaking of my little sister, every time I come overseas (which has only happened three times, mind you), I make sure to get her a small animal. I am not really sure why, it just kind of developed over time.

When I went to People to People's Leadership camp for a week one summer, I got her a tribal horse from a museum I visited. It was one of the first times I had been away from her for an extended period of time (not that a week is really that long, but it seemed long then). So, I wanted to give her a gift when I returned, also since Washington DC is just cool and I thought she needed a gift from there. The tribal horse somehow ended up being named Senor Wally Pringles (by me, although I am not sure where I got that name). I was in seventh grade and probably thought it was hilarious.

Then when I went to the UK in eighth grade for about three weeks, I wanted to get her a cool animal gift again since she really liked the last one. I think that was when I got her a Dragon named Dennis. If I remember correctly, he was bought in Wales, but I could be mixing him and another animal figure up. I have bought her quite a few over the years now, and it is hard to keep them all straight as well as remember them all.

Either way, Dennis is a bad ass. He is not very large but he is made of a dark gray, shiny rock and looks like he would kill you as soon as he looked at you, if he was alive. (Luckily, he is not.) And he is definitely from the UK, whether from the first or second trip overseas is the real question.

When I went overseas the second time after twelfth grade, i got her quite a few animal figurines. I actually attempted to get one from each country I went to, but that was a bust since not every one of the ten countries I visited had figurine shops in easy access and/or I had almost no time to look around at them.

I know that in Italy I got her a glas, white stallion. His name escapes me, but I would guess something along the lines of Fernando. In Germany I bought her a small porcelain doll that looked a bit like her and named it Lurane (purposefully spelled strangely). I know for a fact that I got her something else in Germany as well, but I cannot remember what it was. I also got her a postcard of Prince Charles's face in England that trip, and although it is not technically an animal or a toy, I still count it.

That postcard was actually a bit creepy also. It was definitely not one of the best photos of Prince Charles that they could have picked. She thought it was hilarious though. And honestly, we could not remember the Princes' names (William and Harry) so we thought he was suppose to be one of them, and we spent quite some time trying to figure out if he was suppose to be the hot one or not. (We did not find him attractive, but why would you make a postcard of the less hot one, and not then make one of the hot one?) Luckily our mother sorted us out and told us he was the father of Harry and William. I really do not know why we did not just google it.

This trip I have worked really hard to get her gifts of animals from every country we have gone to. I think it is driving my flatmates, who I travel with, crazy. We will go into a shop and I will look around for small animals, and if they are too expensive, or not good enough, I will tell them we need to keep looking. In Scotland I think we went into fifteen shops before I found one I liked.

I do not want to spoil the surprise for her, so I will just say that I got two things from Ireland, two from Wales, one from Scotland, and two from England. We are planning to go to Spain in December and I hope to get something good from there too!

Until next time...

Embrace the Odd,
Caitlin

"Wear the old coat and buy the new book." -Austin Phelps

Remembering Remembrance Day

In the UK, November 11th is called "Remembrance Day", and is a day when military heroes are remembered and thanked for their services to the country. It is celebrated by wearing a small red paper poppy on your coat for the day, and placing a wreath of poppies at war sites and memorials.

Leading up to November 11th, I had been told of the tradition to wear poppies and that they would be handed out at local stores a few days before the actual day. So, I was not surprised when November 1st rolled around and a few people were wearing poppies. However, I was surprised on November 2nd when just about everyone I saw was wearing poppies. Where did they get them? The stores I had been to had not had a single whisper of a poppy yet. And yet some dogs had poppies to wear.

And I am sure this was all in my mind, but the closer it got to November 11th, the more I felt like people were watching me, wondering where my poppy was. I could just feel them thinking, 'Where is that girl's poppy? Does she hate love and joy?' But none of the stores had any poppies for sale, and I had no idea if there was some secret code word I needed to use to get one or what. Because I felt so judged, I would sometimes talk in a more stereotypical American accent so they would just think, 'Oh, she's just a silly American' and hopefully stop judging me. That was the only time I was comfortable with our stereotype.

As the day got closer though, eventually some stores did begin to sell poppies near by. It just was not until the 8th, or so. Some people were a bit too cool for the paper poppies at the store and had ones they clearly had made or bought to be reused. One woman had a crochet poppy. I saw another woman with a gold necklace one. One man had a real poppy attached to his jacket on November 11th, and there was  someone I saw with small silk ones. I even saw some people sporting multiple poppies at once.

The actual day was not very exciting compared to Guy Fawkes. There is a moment of silence at 11:00 AM all though out the country, but besides that and people laying down poppies at memorials, not much else happens.

Since my flatmates and I were on a train when 11:00 AM rolled around, we did not even get to experience the moment of silence since it was not announced on the train. We, however, did get to see lots of poppy wreaths at grave sites and memorials as we walked around that day. In fact, most of them are still up now, and probably will be up until the end of November.

Remembrance Day seems like a lovely for everyone to celebrate as it thanks current soldiers for all their hard work and fallen ones for their sacrifices, but it seemed to be a bit lost in all the tradition and formalities. (As America's Veterans Day is a bit, also.) I felt like there should have been a bit more going on in honor of the military, but I suppose the wave of poppies gets the message across as well.

Until next time...

Embrace the Odd,
Caitlin

"If God had really intended men to fly, he'd make it easier to get to the airport." -George Winters

Fists of Fancy

Recently one of my flatmate's parents came over to visit. They were very excited about visiting and invited all four of us out to dinner, which we, of course, accepted. (Although, we were more gracious about it than it sounds.)

On the way to the restaurant where we were meeting my flatmate, Amy, and her parents, my two other flatmates and I somehow ended up missing the bus and had to walk to there, knowing we would already be late. Upon arriving we met Amy's parents and the husband and wife who are travel buddies with Amy's parents.

They were all very friendly and invited us to get a drink we would like and choose what we wanted from the menu. We actually ended up not staying to eat there though, because something had gone wrong in the kitchen and there was an hour wait for anything we ordered. Looking back, we probably should have just stayed there and waited it out, but we chose to try our luck elsewhere.

We ended up wondering around a few nearby restaurants  which were all rather full and had a long wait also, so we ended up at a local pub at nearly eight in the evening with everyone starving.

The meal was good, but nothing too fancy. I ordered fish and chips, and found the chips to be cooked just way I like them. I feel like I should say the fish was, but really, I had been craving chips and that was my favorite part of this particular meal, so I think I should be honest.

Near the end of the meal, about when we were thinking of leaving, two men started shouting about twenty to thirty feet away. They had been in a heated debate earlier but had gone outside to talk it out. But at this point they both seemed rather about to boil over and there was quite a bit of anticipation in the air about what might happen next.

(I am going to take this moment to mention that this actually happened a few weeks ago so my details may be a bit fuzzy. And also, this is how it happened to me, and me only. Afterwards my roommates and I talked about what we each noticed, but I want you to see it as I saw it.)

One man was wearing a green shirt (we can call him Rick) and the other was wearing an orange one (he can be Wayne). Rick had large black tattoos twisting and spiraling up his arms and seemed to be about thirty-five. He also had a buzz cut hairstyle. Meanwhile Wayne was a bit older with graying hair, but was probably only about forty to forty-five.

Wayne began yelling back at Rick, "You think I'm old? I'm not old!"

Meanwhile Rick was shouting, "Yeah, you are!" The two then shoved each other a bit, but Rick inevitably pushed Wayne down onto the ground, while he laid on top of Wayne. Wayne was still exclaiming that he was not old, while also telling Rick to get off him.

They rocked back and forth a bit, as Wayne tried to roll over and get Rik off him. Rick then seemed to have enough and grabbed at Wayne's shirt which he tore right off. I remember watching and thinking, "That looks a lot like the Hulk." After this the two actually began rolling around on the floor, while Rick was still pinning Wayne down and hitting him in the face, although not too frequently since most of their time was taken up with rolling.

I really just stared at them with pretty much a blank mind. Only about thirty seconds had passed and I was still thinking about the Hulk. Eventually I did realize that they were hurting each other and I began to get a bit nervous.

"I did I hear someone say they were calling the police? Is someone calling the police? Someone should probably call the police." I thought this while staring directly at the men tussling around. I did not however, consider that perhaps, I should call the police.

I then turned to look at Amy's dad for an indication of what I should do. He went to a military college back in the day, and at the moment, I felt like that made him the authority on these types of situations. The men were rolling close to our table now, and I was blocked by Amy's dad and two of my roommates from being able to leave from behing our table. He seemed rather calm, so I thought maybe it was not as bad as I thought it was. I then looked back at the men as Rick tried to pick up a chair to hit Wayne with, while another man in the room told him t put it down. Rick listened and the two kept rolling around.

I looked back at Amy's father, who began ushering everyone from our group out of the pub. I listened and quickly followed as we all left. I then ran around to the window outside near where we had been sitting and looked in just in time to see Wayne standing up with half of his face covered in blood. The waiting staff had finally broken up the fight and helped Wayne get Rick off of him.

It was around this moment I realized I had heard the wait staff yelling at Rick near the end of the fight to stop and that they were calling the police. I am not sure if my brain was just moving slowly, or if it had decided to temporary turn off hearing abilities in favor of running out of the pub.

But just to let you know, I have not seen any bar fights, or fights of any kind, besides this one instance. And my roommate Austin got hit in the face by a drunk man in Dublin, but that does not really count as fighting.

Until next time...

Embrace the Odd,
Caitlin

"Health food makes me sick." -Calvin Trillin

Mail Update

I know, I know. You no longer are even remotely interesting in the UK's serious mail issues and how they effect me. And this post will be nothing about that. It is just a quick post to say that I finally got my long awaited package today!

I had to walk all the way to the local post office and pay a two pounds to get it, but after all the time I have waited and worried over it, I am just glad it is finally here.

The walk was only about fifteen minutes there and back, and it was actually rather nice out for being November. The trees were all orange and yellow and I got to walk past some cute little houses that I have not seen before.

The post office was in the back of a small convenience store, which was a bit strange. And the man who helped me did not seem very pleased to have to do work. After I told him my name he had to sort through a mountain of mail that was just thrown in the back corner. But he finally found it and I was able to return home victorious with enough time to update you all before going to class.

When I came back my roommate and I sang the "We Just Got a Letter" song from Blues Clue's and danced around a bit. It was brillant.

I hope you all and I do not have any mail issues in the near future.

Until next time...

Embrace the Odd,
Caitlin

"Writing well means never having to say, 'I guess you had to be there'." -Jef Mallett

The Most Dangerous Game

I have briefly mentioned how big public transportation is in a previous post, but I have not talked at all about bicycles.

Bicycles are really big in England, really big. People ride them all over the place, and you can see them stacked up against random posts and walls all over Oxford. Sometimes they do not even attach them to poles or fences because there is not room left. Instead they will use their chain to make the bicycle unridable and lean it up against a building while they head to class or pop into a store. They even have bicycle Christmas lights that they are putting up now.

My roommate, Amy, and I were once walking past a large collection that were leaned against a building, and she accidentally knocked one over while a crowd passed by. But since the wheels were made immovable by the chain, it took forever to set it back up, because the front wheel was perpendicular to the back one. And no one even bothered to take another look at her. Like stealing random bikes/people having no control over their own bikes was just a totally normal thing. We now have a joke that she steals bikes and rides them to other parts of the city where she leaves them to be found.

But back to cyclists, they are never dressed what you might expect a cyclist to wear. They wear rather normal clothes, and some women even still wear skirts/dresses, although I am not sure why. And they always seem to have a jacket on, which they put their hands into while cycling by. It's as if they know they are badass and want you to know too.

Buses also always seem like they want to kill the bicyclists, or at least make the people riding the bus think they killed them. They drive right up next to the cyclists and just hover there, meanwhile the cyclist has their hands in their pockets and are trying to steer using their knees, and I am on the bus ready to call 999 (England's version of 911) the moment that cyclist gets hit. But the cyclist just looks completely chill and rides away somewhere. Is it a stunt they pull together? I am not sure.

You also start to gain a 6th sense after a while, where you can sense when a bike is getting close. Or you never really stop being aware, in case a bike was to show up. i promise that I have been walking around on a deserted road with bushes surrounding it, and a cyclist will just show up out of no where and attempt to run me over. And they do try and hit you, like it is a game to see if they can hit you without you noticing. Maybe that is why the bus drivers aim for them. Pay back. Either way I feel like I am a story where I am being hunted by bicyclists.

Also, all the bikes have cute little baskets on them, some on the front and some in the back, and sometimes with a baby inside them. No joke. Babies will be riding in a metal crate without cushioning while their parents speed down the road attempting to hit pedestrians. And some have bells to ring when they get close to you. But when they approach you from behind, usually you have just enough time to turn around and see them as they run you over. Instead of signaling further away so you can see them and get out of the way. These bells also make me really paranoid though, because I will hear one really far away and think it is a biker who is about to jump over the wall next to me and is just trying to give me notice.

Although, some people think they are too good for bikes and ride something more sleek and cool: a Razor Scooter. Yes, adults here ride Razor Scooters. Although I at first thought I was having a flash back to the early 2000s, when I was a child and realized they were ridiculous then, I quickly found out this was actually present day England. They are not common, but there is usually at least ne person a day that I will see gliding down the street on one of those bad boys. And they usually look like they think they are the epitome of cool. Maybe they are here, but I think in America they would be laughed at. Those things are so much more work than walking. Only in England, I guess.

Until next time...

Embrace the Odd,
Caitlin

"You cannot depend on your eyes when your imagination is out of focus." -Mark Twain

Caitlin's Top 10 Mac Apps

Although I would not consider myself a computer expert by any means, I have spent a good many hours researching apps for my new mac and have found quite a few that I think are great ones that other people should definitely consider getting. If they are not available at the App Store, I have attached links to their webpages. And best of all, they are all FREE.

SelfControl - This app was designed to help you be more productive by keeping you from being able to access certain websites for a period of time of your choosing. You tell it what websites you do not want to be allowed onto, or tell it the few that you are only allowed on. I have only used it a few times, but I tried quitting the program and that did not even bring the websites back. It is very good for getting work done when Facebook is trying to distract you. You can not get it from the App Store though, but you can get it here. And yes, the logo is a spade with a skull and cross bones inside it, although I am not sure why.

OpenOffice - This is not really an app, but it is a free version of Microsoft Office that works on Macs and PCs. And although it is not exactly like MS, it gets the job done and you can even save your programs as MS Office programs (i.e. word files, etc.). It comes with a version of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and a few more (although they are called something different). I have not been able to test it out as much as I would like, but I have friends who swear by it. You can download it here.

iProcrastinate - This is an app, similar to the calendar function on Macs, in that you can set certain events, but you can label them for different topics and mark when they are due on the calendar. It also allows you to mark how important they are and break each task into smaller ones that you can check off as you get parts of things done. You can even attach files to certain tasks so that if you are working on a project, everything stays together and you don't get confused. You can download this one at the app store.

Alfred - Is a neat little app that makes searching for things in your computer much easier. All you have to do is open the program and type in what you are looking for. It will even search documents and more for the keywords you type in, just in case you forgot what you titled last week's history report. You can get this at the App Store.

Caffeine - This app has a really simple job: it keeps your screen from dimming when it is on. That way, you can watch your favorite movie without having to get up and sign back in every few minutes, but you can also leave your settings alone and just turn this app on and off as you need it. Closing the laptop will still put it to sleep though. Available at the App Store.

A Monster Ate My Homework - Although this sounds like it might be a homework help tool, it is not. It is a fun game that was recently added to the App Store. And honestly, I think everyone should have the basic games like Solitaire and Sudoku on their laptops, but this one is fun and simple as well as somewhat of a strategy game. It is a 3D (you do not need the glasses, everything stays in the screen) game where you shoot little monsters off a box so you can rescue your homework. If your homework falls off the box you lose points, but you can turn the screen 360 degrees around the box to try and get the best shot.

Gimp - A free picture editor, similar to photoshop. It has many, many different tools you can use to edit pictures, which I have not had to chance to check out yet. It is highly recommended on several sites when I was researching and when I played around with it a bit, it seems like you can do almost anything you would want to on it, you just have to figure out exactly where it is. Apparently the help questions will not open the first time you start up Gimp, but if you close it and open it again, they should work. Just a strange code error, that I do not understand. You can get it here, and here you can get Inkscape, which is a free version of Illustrator.

Swackett - You can use Swackett to tell you the temperature outside, but it will also tell you how to dress. When you open it up, a man and woman figure will appear along with all the weather information, but they will be dressed up how Swackett thinks you should dress, depending on the temperature and if it is suppose to rain, be windy, etc. You can also set your personal preferences for when you think it is cold or hot, in case you think you do not need a jacket until it is 32 degrees Fahrenheit out. You can get it at the App Store.

Pocket - I found this app a bit confusing at first, but once you g through the quick explanation, it is actually quite simple. After downloading Pocket you can attach it to our web browser so that whenever you see an interesting website you can 'Pocket It' and view it later on Pocket on or offline. You can even add labels to them for easy organization. I find this very helpful since I am always favoriting links that I want to check out later but eventually end up with no room for them anymore. You can download this at the App Store.

AdBlock - This is an app that blocks ads from websites you are on. If you have Chrome, like me, you just have to go to 'Chrome Web Store' and you can download it as an add-on to your browser. But if you use Firefox you are in a for a special treat. The man who designed SelfControl also designed an AdBlock for Firefox that turns ads into artwork, which I think is amazing. It is called 'Add-Art' and you can download it here for Firefox. The artwork switches every two weeks, although I do not think it is up to date with the latest version of Firefox. I have already tried, and it will not work for Chrome, which makes me really sad.

And just a quick hint I found out, you can decrease your volume by fourths so that if two points is too loud, maybe one and a half would be better. All you have o do is hold down the 'Shift' and 'Option' keys at the same time while clicking louder or quieter on the volume controls. I find this really exciting.

Until next time...

Embrace the Odd,
Caitlin

"I'm a jerk to everyone. Best way to protect yourself from lawsuits." -David Hoselton

It was the Best of Times...

It was the worst of times." -Charles Dickens

This week has been a very interesting one, for many reasons. I wrote five letters on a tablet, I realized the mailman hates me, I was reunited with my love, Michael Buble, and I finally got drinks with some friends.

The week started out good. We had just taken a trip to Cardiff, where we saw the Doctor Who Experience, of course, and visited some caves near London called 'Chiselhurst Caves'. All in all, it was a lovely few days of trips and I was happy to have gone. (I also got some tasty candy while in London called 'Pear Drops' at a candy store that I visit ever time I go to London called 'Hope and Greenwood'.)

When we returned to our dorm, I had to write up five letters that went to other students in my travel writing class. Everyone had to read each other's essays and then write them a letter telling them suggestions for how to make it better. I still did not have a laptop at this point, so I had to type it on my roommate's tablet, which is like a glorified iPod touch the size of a standard postcard, except much better. By the end, I was actually typing rather quickly due to my newly acquired skill. Too bad that is not something employers will care about seeing on a resume...

Then I waited around for my package to come in, which I have already told you all about. And I meant to call yesterday but I lost the form with the number on it and had to do extensive research to find the number again. Rest assured, they will be receiving a lovely conversation tomorrow morning  and will be in for an even lovelier one if they tell me they have lost my package.

On Tuesday, one of my roommates went out to a football* match, so the other two and myself decided to go out to eat at a nearby pub. A place called 'Port Mahon' sounded good so we popped in for dinner. The pub was really dark, and had the mood lighting of a darkly lit coffee shop that hipsters might attend to cuddle with their significant others. It also had a strange smell of burned beer, although I am sure that is not a permanent thing, or at least I hope so. The menu had about five things on it, which I could eat, surprisingly  although they had nothing that sounded especially good. And with the weird lighting and smell, we just chose to move on to another pub.

We then ended up at the 'Angel and Greyhound', which I have been wanting to go to since we moved here, mostly just because I liked the name. The building lived up to my expectations, though. It was a cozy little place with a mix-match of different tables and chairs of varying sizes, shapes, and styles, but that all seemed to go together. There were also comfy couches you could sit in for a chat with friends near the fire. They also had delicious Rekorderlig, so I was very happy there.

Thursday, I got a call from a UPS worker, telling me he would be by soon to drop off my package (AKA new laptop). I got extremely excited and went outside to meet him, just so I could get it faster. After signing for it, I went back into the flat and spent the next day learning how to use it and all kinds of fun apps to get to personalize it. (I switched from a Dell to a Mac, and although I am rather anti-Apple, I still love it and most of their products, just not the price.)

Afterwards my roommate Amy and I went on our Thursday adventure and found a market, of sorts, that claimed to be of antiques, but it was really more old books and tarnished metal items.

This weekend we all hung out with our friend who lives a few flats away, and went to a few pubs nearby to have drinks together. It was really low-key and very fun. (I definitely prefer the Brits' relationship with alcohol to Americans'. It think drinking casually with friends is much more fun than having a thrasher evening, but that is a personal choice.) We actually ended up back at the 'Angel and Greyhound' and I got some warm Winter Rekorderlig, which might be the most delicious drink I have ever had. Alright, Amy's hot apple cider is better, but it is a close second.

All in all, I had a few issues at the beginning but the week definitely turned out to be a really good one. I hope to have a few more like it before I have to go home.

Until next time...

Embrace the Odd,
Caitlin

*A sport where a round, black and white ball is kicked up and down a field, and must pass through the goal to earn points.

"As I grow older, I reget to say that a detestable habit of thinking seems to be getting a hold of me." -H. Rider Haggard

No Post Anyday

I know that I have discussed the mail issue with you all recent, but I feel it needs to be discussed again as new information has arisen since last we spoke on it.

First of all, it is half way through the semester and I have yet to receive the book I ordered almost two months ago. Where is it? Who knows. Lost somewhere among all the other lost letters and packages in the world. Stuck somewhere between the UK and some other country halfway around the world.

I like to imagine that the lost book and all my lost socks are in a desert somewhere. And that poor children without money are staying clothed and learning to read from my random lost items.

Although to be fair, e company I ordered the book from contacted me and said a lot of their packages were not arriving at their destinations and so they were sending me a new one to hopefully arrive soon. And last week, while I was in class, apparently the mailman came with the package and when no one answered the door, he left a small letter. The letter basically said that no one had gotten the package and that it was being sent to another mail center where I could pick it up.

This 'local' mail center turned out to be an hour walk away and with no public transportation to take me there. But luckily, you could ask for it be redelivered and even choose the day you wanted it to arrive so you could be home. I chose today since we had no plans and I had no classes, but sadly the post has disappointed me again and the mailman never came.

It was like a horrible punishment. I would hear a noise near the door and run over only to find people leaving leaflets for clubs or pizza, or to see someone walking by to get to their flat. And I would rush over time after time, meanwhile getting my hope up for the package's deliver only to have it crushed each and every time. And I could not leave the flat all day for fear the package would come and I would be out and miss it again. I even told my roommates to keep their music down so I could listen.

It was pure torture. And honestly, even though it is now 10 at night and no decent mailman would be out now, I still keep checking the door for him. I just want my package. Is that too much to ask? How can bringing a package to someone be so difficult? I just hope it comes soon.

And also, I have my laptop coming in on Friday. What if this happens again? I have made plans to sit around all Friday and wait for it, but what if the mailman decides to bring it on Saturday? I have plans for Saturday and places to be. Yeah, they might be plans to visit 'Cadbury World', a chocolate theme park, but will not be a slave to the postman. I have a life, even if it is a boring one. I'm onto you mailman, I'm onto you...

Until next time...

Embrace the Odd,
Caitlin

"College isn't the place to go for ideas." -Helen Keller

Guy Fawkes and the Enthusiastic County Fair

Guy Fawkes is a holiday celebrated in London on the fifth of November. It celebrates Guy Fawkes and his followers' attempt at blowing up Parliament and the King at the time. The king was Protestant but Guy Fawkes and co. were Catholic and thought that once the government of England was gone Spain could take over, since they were also Catholics.

If you know the poem that starts with "Remember, Remember, the fifth of November," it is about Guy Fawkes. Or of you saw the movie "V for Vendetta" that is about him too.

The Brits commemorate Guy Fawkes by making a giant bonfire and throwing effigies of Guy into the flames and watching him burn away... Wow. That's not dark or anything.

I decided that I wanted to experience Guy Fawkes Day, or Bonfire Night, properly and go to an event for it. For some reason making a fire in a trashcan in my room just did not sound like it would do the day justice. (Or that it would be up to fire code.)


My flatmates and I ended up finding out about a big fireworks display that they were going to have in the nearby park and on the days leading up to November the third (it was moved to the weekend so more people could attend) lots of carnival rides started to appear in the park.

When we arrived at the festival today, we were greeted by a huge crowd of people that just seemed confused as to what they were doing. Several police, or people in yellow hi lighter jackets, directed everyone which lines to go to, but there was still a lot of general confusion. We paid for our tickets and entered a vast expanse of green grass.

The rides and attractions for the county fair like festival were very far away, and you had to track through strange sinking pits of mid on your way to the rides.

Once up to the rides, everything had a bizarre name. The machine, typically called the 'Scrambler', actually lacked a name, and the 'Merry-Go-Round' was called something like 'Golden Galloping Horses Patronized By Nobility of Great Britain'.

Can I be honest? That is a horrible name for a children's carnival ride. The parents will lean down to ask their over-zealous kid which ride theory want to go on first and then they have to spit out that whole mouth full of words? No, they will probably just call it the horse ride.

But there was also a fun house, a 'movie roller coaster' (the coaster did not move just a screen made it look like it did), spinning teacups, swings for children, something called 'Body Rock', and a ride reminiscent of an American one called 'Avalanche'. They were clearly missing a few key carnival rides like the 'Drop Zone' but they clearly were trying.

The food selection was limited as well. There were two 'Mulled Wine' stands, two candy stands, three classic British food stands, an American food stand, and a Donut/Cookie stand. There was also live music put on by a local radio station.

Amy bought some candy floss, or cotton candy, and ate out while we all discussed how they recalled needed some funnel cake there.

They evening's event then started as a large group of people gathered near the giant pile of wood that they would later burn. There were too any people to see clearly, but it seemed like there was a small play being put on were people with lit up helmets fought each other. I am not sure if that had to do with Guy Fawkes or is just something they chose to do for fun. There was someone talking while it went on but the live music kept going and drowned out anything they said. Although you could distinctly hear a bagpipe playing.

Afterwards, the fireworks began, which to be honest, I thought would not be very good. I just kept thinking of the fourth of July at home and how this would probably not be as good, but it actually was. I was very impressed, as were some college students near me who kept saying, 'Wow', 'Amazing', and 'That's like a proper planet'.

Then it was time for the flames. These two men in yellow coats lit some giant torches and then showed them deep into the pile of wood. The wood was actually set to look like some kind of giant throne with the Guy Fawkes Mask sitting on top of it.

Seconds after they lit it, the entire seat of the throne had caput on fire and blazed briefly before us. The back wall then lit and actually tumbled down into the seat area, taking the mask with it. Several cheers erupted from the crowd. The flames grew larger and larger as the wind powered it. I could actually feel the heat from it on my face while standing behind the barrier from the flames and a good distance into the crowd.

We stayed to watch the fire for a while, until the two sides fell in also and then headed home to eat some hot soup and grilled cheese sandwiches after such a chilly evening (besides the toasty fire that is).

It was a very fun and eventful evening, and it rekindled my love of Great Britain. The whole Halloween thing had me a bit down, but this definitely restarted it. I also think this might be England's equivalent of the 4th of July. Fireworks, classic food, and carnival rides? Sounds about right to me.

Until next time...

Embrace the Odd,
Caitlin

"I don't care what it is, when it has an LCD screen, it makes it better." -Kevin Rose

All Hallows' Evening Adventure

Halloween in America is a big holiday, at least for me. It is a day to dress up in random clothes, you would be shunned from society for wearing any other day and to eat a ton of candy while watching scary movies.

At school in the States I decorate the door to my flat, as well as inside and usually watch '13 Night of Halloween' on ABC Family. I will spend hours looking up costumes and planning over the perfect thing to wear, although I usually end up with some last minute costume that I bought at Walmart or made from things I already own.

The best Halloween outfit I ever did was being a dead person my Senior year in High School. I had spent almost a month choosing what to dress as and only about a week before Halloween did I pick it. I went to a local Goodwill, bought some nice dress clothes, and got to rip them up. Online it said to bury them for a few days so they would get a nice dirt smell to make the costume more believable, but I was not that into it, so I just soaked the shirt in tea for a few days to make it look stained, and then painted my face entirely white white black eyeliner stitches. It was pretty ridiculous looking, but compared to my usually Dorothy costume, I thought it was a pretty good attempt.

But, getting back to England, and what I am suppose to be talking about...

Halloween is a big thing in America. Even if you do not dress up or have a party, you hand out candy (or leave some on your porch), and see all the nice Halloween and fall decorations that people put out leading up to the day. Well, in England, it is hardly a holiday at all. I saw no trick-or-treaters (then again I live in a college residence community, so where would they come from). No Halloween decorations up, and barely any sold. Minimal people dressed up. And general lack of Halloween movies.

I roommates spent a few nights leading up to Halloween watching 'Little Vampire' and 'Hocus Pocus' to get into the Halloween spirit, but there was hardly any point in doing it. I really wanted to dress up this year and to experience Halloween in England, but I don't think there was much to experience. (And plus I had no money to buy a costume, so I dressed as a Muggle from Harry Potter.) I saw some clubs were putting on Halloween themed parties where you dressed up to go, but that just isn't the same when no one appreciates the day being celebrated.

I think so people were relieved Halloween is not a big thing here because there is less requirement to dress up, or hand out candy, but then what is the point of doing anything? I think of Halloween as a day to be silly and strange with your friends while eating large quantities of candy that no one can judge you for doing. It really just reminds me how different England and the US really are in some ways.

But to end the story on a happy note, my friends and I went to a Ghost Tour around Oxford and got to learn about all the strange and horrible deaths that people have gone through over the ages there. It was rather interesting, as well as a bit spooky. We then went home and watched some Halloweentown in honor of the day. And I plan to watch some Stephen King tonight, as it just isn't Halloween without him.

Until next time...

Embrace the Odd,
Caitlin

"The least of learning is done in the classrooms." -Thomas Merton