Meeting the Queen

Well... Not exactly...

As you may know I came into England last Thursday and this weekend was the Queen's Diamond Jubilee aka the Queen has been on the throne for the past 60 years. It's not her birthday as Grace Jones at the concert proclaimed... as my cousins said "stupid woman."

This past week has been crazy! You may not think it but England has their own language! A lot of the time I have to ask my crazy cousins what certain things mean or just what they are talking about. When I first got here I asked for lemonade. Well. Lemonade here is actually Sierra Mist (well the taste at least) and I didn't know that it was soda. The kind I wanted was apparently cloudy lemonade. It's really the little differences that get you!

Longest Pier in the UK at the Southend in the Pier

The food is excellent! Most of it is prepared with more care than stuff in America, making it taste much better. So far, I have had candy floss (cotton candy), Cadbury chocolate (so good), Chinese, Italian and of course fish and chips. All of it tastes different in comparison to America. My cousins really have spoiled me to ensure that I have had a great experience.

At Chinese restaurant

Right. Back to the Queen. Because of the Jubilee, Monday and Tuesday are bank holidays (same as what the 4th of July would be). The two events that I have watched were the Queen's Jubilee Boat Spectacular and the Queen's Jubilee Concert at Buckingham Place (which I am watching now).

See the white dot!? THAT'S HER!

Yesterday in the pouring rain, I waited 4 hours standing in London to watch the Queen sail by on her boat, I tried to sight see afterwards but the rain beat me out. I had to remind myself that I would be coming back! My cousin and I took the train in from Chelmsford, Essax to London and then we took the tube (subway) to London Tower! Tonight, I am watching the concert from the comfort of my cousin's home (and glad to be warm!). So when I said I met the Queen I meant that I was within half a mile of her.

Making a call with my "Union Jack"

Tomorrow we are headed to Stratford to do some shopping in the big mall. Stratford will actually be home to the Olympics this summer. Wednesday begins the Italy journey, next Thursday to see Sweeny Todd and next Saturday begins Castle!

IT'S NOT HER BIRTHDAY!

Packing and Planes

NOTE: I wrote this yesterday while waiting for my 5 hour connection from JFK to London, Heathrow. I was picked up this morning and am having a fantastic time!

Well today was it. Flying to England.

It has been a rough couple of days packing and making sure I see all of my family and such. Monday, Memorial Day, we had a giant BBQ in preparation for my departure.  The kids came up and I got to see all of my uncles! Yay!

My baby cousin Alexis and I

Here I am waiting in JFK with no internet bored out of my mind. L How is this possible!? Well I mistakenly thought that during my 5 hour layover, I would have the Interwebs at my disposal. NO FREE WI-FI. Really Delta/KLM-JFK (the plane food was delicious though)? 

So I shall tell you about my packing!

It was terrible. I cut my knee, stubbed my toe, yelled, screamed, and hollered. But it all fits and I have everything I wanted to bring with my carry on being heavier than expected and my suitcase being lighter.

The best way of packing I found was to roll all of my clothes.  After I set the first layer in I found I still had an large amount of room. They weren’t lying when they told you to roll your clothes, it really works! Fortunately, I now do not have to worry about bringing things back to the states (within reason). It also helped that a lot of my clothes were light and I wore the only jacket I will be taking to England.

This morning was also an adventure. From riding in a tiny airplane to waiting 5 hours for my connecting flight to London Heathrow.

Becky and the tiny airplane

I know I will be exhausted tomorrow when I am picked up from the airport. I MUST FIGHT JET LAG (NOTE: I lost and had to take a nap)!

To be continued…

All of the University News Stories!

Here is a collection of all of the articles, blogs and videos I have done for University News:

Articles:
Student Spotlight: Allie Strader
Financial Literacy Expert
Student Spotlight: Melissa Bromley
RIT Spring Career Fair
Student Packaging Jamboree
RIT Taste of 140 Characters Conference 
Student Spotlight: Meghan Lima
Wifely Role in Sex Scandals 
Student Spotlight: Kara Shierly
Microsoft Puzzle Challenge
The Vagina Monologues 
Student Spotlight: Ross Lancaster
SPIE Conference 
3-D Planeterrainium
Frans Wildenhain: Honoring the Craft
RIT GeneSIS
Student Spotlight: Harshita Sood
Joe Delgado: Helping Others Achieve Wellness Goals
Student Spotlight: Tracey O'Dowd
Frans Wildenhain: Sketchbooks
'Fade' among 20 Best Video Games
Technology Woman of the Year
Crain's 40 Under 40
Three Generations of Alumni
Student Spotlight: Guerin Gagliastri
RIT Players: 'Peanuts' All Grown Up
Student Spotlight: Bharat Thazhathu
Imagine RIT Exhibits Honored
STEP at RIT
Student Spotlight: Chris Haltigin
Autonomus Humanoid Robot at RIT

Blog:
My First Week at University News

Video:

I have also done a lot of captioning, went to press conferences and attended events. Working at University News has been my best professional experience!

I hope I grabbed everything! If not go here and have a look!