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.