Merry Christmas!

Hey guys,

This week I have been pretty busy. I have gone to Glasgow for my Christmas holiday. I also went to Doncaster yesterday to see some family friends. We left early in the morning as it is a 4 hour drive from Glasgow to Doncaster. I wish I could have spent a bit more time in Doncaster though. This is the second time we’ve been to Doncaster and we just go to our friend’s house and then leave. I really wanted a nice picture in Doncaster which did not happen. The family we went to visit has 3 children pretty close in age with my sister and I. Two days ago we spent the day at a chiropractor clinic in Glasgow as my mom put her back out. It was a long night before that as we had to help her get up and down and walk with her and so on. I also tried deep fried pizza for the first time. I just thought hey when in Rome… haha. I was surprised though I thought it would be covered in batter and deep fried but it wasn’t it just looked like normal pizza but kind of tasted like KFC.

I don’t have a lot that has happened yet but I will try my best to keep you guys updated if anything exciting happens. In the next couple days we are visiting more family friends. Today we are going to a Christmas dinner at a friend’s house and same with tomorrow. Oh in other exciting news my friend’s sister had her baby. Anyways I will update you all later. I just wanted to wish you a Merry Christmas.

Merry Christmas! Hope you guys have a great day.

Ashley xx

Very Exciting Week

Hey guys,

Last week was fantastic. I think it was one of the best if not the best weeks I’ve had since I’ve come to London. On Tuesday I went to see “BackChat” with another girl from Canada which was a lot of fun. The guests were Miranda Hart and Joan Collins. Miranda was very funny as well as Jack and Michael Whitehall and I learnt who Joan was that day as well. On Wednesday I went into central London to meet my cousin for dinner (which was great). I got to see Piccadilly Circus lit up for Christmas which was very pretty. I was really craving a burger and fries which I finally got and was fabulous. On Saturday I went to the stables to go for an induction so I would be able to start volunteering in the new year. Sunday I went out for lunch to my family friend’s house and we ate, watched Harry Potter, and got to cuddle with her dog, Gerry. Lastly this week I can not forget the most memorable, most exciting, most wow moment I’ve had in a long time. On Thursday I got to go the the BBC Music Awards!!!!!!!! I was so excited; the line up was amazing it included Ed Sheeran, Coldplay, Clean Bandit, Calvin Harris (with John Newman and Ellie Goulding), George Ezra, Will.i.am, Take That, Labrinth and Ella Henderson, and the one the only ONE DIRECTION!! It was so good though I was right at the front so when Ed Sheeran was preforming he was literally right in front of me. The only downside was that One Direction preformed on the other side of the stage to where I was standing. We all got wrist bands that lit up and there was paper stars, strips, and gold sparkles that were shot into the air at different times. Coldplay preformed first which was amazing. I have always wanted to see Coldplay and they did not disappoint. We got in line at 4:30 and had to wait for doors to open at 6, which was pretty cold (I couldn’t feel my feet). Once we got inside though we found our spot which was wonderful and waited for the show to start. One thing I noticed was I thought that since we were in the standing area at the front it would be a bit more rowdy. I thought it would be like a music festival or like pushing or jumping or something but there was none of that. People all just picked their spot to stand and then never moved from that spot and were never really wild or anything. There was some screaming and lots of singing along and arms waving but it was all pretty calm for the most part. It was just the most amazing experience and I’m glad I got to go. I was so excited for Ed Sheeran and One Direction and now I really want to see both of them in concert so badly. I was talking to my sister after the event and I was just saying I just want to see them even more in concert now and I want to meet them and just be friends with them. I know that  makes me sound a bit crazy but oh well. It definatly one of the big highlights of my year and something I will always remember.

After the awards show my friend and I were talking about how through going to these type of events and tv show recordings (and her interning at a radio station) we are realizing that all of these performers or hosts or what ever they do are all just people. People like you and I but with a different talent. We were even talking about YouTubers in the same way because they are just people as well. We were also saying a difference we saw in the UK was that radio presenters are like celebrities here which we find kind of odd. We were talking about how society raises these people to a level above everyone else and its not right. It somewhat dehumanizes them. They are then known to everybody as a celebrity and not really seen as a person as much. I know this is a whole conversation and post of its own but I think people just need to realize that everybody is the same and people just have different talents but everybody is somebody’s brother/sister or cousin or friend or son/daughter. I realized this especially two years ago when I was talking to a girl who knew my cousin because he was on a singing show in Taiwan. It just made it clear that he could make it somewhere if he wanted to in the music business but either way he is still just my cousin and is the same person I grew up with and I’ll always see him that way. I just think that other people must think the same thing whither you are related to One Direction, Coldplay, Jack Whitehall, or somebody known well locally. Okay enough of this for now; I think this is a whole conversation for a later time but is really some food for thought.

This week won’t be half as interesting or busy as last week. I really have nothing to do until Thursday now. I am cleaning this week mostly, not that anything is messy. I am just doing a lot of laundry and getting ready for my mom to get here on Thursday. My whole family is spending Christmas together and we are going on vacation. Oh this week also I had another weird dream; this one was about pigeons. First of all I am terrified of pigeons; in my dream I had pigeons attacking me and I couldn’t do anything about it. Then on Saturday I was on the tube and there was a man feeding pigeons near the tube and I thought they were going to fly into the tube. Well the moral of that story is now I am even more terrified of pigeons and this is after I thought I was getting better about them.

In other news I’ve been craving take away pizza with the crust stuffed with cheese, fries, and mozzarella sticks. If anybody knows where the best places to get these are please let me know and I will be extremely grateful. I also got the BarryM lipstick Genie which is super cool and I have absolutely fallen in love with. You guys should let me know if you want to know about any of the stuff I’ve gotten or been loving and maybe I will do a post either as somewhat of a haul or a favourites. Let me know if you would want that though otherwise I will just continue on writing on what I’ve been up to lately.

I think thats everything for this update and I hope you liked all the pictures. I will update you hopefully a couple more times before Christmas but we’ll have to see how many times I am able to post closer to the time. Anyways Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays. I hope you have a good festive season.

Ashley xx

Festive Spirit and Trying New Things

Hey Guys,

I know I said I was going to update you guys on the weekend or Monday and I didn’t get a chance. Sorry. This week I had the last Girl Guides of this term which was a lot of fun. There were 3 girls who made their promise as well as 5 girls who were moving on to either Guides or Scouts. There were 2 leaders who also made their promises and we had a bake sale. The bake sale went really well and they raised £50 for charity. It was sad to see 5 girls go but they will have lots of fun with their next adventure. I also got my window handle fixed this week and picked up my glasses. On the weekend I went to a photography class and then to a family friend’s house for dinner and then a korfball disco. I am still getting used to these discos. The British seem to have a lot of discos and also seem to like to line dance. I also got to start my advent calendar which I am absolutely loving!

I also realized just how cold it can get in the UK. I thought I could get away with having a relatively warm winter, which I guess it is, but there is frost in the morning and at night already. It is bloody cold out. I’m starting to dig out the lighter winter jacket already with mitts and a toque. I’ve had my heat on as well and I’m still cold. I also have like no warm winter shoes; so I’ve been wearing my converse and my feet freeze in them. The warmest shoes I have are my fall boots which I wear quite often too.

I feel like not much interesting happens. Tonight I am going to see “BackChat” with another girl from Canada which should be fun. May be cold but still fun. I am also getting excited because my mom and sister are coming to London in just under a week and a half. My lights have started burning out and so I’m excited for my mom to come and have a car to help me look for light bulbs. Today is also my youngest cousin’s birthday, he’s turning 16, so I will try and call him today after he is done school. I tried yesterday but he was locked out of his house.

On Saturday when I went to my family friend’s house for dinner I tried new food. That may not sound that impressive to you guys but anybody who knows me will know that is a big achievement for me. I tried zucchini and eggplant (or aubergine) as well as a bit of a long red pepper. The zucchini and pepper weren’t bad but I wasn’t a fan of the eggplant, but I did try it at least. I told my cousin this and he was very proud of me but just wait till he finds out the new food I tried was zucchini and eggplant. I also tried the honey and almond hot chocolate at Starbucks and it is so amazing.

When my mom comes she is bringing me a book to read which I am actually really excited for, its called “Listen to the Squawking Chicken”. I am trying to read more but I haven’t been super successful; I’m hoping this book will change that. I have also been in a super festive mood. I’ve watched a boat load of Christmas movies and went to a museum to see something called “Christmas Past” which was quite cool. I also made lasagna last night which was quite good and made banana chocolate chip pancakes this morning. I also realized that I can sometimes feel a draft though my wall which is just messed up…

Anyways I will update you guys either Friday or Sunday and I promise this time that it will be one of those days. I have some stuff I am super excited for so I’m sure I will want to update you as soon as possible. That post will hopefully have some really cool pictures as well. I think this week will just enforce why I chose to come to London in the first place. Anyways I will talk to you soon.

Ashley xx.

 

Little Spiel of the Week

Hey guys,

Since I’ve been back from Edinburgh I feel like I haven’t done a ton. I came back on time with my flight and later that night I got sick. My sister had been sick and gave it to me but of course I didn’t catch it until once I got back and was by myself again. When I got back I immediately felt the loneliness as I had just come back from a house with four people, two dogs, and a cat. I didn’t really realize how much I missed just the extra noise of people until I came back and was by myself again. I can proudly say though since I’ve been back I have not thrown myself a one man pity party though. I got back and the next day ordered myself new glasses which I am super excited for. I was supposed to pick them up today but I got a call last night saying the lens weren’t ready yet so Friday it is hopefully. My mom also found out that I missed my plane to Edinburgh… I got a text last nights saying she found out and asking why I didn’t just tell her, so when I talk to her later today that should be an interesting conversation.

In other news I got a weird call from some lady telling me I could vote and now I keep thinking somebody’s going to come and murder me. I went to Girl Guide again as well and it was for the first time a full house, 26 children and 5 leaders. I am getting a lot better with children though and they asked me if I wanted to become a leader which I am strongly considering doing. This week is the last Girl Guide’s of the term and I think they are having a bit of a bake sale which is exciting. That week there are also three girls making their promises and there are 5 girls moving on to guides I think it is from Brownies.

I didn’t do a whole ton later that week until Sunday. I had talked to my cousin earlier in the week and we had talked about hanging out and the day before he told me he had gotten sick as well and he would text me in the morning to tell me if he was feeling up to it. So we ended up hanging out as two sick people and I’m sure you could tell we were kind of still sick. We went to dim sum and I tried some square thing that involves radish. It was okay. My cousin then told me I was the whitest person he knew and that he knew white people who ate more dim sum than me. He told me because I am half Chinese I should embrace all the different foods. I was not eating something with fish eggs on top or something with bones in it. I did try the radish thing though. I told him I tried custard for the first time since I was here and I liked it a lot and he just laughed at me and told me to eat food without 1000g of sugar. We then went to the office he’s been working at and sat in a green house type thing and did some work for a couple hours. The office was quite cool and something I imagine YouTubers and very creative people working at. We went to Costa after and did a bit more work before going to see “Gone Girl”. It was a pretty good movie, we had both heard loads about it and thought it was something we should see if it has had so much talk about it. We did not know going into it that it was like three hours long though. We left just talking about it because there was just so much going on in that movie. I feel like it was a very well shot movie and made sense for the most part but it kind of fell apart at the end because all you think about is what about the evidence. I don’t want to give too much away from the movie but it was good and the first 18+ movie I’ve ever seen. I was telling my cousin just wait when I go home and its dark and I’m going to sleep I’m just going to hear like the pipes and think I am going to get murdered. I was okay though. He left the movie just saying well I’m never getting married, which I laughed at thats what he got out of it. It was really nice spending time with somebody who you know genuinely cares about you and will listen to your crappy stories and laugh at them and understand and listen to your problems when you have nobody else and understands your situation and all the little parts as well. Its just comforting to have him there for me and knowing that if I ever need him he’ll be there and even if he is the only family I have right now with me he’s the only one I would want with me if I had to choose anybody. Okay this is getting sappy now but I honestly love him to bits and he’ll always be my older cousin that takes care of me and used to play with us when we were little and let us jump on him and chase him and always let us win and make us laugh.

Anyways hopefully I’ll get my glasses soon and my mom and sister will be here to see me soon before we meet up with my dad to go on our Christmas holiday. I started my advent calendar today as well which I was excited for. I also am now seriously looking into some classes to take to try and figure out what I want to do with my life before I apply for university. I also need to figure out what country and city I want to go to university in. There is a lot I need to learn and figure out this year and I feel like it will be a world wind adventure. It will have ups and downs and hopefully more ups than downs. I also am proud of myself as I have survived just over a month now by myself and I may have had a couple one man pity parties but I’m alive and for the most part happy and closer to my sister than ever and feel like for the first time the cousin I am closest to is my cousin in London. Which makes sense but I just am enjoying it so much because since he’s older than me and not very close to the rest of the family he doesn’t come with any baggage and he’s old enough that he has somewhat figured himself out and has an idea of what he wants. I’ve always been close to my girl cousins and never a guy and its just so much simpler and he teaches me things and sometimes pushes me when I need to be but he also knows how to make me feel not alone and comforts me and teases me and just makes me laugh at the little things and know how to cheer me up. We aren’t as close as siblings but sometimes I feel like we almost act like brother and sister but only in the positive ways. I feel like this is also getting sappy and should just stop before it gets too long just like pretty much every other post I’ve made. This was supposed to be a nice little ending to my post but nope my brain just kept running and this is what came out.

Okay this time I swear I am going to try and wrap this up short, concise, and sweet. Okay well I can try but I don’t know how it will work. Thanks for listening to my spiel and very soon I promise it will get more interesting as I have some really cool things lined up next week that I am super excited for.

Ashley xx