Pre-Departure (sort-of) Update

Alright! This is about as pre-departure as it gets. I am sitting at my gate at LAX, but my family is so frightened of LAX that I am here 2 ½ hours early. So. Here we are. Let my last California post begin:

Anna came to visit me Friday night, and Saturday I tried to pack as much California as I could into 24 hours. We woke up early (aka 9am) and went to Venice beach, where we walked along the boardwalk and got medical marijuana licenses. Just kidding. But we did see two two-headed turtles. That’s right people, four, count ‘em, four heads. We also bought rings! I have a problem with rings. I buy them. ALL OF THE THEM. That’s basically the problem. I bought three, and Anna bought two. It was wonderful! The ring demon living in my spleen has been sated for now. We went to In-n-out Burger for lunch, another California staple. For dinner, I had my last meal at Native Foods, my most favoritest restaurant in the world! I had a bacon cheeseburger...mmmm...except the bacon, cheese, and burger were all fake. It was all a lie! I had been eating at a vegan restaurant the whole time! Still, it is the best bacon cheeseburger I have ever had. And now Anna can corroborate the deliciousness of the vegan cuisine. I absolutely loved having one of my Denison friends in California with me, it was like a meeting of two hitherto completely separate worlds! Like if you got Gandalf and Dumbledore together for dinner. That amazing. Better, even. Get excited people. Or better yet, get jealous! Yeah! Seriously though, the best of luck to Anna as she spends one more sunny day in California before going to sunnier Tahiti and getting on a sailboat for her semester at sea.

This morning I went for a run, inspired by thoughts of my forthcoming 12-hour butt-in-seat-fest. I was trying to exhaust myself. It didn’t really work. I had delicious Challah French toast for breakfast, magically rejuvenating all of my lost energy! (magically. No science allowed in Challah French toast.) I said goodbye to Ashmo, then to my dogs, then to Anna, and finally at the airport to my parents, all of whom I won’t be seeing for the next 5 months! It really isn’t too much longer than an average second semester at Denison, but the distance and the lack of phone communication made it all seem much more dramatic.  Those two characteristics are also forcing me to do something I have never done before...Skype my parents...dum Dum DUM!! Well we’ll see about that.

Anyhow, now I am sitting at my gate. My feelings are very subdued for some reason. I think it still hasn’t sunk in that I am finally embarking on the trip I have been dreaming about for an entire decade of my life. All I can think about is how directionally impaired I am and how I have to get from the airport to the train station (also in the airport) and take the correct train, then get off of said train and find my way (most likely by taxi) to the townhouse in Bath which I will be based out of for the next 4 months. The fact that the train station is actually at Heathrow airport should make me less nervous, but for some reason all I have is this fever-dream of me wandering around the airport for hours looking for a train. I think the fact that I have had it pounded into me for 20 years that I am so pathetic as to not even be able to find the mailbox without a GPS is now severely impairing my self-confidence. Thanks dad.

The fact of the matter is, all I have to do is buy a ticket from a stand somewhere in the airport I will already be at, get on the correct train, then find a taxi and tell the driver where to go. I have almost no navigating to do for myself. This is the mantra that calms me down. I just have to rely on other people and technology to get me where I need to go, which is really what I have done my entire life. Man, that’s a little pathetic. Oh well.

I’ll report to you next from Bath, where the real fun begins! See, things are still happy, even if I can’t tell you which way I came from to get to my gate!

P.S. This is being written in the airport to be posted when I arrive in Bath, since I can’t get wifi here. Therefore by me posting this you will know that I am alive and well in Bath.

Pre-Pre-departure Update

Hey all! So I am still in California, boo hoo. Doesn't being stranded in beautiful sunny Southern California just suck? I knew you would understand.
Well anyway, I have done some pretty exciting things in the past two weeks, so I thought I'd let the blargosphere know what I've been up to.

The bracelet on the right (my left arm) took me five hours and says 2012

On New Year's Eve I went to a rave called Together as One, or TAO, which was a new experience for me. Being at a rave is like being on another planet, where drugs are legal, and no matter the weather, covering more than 30% of your body is absolutely unacceptable. I wore an outfit composed completely of my sister's clothing. I spent about five hours crafting this beautiful bracelet which I'll post a picture of, because the currency there is called kandi, and kandi are bracelets of beads that you trade with other people. Of course, my masterpiece was a big hit amongst the hundreds of completely high people that I met at this rave, so that was totally worth it. It was really fun though, and its something to cross off my bucket list!

In case you were wondering, THIS is what Camille wore to TAO

I also took a road trip up and back down part of the California coast, beginning when I drove my sister back to school at UC Santa Cruz. I spent a night there, before heading back home. The mixture of Redwood forest and Pacific Ocean is absolutely breathtaking! I bought delicious strawberries and raspberries from a roadside stand along the way.  Ladies and gentlemen, presenting, lunch!

I stopped first at Cal Poly SLO, which is GORGEOUS, and took a short hike with my long-lost friend Michelle and her boyfriend.  We went to dinner at an awesome thai place, and walked around the amazing farmer's market that SLO hosts every Thursday night. I wanted to buy everything! I restrained myself (aka limited funds). We spent the night watching Arrested Development and Firefly (WOOT) before heading to bed, or in my case, couch. The next day Michelle had class but I was able to meet up with my friend Camille, who made me the loverly flower bracelet I'm wearing in that picture. We walked around and went to see the Architecture Graveyard, which is this awesome field filled with senior projects of architecture majors at SLO. We climbed, or should I say, conquered, this big jungle gym thing, which was terrifying and exhilarating. Unfortunately it was not until later that I also realized it had been pants-ripping. Ah well, they had a good life. That night Michelle, her bf John, and I cooked Vegan Sloppy Joes, because thats right people, vegan food is delicious. I left the next day.

From SLO I drove down to UC Santa Barbara, to stay with my friends Michael and Todd, and Todd's girlfriend (also my friend) Jillian, who was also visiting. It was very relaxing, as I think about 70% of my time at SB was spent watching football and joking about Tim "Jesus" Tebow.  We tried to check out Isla Vista's famous party scene, but apparently since it was the weekend before school started, no one was out. Watching Terminator 2 is just as fun? The next night we watched the Room, which in case you are wondering, is the best movie ever, in that it is the worst movie ever. Every time you watch it you learn something new about how absolutely terrible it is! After a couple days with dah boyz and Jillian, I took my leave and drove the last 3 hours home.

I have to say, it was a relief to get home. Travelling on your own can be exhausting, expecially when you don't have your wallet. Oh wait...did I not mention that before? Yeah....I forgot my wallet at home...I was driving without a license all week...and living off of borrowed gas money and the $60 my sister gave me before i left Santa Cruz...WHOOPS. Its okay everybody, I did not get pulled over, nor did I run out of gas and/or food! I have to say, stories about backpacking down the California coast with nothin' but $20 in my pocket makes me sound kinda badass, doncha think? It was quite an adventure, and the backpack and the poverty have definitely helped prepare me for backpacking through Europe!  Speaking of which, I leave in two weeks! See you soon, Merry Old England!

P.S. today I tested out my Hannukah present, a new Sony camera. The little dog stayed behind because of her, ahem, infirmity, but I took the big dog on a big hike. I proceeded to take some majestic pictures of my big dog in my big backyard/rolling hills, including, but not limited to:

This one is not so much majestic as "IMMADOGGGGG"