Finally!!

I am the last to figure out the blog, but I finally got it! 

I'm Taylor and I will be joining Ms. Tori in England and Leeds Met University! I am soooo freaking excited.
I can't wait to travel and meet new people and visit friends all over. 
As far as how prepared I am...the answer is not very haha. I have my Passport all ready, and have made the executive decision that I will not be getting a Visa in order to work, because lets get real, work may prohibit the amount of fun I have. Packing..thought about the essentials I need but nothing to extensive. However a new camera is in order..cough cough christmas!

I have to many things I want to do while there but these are just a few!
I want to stand in the middle of the London Bridge at night [because its so pretty] 

Obviously visit Buckingham Palace

 

and like every true tourist...make one of these guys laugh, or attempt to

.

Tori and I obviously plan to attend the royal wedding in hopes that Tori will meet Harry and fall madly in-love. Therefore having a wedding shortly after in spring [we're thinking Labor Day weekend ;)]

I want to stand under the Eiffel Tower  and eat some delicious french food.

I want to visit Quin in the Netherlands [most likely in April :)] and Sarah during the Festival that you get to dress up for! If there is a way to get to Greece I would absolutely die to go there [Kristen and my old Roomie Tess will be there]. I want to go to Ireland over NAU spring break to visit my close friend who will be visiting, and also want to go to Germany. 

Obviously there will be a trip to Scotland and we can meet men in kilts as well!

Italy is most definitely on my list of places as well!

I want to eat food from everywhere and expand my taste buds! I plan to write about everything new I eat!!..and drink since I can legally drink there! while Tori will be downing her drinks on the plane [lucky girl] I will have to wait till we land and settle in and make our first venture out!

Can't Wait!!!!

Open Ended Packing List

Ok. So in my mind i'm slightly freaking out about what I should and should not pack and how to pack it. I have come to the conclusion that this blog will help me.... Here it goes.

A)I'm using space saver bags, with the thought that it will help with the space issue.
B)I'm going to try and pack up everything that I will need for 5 months in a sports duffle bag.
C)I may have just had an epiphany, lay out all the clothes I wear within a week. If I only wear the same clothes over and over, those will be the only ones I pack.

1) How many pairs of Jeans should I bring? Well, I have 7 pairs of Jeans. Normally, if someone said leave out half I would say ok. I have a slight problem. I don't have a butt, therefore, my jeans stretch out easily leaving them for only about 3 wears. So I think I will stick with 7.
2) Light grey sweaters, 2.
3) Leggings, 2. One black pair and one dark grey.
4) One black sweater
5) Black half jacket
6) Here's the hard one. Dresses. There is a dress code for going out. I've managed to narrow it down to 4. A black and cream colored, a black and grey Vera Wang, A black and multi-colored ruffled one, and a pink green and grey one. That should be enough! It is England :) Ok, 6, two long sleeved Vera Wang dresses.
7) One pair of black Vera Wang Bermuda shorts.
8) Two skirts. One black and one multi-colored.
9) Two pairs of sweatpants, my Blue Gators and Grey State Swimming. And one pair of pajama pants.
10) One pair of greay and black dress pants.
11) 5 white v-neck shirts. (One Union Jack)
12) Gator Yoga pants.
13) Little Black Dress
14) 7 nice shirts
15) 2 Pi Phi shirts
16) 6 tank tops
17) Red England shirt
18) Grey Pi Phi sweatshirt, regular grey sweatshirt.
19) Chunky Sweater
20) 4 scarves (cream, 2 pink, green)
21)Shoes: rain boots (Possibly), brown riding boots, Converse, heels, flats
22)Socks, underwear, and bras that will fit.
23)Possibly a few shirts to sleep in
24)Possibly a few boxer shorts to sleep in
25)Black wool coat
26)Rain jacket (hopefully a NorthFace)

English Accents & Dialects of the British Isles Impressions

Since Quin posted Let's learn Dutch. I decided that we would listen to the different dialects of Britain!

It's Greek to me!

As the dedicated study abroad student I am, I have started learning about Greek!
So let me teach you a little about the motherland I am going to be living in:

• Athens is the capital of Greece.
• Greece's population is 11 million
• Karolos Papoulias is the president of Greece
• George Papandreou is the prime minister

Now on to the language:

• Eυχαριστώ (Efharisto) means 'Thank You'
• Σας Eυχαριστώ Πάρα πολύ (Sas Efharisto para poli) means 'I thank you very much' (formal)
• Παρακαλώ (Parakalo) means 'You're Welcome' and 'Please' (score two phrases in one!)
• Δεν κάνει τίποτα (Den Kani Tipota) means 'It's Nothing'

Soooo I have only had three lessons so far in Greek, but if you are interested in learning more you can go to www.survivalphrases.com or visit iTunes for podcasts:)

Let's Learn Dutch! (Lesson #1)

So remember when I was talking about butchering the native language, I chatted with my good friend YouTube.com today and found this wonderful man who has kindly decided to teach me some basic Dutch. (I especially like it when he mentions the letter "G", you'll see why)

Netherlands YEAH!

           Hello! I'm Quin and I will be venturing into the wonderful land of the Netherlands, known to be where the tallest people in the world are located and bred eh Tori. It's the land of tulips, windmills, bicycles, and wonderful individuality. 

           I will be there from February to June quite a large amount of time and I cannot wait. I hear the food is great, the people are very friendly and Vincent Vaughn himself was born there. 

          I was perplexed but just to clear up all the confusion the Netherlands is also referred to as the land of the Dutch and known to be called Holland. 
           It is located in North-west Europe right next to Germany just above Belgium. The capital is, surprise, Amsterdam!
           I will be in the Northern region of the country in a town called Groningen. It contains two schools the University of Groningen and Hanze University. I will be a student at Hanze. 
           Now I must warn you if you do come to visit me or I see you before/after I have been there, don't ask me how to pronounce half this stuff. I butcher it horribly and will probably teach you the wrong pronunciation. 
           I will be studying International Communications, working towards my minor. 
           I hope to learn Dutch but I have heard that English is spoken freely and probably better than most Americans, but who didn't see that coming.

            I hope you enjoy our Blog and stay tuned for further updates!

Book It DANO

One way ticket to MANCHESTER, ENGLAND. No backing out now!

English Things

Recently, on my part, there has been a lack of excitement. How does this happen you ask? I have no idea. So, in order to get excited again, I am going to start posting on here things that I want to accomplish while studying in England. 

1). Attend a Manchester City Football game. Why Manchester City you ask again? Well. Joe Hart. How am I going to accomplish this goal? Well, I plan attending any of their games while I am there in February and March. Preferably against Manchester United or Liverpool. That would be like a double whammy.

http://www.zimbio.com/pictures/y3gXfOsTjyH/England+v+Bulgaria+EURO+2012+Qualifier/-wagpIrYAGJ/Joe+Hart

2). Eat a real Cornish pasty. This shouldn't be too hard, I've heard they are all over England.

http://www.ifimages.com/photos/gDwUL81ggdTlf5lcDPYL93hem6U/author-518/cornish-pasty-shop-Ives-Cornwall.jpg

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXMJYz0qcPWkeM6SatGUmnjosCFWOtnvQOiUoaZUNejxMwAqqYUfgZQJ5woJ-KHclMH7rB4LE_ukMSURj5PKUMsPEi8LSenv6t1M-mw5QXvszxPqBoVHKHpUwVx2Kmary2zF6rkJpwF9o/s400/Cornish+Pasty.bmp

3) Obviously go to Stonehenge on the Salisbury Plain. Event though I refuse to touch them (thank you Diana Gabaldon) it's a must for anyone in England. 

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/05/photogalleries/Stonehenge-photos/images/primary/1_STONEHENGE_461.jpg

4) Drink a Gin and tonic in a English Pub. Don't worry, I'll be of age in both England and the US. No picture necessary, I think we all know what that looks like. 

5). Buckingham Palace. Queen Victoria was the first Monarch to reside in the finished product. Need I say more on why? ;) Oh and to see the Changing of the Guard. There ya go, killing two birds with one stone.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/05/photogalleries/Stonehenge-photos/images/primary/1_STONEHENGE_461.jpg

6). Again, obviously visit Big Ben and The House of Parliament. A must.

http://1001arabian.net/tourist/bigimages/Big%20Ben,%20Houses%20of%20Parliament,%20London,%20England.jpg

Since this is like the longest post of the century, ( I think Sarah's might actually be longer) I will leave it where it is. I think for the next one I might highlight some of the film locations that I would like to visit.

Oh Yeah...

I should probably mention.... WE ALL GOT ACCEPTED!

Espana here I come...

I think it is about time I posted since Tori and Kristen are a few up on me. I was so excited to find out exactly when I leave and other great infomation last week from the study abroad office. I have to leave January 20 to arrive on the 21st! My mom also said she might be accompanying me on the way there (which is so crazy wonderful:) I know that Tori and Kristen have uploaded a list of countries they would like to visit so here is my list (in no specific order):

• Portugal
• Morocco
• Paris
• Germany
• Greece (to visit Kristen of course!)
• England (yeahhh for Tori and Taylor)
• Netherlands (cannot wait to see Quin)
• Switzerland
• Ireland
• Italy
• Amsterdam
• Czech Republic

I am sure I missed so many but that looks like a pretty long list so right now I will leave it at that! I can't wait to have this wonderful experience with so many of my friends in Europe at the same time! We are going to have so much fun....

P.S. I am going to be studying at this beautiful school :)

*fun fact- Murcia averages more than 300 days of sun per year, it is noted for being a land of contrasts, with mountainous national parks, southern basins with steppe landscapes, and wonderful beaches such as those of La Manga, Mazarrón and Calblanque. I am going to be loving the beach! Look at this beautiful view...

Kristen's Country List:

Tori uploaded the countries she wanted to visit and I thought it was about my turn.. (now I would LOVE to visit everywhere and do everything, but thats just not realistic and so vague)...soooo I will cut it down and these are not in any sort of order.

1. France (obviously have you see the post below?)
2. Spain (to see Madrid and Sarah of course!!)
3. Scotland (Tori has made me excited to see a man in a kilt)
4. Ireland!!! ( I basically want to re-enact P.S. I Love You)
5. Italy (because of all the stories I have heard from Nicole)
6. The Netherlands (to visit Quin obviously:))
7. England (even though I have been there I want to visit Tori and Taylor, and some family)
8. Egypt ( I do not know if this is possible, but I would love to see the pyramids!)
9. Austria (the first thing that comes to mind is The Sound of Music and again Nicole's pictures...)
10. Russia (I have no reason why I want to go there... haha I just do)

So we'll see if I am able to get to all of these! Cross your fingers:)

The City of Love

The one place I have dreamed about visiting for as long as I can remember is the Eiffel Tower.  My vision is to eat a croissant in a quaint cafe on the outskirts of the city, where I can still see the Eiffel Tower (maybe even while wearing a buret ....we'll see).  I mean look at this picture....

Revelation

Our friend Quin, who is awaiting her approval to study in the Netherlands, and I have decided that we would like to try and spend Easter at the Vatican. I fell that this would be a really amazing opportunity. And we have two weeks off for Easter! What do you think?!

http://buycheaptraveltickets.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/vatican-city.jpg