ladybug

So, while in the health center to get a flu test, this wonderful lady comes into the room.

"OK Alison Harman, we're going to do a flu test. Now what I'm going to have you do, ladybug, is [blah blah blah, flu tests are slightly gross and uncomfortable.]"

But so wonderful. 'Ladybug' was a recurring theme. Then she gave me orange juice.

I highly recommend the health center on a Saturday. Much more lovely than usual.

Longest travel ever

I have been awake for 32 and a half hours. And it's been that long since I've showered. EW EW.

GNVSDNCZXVKBFMDLW:AK NLBFVFMLWDQ:S.

Events:

March 7th, Switzerland
11.00 Wake up, pack, say goodbye to cute Leo and Emma.
3.47 Catch train to Zurich
4.30 Arrive in Zurich, buy a baby iPod for the ride back.
6.00 Eat at Hiltl, which, opened in 1898, is Europe's oldest vegetarian restaurant. YEAH.
8.30 Meet Cary's friends and go to a pub called the "Twist," short for Oliver Twist. A very tall guy in a green shirt fell on me and sat there for a moment. Another not very drunk guy accidentally spilled beer on my new boots. Some drink called a "Snake bite" is aptly named. A British guy named Francis wore a starched white dress shirt, striped vest and pants, red tie and PEARL EARRINGS. Yeah, earrings.
March 8th, Switzerland, London, Boston, Raleigh
12.30 Catch a train to the airport
12.45 to 5.00 a.m. Spend the night in the creepy airport. This deserves its own timeline.
12.45 Creepy
1.00 Find a set of chairs to sleep on
1.30 After hearing Spice Girls, Lou Bega, that Venus song from the commercial, Britney Spears and N'Sync, we figure the airport personnel are attempting to make us leave.
2.00 Walk into the women's bathroom and see two people ***about*** to have sex. awwwwwkward.
2.15 Relocate to another part of the airport, plug in the computer in the chapel, download and watch Mean Girls.
5.00 Walk upstairs to check in, flight is cancelled.
6.00 Get a new flight, sit in the terminal.
7.10 a.m to 6.55 p.m. (plus six hours because of the time difference) TRAVEL
No Country For Old Men was playing on the plane. And it was edited, so I could watch it. YES. Though, really, I liked the book a lot better. I guess that's how it's supposed to be.

Travel in pictures

Heagline goes here

Although I am most definitely in Europe, it hardly feels like it. Except that the z and the y are switched on the keyboard and it's really quite strange.

But I have done some things that are very Euro.

Here is a list for your reading pleasure:

Changed clothes in a graffiti-ridden train bathroom.
Jumped onto a train track and under a train so I could retreive my book.
Stayed in a hostel, which is so not like the movie.
Had a Thai beer in a Swiss-Thai restaurant.
Had gross cider in a creepy under-hostel bar thing.
Bought flat, brown boots.
Bought a loaf of bread and some cheese for lunch and ate it at a train station.

Here is a list of why I haven't realized my full Euro potential:

I do not speak a word of German, so I am forced to be one of those annoying American tourists who expects everyone to know English. Which they all do. But still.
I cannot ski, so while my stepsister is skiing the Alps, I am here, in the Happy Inn hostel, blogging.

Being over here makes me hate America for its ugliness and refusal to conserve land and energy. Also, for being stubborn and not instilling a popular, functional train system. Everyone here uses trains. All the time. Why don't we have them?!

There is a mountain in Interlaken called "Grindelwald." ZES!

Carbon dioxide is the new oxygen

I am sitting in the New York JFK airport and it is mid-day department store sketchy, so I bought Internet connection for $7.95.

Here is a conversation with Helen.

Helen: also the boy next door is BLASTING some REALLY AWESOME JAMZ
ahahhaa

Alison: hahahah
I LEFT MY HEADPHONES
AND I AM FORCED
TO LISTEN TO ThiS
JUNGLE MUSIC

Helen: OHHHH MY GOSH NO HEADPHONES!!!!
you need to buy some!
while in flight!
tax free!

Alison: i'm broke!
OH!
they provide them!

Helen: SERIOUSLY alison
headphones = carbon dioxide
or whatever we breathe

Alison: HAHA
HAHAHAHA
HAHAHAHAHAHAH
HAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA
HAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH
CARBON

Helen: I DONT EVEN KNOW WHAT WE BREATHE

Alison: DIOXIDE
IS
POISONOUS

Helen: AHAHAHAHAHA CRAPPP!!!
CRAP!
CRAP!
what do we breathe, then???

Alison: HAHAHAHAHAHAH
OXYGEN?!?!

Helen: OH YEAH THATS RIGHT
AHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHA

Alison: lawd
HELEN

Helen: i am SO DUMB
i am cracking up

Alison: I AM LAUGHING SO MUCH

Helen: AHAHAHAHA A GERMAN MAN IS ENJOYING IT
hahahahahhaaha
goddddddddddddd
i am so ridiculous

Prague: June 2 - June 26

I am going here this summer.

Just My Luck

Last week, a series of unlucky events plagued Maggie's days. First there was the chocolate milk vs. purse incident, then the unfortunate ordering circumstance. The list went on, and every time she related a new one I could not stop laughing. Literally, I just kept laughing.

Here's why: every one of my weeks is composed of very unlucky things. They happen so often that I don't even think of them. Last week, however, was somewhat peaceful. Things went smoothly, I didn't die of stress, I was less clumsy than usual. It was glorious.

The conclusion: I got Maggie's luck for a week. Unfortunately, she took it back Saturday night/early Sunday. I could tell because everything I touched just about broke.

Here are some unfortunate things that have happened, just today:

• I got three hours of sleep because I didn't have time to study for my LA history test, and I'm having to do it now.
  
• I tried to brush my hair with my toothbrush.
• I put my hairbrush under the faucet because I thought it was my toothbrush, even though the two are clearly different.
  
• I spent an hour reading 10 pages of my LA history book that I didn't even need to study. It's the part about colonies gaining independence. Hello, my test is about independence and beyond.
  
• People here are sneezing a lot, and listening to really bad music very loudly.
• Had an awkward run-in with an ex-writer.
• Who thinks it's a good idea to sort out their personal life in the library? I hate you.
• I had to leave the library because it was too loud. The LIBRARY. Then I went and sat in a freezing cold classroom and studied.
• I failed my Italian quiz, I know it.
• My cell phone went off in Latin. Very, very loudly. It took forever to find it, and then I pulled it out just in time for the line, "I got raging drunk with --". The guy sitting next to me laughed [at me].
• Oh hi, AT&T. Thanks for dropping my interview with the director of admissions -- twice.
• I'd forgotten what it was like to BS essays -- I haven't written any in so long!
  
• Identify and give the significance for the War in the Pacific.
• Oh hell, I've never heard of that. I'm guessing it was on the Pacific coast. Here is what I wrote: The War in the Pacific, like so many other events, caused a rift in Latin American trade. Commerce was almost brought to a halt, as in Brazil, where farmers stopped growing crops. There was little trade among the Pacific coast as well as from the Pacific coast to Europe.
• "Like so many other events"?? WHAT.
  

Updating for the sake of updating

Top songs of the week

Independent -- some rapper
Hallelujah -- Jeff Buckley
Halloweenhead -- Ryan Adams
The Mariner's Revenge Song -- The Decemberists
Mirror, Mirror -- Whiskeytown
Boyz -- M.I.A.
I Remember; Seahorse -- Devendra Banhart
Bigmouth Strikes Again -- The Smiths


Wilco is lovely because they're one of those bands you can identify on the spot because of the lead singer.

AIM log; 2:24 a.m.

Maggie: is abby asleep?
Alison: yes
Maggie: are you watching her sleep?
Alison: no weirdo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
HAHAHAH
so weird
Maggie:hahahah
i just thought you WOULD do that

Sometimes I wonder just what kind of vibe I give off.