"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.