where I live

I'm starting to recognize Walsall. I'm not getting lost so much anymore. Recognizing which road goes where. I guess that means this really will be my home for the next three years. I finally got out of my contract and moved out of the dorms. One of the professors and his family is on "holiday" in Canada for a month, so I am housesitting for them. Their house is near the Arboretum. Then I will be moving into a house on the other side of the Arboretum, and closer to campus. The rent is cheaper than the dorms and it's a nicer house.

p.s. Dave and I saw Inception tonight and it was really good! I like that it was an original story and not based on a book, comic, or sequel.

London Trip #1

I went to London this past weekend. Here are pictures of all the fun! I stayed with my mission comp Carla and we had adventures all weekend.

The first night I went to dinner with Gina (middle) and Carla (right). It was fun to catch up since I haven't seen either in a really long time!

While Carla and I were waiting for the tube I took some pictures. It's not an exit, it's a way out!
I have seen ads/posters all over for Eclipse and I finally took a picture. This was on the wall of the tube stop.
I love the Bourne movies. So, Carla took me to the Waterloo station where they did the beginning chase scene in Ultimatum.
Then we headed over to the Eye and saw a bunch of street performers. This guy's paintings were awesome!
This is on the bridge looking out at the Eye and Big Ben.
Then we headed to Trafalgar Square, the South African Embassy is across the street.
There happened to be a demonstration in the square that day.
Then we headed across the square to the Museum and saw some Van Gogh paintings. You're not allowed to take pictures inside or I would have a worn my camera out, too many pretty things.
That night I got to see Linda and her family, also from Port Elizabeth, South Africa. It's been 13 years since I saw her. I only recently found out she was in England. I honestly thought she had died, Thank Heavens I was wrong! It was so much fun to catch up and hear how they got to England. Definitely going to visit more often!One of the benefits of living in a small country is that everything is close by and a train ride away!

sour cream

I don't have the typical food allergies. I can eat nuts, milk, wheat, etc, but I found that I am allergic to the sour cream flavoring here in England. I could eat sour cream flavored Pringles in the US, but for some reason the flavoring here has different ingredients. My lips became puffy with a red ring around the inside of my mouth, the corners of my mouth were red, and food tasted weird for about a week. From the Pringles website here are the ingredients:

UK Ingredients
DEHYDRATED POTATOES
VEGETABLE OIL
RICE FLOUR
WHEAT STARCH (GLUTEN FREE)
SOUR CREAM & ONION FLAVOUR (LAVOUR ENHANCERS: MONOSODIUM GLUTAMATE, DISODIUM GUANYLATE AND DISODIUM INOSINATE, ONION POWDER, DEXTROSE, SUGAR, SWEET WHEY POWDER, LACTOSE FROM MILK, CITRIC ACID, LACTIC ACID, MALIC ACID, SOUR CREAM POWDER, FLAVOURINGS, MILK PROTEIN)
MALTODEXTRIN
EMULSIFIER: E471
SALT

US Ingredients
DRIED POTATOES
VEGETABLE OIL (CONTAINS ONE OR MORE OF THE FOLLOWING: CORN OIL, COTTONSEED OIL, SOYBEAN OIL, AND/OR SUNFLOWER OIL)
RICE FLOUR
WHEAT STARCH AND MALTODEXTRIN
CONTAINS 2% OR LESS OF: MUSTARD (DISTILLED VINEGAR, MUSTARD SEED, SALT, TURMERIC), SALT, MODIFIED CORN STARCH, SODIUM DIACETATE, MONOSODIUM GLUTAMATE, ONION POWDER, GARLIC POWDER, SOYBEAN OIL, HONEY
NATURAL FLAVOR, CITRIC ACID, DISODIUM GUANYLATE, DISODIUM INOSINATE, and ROSEMARY EXTRACT
CONTAINS WHEAT INGREDIENTS

hair again

I swear I am getting gray hairs. I realize the picture isn't the best, but it's hard to take a picture of your own hair. I quit dying my hair 1.5 years ago, so there is no hiding it. These gray hairs are mostly around my part on top, in front.

Independence Day

Today I read a friend of a friend's blog and I totally agree with it. I realize I will offend people, but tough! I am temporarily living in England and I never realized that a government could have so much control over it's citizen's lives. For example, there are no electrical outlets in the bathroom, yeah I know it is silly to not be able to do your hair in the bathroom. I do realize what a privilege it is to live in the United States of America, but I didn't know that we had simple freedoms that other western countries did not. To take away the ability to use an electrical appliance in the bathroom because you don't trust your own citizens; come on, that is ridiculous! This is why I have slanted more conservative, less government involvement in my life. I want to be able to make my own decisions/mistakes and I take full responsibility of the consequences. (Yes, I did take AP Government in high school.) So I choose now to call it Independence Day, and if you catch me saying 4th of July you can do a slug bug!


p.s. Watch the clip from Jaywalking. It's Betsy Ross, 13 colonies, General George Washington, "The British are coming, the British are coming", 1776, Independence from England, Star-Spangled Banner by Francis Scott Key, and signing of the Declaration of Independence.