Thanksgiving Thoughts

Okay, I know I said I would post about the rest of my Paris trip this week but I've been busy. I promise I will get that done this weekend (that's a lie because Liz will be here. I'M SORRY I AM TRYING). 

I thought that I would take a moment to express what I am thankful for, even though I am unable to celebrate Thanksgiving. 

The basic list:

• Bill Sheasgreen (and the entire ICLC staff)
• Gluten free digestives
• Cadbury
• Edible gluten free bread
• Skype/Google Hangouts
• Netflix

Those are the things I am thankful for, not only on a daily basis, but especially today as they are helping me cope with the distinct lack of turkey and sweet potato pie in my tummy. 

On a more serious note, I have a lot to be thankful for, this year more than most.

I am incredibly thankful for this study abroad opportunity. I knew that I was going to learn a lot about a different culture and go new places but I did not anticipate learning so much about life and myself in a short few months. I've learned so much about who I am and what I can do. Finding somewhere to live and adjusting to life on a new continent all on my own has made me much more confident in my life skills. I've learned how to make new friends, which doesn't seem like a huge deal but I've never really had the experience of going to a new place and not knowing a single person. Even when I moved to Ithaca I had Liz so there was one person that I could always talk to (or steal food from those few times). 

I've learned that there are some people in the world that are truly terrible and most of the time you just have to suck it up and deal with them, but also that sometimes it is okay to be blunt and stand up for yourself. Most importantly I've learned that you don't have to be be friends with everyone. It's exhausting trying to be nice to someone when they can't even provide basic respect--- you don't have to be nice to everyone, as long as you aren't being mean it's all good. 

I've learned that I hate living in a messy apartment (you win, Mom and Dad). I love coming home to a clean house. Dishes in the sink, cups on the counter, and things laying around where they don't belong make me angrier than the Hulk. A clean house is a happy (and not smelly) house. 

I've learned to appreciate my friends and family more. I never experienced homesickness before coming here, and it stinks. There is literally an ocean between me and my loved ones which makes me appreciate the little things and daily interactions so much more. My friends in Ithaca make an effort to keep me up to date with all of the excitement (or lack thereof) at school, my family chats with me so that I don't feel left out even though I am missing so much. And despite being quite literally on the opposite side of the world, Rachel has managed to torture--I mean, entertain me, all the way from New Zealand. 

I have some pretty amazing people in my life and I cannot wait to see them all when I get home. 

Finally, I am most grateful for the opportunity to be able to HANG OUT WITH MY SISTER HERE IN LONDON. That's right, Duchess Kate and Queen Elizabeth are taking over London for a few days. Brace yourself, England. It's gonna be a bumpy ride. 

xoxo,

Kaity

Paris Hold the Key to Your Heart: Day One

The movies aren't lying: Paris is awesome. 

Let's be honest- yes, the Metro is dirty- yes, it smells like pee and feet, but once you get past that its pretty freaking magical. 

My favorite book, movie, doll, and cassette tapes were about Madeline. My favorite Disney (and one non-Disney but equally as awesome) movies were at least partially set in Paris (The Aristocats, Anastasia, etc., etc.). Come on---How could it not be my life's goal to visit Paris at least once?

Well, seven year old Kaity would be very happy because not only did I go to Paris last weekend but it was better than I ever could have imagined. 

Day One:  Notre Dame and The Louvre 

Our train to Paris left at the crack of dawn on Friday morning- and yes, I do mean the crack of dawn. My alarm went off at 4am... I wanted to die but I was also obviously extremely excited. We were (surprisingly) successfully out of the flat by 5am and on time to the train station. 

Some of us came highly prepared for the journey... (well done, Mary. You rock that neck pillow girl). 

I was far too excited to sleep so I spent the two hours listening to the soundtracks from Phantom, Les Mis, and Anastasia. 

Once we arrived in Paris we quickly dropped our stuff off at the hostel and then went on a glorious walk led by none other than Bill Sheasgreen. It was pouring rain the entire time, but it was still amazing. On his walk we went to that bridge with all of the locks on it, Notre Dame, and we stopped outside of the Louvre. 

The candle I lit in Notre Dame

Bill in action

**I'm only putting up a few pictures here, there are a ton more on my Facebook page if you are interested!**

Notre Dame was amazing. It's magnificence cannot be captured in a few photos. Everything about it was fantastic, even though the gargoyles did not start singing to me. 

After the walk was over my friends and I decided to have a little down time in the hostel before dinner and the trip to the Louvre. The hostel was pretty awesome, our beds had curtains so it was like being in your own little cave. 

After a quick rest we went to the Louvre to explore. OBVIOUSLY the first thing I did was head straight for the Mona Lisa. Let me set the record straight here, it is small, but not nearly as small as I was anticipating. Some of the pictures make her look tiny but really that's just because the railing is so far back from the wall. Once we found her I couldn't pass up taking the ultimate selfie...

And once we got that out the way we explored (got lost) in other parts of the Louvre. 

After walking around for hours and feeling like we were all going to collapse we decided to go back to the hostel to hang out until we fell asleep. The hostel was having a huge party that night but we just stayed in our room eating snacks and singing along to the music that was blasting downstairs (and also creeping on our friends who we could see across the courtyard.).

Day Two is going to have to wait until tomorrow. I'm tired and I need snacks. 

xoxo, 

Kaity

RIP October

While the best month of the year (don't even try to say it's not true) is over, I am more than ready to say hello to November!

So many good things are happening in November this year! As of today there are.... 6 days until my Paris trip, 21 days until Liz gets here, 25 days until I go to Marrakesh, and 56 days until I fly home!!!! So many amazing things are happening so soon! 

The past few weeks have also been exciting (and busy)! Halloween was last week and it was pretty fun! I FINALLY got to go to Chipotle, which was AMAZING. Especially because they had a special where if you came in costume you could get a two pound 'boorito'. So I threw on some cat ears and whiskers and got really cheap Chipotle. After getting this delicious food, a bunch of friends and I went to a party at our friends' flat. We watched Halloweentown (YAAAAAAAAAS!) and hung out for a few hours. 

This past Wednesday was cool because I got to celebrate a holiday that we do not have in the United States, Guy Fawkes' Day, aka Bonfire Night, aka The Fifth of November. 

Remember! Remember! The Fifth of November,

The Gunpowder Treason and plot!

I know of no reason The Gunpowder Treason

should ever be forgot!

If you have seen V for Vendetta you probably know what I am talking about. Basically Guy Fawkes tried to blow up Parliament while EVERY important person (including the King) was inside because they were Protestant and he was Catholic. They caught him at the last minute and foiled his plans. He and his co-conspirators were executed for treason. At first it was celebrated as an anti-Catholic festival but now the meaning is gone. 

Unfortunately, the school decided to schedule one of our DLT performances on the evening of the fifth so I MISSED EVERYTHING. I was pretty upset, but there were people protesting anyway so it was probably a good thing. 

Yesterday was also exciting as we got to go see a debate on Doctor-assisted suicide at the House of Lords. We only stayed for an hour (because it pretty much went on all day) but what we saw was pretty cool! It was interesting to see not only the differences in opinions about this between the UK and US but the differences between the House of Lords and House of Commons. The Lords are so much more respectful and...quiet. PMQ gets especially rowdy in the Commons so it was nice to see a different side of the government. 

I am super busy writing papers and studying for quizzes, and finals (ah, so soon?) but I've only got 5 weeks left of classes and then the real fun begins! 

xoxo, 

Kaity

The Roaring 20's

So yesterday marked the end of one era and the beginning of a new one... My birthday!!! 

Yesterday was my 20th birthday! Goodbye teenage years, hello adulthood. Wait, that's scary. 

Despite being in a foreign country without any of my closest friends or family members I had a good day. I was able to call and talk to some of my family and friends which made my day special. My new friends here also made my day special!

Thank you to everyone who contributed to making my day better yesterday. Even if it was just a Facebook post or snapchat I appreciated it very much. 

xoxo, 

Kaity

Catching up: Fall Break and other random things

Okay, I'm sorry. I know I am way behind...but it has been a really busy couple of weeks!!!

So first things first... Fall break. 

Fall break was amazing. I spent the first few days relaxing and catching up on some stuff that I've been meaning to get done. The best part of the week was visiting my friend Kayleigh up in Blackpool! I took a bus up on Tuesday morning and came back late Friday night (and barely made the last tube!). 

We got the chance to catch up on everything that's happened since camp, which was really fun. Blackpool is pretty much the coolest place ever. It's basically Weirs Beach meets The Sandwich Fair meets the carnival in the Notebook but about ten thousand times cooler!!! I loved walking down the pier and along the beach in the evening so I could see the illuminations! The second day we went to Manchester and went shopping, ate, and walked around for a bit. Friday was the most exciting day as we made pumpkin chocolate chip cookies! They came out VERY strong but also delicious. 

One of the most exciting parts of our time was our morning routine: Wake up, eat, drink tea, and watch Say Yes to the Dress for several hours. Milo, Kayleigh's dog, was more than content with this situation (except for when he decided to be a brat). 

The final weekend of Fall Break I pretty much did nothing, I slept. I ate. That was it. 

Last week we went to see another show for DLT. I wasn't really excited for it because it was about minorities and those stories usually make me really sad... but it was amazing. We saw East is East which is a comedy. It did a really good job of blending comedy with the serious messages about clashing cultures and the difficulties that come along with that. 

Other than that I've just been doing a lot of work. I've had papers, and trips, and quizzes galore! I did get my midterm grades though and I must say... I did better than I thought which is always exciting! 

That's pretty much it, nothing else exciting has really happened recently. 

xoxo, 

Kaity

Beatles Walking Tour, Sheasgreen Selfie Quest, and Midterms

So, it's been a while... Sorry about that! There have been lots of things going on over the past few weeks. 

The day after we returned from out Stratford trip Bill took us on a Beatles- themed walking tour. We walked all around London to some locations that were associated with the Beatles. A few of the places were spots where famous photos were taken, so obviously we tried to re-create them... 

Our last stop on the tour was Abbey Road. Unfortunately I do not have the most obvious Beatles photo-op to share in a digital format. Believe it or not, it is actually a very busy road; crossing it in general is a challenge let alone stopping for a picture. While others in my class were attempting to cross the road I stopped to sign the Abbey Road wall. 

After about 20 minutes of waiting to cross the road I just gave up and ran across hoping that I would have time in the future to come back and take a picture (Eh, Liz Schwartzer?). Luckily for me, Bill took a (slightly stalker-ish) photo of me running along the crosswalk... So there you go, I can check getting a picture of me crossing Abbey Road off of my bucket list (even though it is a terrible picture). 

As anyone who has ever attended ICLC knows... Bill Sheasgreen is pretty much the coolest person on the planet. I have been hearing about him since my sister went to London. Every person I know who went to ICLC talks about how freaking awesome he is... So naturally I decided that I want to have a lovely collage of our time together... And thus, the Sheasgreen Selfie Quest was born. I vowed that on every trip, or chance I get, I would take a selfie with Bill even if he wasn't paying attention. So far I have only had one chance, and this is the glorious outcome. 

Midterms week was rather stressful, but it also had its fun moments. The best part of the week was going to see my first West End show with my theatre class. We say The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nightime and it was AMAZING. Holy cow, everything about it was so good. The acting was phenomenal but the technical aspects of the show were what really wowed everyone. It is impossible to explain but basically it was super cool and engaging. 

After midterms were over I finally had a break! Fall break started last Wednesday and ends today (boo). While I really enjoyed my time off I am really looking forward to getting back to having a set schedule (and my birthday which is in a week!). 

I will post about the exciting time I had in the North within the next few days!

xoxo, 

Kaity 

Bonus Post: Birthday Excitement

I know I've already made a post today, but this one deserved special attention....

Today is the birthday of one of the greatest people to have ever graced the Earth with his presence, my father, Gary Schwartzer. 

Anyone who knows him loves him.

He is a classic example of a goofy father; he's got dad jokes and snacks more than covered. 

But most of all he is the kindest person I have ever met and I love him to pieces. 

Happy Birthday Dad! I miss you so much and I cannot wait to see you in January.