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So I just got back from Germany, and boy howdy, do I have alot of stories this week!

Okay, Thursday night, me, Chelsey, and Hilary took our Ryan Air flight from London to Frankfurt, which is about an hour flight. Everyone's told us horror stories about Ryan Air (basically a super-discounted airline), but everything went swimmingly for us, so I don't know what all the fuss was about.

We arrived at Frankfurt-Hahn airport, and Garret, our unofficial tour guide, met us there. Garret lived with my roommate Hilary in Michigan when he was a teenager on a study abroad program, and they've stayed in touch. It was so great to have someone who 1) spoke German 2) had a car and 3) planned out an entire weekend for us! He was the best tour guide ever- every morning, he had a little itinerary of all the sites we needed to see. On long car trips, he even brought us treats! And, other than the first night in a hostel which was a renovated castle (more on that later), Garret arranged for us to stay with his parents and then at his apartment, so we had free accommodations!

Okay, so anyway- our first night, Garret picks us up and drives us to this cool town out in the middle of the German forests called Bacharach. It's now pitch black with a full moon out, and he drives us up this long winding road to a castle at the top of the hill. It looked like the castle from Young Frankenstein, with the big moon behind it. It was so surreal to go check in and go to sleep after walking down these long castle corridors. I felt like I was dreaming.

So we wake up the next morning to this spectacular sunrise over the Rhine River. It's probably the most amazing view I've ever seen. We spent the rest of the morning exploring Bacharach- such a cool little town- goats on people's roofs, little German restaurants and churches- it was so nice to be out of the hustle and bustle of a huge town like London. That was one of the best parts of having someone drive us around- we weren't stuck in big cities all the time.

After Bacharach, Garret drove us to this town called Osthofen, and took us to the first Nazi concentration camp. It was super creepy- he just dropped the three of us off there because he had to go take a phone call. There was no one else there but us- no one greeting you, no tour guides, nothing. It was just this big empty camp, quiet as a graveyard. So scary. Very eerie feeling just walking around- like something choking you. You know when bad things happen places and it just leaves an imprint of sadness behind? That's totally what this was.

Then, we went on to the far more cheerful town of Heidelberg! Again, Garret had to go to work (he's a lawyer) so he dropped us off there and we were left to explore for ourselves. It was pretty cool- everyone mostly spoke German, but I picked it up really fast! Garret even asked if I had German heritage in my family because I did a good job pronouncing the words- never would have known that skill existed, haha! The three of us went to Heidelberg castle- amazing! It was only 1.50 for admission, and it was enormous! Plus, we had our first bratwurst and this amazing butter-basted fries- oh, so bad for you but so wonderful. Plus, we just walked up 300-plus steps, so we earned them!

Then, the three of us were pretty exhausted, so we stopped in this little cafe/bar and got cocktails. It was so fun- our bartender barely spoke English, but he really took a liking to us and made us the yummiest drinks- he even put sparklers in the glasses! So cool!

We caught the bus back to Frankfurt all by ourselves, and Garret showed us around the city- including the tallest skyscraper in Europe! It kinda looked like every other big American city though- not my favorite part of the trip. Although the name kept reminding me of Dr. Frankenfurter from Rocky Horror, which cracked me up. So that was good!

Then, he drove us to his parent's house, and we took the famous highway, the Autobahn. Garret was driving 180 km/h (about 111 mph)- and people were still passing us! It was crazy!

Then we arrived at Garret's parent's house- it was so nice to just be around a mom and dad who took care of us! They made us little cots to sleep on, and basically mommied us- breakfast, snacks for the road, etc etc. It was so fun! They lived in this adorable little house, and it was so nice to sleep in a real house instead of a hostel.

On Saturday, after we had breakfast, we went shopping in Mainz. We went to an enormous H&M, and then Garret took us to German Wal-Mart. It's really funny- Wal-Mart like hasn't caught on in Germany at all, and they have to shut it down! It was nice to have a little piece of home though- even if all the writing was in a different language!

We then went to a German market and to this old beautiful cathedral where they filmed a Sean Connery movie called "The Name of the Rose." Dad, ever heard of it? I was so ashamed not to recognize a movie! Garret let me attempt to read the Latin inscriptions off the wall (Garret knows German, French, English fluently, and has good knowledge of Swedish and Latin- we felt like very stupid Americans around him!)- I did all right though.

Then he took us to a German mall that has this random exhibit in the basement of an ancient Roman temple they discovered while constructing the mall! It was so cool!

After that, we met up with Garret's best friends, this amazingly fun couple, Claudia and Christian. We met them at Claudia's parents' house, which is this amazing old mill in the middle of a German vineyard. So cool! They took us out for coffee and treats, and I fell so in love with sparkling mineral water from Germany! I hope I can find something like it back home, because I'm completely hooked!

Then, while Claudia and Christian picked up their one-year old Nicklas, Garret took us to statue of Germania and the Castle of Johannisberg. Both such beautiful places- I felt bad, because it was rainy and freezing, so we didn't really get to enjoy them as much as we should have.

After that, we went to Claudia and Christian's house and played with their adorable son Nicklas. It was so nice to play with a baby! He did this adorable little trick where he'd blow out a candle with his nose- made us laugh til we cried!

After he went to bed, we played this really fun game called Carcassone. While we played, we had German wine and schnapps- we couldn't keep up with these Germans! But it was a blast- we even saw a lunar eclipse!

Sunday morning- we slept in, had a German breakfast, and then watched "Friends" in German- it was great! Sooo nice to watch a show from home.

After that, we caught our flight and came home to London- such a wonderful trip! A perfect way to start our weekend vacations!

Until next week
Love you!
Ev

This certainly will not be my most exciting entry, but it is an important one. I didn't see any great sights or travel anywhere exciting this week, but I did really start to love living here.

I finished my first paper for a class- it was odd- up to this point I've kind of just felt like I was on vacation. But finishing a homework assignment for a class really kinda got it into my head that I live here now.

This week I just basically spent a lot of time with my girls, and just hanging out around London. I feel like everyone feels so guilty if they don't go do a million things everyday- but I'm starting to realize, with all the travelling coming up, maybe I should relish these quiet weeks.

I did get to go see the National Gallery though- just on a whim. I popped in my Celtic Women CD (thanks mom!) and just strolled through. It's an amazing place- so much incredible artwork under one roof. Plus, it was pretty cool- I walked home from Trafalgar Square to St. James. No tube required! It was one of the prettiest walks I've taken here- you go right by Big Ben, Parliament, Westminster Abbey, and then home!

This weekend was fun as well- my friend Kirk, who's studying in Nottingham, dropped by London for the weekend! It was fun getting to play tour guide! I took him to St Pauls and the Tate Modern, and then we got to go catch up at a pub. So nice to see a familiar Austin face!

Hope everything's going well with all of you back home!
Next weekend- Germany!
Until then,
Everlee

Another week (and our first full month) comes to an end! This wasn't my best week here- I definitely got hit with my first case of the blues. But it passed quickly, and apparently, is totally normal. So I'm not worried.

Sunday was so good- I absolutely love the church we've found here. It's in this amazing old gothic cathedral, but has modern worship, oodles of movie clips (yay!) and great speakers. The first time we went, our speaker talked about how Mission Impossible 3 shows us how we have to be on fire for Christ (it worked, I promise!) This week, the main pastor guy talked about a character in London history I had never ever heard of. His name is William Wubberforth (sp?) and he abolished slavery in London far before it was abolished in the Americas. A new movie about him is just about to come about called "Amazing Grace"- it looks like it has a great cast. Wubberforth is played by the guy who played Lancelot in "King Arthur" (dad, you know who I'm talking about) and the guy who played Truman Capote in "Infamous" is the bad guy. It looks really cool- and totally unabashed about the fact that Wubberforth was a devoted Christian. His story was absolutely fascinating, and I can't wait to see if the movie does it justice. I don't know if the church has some promotional thing tied to the movie, but somehow we got to watch all these clips of it and it hasn't even come out yet.

Monday was class day, and three hours of class are NOT so fun. But it was pretty cool- our class is split into two hours of class, and one hour of seminar, but I have an hour break in between. I'm the only one in my group of friends in that seminar, which I thought would be annoying, but it's actually pretty cool. There's this enormous bookstore called Waterstones (kinda like Borders on drugs) right next to our university, so I always go over there on my break and get coffee and explore the five(!) stories. I love it. After class, it was this awesome dark, stormy day, and I felt soo inspired to write. Something about all this history here really makes the writer in me come alive again. So I went off in the rain to this amazing old pub that's been here since the 1600's and just wrote for three hours. It was one of those amazing experiences I couldn't have somewhere else, and it was just the perfect day for it.

Tuesday was my bad day- I got miserably lost on the way to my class (again) and ended up only being able to show up for the seminar. It was so frustrating, but hey, it happens. It was also Amy's birthday, and I missed her really bad. The whole rest of the day was just one of those days you feel like you shouldn't have even gotten out of bed. But hey, I went to bed, and the next day was great!

Wednesday- Valentine's Day! They celebrate it here, but it's not nearly as big of a deal as it is in the States. Me and my four girls went and got Haagen-Daaz ice cream and went to see "Music and Lyrics" at the Odeon Theatre. It's the new movie with Hugh Grant and Drew Barrymore, and it was actually a really good romantic comedy. Kinda predictable, but Hugh Grant is just so hilarious you don't really care. Plus, I saw the Harry Potter and Ocean's Thirteen previews on the big screen. So I was happy. Weird thing about Harry Potter- yesterday, this play opened here that he's in. And he's naked in it- the whole of London is in a tizzy over Harry Potter in this play- it's so funny. There's posters for it everywhere, every single paper has an article about it, it's the biggest deal. It is pretty weird- he's only seventeen. Our little Harry's growing up so fast...

Thursday was just an average work day- I feel like I'm really getting the hang of things. It's funny- they're in awe of my typing skills. Keyboarding classes are not mandatory in England, so practically none of them can type fast AT ALL. So whenever I type up things, they're just like ::jaws drop:: Mom, I finally found a practical use for my weirdly fast typing!

Friday was such a great day! Hilary and I went to the Tower of London. It's strange- I was kinda picturing a huge castle once we got inside, but it's like an entire village. The tour guides (Yeoman Wanderers- a name they've had since Henry VIII) have to serve 22 years in the army and be promoted to Sergeant Major or above, and then can even apply for the job. So it's a BIG deal to work there. And all 36 of the guys live there, in the actual Tower, with their wives and kids. How cool would that be for those kids? Someone at school asks where you live, and you can actually say "The Tower of London." Weird! Once you're inside, it's sort of like the place in Lord of the Rings where all the humans live- a castle, but with streets, and divided into different towers. There's houses for the Yeoman guys, a main square that used to be used for beheadings (people like Anne Boleyn and Henry VIII's fifth wife got the axe there), and some assorted little shops. Then there's a tower for all the queen's jewels (that was pretty awesome), a tower for the armoury, the infamous Bloody Tower, and a handful of others, and some that you're not allowed in for some reason. The Bloody Tower was pretty cool- it's the place where the two princes mysteriously disappeared, and everyone called it a conspiracy. Recently, they excavate around the tower and found two little boy skeletons. Creeepy. It was cool- in that Tower, they have this little place where you can vote on what you think happened to the Princes. It took Hil and I almost the entire day just to get through the place- by the time we left, it was dark!

That night, the whole gang reunited (Stacey, Chelsey, and Katie had gone shopping) and we all stayed in and watched "The Illusionist." That's such a good movie, and we had the lounge all to ourselves, so it was nice to just sprawl out on couches and watch a movie. Felt like home... ::sigh::

Saturday we went to Notting Hill. Hil's a bit obsessed with that movie, and wanted to see the places where they filmed it, plus they have a really cool market there called Portabello. The market ended up being kinda overpriced and overrated, but the town is ADORABLE. Rows and rows of the cutest little apartments you've ever seen, flowers sold on every corner, kids everywhere- it would be the best place to raise a family. Hilary and I eventually found (after much searching) the Travel Bookshop that Hugh Grant owns in the movie, and the owner of that place (who kinda had a Hugh Grant vibe to him, it was weird) happily pointed us in the direction of the apartment they used as Hugh Grant's. It was fun- I just recently watched the movie, so I could recognize everything really easily. Plus, we discovered a place that makes Nutella Crepes. Oh. Wow. Ridiculously good.

Saturday night, we tried to go out, but every club/pub/restaurant was PACKED. Like lines around the block. It was sad. So me, Hilary, and our friends Jeremy and Mike just ended up walking around Piccadilly Circus for two hours, trying to find somewhere to go. It was funny- but the four of us had a really good time on our endless search, haha.

And now here I am, writing this, Sunday morning. I hope everything is great with all ya'll back home... love and miss you!

Cheers,
Everlee

Third week already! Everything really got into full swing this week- all my classes starting, the internship kinda getting used to me, me finally feeling confident about getting around London (somewhat)- it was a good week!

Plus, I got to see my first London snow! It was crazy- all these kids from the Midwest studying abroad with me thought I was being the biggest wimp, but I'm from Texas! We barely even know what snow looks like, and there I was, trudging to work in a blizzard. But work was pretty cool this week- they send me hunting through all these old legal documents- I felt like a little detective.

I really like my LMU class- Media, Society and Culture. The way English people do school is completely different from America- everything here is very self-structured, and if the only homework you ever have is just reading. Assessments only come once or twice a semester, and are usually a presentation or paper, or both. I like it, and I think this will be a really good class. The first day we were already in a heated discussion about how much media affects us, so it should be a fun debate-y class.

Interesting little anecdote about LMU- I got COMPLETELY lost going to class, and started praying that I would run into someone, anyone who knew where they were going. And what do you know- I practically ran smack into a girl who's been going to LMU for three years. She led me practically to the door, and was so nice, and was studying law like me! It was crazy! Thank God for little everyday miracles!

It was so cool- this weekend, we took a day trip to Stonehenge and Bath. Stonehenge was kinda boring- but it's something you have to see or you feel like you didn't have the whole English experience. Another cool God thing- it was a rainy, dreary day, but for the hour we were at Stonehenge, it cleared up and the sun was shining!

Then we went to Bath- I loved it there. I could totally see myself living there. it's this very chic, small town right outside of "Jane Austen country"- where she grew up, and with all the cool houses and countrysides she wrote about in her stories. It was so beautiful! And the whole town was this very neat mix of new, ultra-fashionable stores and gorgeous old Roman architecture.

The tour was such a good buy- we drove probably six hours that day, but it was on this warm, cozy coach with rain pouring down outside, so I slept like a baby! I loved it!

I think I finally got most of my travel plans ironed out (except Stace and I may go to Paris and Nice some weekend, as yet unknown)

So far:

March 1-4- Frankfurt, Germany
March 22-25- Dublin, Ireland
April 5-15- Italy and Switzerland
May 4-7- Greece

I'm so excited!

This was the week my internship at Systech Legal started. It's a super cool place- I was kinda under the impression that I would just be doing a lot of sitting around, but boy, was I wrong!

The second I walked through the door, I was in meetings, typing up legal briefs, organizing, copying, pasting, binding- it was crazy! I think they thought I was already in law school- not many people in England do internships, so everyone at Systech is a little confused about what it is exactly I'm doing there.

But even though it's challenging, I like it. I feel like I learned a lot in two days, and can't wait to see what I learn in four months.

Plus, I took the tube all by myself for the first time to Systech. The tube really isn't hard to figure out- it's just a little intimidating. But the more you use it, the more you realize there's really nowhere in London you could go that you can't get back home from. Sometimes, I like it better than driving myself, because if you take a wrong turn, you just hop on another tube line at the next station. You're never just stuck with nowhere to go.

The best part about this week? Seeing Wicked! Me, Chels, Hil, Stace, and Katie got third row seats! It was AMAZING! It was pretty funny to hear all the songs I know by heart in British accents though- some lines/lyrics sounded completely different.

The weekend of our second week we went to Skipton and York. It was pretty cool- we saw our first castle in Skipton! York was a little boring, and I got stuck in a bed and breakfast a kinda weird group of girls- made me miss just rooming with Hilary. York was gorgeous, I just don't really like small town life. Made me want to go back to London. What can I say- I'm a city girl!