Long overdue...

So I've been in Manchester, England for almost two months now, and for two months I have wanted to blog about it. But as the days and weeks went by and I never got around to it, starting from the beginning just became so daunting. I suppose 100 more pages of a novel and my first paper due at the end of the week is a good enough reason to start blogging!

So far I've made friends with other study abroad girls, have more slowly made friends with a few British girls, and have made zero guy friends, because I lack social skills or scare them or don't know the capital of Lithuania. Who am I to work out the reasons? But it's been fun experiencing another country with other foreigners, especially my closest friends, who, yes, happen to be from the good old USA (Jersey, to be exact). Meanwhile the British girls continue to amuse me with their northern accents and fun facts. (One girl, 19 yrs old, lives 30 minutes outside of Manchester and has never been to London!)

Yesterday (all my troubles seemed so far away...), I went with Lauren and Veronique to Liverpool, home of the Beatles. Based on previous day trips (we've been to Chester, Leeds, and York), we did not want to take too late of a bus back and get stuck wandering a city with nothing to do. Unfortunately, Liverpool had more than we anticipated. Or at least it took us longer to do certain things, like "The Beatles Story," a sort of museum that is hard to describe. In fact, when we asked the young man working there what we were actually in line for, he told us that it tells the story of the Beatles, quite thoroughly, and that there is an audio version to listen to as well. Thank you, young British man with a Beatles bowl cut, for telling us "The Beatles Story" told the story of the Beatles.

There's a picture of Lauren and Veronique listening to the tour. The rooms were filled with pictures, facts, memerobelia, and full scale reproductions of the clubs, recording studios, and even a Yellow submarine with bubbles and real fish tanks in the windows.

Other than weekend trips our main activities consist of classes, homework, and finding food. Since our hall only serves breakfast and dinner Mon-Fri, we are on our own for lunch and weekends. We've got a very unorganized rotation of places to eat, at which we often get the same things, and quickly become bored. Despite this, the paninis here are excellent. And it never ceases to amaze me how many people (especially older men, seemingly on work breaks), drink beer or alcohol at lunchtime. Even at 11 am in Liverpool, people were in the pubs having a beer. Eh, it's five o'clock somewhere, right?

And so begins my long overdue account of my time abroad. If only I had no homework, I'd feel like I was on a long vacation. I'd also be wasting a lot of money at the University, but that's beside the point. Until next time, cheerio!