Roommate Number 1

Today is December 4th. On this day in 1995, my roommate Cassidy was born.

Here is the story of how we met:
Setting: The FSU class of 2018 Facebook page, a Monday night.
Olivia sees many people posting about looking for a roommate. She silently makes fun of their 500-character autobiographies.
         Example: "omg so like I'm an (Exercise science/ communications and disorders/ bio) major! I'm          so excited for FSU, Go 'Noles! So In high school I played (Lax/ Soccer/ Field Hockey/ an                       instrument) and I'm definitely going to be working out, so I'll need a roomie who will be my                work-out buddy! Fight the freshman 15! haha so I'm nice and neat and I'm hoping to room in              Wildwood, if you think we'll get along the message me! Go 'Noles!"
Wondering why so many people were looking for roommates and deciding to not simply rely on the survey that FSU provides? Won't the survey know me better than I know me? Surely. So I did some research: Florida State doesn't do a survey: it's completely random! That scares me. SO I decided to post a roommate request. But not your average roommate request, of course because I'm me. I wish I remembered what I said but it was hilarious, trust me.

Anyways, so I write this super-funny post, and who else but Cassidy Randall comments on it. She says "I'd be your roommate but I'll be in London!"

Ever since freshman year when I visited Florida State and was told about the First Year Abroad program, I had been kind of considering it, but I wasn't so sure. SO Cassidy messages me and ends up convincing me to spend my first year abroad in London (side note: I'm saving tons of money by being here, post about that to come). So we start talking and whatnot and realize hey we're both kind of funny and like making fun of people so we could be good roommates.

Time for orientation rolls around and surprise: flying to Florida is expensive. So Cassidy and her mom invite me (and my mom) to drive with them. To Florida. Hey, a 20 hour car trip with your future roommate could only be a good idea, right??

Actually, it was fun. Well as fun as two-day car trips can be. She's got one of those cool moms that likes yoga.

So here we are, in London, rooming together. She's moving to Valencia for next semester, which is why I titled this "roommate number 1"

Don't get me wrong, we do have some fights. For example, she has the worst taste is EVERYTHING. She doesn't like The Princess Bride and claims "Nobody likes the Princess Bride" HARD FALSE. I could write a whole blog post (and probably will) based off of all the things Cassidy doesn't like that every human ever should. But We're about to go to a comedy club to celebrate her birthday.

PS Cassidy made me do this (kind of)

Movie Premiers

If you follow me on Instagram, you may have noticed my pictures from some red carpet premiers. If you don't follow me on instagram: a) why not? what's wrong with you? b) @thatOMGkid c) I'll add the picture here as well.

Living just anywhere in London grants the possibility to go to Leicester Sq and watch all the big-name celebrities walk on the red carpet.

But we're even luckier (is that a word?). We live within walking distance (I'm talking like a less than 10 minute walk) to Leicester Sq, so we can literally just walk down the road (and wait in line for a few hours, granted) then see Jennifer Lawrence. There are tons of movie premiers here in London, so there's many options to see celebs. Most recently there was the Mockingjay part 1 premier, and that was a big deal. There were people there that had been waiting since early in the morning (possibly the night before- unconfirmed) to see their favorites. However my roommate and I strolled in around 3 pm and still got to see/ take pictures of the celebs. No big deal.

Pictures below also feature Brad Pitt (yes, BRAD PITT) from the Fury premier. I'm mad about it, let's not talk about. ok. If you insist. Logan Lerman (my favorite ALSO he was in Perks of Being a Wallflower) was at the Fury premier but HE DIDN'T WALK WHERE WE WERE STANDING LIKE BRAD DID. ugh.

Anyways, Here's JLaw, Liam Hemsworth, and Brad Pitt.

Legal Alcohol (aka Why You Should Be Jealous part 1)

One thing some of my friends back home have asked me is: Is it weird being able to legally drink and buy alcohol?
My short answer is no.
Yes, when I first got here it was kinda cool to just grab a 6 pack or a bottle of vodka and be able to purchase it with my id. But you get over that rather quickly. You get used to it. It'll be weird NOT legally drinking alcohol next year. At this point, it's almost weird even to get carded unless you're entering a club or buying at Sainsburys. It's just natural to walk up to the bar and order my white-girl-drink of vodka&cran. Also, we drink in class sometimes. Like we were served wine today whilst having a round table discussion. Yes, you should be jealous :p

One time we got free champagne (with grenadine in it) here's a picture:
(also note, my roommate is attempting to do the "liv face")

British Sayings

If you've texted me since I've been here you might have noticed some British sayings/ abbreviations slipping into conversation. If you haven't texted me since, why not? What's wrong with you? Hit me up on facebook. So here I'm going to breakdown all of the sayings I now use so you can a) understand me or b) use them!

In no particular order:

cba- texting. Stands for "Can't be asked" which is british for "I can't be bothered to do this".

Erm- the equivalent of "umm" or "uhh"

Whilst- basically "while doing" (i.e. We went to the funhouse whilst drunk)

Soz- sorry

Ace!- Awesome!

You alright?- surprisingly, this does not mean "are you hurt" rather simply "what's up?" This was confusing for a while... like yes, I'm fine why are you asking....?

"xxx"- used mostly at the end of a text. similar connotation to "xoxo" (as in it means kisses) but british people use these at the end of every text, to the point where it can be creepy. x

Arse- ass

Mate- friend. Mostly I use this ironically.

Quid- money. The equivalent of "bucks"

Snog- kissing. Think of the book/ movie "Angus, Thongs, and Perfect Snogging"

Taking the piss/ mick- having a laugh, or making a joke.

Uni- short for University. Because people cba to say "university"

Freshers- freshman, or first years (for uni only). Also used for the parties held at the beginning of a semester.

Well, that's all I can think of for now. There's probably more, but TTFN xx

This year for freshers we had an event where we were all given Spiderman costumes to set a Guinness book world record of the most amount of people dressed up as Spiderman in the same room. Enjoy these pictures (and yes I got to keep the costume)

Non-Conventional Must-Dos While Traveling (According to Liv)

Well, the title says it all. Here's a list of things that I always make sure I do whilst traveling:

1. Go to a Mcdonalds. Most people would say "Really? You're in Paris and you went to McDonalds?" Well  I have a few responses for these people. A) It's super cheap. I'm a poor uni student. B) There will always be reliable free wifi (which is surprisingly scarce in foreign countries) and C) There are different items on the menu, and I find that funny (Like what, there's more than two flavors of McFlurries?)  
2. Get your Tinder on. Yes, I'm obviously on Tinder, who isn't nowadays?? And yes, no-shame I have convinced all my friends here to join as well. Hey, it's entertaining! Also, boys and free compliments. Anyways, who wouldn't want a diverse list of matches? It's a great way to practice a different language (French) or "help" an incredibly hot foreign boy with his english. Via text, of course, because meeting up with foreign tinder boys is a bit sketchy. So, swipe away!
3. Buy something touristy. Tacky gifts are a must be it for yourself or others. It's an easy way to remember where you were/ where you got said item. For example, an Eiffel Tower keychain is obviously from Brussels, like, duh! 
4. Go see some church. Take a picture of it. Your mom will appreciate it. 
5. Try the local candies/Sodas. By "Local" I do not mean sketchy homemade ones, I mean country-wise. Seriously though Fanta here is so much better than in 'Merica 
6. Talk to other Americans. I have found people in many places of the world that have heard of and/or been to Simsbury, CT. Crazy, right? Small world. (I apologize for now getting "Small World" stuck in your head.)

In conclusion (gross, how formal), there are many things you should do whilst abroad. If you want to live the Olivia way (Or should I say, if you want to 'Liv') then definitely do these things.  You wont regret it. 

Here's me and my friend Alexis in Amsterdam.

Amsterdayyyum

I will say one thing about this: yes, weed is legal (and super cheap) in Amsterdam. That's all I'll say on the matter.

Amsterdam was cool. the city was very pretty with the canal and all the bridges. The quirky thing about it is that every single person has a bike. Bike lanes are much more respected than actual streets. And if you were in the path of a bike, the biker would for sure let you know with a little "ding"!

We did a few touristy things. My favorite thing ever is that the Anne Frank House has Wifi! It's a big deal, I know! We did walk through the Red Light district, and the most shocking thing of all is that people would have their children there, just walking. Like hello?? There are prostitutes in all these windows!!

For you Fault in our Stars fans out there, Ansel was actually in Amsterdam at the same time we were. No, we did not see him. :( BUT we did take the same cab as him. What, you ask? I will explain.
 So Carrie and I took a cab back to our hostel the first night and the cabbie was very friendly. He talked about how he loves America and how earlier that day he had picked up and American DJ from the airport who was supposedly very famous. The cabbie compared this boy to Justin Bieber, which is the universal comparison for anyone above the age of 30 for a young, handsome, famous- looking guy. We had known that today was the day Ansel had arrived, but since the cabbie had said this young man was a DJ, we thought it couldn't possibly be him. Thanks to wikipedia I found out Ansel Elgort is first and foremost a DJ, Ansolo (!) WHAT?! SO I guess that means Carrie and I rode in the same taxi as Ansel Elgort. No big deal.

There was also a carnival going on while we were there, and the cotton candy was HUGE! Here's a pic:

Brussels

Brussels was.. nice. Much better than the sprouts it produces. There's not much to describe it. Belgian waffles were pretty tasty (esp. with Nutella). My only complaint is that we stayed in a nice hotel that was wayyyy too expensive. Oh, and my friend lost her phone AND my other friend lost his nice camera (so many friends, so little electronics).  The city itself was pretty. It's in that classic "european style of city" that I can now recognize. There is one place there where I would've liked to have spent more time: it was called the musical instruments museum. It had tons of musical instruments (who would've guessed??) and a nice cafe on the 10th floor that overlooked the whole city. Beautiful. We decided public transpo while in Belgium would be too crazy, so we wasted a bit of money on cabs. Oh well.

I got my voice back towards the end of Brussels, and since they speak french there as well, I was very happy about this. So much french on this trip, somebody tell Mesdames!

Here's a picture from the top of the cafe.

Paris

Think of all the stereotypes you've heard about Paris. I'm here to tell you THEY'RE ALL TRUE.

Yes, everyone's out to get you (aka don't trust men who try to "make a bracelet" off your finger in touristy places- they are trying to pickpocket you).

Yes, the people are rude. In fact, nobody wants to help you, so don't even ask you'll get mislead easily.

Paris is indeed mad expensive, so bring lots of money if you're planning a visit.

And yes, you are an easy target. Anything you do can and will scream 'AMERICAN' .

On to Paris Nightlife. We decided it would be a good/ fun idea to go clubbing in Paris. The club was 15 euros to get in, which is standard if not cheap, but the drinks were about 9 euros, aka mad expensive. Luckily we befriended some french boys and got free vodka. In retrospect we probably should've been more careful with that since we didn't exactly know what the drinks were... oh well.

Anyways, it's about 2:45 am and Carrie and I decide to go back to the hostel so we could get up at a reasonable time in the morning and do more fun things. We exit the club and look for a taxi. It appears as if there are multiple taxi options and that we'll have no problem getting one. How wrong we were. After many failed attempts at hailing a cab, we realize in our slightly intoxicated state that if the taxi light is red, it's full. Duh, Liv! How could you not get that?? Well, every single taxi had a red light. How could they all be full? It's 3 am for god's sake!

Well, we should probably ask for help, since it's obvious this was gettign us nowhere. there were some "very helpful" boys that wanted to take us on a "walk along the seine". Seems legit . No thank you, we'll ask the bouncer instead. The bouncer was not helpful. In fact, he lied to us telling us that there was a taxi park where there wasn't. Ugh. Eventually it's about 4:50 am and Carrie and I, exhausted and discouraged collapse on a bench (with two sides). We had given up. Just then three boys approach the bench and sit on the opposite side. Thinking (rather egotistically) that they would hit on us, I groaned. However, they didn't even look at us. This came as a surprise. About 5 minutes later I finally decided to ask them for help. They seemed slightly amused by our situation but agreed. 10 minutes later it became all 5 of us wandering the streets of Paris looking for an empty cab, to no avail. Two of the guys end up hitchhiking with some stranger. But I was like "no". So eventually the three of us that are left find an underground station with one gate kind of open. Could be a broken gate, could mean it's open. I was a little wary that perhaps this french guy was leading us into an abandoned tube station to our deaths, but it was 5:30, I wanted to be home. The guy was actually quite nice, and he waited with us until our train came (30 minutes later). He was a total flirt although he did mention a girlfriend a couple of times (way to et me down, frenchy). Either way, we made it back to the hostel around 6:20 am, and slept basically all day. So fun times.

I should also mention that surprise, I'm actually good with french. I took AND gave directions, and spoke whenever possible. Not to brag, but many french people told me I was surprisingly good, NBD. And then of course I lost my voice. It was completely gone for about two days, leaving our group of eight helpless with no other french-speakers. Well, it is what it is. Can't wait to return to France to speak more!

Also I can't take normal pictures with famous monuments.

Ten-Day

Here at the Florida State University London Study Centre we are granted a ten-day fall break. We decided to spend this time in three cities; Paris, Brussels, and Amsterdam. In that order. Lovely, right? Read on.

The cheapest travel option was obviously bus, because why not take an overnight bus to Paris for 24 Pounds (about 38$ for you yanks)? I'll tell you why not: it sucks. Yes, the bus had wifi (a major plus for someone with no phone plan). However, when I first arrived on the bus the lady in front of me was already reclined and napping (impressive, I guess.) And that's how she stayed. The entire time. I don't even know what it feels like to be in that seat without her seat on top of me. Anyways in my case, no space= no napping. Wonderful. At least I had peanut M&Ms (which are surprisingly much better here than in the US) and twitter to keep me company. Oh, and Panic! at the Disco. Always, Panic! at the Disco.  

Despite our mode of transport the trip was quite lovely. But as anyone who has ever travelled in a group of more than 4 can attest, large groups should NOT travel together. We had 8 people. 'Nough said. More to come.

Sorry I've been busy/ lazy

Hi. I exist. And I'm back and ready to write. Please enjoy this picture of Me, My friend Carrie, and Big Ben.

The Phone

So it was suggested that we buy a cheap pay-as-you-go phones while over here in the UK. Up until I got to the Phones 4U store, I had thought Pay-as-you-go phones were really simple. I mean, we all remember commercials like these. However, the process was not simple. And there was certainly no singing involved. There were multiple plans and options and british money is confusing. I ended up paying 25 pounds (approx. 40 USD) for the lamest phone in the world, and I STILL have to "top-it-up" every month ( it is important to hear "top-it-up" in a british accent). But it does remind me of, like, 2005.
By the way they are hardcore advertising the iphone 5c here... it's everywhere. I don't know why.

Wow that AT&T commercial reminded me of another golden commercial from the past.  Anyone remember this? Perfection. (purrrfection? Too far? ok I'm done.)

Anyways, this is the 25 pound phone:

The Flight

Well, Today we landed in London around 9:30 am (London time). It was NOT a fun flight. First off, the couple next to me (yes, I was stubborn enough to take a window seat next to a couple) consisted of a genuinely nice guy and his whiny girlfriend. Emphasis on whiny. Then on top of that, there was a small blonde boy in front of me who not only reclined his seat the ENTIRE time (why does he need the leg room?? he's 4 ft??) but also watched terrible rom coms the ENTIRE way AND laughed out loud (literally LOL'd) at them, at about 2:30 am EST. Come'on kid, I've seen every Katherine Heigl movie. None of them are Laugh- Out-Loud funny. And I didn't even dare try the airplane food. Also our "entertainment" kept getting interrupted for useless announcements like "buckle your seat belts, there's turbulence" or "actually there's a five different time difference in our ETA". You know how I know it was bad? The british accents didn't even make it better. yep, I went there.

Anyways happy to be in England! Here's a cliche window seat airplane wing pic!  xx
(apparently signing off with x's is very british??)

THE First Post

Since there are no legitimate "FAQs" I think I'll start off by asking myself questions: 

1. Who are you?
         Olivia Madison Gilmore. Haven't you heard of me?? No?? Well, I'll ask again in 10 years. And yes, that does make my initials OMG, and yes, that IS awesome. 18 years of age... brunette...5'6'', what else do you need to know?

2. Why does this blog exist?
      Well, I get the opportunity of a lifetime this year: I'm spending the next 11 months in Europe!

3. Is this just another "white girl on a semester abroad" blog?
         Yes, it is exactly that. The only difference is a) it's not just one semester and b) I'm actually entertaining (or so I've been told).

4. I don't get the title.
         Is that a question? Anyways, "Blague" is the french word for "joke". However, it is pronounced like the English word "blog". Therefore the title means "Is this a joke to you?" but it sounds like "is this a blog to you?" Clever, I know.

5. So if your title is french you must be studying in France?
        London, actually.

6. Then why is your title in french?
       Because I took 5 years of french. Next question.

7. Well if you took 5 years of french, why aren't you studying in France?
       BECAUSE IT WASN'T AN OPTION. Sorry. Unfortunately France was not an option that my home college, The Florida State University offered. Sore subject, let's not get into it.

8. Hey, FSU, football and stuff!
       yep.

9. What will be the content of your blog posts? 
      Mostly just stuff that happens. That sounds boring. Let me rephrase that: The most exciting and hilarious mishaps, awkward situations, language barriers, and adventures that occur over the next 11months! Better?

10. How often will you be posting?
      Ideally thrice a week. Yes, I just used the word thrice, non-ironically.

11. Will this actually be funny or like "you think you're funny"?
    Well, I certainly think I'm funny, but you should too. If you're not familiar with my writing/ presentation style check out my graduation speech on youtube: "Google Advice: Simsbury High School"10/10 would recommend a watch.

12. Should I tell you what I think of your blog?
     YES! I live for feedback.

13. Okay, I might actually check this out.
       Gee, thanks! Means a lot!