Goodbye Europe, Hello America!!!

It always feels bittersweet at the end of a life chapter. That is precisely why I was reluctant to post this last blog. I am so grateful that I was given the opportunity to study abroad at Oxford University. I had the most amazing time of my life, and I will never forget the people I met, the places I visited, the events I experienced, and especially all of the hard work I put into my tutorial and gender course that helped me improve my writing while also opening my eyes to the various parts of psychology I had no idea I was interested in, as well as the many problems that still remain regarding gender inequality. As for you, the readers of my blog, thank you for reading my posts! I'd like to say a big thank you to those of you who made my UK experience amazing, to those of you who have always supported me, and to those of you who always tell me to follow my dreams. I am now back in the United States of America where I belong, and I will soon head back to Stanford to teach the children at Bing Nursery for the duration of the summer. With the warmest regards,
Cheerio! (From England)

Au revoir! (From France)

αντίο! (From Greece)

Adeus! (From Portugal)

and HELLO CALIFORNIA!!!

Our Vacation in Portugal!

'Ello from rainy and cold England! I am so excited to be coming home on Saturday! But first - FARO!

The friend that I went to visit in Paris, France (Tiffany) and I wanted to go somewhere nice and sunny before we spend all summer on The Farm, so we decided to take a weekend trip to Faro, Portugal. We arrived late on Friday night, so after taking a taxi to our Best Western, we checked in, grabbed some food, and planned out our weekend.

On Saturday, we woke up and explored the town of Faro. It was nice and quaint, with little shops and restaurants all over the area we were in. There were also plenty of shopping stores (and malls) so we had fun with those. We also had a ton of pastries, gelatto, and snacks before dinner, but we shared our dinner so that we could spend less money. Afterwards, we went out to see how the nightlife is in Faro, but we didn't really like any of the clubs that seemed pretty populated, and we didn't want to waste money, so we decided to party by ourselves! It was quite a nice night, with drinks, desserts, and Gossip Girl episodes. But then we needed to get some rest for our beach day.

Sunday morning we woke up and headed to the Marina to catch a ferry to one of the beaches in Faro. We ended up going to Ilha do Farol, which was really nice. It wasn't too crowded, and the water was so pretty. I'd been missing the beach since England is so cold, Greece didn't really have beaches, and I didn't get to go before leaving San Diego. It was nice to lay out on the sand, cool off in the water, and relax with Tiffany. However, we both got sunburned, so hopefully it turns into a tan soon so that we don't peel! After coming back to the mainland, we both look nice cold showers, went to an Italian place for dinner, and then passed out back in our hotel room from being in the sun all day.

Monday we packed, checked out of the hotel, and went souvenir shopping before catching a taxi to the airport. It was sad to leave, but we'll both be back in California soon, out of this miserable weather. She'll even be at Stanford with me over the summer, so we'll get to hang out when we're not working.

When I got back to the Stanford house, I wrote my last two tutorial papers ever. It was nice to finally finish my tutorial and look back at all of the hard work I've done this quarter, but when it came time to meet with my tutor, I was really sad that it was over. She was very sad that the time flew by as well, but she was also happy with my last papers and gave me high scores on them both! She also asked me to please keep in touch, and said that she might take a trip to California and try to meet up with me at Stanford. I still have two more papers, but I can't believe that the term is almost over.

Our Bing Farewell Dinner was last night, and it was pretty bittersweet to talk with everyone who is still here (some students have already left). Dr. Tyack, the director of the program, sat across from me, and he was testing my proper English accent, having me say words such as "strawberry", "watermelon", "Oxford", "darling", etc. He said I was pretty good! Then we took a jumping picture with him outside of the restaurant, and I think Thuy is going to submit in to the Bing Overseas Study Program Photo Contest. I hope we win!

Here are some pictures from Faro. But seriously, I'll be home this Saturday evening!

Watch the Throne: The Queen's Diamond Jubilee!!!

Guess who saw the Queen of England? THIS GIRL!

A group of Stanford students wanted to attend the Queen's Jubilee Boat Pageant on the River Thames this Sunday, and we heard that the best place to view the boats was across from the London Eye. We woke up very early in the morning to catch the 5:10 Oxford Tube to London (I stayed awake so that I wouldn't sleep through it) and went straight to the best spot. Since there were eight of us, we decided to take shifts to keep our spot reserved. Thuy and I went to grab breakfast (and warm tea) so that we could stay out there the longest. Unfortunately, it was such an ugly day! It was freezing and rainy and I couldn't believe that we had gone for that. But it got better - we met some really nice people that always go to the important events, and we met a lady from Marin County, California (close to Stanford) who had traveled to London for the 50th jubilee, this 60th, and will be there for the 70th, but she also went for Princess Diana's funeral and Prince William and Duchess Catherine's wedding! Since I hadn't slept, I took a short nap under a pancho on the ground (I'm small so my friends all stood around me so that no one would mess with little, sleeping Ari). Eventually, it was time for the Royal Family to be dropped off at their first boat, which we could see from the many big screens set up throughout the crowds. She is so adorable! I hope she lives for a very long time. I also saw Prince Harry and Prince William, but my favorite was Duchess Catherine - she's soo pretty! And they had her wearing this red dress that was beautiful, but she must have been freezing her toosh off... About an hour later, the boats started passing our area, and they had flags from all of the Commonwealth, including the territories that England owns. Some boats with Canada's flag passed by, and there were Canadians in the crowd because they were hooting and hollering for Canada - I said that we probably won't be able to cheer for the U.Ss because I don't think they like us very much, and my friends laughed. Finally, the huge boat with the Royal Family passed, and we got to see them all waving! I tried to take pictures, but it was pretty far away. Nevertheless, it was an amazing experience to see the Queen celebrating her 60 years of reign, and I still can't believe that I was there for the boat pageant.

Next post will be about: Faro, Portugal! Cheers!