1. a. Remember to bring adapters to foreign countries. Otherwise, your hair straightener will not work in the funny French outlets, and your hair will be crazy-go-nuts the entire trip.
1. b. Don't just remember to bring adapters. Bring working adapters. When in London, my aunt Lisa was blowdrying her hair with my mom's blowdryer. She was using this nifty adapter from Eddie Bauer that had adapters for essentially every kind of outlet there is. It may have been nifty, but it killed my mom's hairdryer. The shiny silver hairdryer began to glow and orange, and very...dangerous-looking...color. So moral of the story, bring working adapters.
2. When I was in Canada, we were on a bus driving through Vancouver. As I looked out the windows, I could see that a lot of the clothing stores were having blow-out sales, up to 70% off! Because of the exchange rate, in my head I figured that shopping in those stores was basically shopping in an American store and buying things for 90% off. My 11 year old head was spinning with the prospect of all of the fashion steals. Sadly, I did not go shopping. Nor have I ever figured out if my math was right or not.
3. My freshman year of highschool, I spent a week in Paris with my friend Sasha and her family, who were living there for a year. While in Paris, I learned a very handy phrase: "Je suis désolée." The English translation of this phrase is: "I'm sorry." How I learned this phrase is a long and complicated story, but I'll keep it short, I promise. I was in a book store and dropped a pen in a woman's purse (on accident!). I tried to tell her in English what had happened, but she didn't speak English. I didn't speak French. It was a problem. Then I found Gretchen, Sasha's mom, who helped me by translating all that had happened. The French woman and I had a good (and slightly awkward) laugh, and then Gretchen taught me how to say "Je suis désolée."
4. Haggis is NOT conducive to one's well being. Please. Don't try it.
5. a. In England (and Scotland), the way people drive is rather curious. The driver sits on the right side of the car, and they drive on the other side of the road, as well. It's just all mixed up! Kelli and Laura made the apt observation that "Turning left is like turning right, and turning right is just WRONG!"
5. b. If you are riding in a British taxi and your seat is a fold down seat, make sure it is DOWN before you sit. Because I forgot that multiple times, and consequently had multiple goose eggs on my poor noggin.
6. If you destroy all evidence, you can have a second dinner. Muahahaha....
7. My entire life, I have sworn by fat free milk. I would not even dream of drinking any other type. But, when I was in England, I had to submit to drinking whole milk. Um, hello, why didn't anyone tell me it was delicious before? Because I have been seriously mislead my whole life or something. Sheesh.
8. a. In Britain, train workers can be very lovely and accommodating. While on a train from Windemere to Edinburgh, my mom, aunts Carrie and Lisa, and I ran into a very wonderful attendant who talked with us for about 20 minutes about the upcoming elections, Obama, and various and sundry other topics. It was very nice.
8. b. However, not all train workers are nice. Some are real grouches. Once, when traveling from London to Bath, our group of 8 had to switch trains in order to get to our destination. We had to haul all over our luggage (guh) up stairs, over the overpass, down stairs, up a few more stairs (I don't know why the stairs from the overpass didn't just lead to the platform, it would have been so much more efficient...), onto the platform, and finally on to the train. We were cutting it very close, and we were all very stressed and sleep deprived. Some of us made it in time through the maze of stairs and to the platform, but there happened to be an attendant at the station who was sweeping the overpass and who wouldn't people pass by. Long story short, Laura and Kelli ended up on the train, because a very grumpy train attendant would not let them out, while the rest of us had to wait to get on the next train. We did find our lost girls, but it was very stressful. This incident resulted in the phrase, "It was a train day."
9. The English flag is the "Union Jack," not the "Flappin' Jack," as I accidentally called it. Oops.
10. Hamburgers in England are really quite silly. When one thinks of a hamburger, one would think, "Ah, yes! Something that is going to taste like home." However, this notion is soon proven false when an enormous hamburger is served to you, complete with rocket (??? I'm wondering what it is, too...) and a side of French fries. The meat is seasoned very strangely, and does not taste normal at all. I personally feel that the British should stick to growing berries. Because they don't have to do anything to them in the kitchen.
11. The Queen of England? Yeah, she's also the Queen of Scotland...
12. I have a twin in the Yukon. I was introduced to her by my Australian friends who were on our tour (my grandparents took us on a tour of Alaska and the Yukon). I met her at the Fecal Follies extravaganza. (I'm not sure what the extravaganza was really called anymore, this is just what we called it because of a series of hilarious incidents leading up to my Dad calling it the Fecal Follies show.)
13. The toothfairy is extremely accommodating. I lost a tooth while in the Yukon and received Canadian money for my tooth. It was exciting.
14. a. While abroad, I had two fabulous Beatles experiences. In Paris on the steps of the Sacré-Cœur, there were two street musicians with their guitars who were singing "She's Got a Ticket to Ride," and everyone around them was singing as well. It was one of those moments where you just can't help but smile.
14. b. In Stratford-Upon-Avon, we took a walk out to Mary Arden's Farm on one of the few days that were sunny. (Mary Aden was Shakespeare's mother.) While walking, I plugged in my iPod and decided to listen to the Beatles, because, after all, I was in England. So on came "Good Day Sunshine," and it was another one of those moments where I just couldn't help but smile because I was in England, listening to the Beatles sing about sunshine while the sun was actually shining.
15. The best chocolate mousse in Paris is in the tool section.
16. The English are perhaps the most polite people in the entire world. They are always saying in the nicest voice, "Mind the gap! Mind the step! Mind your head!" When my friend Jake saw one of our photos of a sign that said, "Mind the step!" he replied, "What, do they apologize when they pickpocket you???" HA. I wonder this myself.
17. When I was in Scotland, our taxi driver Kenny was trying to explain the traffic lights to us. He kept calling the traffic light a "talking toucan." However, it took us about 10 minutes before we figured out he was saying "toucan." Once we figured that out, we realized he probably meant "parrot" or something...Bottom line is. Scots are hard to understand.
18. In England, both of my aunts and my mom were all for taking pictures. It was fun, and we have about a million fabulous pictures, but sometimes, Kelli, Laura, and I would get tired modeling. When we were done, we would automatically get into our Charlie's Angels pose. And then the photo shoots would cease. I love our Charlie's Angels photos.
19. Toast is literally the bread of life. I'm not even kidding. During BSE 2008, we ate toast every single day. It was fabulous.
20. On the train home from Chattsworth (Mr. Darcy's house!), we all got hot chocolate because we were cold and tired (and in my case, muddy; I slipped in the gardens and got mud all over me!). Some of us wanted cream to put in our cocoa, so Kelli and I walked over to the little kiosk and asked for cream. The man there told us they didn't have any, but they did have Dairy Stix...? It turns out Dairy Stix is milk in a tube. I know. Strange. When we brought our discovery back to our seats, Ashley told us, "If we hadn't staged a revolution 250 years ago, we too could have milk in a tube!!!"
I thought as a final note, I would add a few pictures from BSE 2008! Yay!
This is a lovely photo of me, Kelli, and Laura posing in front of the Princess Diana memorial in Harrod's. Also, that is Dwight Schrute on the escalator next to us.
This is me, Laura, Ashley, and Kelli in the gardens at Mr. Darcy's house.
We also enjoyed pretending to be Grecian Urns. It was our other classic pose!
Kelli and I pretty much destroyed our shoes taking this picture, but it was so worth it!
We were Charlie's Angels in a tree. It was an epic moment.