Brighton is for hipsters

Damn daddy, it is hot. Brighton's currently experiencing a heat wave, and so I'm sticky icky all day, every day. Since hot weather is few and far in between here, none of the buildings on campus have AC. This makes sitting through a 2 1/2 hour class somewhat dreadful, but I'm not complaining! Even though the heat makes me sluggish and lazy, I'm loving everything here.

Since the sun rises very early and sets extremely late, the days are long and drawn out. I don't constantly feel rushed or stressed here (like I do at UCSD). I can actually take my time to do things and chill when I want to. It's amazing.

Observation: there be beer all up in my grill. The English consume it the way we drink boba or water, and it ain't no thang to them. A few days ago, I visited le pub with some frands and had my first pint of Strongbow, which was tolerable because it tastes like apple cider. Standing at 5'4" and weighing ~105 lbs, I am pleasantly surprised at how much I can drink. I guess I have my pops to thank for that. Relatives, if you are reading this -- I promise that I am being responsible and careful :)

A few days ago, I ventured into town for some groceries. We visited Sainsbury, which looks like a museum from the outside. No joke. The exterior is comprised entirely of dark and weathered bricks, and the place looks enormous because it's attached to a multilevel parking structure. Complete with an escalator for people and shopping carts, Sainsbury is fancier than the supermarkets back at home mos def. In the store, I noticed that items are packaged differently than they are in America. Nothing is Costco-sized, so bigger is not better. All of the portions are reasonable and small, which I appreciate. Oh, and everything expires quickly because the food doesn't contain a grip of preservatives. Downside is that it's not very convenient to have to pick up milk or bread every two to three days, but it is healthier afterall.

I also toured Brighton the same day. It's difficult to capture how I felt walking through the streets of Brighton, but I srsly dig it. One section known as North Laines is a hipster's paradise, full of vintage clothing boutiques, sex shops, and everything avant garde. I definitely got a feel of how liberal this place is upon passing stores called "Penetration" and "Pussy". I'm going to be immature and insert a giggle here, hehehehe! Everything is really compact and close together, and on top of each shop is an apartment. Vair kewl. It's like San Fran meets Universal Studios Hollywood. A lot of people were commenting how it seemed like we were walking through a movie set. There's a lot of tagging and street art found in random alleyways in Brighton, and the pieces are phenomenal. There's also a swanky, "cultured" side of town, lined with pubs, jewelry stores, and expensive eateries. Afterward, we walked along the pebble beach, and people were still sitting by the water, despite it being 9 in the evening. Of course, no one was actually in the water because it's fuhreezing.

When dinner time rolled around, we decided upon FATLeo's which was a bomb Italian restaurant. Since our group was so big, we received VIP treatment and took up the entire second floor. Surprisingly, the food was well-priced AND tasty. I paid about 6 pounds for a plate of mussels and lasagna. SO DANK.

Let the good timez roll.

You alright?

I'm in UK, trick! Yeah, that was corny song reference. But really, I have arrived safely and with little damage, except for some sore shoulders and feet. But man, do they hoit!

Basically, I left on Saturday to LAX at 3 AM with my pops. Equipped with two suitcases, a carry-on, and my ginormous backpack, I sat in the passenger seat -- making scattered conversation with my dad so that he'd stay awake -- while trying to keep my own eyes open. I'd had a lot of trouble sleeping the evening before and probably accumulated a total of 3 hours at most. We made it to the airport, where I met up with Elaine, Tommy, Michael Luuzoid, and Aaron. Retrieved my boading pass, checked my luggage, and made it through security with relative ease. Before making my way to the terminal, I had a heartfelt goodbye with fasha. I asked him if he would miss me, and he said, "of course." I knew he would say that, lulz :).

My first flight to Atlanta was only 4 hours, so I wasn't sitting/exposed to that recycled airplane air for too long. The only problem was the landing. It was ROUGH. In fact, it was the worst one I've ever experienced, and I felt so.utterly.nauseated. Ridiculous, son. After getting off of the plane and finding water/a place to rest, it slowly passed. Since we had 4-5 hours to kill, the group went for some overpriced airport food. Afterward, we played countless rounds of 13s and a game of Mafia. Funzo, fasho!

Boarded our second flight to Gatwick London around 5 pm. Unfortunately, the chairs were not as spacious as the ones on the previous flight. I knew this was going to spell trouble for me lata. Things started off alright, but then we experienced some turbulence which made me feel like barfing again. Thankfully, I didn't. I felt hot and cold and almost feverish the majority of the flight. Because I was conscious practically the entire time and couldn't sleep, I was plagued by major discomfort. I was suffering so much that I cried, but only a little bit. It's true, I can't hang.

So 8 hours later, we finally made it to London. I was green in the face and in need of some rest. Too bad for me! We all obtained our student visas, purchased our train tickets to Brighton, and picked up our luggage. There was a lot of it. And that is an understatement. We took a short ride to the South Terminal, where we tried to make it to our platform and catch our train to Brighton. That didn't work out so well because we had to return the carts on which our luggage was piled. A porter came along and picked up all of our luggage. In an amazing display of strength, he piled the luggage of 8-9 people onto two dollies and transported it to where we needed it to be. In short, we hopped on the train and got off at Brighton. Then we hopped onto another one which took us to Falmer. At Falmer, Sussex staff greeted us and we got onto buses that drove us to Lancaster House for check-in.

Greasy, sweating, and having missed a shower and two teeth brushings, I was in no mood to socialize. And plus, it is so hard to make a good impression and look cute after a long trip. I got my welcome packet, my keys, and made it to my room. I unpacked and tidied myself up. Went for Tommy's noodle stash and had some instant pho in a bag. Doesn't sound appetizing, but it was HEAVEN! Really. Afterward, went on the campus tour but was too tired to understand what was going on. Somehow, I made my way back to my room and knocked out for 3 hours. Woke up and stumbled into the Welcome Reception, where there was a ton of beer. A little music, some finger foods. It's true... food here is not all that and a bag of chips. It's just bad. Sorry to say :(

Ok, so for first impressions: I am in the countryside, and I love it. My surroundings are green and lush, which is a nice change from OC. From my dorm window, I can see a ton of rabbits hopping around. I am expecting a flock of sheep to come through any time now. The university is quite old, as are our accomodations. I live in Norwich House, and there is a funky, fishy smell in my corridor. Still, I'm happy to have my own room, complete with its very own bed, desk, closet, and sink (<-- kind of odd, but convenient)! Oh, the bathrooms are co-ed. It was weird peeing alongside Michael Luu. The toilets don't exactly flush when you want them to and the water pressure in the showers is inconceivably weak.

Time to get ready for orientation at 9! More updates soon.

Ready for afternoon tea and scones!

Hello babies,

For those of you who care, I've created this blog for the sole purpose of chronicling my adventures abroad. Early tomorrow morning, I will be flying from LAX to Atlanta and from there, to London! The plan is to study at Uni of Sussex for 8 weeks, during which I will be taking two Communication-related courses. Afterward, I will be traipsing around and playing in Europe for 18 days. Some of my destinations include Spain, Germany, Czech Republic, and Italy. I couldn't be more excited because this will be my first time visiting Europa. All my things are packed up and ready to go, but I'm nervous that I've forgotten something. Since errthang is so expensive over there, I don't want to have to go buy random knick knacks that I carelessly left out.

Because my Aunt Lien tells me that English food is crap in a hat, I'm bringing an entire suitcase full of EZ mac, instant oatmeal, cha bong (dried shredded pork), four different types of breakfast cereal, alfredo pasta sauce, and angel hair pasta. Hopefully this will 1) help me save money and 2) hold me over until I can access good food. As you may have noticed, most of the aforementioned items have little nutritional value. To stave off major constipation, I will be stealing Tommy's Fiber One bars. Solid!

I'd like to take this time to say fanx to my mom and pop as well as my aunts and uncles who helped to finance this trip. Without your help, this surely wouldn't have been possible. Srsly. Oh, major shoutout to my grandma, who helped me stuff all my clothes (not that I have a lot) into my suitcases. Lady is a pro!

To my frands whom I promised I would hang out with but flaked on: I'M SORRY! I'm terrible, I know. To be fair, I got really sick after finals; when I finally got better, it was time to prepare for Europe. Plus, my parents put me on major lockdown. I will send all of you postcards if you give me your addresses! Expect a call from me after I come back on September 8th <3

So basically, check back here if you want to know whassup with me! I'll be sure to include pictures, too, because errbody likes variety.

I can't do the Gossip Girl "xoxo" thing since I already gave that idea to my babygirl Anna so for now, peace and chicken grease.