Oh ya, I FINALLY MADE IT INTO LONDON. After a solo night in the airport hotel, 2 hot baths, and a LOT of sleep- I met my parents for a wonderful family bonding session in the UK. We first went to Bath for 2 nights- which was lovely. The acient roman baths are still there and are in incredible condition- it was an amazing sight to see but MAN OH MAN, did it make you want to go swimming. 
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| Alternaive stocking... |
This was a, shall we say, “Alternative Christmas” in all senses- and it all started on Christmas eve. With the help of some of his Man-Camp friends, my dad got invited to attend an annual Christmas hunt on Christmas eve. “Shooting” as it is called in the UK is MUCH MORE than a few hours of man time out in the woods shooting down birdies- its an entire family affair. In the beautiful snowy English country side 8 families join together for a day of killing stuff. how lovely. The whole process is very organized and planned out. There are 8 different shooting stations, and each man stands on a specific “peg” at the station to shoot- each family stands behind their respective man. THEN about 30 people called “beaters” walk up into the forest and hit the bushes and trees with big sticks to scare the birds. Thus, the birds fly and then men kill them. Then comes the coolest part, the dogs. With the group was around 30 dogs of all different sizes and breeds who would run into the woods to retrieve the fallen birds. When the round was over, we would break for warm soup, sausages and champagne before moving onto the next station. It was the most glamorous yet barbaric thing I have ever witnessed. At the end of it all, we feasted like kings and headed into the wonderful city of London. 
My parents and I had a great, stress free little mini break in the city- we stayed in a new friends flat as a housing swap, so we had the benefit of a stocked kitchen and cozy living room to just chill in. With no real agenda, we took each day as it came- Those days usually ended in some sort of amazing ethnic food restaurant…in 5 days we had Malaysian, Lebanese, Chinese, Thai, and Indian food. Mmmm
In a flash, my parents were gone and I was alone in the big city- and it was new years eve. I don’t know if you have ever been alone in a foreign city for new years eve, but let me tell you, it is very odd. Sitting alone in my hotel room at about 8pm, starving, I realized I needed to venture out into the world- and that I did! I walked and walked and walked and walked through London- peering into restaurants and packed pubs and occasionally sitting down on benches just to watch people preparing for the new year- I dove into a pub and made some Irish friends in their 40s who clearly pitied me- which was some how even worse than just being alone. Millions and millions of people flood into downtown London to watch the most epic firework display of all time above the London eye- so just observing every one was fun- I stuck it out through the new year and fireworks and hopped on a 30 pence rentable bicycle a cycled home- a unique new years, to say the least.
In other news, I have successfully planned and executed an international trip in record speed. On Friday the 7th in the late afternoon (7pm to be exact), I was informed of two very crucial pieces of information. 1. Unlike the rest of kings college, the business school starts a WEEK early and 2. I had the wrong type of visa to be in the UK and could essentially get deported...aka I had 48 hours to leave and return to the UK. Rad. SO, with this very important information- I did what any normal person would do: Ran to the computer and bought a train ticket to Belgium. 
Why Belgium you may ask….and my only response to you is why not. So, 9 hours later I boarded the 2 hour train to Brussels for a fabulous day of solo sight seeing, café eating, and people watching. Sitting on the train, I realized, I knew NOTHING about Belgium- not even what language they spoke! Well, in case you are as clueless as I was, they speak a mixture of Dutch and French, the architecture is amazing and very unique and most importantly, they sell the most glorious food on this earth: The BELGIUM WAFFLE. I don’t know HOW I didn’t think of it before, but the second I stepped out of the tube, I was SURROUNDED by waffles. Waffle restarants, waffle fast food places, waffle stands, waffle store fronts, waffle cars for waffles on the go- waffles for days. For those of you that do not know, or chose to forget, I, Jackie Zupsic, am a true beligan waffle lover: For my 6th grade graduation, when all the other girls got jewelry or little picture frames from there friends and family- what did I ask for? a Belgian waffle iron from my parents and whipped cream, strawberries and syrup from my parents friends. No joke. I LOVE them. So thus began my mission for the perfect waffle- and let me tell you it was not easy. With more than enough time to spare, I decided to make almost a little game out of it. The perfect place couldn’t be the one with the longest lines, because in those line 90% of the people are not speaking French nor Dutch. Fast food waffle…I think not. Too many toppings meant that it would be super pricey and that the store clearly had spent more time focusing on the toppings then waffle itself…and then I saw it- like a diamond in the rough, the most quaint little bakery with a small line of French speakers lined up. Words cannot to justice to the smell OR the taste- so Ill let the pictures do the talking…
Anyway, from what I saw, Belgium revolves around three things: chocolate, waffles, and the Mannekan piss. I understand both the waffles and the chocolate, however the little fountain called the Mannekan Piss is still a mystery to me. Maybe I missed something of WHY this little tiny thing is so wonderful- but to me the 1 foot tall peeing statue dressed up as a little solider was NOT worth the millions of little figurines and models and t-shirts ect. that had infested the city. Who knows, clearly, I missed something. After a 12 hour day of snacking and walking and biking and subway-ing around Brussels, exhausted doesn’t even come close to explain how I felt- I made it through immigration and TA DA I am now legally able to study! HORRAY! Strait from the train station- i met some friends at a bar to celebrate my friends 21st bday and let me tell you- never bring a backpack to a bar…. Its like bringing a baby to a bar- just don’t do it.
Anyway- now on to LONDON.
Kings college is, how shall i put this nicely, a wee bit on the extremely unorganized side. Dont know what classes your taking, too bad! Dont know how to Log in to your online webpage, that sticks! Not only is school going to be EXTREMELY hard – but its like studying in the dark- one of my classes as 20 text books as suggested readings. …oh my!
first day of school- I thought (yes, past tense) UW was difficult to navigate in comparison to most universities in the world because of its sheer size- however kings college london- has officially blown UW out of the water in terms of what is confusing.
Not only is there absolutely no one who is available to talk to you- when you finally hunt someone down and throw your question (or 10) out, there is a 50% chance they dont know so they make something up, a 30% chance they send you to someone else..who seems to ALWAYS be on lunch break, 15% chance say a rude snide comment and give you an answer that is smothered in sarcasm and mean humor, and 5% a sane, helpful, answer. wooo hoo, Welcome to Kings College. Though this is not entirety true- that is sure what it feels like as my first day of classes wind down. Kings College is insanely large- its student body is very diverse and there seems to be 10 different campuses. There are libraries for days, cafes and bars in each building, and incredible views of london from pretty much every window. My first day of class today was like some thing out a movie- i arrive alone, and super nervous, strutting around trying to seem like i know what i am doingish...all the while to realize my zipper is completely unzipped. one point for jackie. After my first lecture, I head up to the front to introduce myself to the professor and midway through my 'im not from here' shpeel, i realize im talking directly into a hidden podium microphone and the entire room of 150ish students sitting down and waiting for the next lecture heard all about how i am settling in. 2 points. 3rd point came a few minutes later, as i held up the absurdly long line for the library with my faulty ID card- mmmm gotta love days like this.
Despite my little rant, London is absolutely incredible- I live in a dorm type situation with students from around the world and have already met some incredible, wonderful people- My room is a little single room on the 2nd floor looking over a soccer field- I have my own little bathroom that is so itty bitty that I have to straddle the toilet to take a shower. I cant help but laugh every single time I shower. My location is unreal! Im across the street from 2 cozy pubs and a block away from TONS of restaurants, bars, shops and the tube station. I am 2 blocks from an AMAZING market called the Bourough Market which offers everything from French pastries, to veggies, to full blown meals. (last time I had hand made ravioli..mmm) I am 6 ish blocks from the river Thames and getting there takes 15 min walking, 5 min by bike, or 10 by subway. I’ve been playing tourist quite a lot lately to get my bearings- and still freak out when while on a run I can casually run across the London Bridge, around Parliament, and into Hyde park. Life is great. More London details to come- 
