"We No Speak Americano!"

Another playlist you say? How cheap! That's cheating! I'm bored! Well, how dare you. This, dear friends and yanks, is not just "another" playlist. It is a playlist of all the awesome songs that were the most played in the clubs and on the radio (what little I actually listened to it). As previously stated, they are grade A certified and guaranteed to make you want to shake "that thang" , so give them a listen. Asterisks indicated a UK artist or an artist essentially not from America.

* Take Over Control - Afrojack ft. Eva Simons
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adGVpCsf9N4

What's My Name - Rihanna ft. Drake
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0CGsw6h60k

Let the Sun Shine - Labrinth
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NqPCCrHpErw

Just the Way You Are - Bruno Mars
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjhCEhWiKXk

Rude Boy - Rihanna
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e82VE8UtW8A

* Club Can't Handle Me - Flo Rida ft. David Guetta
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SgM3r8xKfGE

Firework - Katy Perry
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGJuMBdaqIw


Ridin' Solo - Jason Derulo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ESdn0MuJWQ

* Frisky - Tinie Tempah ft. Labrinth
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E6-KdTIi_Ek

Teenage Dream - Katy Perry
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98WtmW-lfeE

* Gettin' Over You - David Guetta ft. Fergi & LMFAO
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqMf3W7Y2WI

Nothin' On You - B.oB. ft. Bruno Mars
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8PTDv_szmL0

California Girls - Katz Perry ft. Snoop Dogg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqMf3W7Y2WI

* Sexy B*tch - David Guetta ft. Akon
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RO5vF1CMSp4

I Gotta Feelin' - The Black Eyed Peas
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSD4vsh1zDA

Starstrukk - 3Oh!3 ft. Katy Perry
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvf--10EYXw


* The Flood - Take That
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCHg5r6rFoI

In My Head - Jason Derulo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UyG1FG3H6rY

Billionaire - Travie McCoy ft. Bruno Mars
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8aRor905cCw

Boom Boom Pow - The Black Eyed Peas
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4m48GqaOz90


* Kickstarts - Example
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T9yGcKlYAiw

Barbra Streisand - Duck Sauce
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uu_zwdmz0hE

Raise Your Glass - Pink
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4mtDr3gNHw

* Promise This - Cheryl Cole
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0bdjpYS42Ns

Only Girl (In the World) - Rihanna
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pa14VNsdSYM

Cooler Than Me - Mike Posner
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYpsSPqh9uc&feature=fvst

F**k You - Cee Lo Green
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pc0mxOXbWIU

* Written In The Stars - Tinie Tempah ft. Eric Turner
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cMg5cQd5f50

DJ Got Us Falling In Love Again - Usher ft. Pitbull
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oBhj-Tv4WHI

* Dynamite - Taio Cruz
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUjdiDeJ0xg

Beautiful Monster - Ne-Yo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2J2dwFVZHsY

* I Like It - Enrique Iglesias
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9_n8jakvWU

Take It Off - Ke$ha
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ephTrdW1ls

Blah Blah Blah - Ke$ha ft. 3OH!3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4dogXk1KmRI


* All Time Low - The Wanted
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V0LV_bETEzs

My First Kiss - 3OH!3 ft. Ke$ha
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AYC2FUutdKA

Airplanes - B.o.B. ft. Hayley Williams
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kn6-c223DUU

Your Love Is My Drug - Ke$ha
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1IsRckT21sE

* We No Speak Americano - Yolanda Be Cool & DCUP
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wavpWRK6IX8

Watcha Say - Jason Derulo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pBI3lc18k8Q

"I feel it in my fingers, I feel it in my toes..."

For all you "yanks" out there looking for a bit of Christmas-timey cheer here is a playlist of songs by artists from the UK. You'll find some classics and also songs that are most often played here this time of year. So sit back, put on another yule log, pop a cracker, and enjoy the festivites.

Slade - Merry Christmas Everybody
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0A8KT365wlA

Cliff Richard - Mistletoe and Wine
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BjmGbI-Mnys

Wizzard - I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZoxQ4Ul_DME

Pogues - Fairytale of New York
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pv0hlbWpa1w

John Lennon - Happy Christmas (War is Over)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUCbZhIfQbA

Paul McCartney - Wonderful Christmas Time
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6o8-eLZhrOA

Bill Nighy - Christmas Is All Around
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7Q_bq07GVs

Elton John - Step Into Christmas
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSJMSnj6UUM

Chris Rea - Driving Home For Christmas
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THcbQyFtCqg

Spice Girls - Sleigh Ride
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPqIV3kN4I0

Shakin' Stevens - Merry Christmas Everyone
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5PkUWkxGWj0

Apocolypse Now

Dear Reader,

You may or may not know this but the English like to complain about the weather. A lot. They complain when it is too rainy, they complain when it is too "hot", but nothing gets the English into a verbal frenzy so much as *winter*. 'Tis a dreaded season because the second the mercury drops close to or, God forbid, below 0 degrees Celsius it is the only topic of conversation. You would think these people lived in Alaska or Norway the way they go on and on and on and on about how cold it is. To a person who is used to Ohio winters, England is exceptionally balmy on most days.

The second it starts snowing in England everything shuts down. And I mean everything. No trains, no buses, and no way of going anywhere, even by car. The thing here is that they forget that they ever had snow in this country. And, dear reader, you may be asking yourself "how would she know it's snowed before?" Because. Ask people who have lived here; they do recall it snowing in their lifetimes, but usually it does not snow very much or in the majority of the country.

The week before Christmas 2010 drastically changed this. Within the span of several hours FEET of snow fell in Ormskirk, and most of the country woke up that Saturday to a nightmarish blanket of white. This "Snow-pocalypse" halted almost all transportation in England. Perhaps I should put this into perspective for you, dear reader. This is a country that stops all buses and trains for two inches of snow and scatters to the nearest Tesco for emergency provisions. Ok, so maybe the last part of that statement was an exaggeration, but I'm not exaggerating when I say that I survived the English Snow-pocalypse and that it was a very big deal.

I was somehow lucky enough to have booked my flight home for that Sunday, as opposed to Saturday like most of the other American study abroad students. I had an extra day in Ormskirk and a friend and I decided we needed to get into town for last minute Christmas gifts and to drop off some clothes for the local charity shops. Never in my life have I had to shuffle through so much snow, even in Ohio. The difference being that in Ohio people will have the snow cleared quickly, but that in England no one so much as bothers to attempt to salt anything. Everything that was supposed to be opened that day, such as the Uni canteen and Uni shop was closed because no one in their right mind would leave their home. Being vastly unprepared, none of the snow was brushed or shoveled away and thus getting to the main gates of the University was hard enough. We soon found the same to be true of the sidewalks into town which made a usual ten minute walk into a half hour one.

The best thing that came from this near annihilation by Mother Nature was the sheer picturesqueness that a snow-covered small town could provide to two Americans who imagined snowy English winters such as this.

"...a few of my favorite things..."

Here is a list of the top 10 things I will miss the most about England and studying abroad.

10: Pubs. I'm going to miss being able to just hang out with the gang and have a pint or a coffee in a pub on days when I'm not in class. During the day it's relaxing and a good place for an intimate conversation with a good friend. Also pubs can surprise you and serve incredible food, and if you are ever in Ormskirk I strongly recommend the steak and Pedigree Ale pie that Disraeli's serves. Pubs are a bit Jeckyll and Hyde. In the day they are cozy and at night they are busting to the seems with partying students. Got to love a place like that.

9: Town Centers. Cute little shops. Bakeries and butcher's shops and cobble stone streets and markets on Thursdays and Saturdays. It's amazing to realize that a person could literally eat for a day, or have a meal with a friend, for just two pounds if bought at the Pound Bakery.

8: Club Socials. 'Nough said.

7: Common Rooms. Almost never conducive to doing homework but extremely good for staying up late and talking, hosting parties, watching movies, dancing, playing Twister/Jenga/Blind man's bluff, and just having good old-fashioned fun.

6: The Panini Guy and the Stir-fry Guy. They are awesome and are super nice. They make going and getting food something to look forward too (besides the obvious "eating" thing, of course). Plus, food always tastes better when served with a smile and conversation.

5: Roper's Arms on Monday, Styles on Tuesday and Wednesday, Venue on Wednesday, Alpine on Thursday...

4: Being able to travel so easily (at least when the weather permits) to places like Liverpool, Manchester, Somerset, London, Spain...

3: The weather. Yes, this sounds crazy, but I actually enjoy rain and cooler weather and it's something so distinctly British at times that it can be easy to get attached to.

2: The accents. Some are awkward, some are indistinguishable as English, some are Northern, some are Southern or from the Midlands, some are Irish or Scottish, some are sexy, but all of them are different and extremely cool.

1: Friends. I have met some of the nicest people here at Edge Hill. Not only have I become extremely good friends with some of the most amazing native Edge Hillians (Claire, Clare, Anu, the locals of Katherine Fletcher) but I have made some really good friends from back in the States as well (Erica, Emily, Aye, Rachel, Ellise, Sarah, Cassie, Ross, Lukas, Luis, Hugo...). One of the strangest things is that I had to travel 3,000 miles just to become friends with two other Ashlanders (Ben and Jeremy, or BJ for short), which is ironic considering how small Ashland University is as well as the fact that the three of us have some mutual friends. We have all had some amazing times together and that is the thing that I am going to miss the most. All of the rest of this list wouldn't be significant or even exist had not these new friends been a part of it. What keeps me from being really sad about leaving is the fact that now the world seems a little smaller, and the prospect of seeing and visiting these friends again is very likely.

"Bring the noise!"

This past weekend I was delighted to go on a trip across country to the lovely county of Somerset. Five of us girls packed ourselves onto no less than four trains to get there. On the last train we literally sat in the baggage compartment because there wasn't any room for us. How is that for student travel?

Some facts I've gathered about this place called Somerset:
-There is absolutely nothing like a home cooked meal. Whether it be a real English breakfast or a fantastic lamb roast, there is nothing as lovely and comforting as a meal cooked in a real English home when all you've been living on for the past two months is soggy chips and the occasional sandwich.
-This county hosts some of the most picturesque views in England. Rolling hills and farm pastures and many sheep. When driving through the countryside and the small towns and villages this is what a person pictures when they think of England.
-Hot Fuzz was filmed here. Do not be confused by the fact that it is supposed to be set in Gloucestershire, it's definitely Somerset. While we didn't get to visit the little town of Wells, the birthplace of director Edgar Wright himself, just being there was something like a mini-pilgrimage. Simon Pegg and Nick Frost were here! I just got chills again.
-That country accent? It's real.
-Thatched houses are cool. Literally. They are cute but apparently extremely cold.
-London fog has nothing on the kind of fog some country lanes can get in the middle of the night.
-Have I mentioned the roast dinners?

Stonehenge:
Normally I wouldn't accuse the English of sucking the magic and fun out of anything, that's a job for the French, but unfortunately they succeeded with flying colors to drain all the magic and mystery of the site that is Stonehenge. Firstly, I love Stonehenge. I've been wanting to go there since I was old enough to read the word, but getting there and having to pay £5.90 to walk around a rope meters away sucks all the fun out of it. The only people who can get near it are the people who work there and the Druids on the solstices, and if I wanted to see a whole bunch of people dressed as Dumbledore I'd go to a midnight showing of Harry Potter. Unfortunately, because they built a visitor center and roped off the site, essentially ruining my childhood dreams, they managed to make it nothing more than "a bunch of stones."

Bath:
This city is exceptionally beautiful. An old Roman town where you can see the actual, old, Roman buildings and baths that gave this city its name. Pretty much everything about this city is beautiful. The architecture, the cute little shops, the way they displayed the river, the little hills that make up and surround the city... But don't get me wrong. This place is touristic and as every traveler knows, touristic places are made to look as appealing as possible. So really you won't see a city untouched by the hand of consumerism, but you will find a city that has managed to balance it quite well.

An English Tradition

Yesterday it was brought to my attention that I somehow had forgotten one of the most auspicious English traditions that still exists today. Because of this unnamed person *coughDawncough* I will now elaborate on the humble and noble art of the Sport Club Social.
This is a great time throughout the land of England, in particular Ormskirk, where the modern day knights of the realm celebrate or commiserate the days events. What I'm essentially trying to express to the "yanks" is that this is a really big deal. The attitude is something like this:

"We won! We are the top of the league! Let's celebrate by getting our money back on those Styles cards! Excuse me, barmaid, may I have two pints of cider and black?"
OR
"We played like a bunch of four year old school girls. We stink so much not even our mothers would cheer us on. I don't know about the rest of you guys, but I'm going to try to forget how crap we are. Where is the bar-girl? Get me two pints of cider and black...and a double shot. Of what? Just anything."

Another aspect of the sports club social that is especially interesting is that more often than not there is a "fancy dress" theme. This means that on any given Wednesday you will see a mass of students dressed to the nines in the most various array of costumes.
Some examples include, but are not limited to:
Fairies
Gangsters (think Brando as opposed to Diddy)
Cowboys and Indians
Cops and Robbers
Army
Top Gun
Babies and OAPs (Old Age Pensioners)
School Girls
Baywatch
Geeks and Nerds
*Pub Golf - Every club will most likely do this at least once a semester. It is quite possibly the most epic and hilarious night ever.
Not to forget as well the ever famous Halloween and Christmas themes.

Once you have all your team members (and the occasional team member's friend or significant other) the social is ready to begin. The point of the social. if you haven't noticed yet, is to get as drunk as possible in as short a time as you can. This means that there will be drinking games.
Some of the most popular are:
Ring of Fire - this is the English version of the American game Kings
Dirty pint - An empty pint glass is passed around and every person pours a bit of their drink in the glass. A coin is flipped and if you guess wrong then you have to down the contents of the pint glass.
Save the Queen - Very simple and is hardly called a game. A penny or two pence piece is dropped into by some person into your cup. If it is you have to down your drink to "save the Queen" from "drowning". This is more fun to do to other people, and annoying/can get dangerous when it is done to you.
*Pub Golf - Now why is this here twice? Because it's awesome. The point of the night is to go to 9 (or in extremely rare and epic cases 18) different pubs and bars. At everyone you have to drink a certain drink in a certain number of goes, i.e. downing a pint in two goes at one pub and a spirit and mixer in one go at the next one. Whatever that might be it's par for the pub and you mark down your score just like in golf. Also this is usually done in teams of two where the teammates are tied to each other by the arm. A lottery is held and most times the teams are co-ed. This means that if one of you has to visit the little girls' or little boys' room your partner has to tag along. Literally. Some sports clubs enforce this strictly, but if you have a beneficent captain teammates are allowed to slip off the tether to use the toilet. But, there are only one of two pubs on the list called "water holes" where one is even allowed to use the toilet. Needless to say this gets everyone beyond inebriated, and that is why it is one of the most epic nights ever.

Often times as well there will be one person who will be the butt of all the jokes of the night and will probably be the drunkest by the end of it. No, it is not the captain(s), it is usually a person that did something stupid throughout the time of the previous social and the present one. This is called getting "dicked on" and it usually is accompanied by some form of humiliation, or clothing, or humiliation in the form of clothing that sets this person apart from the rest of the team. An example: Badminton has a lovely fisherman's hat which is adorned with shuttlecocks. Guess what they call the person who has to wear this? Here's a hint. **** of the week.

After all the games and all the costumes and the taxis and walking in the bitter cold, like a great exodus, all the students leave the pubs, bars, and clubs to come back to University where they congregate in the Students' Union club to dance the night away. Looking on this scene is like looking through a portal to Imagination Land, all the creatures and characters of a child's dreams and nightmares coming together to express their love of youth, life, and sports.

'...and I live by the river.'

London: what to say about it that hasn't already been said? So here is another list.

A list of London-ish things and realizations.

• There is an exit off the Underground which takes you straight to Big Ben, and believe me, there is a reason it's called 'Big'. (I'm sure there is also a reason it's called 'Ben', but I don't know it.) I stood there, like a complete twit, staring up at one of the world's biggest national icons not believing how close one could actually get to it. I teared up, no joke. (Also I am aware that the bell is called 'Big Ben', not the clock tower.)
• The language least spoken in London: English.
• It's a bit hard to find a palace guard that one can take a picture with. Remember Eurotrip? Well there is a reason it's called Hollywook magic because it is actually fairly hard to find a palace guard that wears a bearskin. If one is to find him he is usually inside the palace gates, and unless your name has a title attached to it you can't really get in there. If you were to find the two in the whole of the city that aren't inside the gates, they will be surrounded by a mass of other people. Good luck getting close enough for an intimate picture while 60 other people are pushing their children at armed guards.
• Out of all the McDonalds in all of London my friend and I happened to be in one at the same time as three other people visiting London from Ormskirk.
• No one cares if you are American. Unlike in the North West, where people are always commenting on your 'lovely American accent', the people in London can't be bothered to care.
• It is ridiculously expensive. A cocktail in Ormskirk: max £4.50, and that, to be fair, is pricey. A cocktail in London: £7.25, and this is a fairly basic cocktail, like a double vodka and RedBull
• There is a reason they call it a 'hole in the wall'. Restaurants like this in cities are not like the 'hole in the wall' you will find in a small town. It is not an old pub which has stood the test of time and secretly serves the best steak and ale pie known to mankind; it is a shady chinese buffet which gives new definition to the term 'mystery meat'.
• London is so crowded with anxiously hurrying people that there will be a time in your stay there where you will break down to your lowest low and want to physically hit an elderly person for throwing you off a bus.