Bullocks, Rubbish, and Cheers from Half a World Away

yo,

For those of you who have not had the esteemed pleasure of chatting with both Steph and I, we will present you with a quick overview of recent happenings.

After no sleep and a 4-hour car ride to Chicago, we got to the airport. Our trip started on a sour note after we were informed of an unexpected baggage charge. Trucking on, however, we continued to security sans Becky. Parental guidance, however, was quickly added by a fellow traveler. This traveler toured the world assisting in animontronics and was never short on advice as we waited to pass through security. He recommended that Joe (an engineer if you didn't know) should get into the entertainment business...because that is where the money's at (we can surely get his information if you would like Joe). Needless to say, this man was odd (he was a philosophy major if that says anything).

Moving on, we boarded our first flight. Little sleep transgressed, but movies helped passed the time. 'It Might Get Loud' underwhelmed, in the words of Stephanie Krob, and 'Paranormal Activity' didn't impress. Both, however, passed the time. After arriving in Germany, losing peanut butter to security, and carrying on to England, we arrived at the place we would call home for the next 4 months; Cranbrook Avenue in Hull, England.

We have decided it is very sad that we use Harry Potter to refer to our knowledge of the UK, but if you've seen it, it's pretty accurate (minus Hogwarts). The houses are quaint, the streets are often cobblestone, and the language is thick of British accents. Everyone is very friendly and it is a gorgeous city. The city is largely split into two regions: the old town and new. We are located in the new, but are a 5 minute bus ride from the old. If you have seen our flickr account, it shows pictures of the gorgeous old town.

We live in a flat with three others: Amera from Seattle, WA (surprisingly she said she didn't know Robbie or Christy), Teresa from Czech Republic (surprisingly she said she didn't know Heidi) and Immanuel from Portugal (surprisingly he said he has never met Christiano Ronaldo). They are all very nice and we get along great.

Our room mates must be sick of us, however, seeing as how we have blown out the power twice for our entire building. The first power outage ensued after plugging a laptop charger into a converter into an adaptor into the wall. The second, after the electricity was fixed, followed a small electrical explosion and fire due to an overheating convertor. We are still left without electricity on the top floor and are only under scrutiny for the second event.

Its an odd sensation living half a world away in a mass of students trying to probe one anothers' cultures. We are coming to realize that as different as we all are, we are the same. While Immanuel and myself may hardly speak the same language, we share the same passion for the 2004 UEFA champions Porto futbol team, Green Day, and guitar. Steph is realizing that everyone else hates the cold as much as she does, even in Paris. Needless to say, it's an exuberating time that we are spending trying to meet new people, see new things, and experience a side of life unavailable in the states.

Overall, we have met people from Paris to South Carolina and everyone has been very nice. It is a wonderful place over here and there isn't enough time or space to describe how much fun we're having. We miss everyone back home and look forward to seeing you all again, but are going to enjoy our time over here. We have lofty goals for travel and entertainment, but hey, we made it this far! We'll make sure to keep you updated and let you know of any new developments (hopefully shorter than this!). In the meantime, check out our youtube videos and flickr photos. They cover a lot of stuff that isn't talked about here.

youtube: www.youtube.com/lovebirdsineurope
flickr: www.flickr.com/photos/lovebirdsineurope

the birds