My continually updated British slang post

Just in case you are all wondering, sometimes it's REALLY hard to figure out what people are saying here.  Here are just a few of the slang terms I've learned (learnt!) so just in case any of you decide to pick up and travel here, you'll have a better head start than I did.  I'll update it as I learn more.

1.  line = queue (pronounced "q")

2.  curling iron = styling tongs

3.  truck = lorry

4.  bathroom = loo /w.c. /toilet

5.  elevator = lift

6.  diapers = nappies 

7.  hello / goodbye / thank you / you're welcome / anything pleasant = cheers 

8.  p = pence

9.  bus = coach

10.  bar = pub

11.  trash can = rubbish bin

12.  insane = batty

13.  for rent = to let

14.  apartment = flat

15.  pissed = drunk

16.  stroller = pushchair

17.  exit = way out

18.  awesome = brilliant

19.  subway = tube / underground

To The Motherland For Realsies

Yes, I'm in England! Today has been just nonstop craziness. Well, the past day and a half. I don't know what day it is, really.

It started in Chicago with my parents and I staying with my cousins Karin, Pat and Liam. That was so much fun -- Liam is so smart and funny. Anywho, Thursday morning I walked around downtown Chicago with my mom and dad. I went to the American Girl store and had a mini meltdown because I wanted Kirsten's entire collection. Needless to say my parents had to peel me out of there.

Then--the flight. Okay, I don't know why I had to be there at 4:30pm when my flight was at 8:30pm. It was so boring. And I'm a loner so I just sat there and read "Me Talk Pretty One Day" while everyone who knew each other already congregated around me playing euchre on the floor.

The flight was . . . kinda horrible. Not for any particular reason, I mean, I watched The Hangover which is always awesome, and I watched an episode of "The Office" and one of "How I Met Your Mother", but it was overnight and I was uncomfortable and I couldn't sleep and I was just altogether out of sorts. My flight departed at 8:30pm Chicago time and landed at 9:45am London time. British customs was a breeze, though. Then the bus ride--OHHHHHH THE BUS RIDE! I dozed off maybe twice but it was almost 2pm before we pulled up to Harlaxton.

HOLY COW this place is amazing. No pictures can do it justice. I didn't get any good ones today because it was raining when I got here, but I will definitely post some soon. This place is crazy, let's leave it at that.

My dorm is in the Carriage House which is separate from the main Manor House, and to be honest I'm kind of glad. It gives me a chance to get out of the manor. My roommate's name is Mary and she likes Harry Potter, Gilmore Girls and musicals so we are good to go! Our room is pretty cool. I've never shared community bathrooms before, though, so this will be a challenge.

Today, once we got settled, we had orientation stuff which was dumb, but then me, Mary, and some other students walked about two miles up to Gregory's, which is a pub at the end of our driveway. It was pretty cool, but I'm 21 and they're all like 19 so it was way cooler for them!

By far the best part of the night was talking to a middle-aged English couple outside the pub. They were telling us everything about how they feel about the NHS, Gordon Brown, Tony Blair, national identity, etc. so it was awesome!

Then we walked back to the manor in the dark, which was funny because it's a lot harder when you've had a beer. Now I'm just getting ready to go to bed, because I am freaking exhausted.

More to come! Keep reading!

FREAKOUTAGE BEGINNING!

I had a horrible dream last night.  

I arrived in London and like a dumbass forgot to pick up my luggage, just decided to hop into a cab and go to Harlaxton.  I get to Harlaxton and it's in a suburban neighborhood crammed between a factory and a freeway.  Basically everyone I've ever known is going there, and I'm the only one rooming with a stranger.  I get depressed and go outside to smoke hookah in my car (apparently I have a car there) and then Matt and Amy Foster from Canada are in there, so we decide to go driving.  I forget you have to drive on the opposite side of the road and almost get us killed by 4 swerving semi-trucks.  I turn to go back to Harlaxton and I see Annette Traub and Bryan Wojiechowski, two people I haven't seen in like 3 years.  They are like, "Wow, you're here too?  We're teaching at Harlaxton."  

So then I almost get us killed again on the way back to Harlaxton.  And I woke up.

WHAT?!?!

T-minus 37 days!

It's coming closer and closer and I'm so nervous yet so excited!  On August 26th I'll be heading down to the cuzzo's house, Karin and Pat, to stay the night with my parents.  August 27th at 6pm I'll board my flight for LONDON HEATHROW!  

[Side note:  I got my voltage converter and it's crazy.  Maybe I'll post a picture at some point.  Why do the English make their outlets so damn big?]

A few things I decided that I have to do:

1) Platform 9 3/4 at King's Cross.  I heard they have a little sign there, even though Katie says it looks nothing like the movie.

2)  Take a picture in one of those red phone booths.

3) Pose like a gargoyle with Alex at Harlaxton.  

4) Germany!  I have to find a way to go there.  Oktoberfest perhaps?  Maybe I'll pass up the Lake District trip.

I'm already going to Ireland, Scotland, Wales, France, and Italy.

Any more suggestions?

How I Met Your Mother and The Sims 3

Basically the title of this blog sums up my leisure activities for the summer.  I feel like I'm working all the time, and when I get home I do not even feel like going out with friends, though I usually end up at Matt's house at some point or another.

But has anyone ever watched How I Met Your Mother?  That show is just AWESOME.  No other word to describe it.  Besides maybe LEGENDARY.  Neil Patrick Harris just cracks me up.  I borrowed season 1 and 2 from my friend Mike, and I'm obsessed.  I highly recommend it.

Also, The Sims 3!  I know this is cliche but OMG!  It's so awesome.  I waste my life away making weird families that hate each other and have 4 babies, or having a single workaholic woman that wants to be a superstar athlete, or a mom and son that are creepily obsessed with each other . . . it's addicting. You just can't wait to see what they do next!

I'm at work . . . and the HVAC guys are investigating a leak in the ceiling, and they are totally fighting.  Like, being completely bitchy to each other.  One is fat and one is skinny.  I love this.

I know I've been a really crappy blogger.  But I'll make it a point to blog when I'm in Europe.  Aren't you excited?

Craptastic Blogger

I PROMISE I will blog again as soon as some worthwhile things occur. Truthfully I'm not really on the computer for more than 10-15 minutes at a time so it's hard to contemplate life's awesomeness in that span of time, what with Facebook, HogwartsLive and my newfound love of Twitter.

Follow me on Twitter!  @janelle_ohara.  I want to be a Twitter celebrity but I only have like 37 followers.

Summer Plans.

I have lofty goals for the summer.  I'm a dreamer/realist.  I have these amazing plans, I talk about them all the time, I swear up and down and around town that I'm going to accomplish them. 

But I know I won't.  However, I will enlighten you.

1)  Learn the Hoedown Throwdown from Hannah Montana Movie.  And the Thriller dance.

2)  Get Gus Van Sant to notice Katie and I on Youtube and cast us in his next movie.

3)  Lose 10 lbs.

4)  Make a comedy web series.

5) Shoot Season 2 of The Glass Office with my new camera.

6)  Be a professional celebrity.

My mom never, ever told me that I could do whatever I wanted to do in life -- probably because she heard me say things like the above.  She told me that I could TRY whatever I wanted to.  There is a big difference there. If my daughter wakes up and says to me, "Mommy, I want to be an astronaut."  I would say, "That is a lot of physics, math, and science classes.  Are you up for it?  You can try it if you want to."  Yes, I would say this to a 5 year old.