Yes indeed Ladies and Gentlemen, I am posting a new journal entry! Is it a full moon outside? WHO KNOWS - but I do know that New Moon is coming out tomorrow for all those who are going to see it for its inevitable crappiness.

As if you all didn't know already, I am currently living it up (?) in the land of the Scots. It rained today... rained and winded and weathered all over the place. I have come to notice that this is not an entirely rare occurrence. However, because of this, nearly all my pants are useless. I'm short, they're long, the minute I step outside they get wet and muddy up to my knees and I end up wondering whether it would have been better not to wear pants at all. Thus, today, I wore leggings... and a hat and, like, a nicer kind of get-up altogether. I felt like quite the posh little student but actually just ended up looking like everyone else since fashion over here seems to be turned on all the time.

My roommate needs to gain a personality and stop looking at celebrity gossip websites all day. GUH. She seems to have this problem communicating... with only me. Thus, our room is silent except for the sound of her constant cracker-munching. Seriously, I have never seen someone consume so many crackers. SO. MANY. CRACKERS. If I had any doubts about joining a sorority, they are now completely cleared up - I am not going to be joining any institutions which house cracker eating bitches like the one with which I am currently forced to share a common living space.

On the bright side, I'm a part of the women's soccer team and we're doing quite well. Playing soccer in Scotland is fun because everyone knows what it is and the pitch is perpetually muddy. So much slipping and slide-tackling and awesome muddy goodness... though I doubt my uniform will ever get clean. XD Interesting fact: half of our team is American, we've got a few Scots and more Brits, and FOUR WHOLE SWEDES.

I'm also really loving medieval history over here. It's cool because the entire town/university itself has so much medieval heritage and I get to learn about it while I'm here. Plus the department is quite large and the texts we get to study are really cool (and sometimes highly entertaining) and I'm such a sucker for the whole knight-type era. I'll miss this when I go back home...

You might be wondering, "But BeeDOB, what have you done to enjoy your naturally dork-ish self in a place that puts such an emphasis on drunk late-night reveling?" Well, let me tell you - I seem to have an ability to find people such as myself in strange ways. I made friends with a zombie enthusiast and a girl who may or may not be *Sheikah-ness's twin and directly linked to the part of my brain that likes weird things. Only problem is that neither of them, and their groups of friends which I have subsequently become tentative friends with, live in my hall which means I don't eat meals with them and makes it difficult to casually hangout. However I HAVE had quite a good time with them; dressing up and serving at a medieval feast, charity shop shopping, seeing plays about werewolves and bureaucrats, fire-juggling on the beach, doing archery, going to that cute little bakery (you know the one), finding Hidden Valley ranch dressing, spending half a night at the anime club, planning Thanksgiving, and maybe (possibly) but definitely not, perhaps, starting a game of Dungeons and Dragons with the president and committee of the wargaming society.

All in all, I'm having a good time over here - though I miss my friends lots. I'm a little bit nervous to go back to WashU in January and start being an art student. Though I have gotten to do some figure drawing thanks to St Andrews' art society, I haven't really been drawing so much (with the exception of silly doodles on my lecture notes). I dunno... I'm ready but still very anxious about it.

THINGS I'VE NOTICED THAT ARE DIFFERENT HERE:
- They really DO eat fish and chips. Really.
- Every part of England/Scotland has a different accent and not all people from Scotland have the stereotypical Scottish accent that you automatically think of. (I've been trying to identify and master each city's accent - it's kinda hard)
- Mushy peas. They're mushed peas. You eat them.
- People's pants don't touch the ground. Like... half of them are actually rolled up and the other half are just short or skinny jeans. I thought this was silly until my own pants were completely soaked and then realized it was more practical than anything else
- Dr Pepper is to Texas as IRN BRU is to Scotland. It's like... an orange version of Big Red, minus the vowels.
- No Tostitos, no Mountain Dew, no Pop Tarts, no Cheese-its, no Kraft mac n cheese, no jalepenos or avocados, no pizza flavored Pringles. Yes black currant juice, haggis, tuna (SO MUCH TUNA), cheese and onion flavored Pringles, shortbread, soup.
- People say "keen" and are serious.
- Trousers are pants, and pants are under-pants. Uniforms is just generally "kit". Scrimmage is not really a word.
- People seem to have a higher vocabulary... and they say it in their British accents and sound very learned.
- The Subway here doesn't have oil and vinegar dressing, or Italian dressing... or parmesean cheese. They also refer to the veggies you can put on top as "salad", as in "you want any kind of salad on that?".
- Starbucks is the same everywhere.
- X-Factor = American Idol. English Premier League = NFL.
- Roundabouts as opposed to stop signs. So many roundabouts.
- Posh.
- Alcohol.



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SO - anyway, I really started writing this because Christmas is coming up and that means it's time for that Christmas Wish List that everyone keeps doing. HERE'S MINE GUYS:

THE BASICS: write a Christmas/Holiday wish list. It can be any 10 wishes you'd like to have granted, no matter what they are. Possible or seemingly impossible. People look and grant the wishes if they can. It's not about "OMFG PRESENTS", it's about making someone else's holiday a little brighter by giving. Personally, I get more out of giving than receiving sometimes. It's just a good feeling to give.

STEP ONE

** Make a post in your journal. The post should contain your list of 10 holiday wishes. The wishes can be anything at all, from simple and fun ("I'd love a Snape/Hermione icon that's just for me") to medium ("I wish for _____ on DVD") to really big ("All I want for Christmas is a new car/computer/house/TV.") The important thing is, make sure these wishes are things you really, truly want.

** If you wish for real possible things, make sure you include some sort of contact info in your post, whether it's your address or just your email address where Santa (or one of his elves) could get in touch with you. In this case, you can always just note someone on dA.

** Also, make sure you post some version of these guidelines in your journal, so that others can join in and participate to spread the holiday joy!


STEP TWO

** Surf around your friend list to see who has posted their list. And now here's the important part:

** If you see a wish you can grant, and it's in your heart to do so, make someone's wish come true. Sometimes someone's trash is another's treasure, and if you have a leather jacket you don't want or a gift certificate you won't use--or even know where you could get someone's dream purebred Basset Hound for free--do it.

** You needn't spend money on these wishes unless you want to. The point isn't to put people out, it's to provide everyone a chance to be someone else's holiday elf--to spread the joy. Gifts can be made anonymously or not--it's your call.

There are no rules with this project, no guarantees, and no strings attached. Just...wish, and it might come true. Give, and you might receive. And you'll have the joy of knowing you made someone's holiday special.

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1) I miss my friends! I'm coming home around the 20th of December and I just wanna spend some quality time with everyone. My family will, of course, be going to New Jersey sometime after Christmas, as usual, so anytime that I am home I would love to hangout and do something (nothing) with my best buds. Easy pre-Christmas present? SKYPE ME! Just talking to y'all is a little slice of home.

2) I've been dying for a good story lately. I want a good fantasy book that really sucks me in and gets me connected to the characters - the kind where, after you finish it, you don't necessarily feel happy. It's more like you're just drained, like your emotions got so tangled up in the story that they don't know where to go or what to do. I try to fill up the time between those books with quick romances and questionable fanfiction, but they're just not the same.

3) Still haven't fallen in a well, got sucked into a book, been transported to Cephiro, met a talking cat, etc. Fairly upset about it. Currently taking applications for an amazing, preferably magical, life-changing mega adventure. Please contact me with any information as soon as possible as I am out of high school and, thus, out of the normal age group for such things.

4) I recently realized that I MUST HAVE The Producers on DVD. I really like that movie... why don't I own it?! Also on the list of "Why Don't I Own That Shit" are: the first season of Super GALS in english, multi-cultural Cinderella (the one with Brandy), The Pirate Movie, Code Geass, and generally Disney classics on DVD.

5) I love artssssss from you guys.

6) Ready for the impossible wish? I want... well, that is to say, I want to be in love... Gah - that felt so silly. But really, I've never even really dated or anything. Ugh... sorry y'all. XD

7) A good video game. Should be balanced out with several awful, two dollar video games from the bargain bin at Game-stop.

8) I want to know what I'm going to do with my life - or at least stop feeling bad because I don't know. I mean, I usually go with the mindset that I should do what I love and deal with the technicalities afterward, but it's kinda hard when your surrounded by all these people who know exactly what they're doing with themselves and had it all planned out before they even applied to college. I dunno... I'm hardly what you would call serious, but sometimes I feel lost because I don't have some big plan or anything. Plus people seem to think less of me when I try to explain to them why I'm in Scotland and what I'm studying back at home, though it is admittedly a bit perplexing. Is it bad to have my parents pay for school at WashU and end up being a teacher or something?

9) My sister lost the pen for my tablet. I need a new one... actually I need photoshop for my mac as well. Actually, I need to learn to master the photoshop. Please teach me, sensei! (On that note, I wanna learn Japanese... on that note, I wanna go to Japan... on that note, anyone up for Lava grill when I get home?)

EDIT: 9.5) I was walking back to my hall today in the cold and realized I wanted/needed something else. Warm clothes. Cute warm clothes. In particular, I love scarves and don't own a single pair of gloves or boots (though I don't expect anyone to get me boots). I also have a love of big, zip-up hoodies. I've been dying to have, like, a cosplay hoodie - you know, one that looks like a pokemon or mokona or something. XD Silly, I know.

10) SURPRISE ME. Really though guys, what I love most are surprises. Follow your heart, it will show you the way! XD



WOW THAT WAS A LONG JOURNAL, LOL.

- B.W.E.