What's the Deal?

Warning: this post is extremely family friendly.

Today I got to check out Deal a bit more with my Gma and my dad. It's so cute. The town is right on the water, so it's nice to have that fresh sea breeze. One thing my dad pointed out was that everything is smaller in England except the seagulls. Now, those things are huge!

Here's some pics for you -

Looking up at the beach front houses of Deal

Typical English sight - "Wellingtons" and a red telephone box.

Flying the Union Jack proudly.

Deal Castle, very tiny!

Tiny chalets on Deal's beach - enough room for a stove to make tea

and store some things for the summer time. Cute!

I had my aunt's delish shepard's pie for dinner, which most Americans either hate or don't know what it is. I learned this in 4th grade at International Food Day when nobody ate the British shepard's pie that my mom and I brought. Maybe it looked intimidating? From that day, I have decided to stand up for it, and I won't knock it ever again. Here's a pic just for fun.

Mmm... hearty English meal

That's it for today! Have a great weekend everyone.

Planes, Trains, and Jetlag

Today has been a long day. I flew with my mom from Houston to London on an overnight flight, landing at 9am England time (3am Texas time), and have been up since. This is my best strategy on conquering jetlag in one day - sleep on the plane and don't nap until 9 or 10pm, then sleep like a baby until the morning. We'll see how it goes!

I had been telling myself for the past few weeks that I must pack light. Despite all the self pep-talks on my packing strategy, I still managed to load up two huge rolling bags (Big Blue and the duffle-wannabe-rolling-bag) and my hiking backpack. They had to be under 50 lbs or else Continental charges $100 each! Big Blue came in at 49.5 and the other at 48.5. Oh yeah, baby! Luckily I can leave these bags at my Grandma's house for now and just lug around my backpack, but getting all of it from Amsterdam to Delft is going to be hilarious. 

Proud Becca with her within-weight-limit-bags

My other realization today was that my super cool turquoise colored hiking bag is not so super cool in England. Don't get me wrong, I love this backpack. But, I forgot how dreary everyone dresses! Black, brown, navy, maroon is pushing it, absolutely no burnt orange, and definitely no turquoise. My bag says AMERICAN TOURIST all over it. Oh well...

I took a few underground (tubes) and trains to get over to my Gma's new house in Deal on the east coast of England. One of my favorite things about England is the food you can buy at M&S, or Marks and Spencer. They have super healthy and delicious ready made meals for a decent price. I grabbed a quick lunch at M&S while switching trains - wheatberries & giant couscous with roasted butternut squash, yum! I think all the boys stopped reading my post just now.

Yummy M&S meal with my obnoxious hiking backpack on the train

Deal is an adorable town right by the water, and you can see France from the coast. I've never been able to visit my aunt, uncle, & cousins on this side of England, so it's great to spent time with them. I could get to Delft by ferry & train from here - it's really not that far. We saw a rainbow when we got close to Deal. Sorry my photos are so lame this time, I promise they'll get better!

Rainbow before Deal

Over the next week I'm visiting family, so I'll post a little bit here and there about my time in England. I'll have a lot more to post about when I get to Holland on Feb 3rd. Stay tuned!

Getting Ready

2012 is a big year for me. I am excited beyond belief to live in the Netherlands, really live and experience the European culture, and travel as much as possible. I'm very grateful to have this opportunity, and I plan to make the most of it.

I've never blogged before, but this year of my life definitely deserves a blog. For those who don't know, I'm studying abroad at TU Delft as my last semester in petroleum engineering. It's an exchange program that UT offers, and not enough students do! After I finish in July, I'm walking the Camino de Santiago with Sarah Hill. Then... who knows? until December when I start my "big girl job" in Denver. My plan is find a long-term volunteering position for a few months, preferably somewhere that speaks Spanish so I can put that hard earned Spanish minor to use (ha).

It's finally hitting me - I leave tomorrow! Reasons why it's hitting me:
- I had to say lots of tough good byes this week
- When people ask "when do you leave?" I'm finally down to... "tomorrow"
- There's no more college kids at my local gym
- I now realize how hard it is to fit everything you need for 6+ months in two bags

Here's what I know so far:
- I need a bike
- People want to visit me... because I'm close to Amsterdam
- There's a co-ed water polo club that practices Monday, Tuesday and Friday evenings. They're building a women's team slowly.
- I register for classes, start classes, and move into my apartment ALL on February 6
- I have my own, single apartment west of campus until early April
- Then, I move into a 5 bedroom apartment with other exchange students in April
- Classes/exams finish July 6 at the latest

Things I'm worried/sad about:
- Lugging all my stuff from Amsterdam to Delft without looking like an awkward American. Good thing my mom is coming for this part so we can be out of place together.
- People don't wear helmets in the Netherlands, I've fallen off my road bike many times and had stitches on my chin twice; I think I need a helmet!!
- My classes have no grades until the final exam, and my letter grade transfers back to UT
- Missing everyone, and missing out on my awesome UT women's water polo team's tournaments, practices, potlucks, parties, and friendships. Good luck girls, I know you are national's worthy!
- Missing senior design with my fellow PGE'ers
- Breakfast tacos are quite possibly not very popular in Delft

Things that I'm beyond excited about:
- Making friends from all over the world
- Traveling on weekends, Europe can be so small!
- Taking interesting classes, many taught by Shell employees (the headquarters is just down the road)
- Taking a field geology class in Germany for a week
- Learning Dutch-style water polo& being part of a new team
- Drinking excellent beer
- Biking EVERYWHERE
- Seeing lots of tulips in the spring
- A break from my iPhone


I realize that after 4 years of engineering and water polo club emailing, I'm a huge fan of bullet points :)