The cinema, the castle, the club, and ABBA

Hello hello,

Having decided that Saturday will be the official update-my-blog day, here is update #2. Nothing too exciting has happened since last Saturday but, in true Kelsea fashion, I'll make a list:

1. Went to a movie (*film) at a British movie theater (*cinema)

This wasn't actually too exciting but we did have to drive a little ways to get there, on the left side of the road, and having never been in a car at night here it was actually really scary and confusing (I think it was the headlights). We originally were going to see the Che Guevara movie but somehow got stuck seeing Sex Drive which sounds really terrible and is really terrible. It's one of those movies like Superbad where they use really offensive humor (*humour) to entertain high school-aged kids. I will admit that it secretly made me miss America though (they go on a road trip through the mid-west) and I left the theater with a craving for Taco Bueno. (Side note: whenever my friends from here say "taco" ("tock-o"), they say "taack-o", which is hilarious.)

2. Hung out at the Castle and giggled at the Queen's guards' hats

Once we got over the initial excitement of being at the castle, it was really fun just to remind each other/ourselves that we were in the castle when we were doing really un-castle-like things. That sounds bad, but I mean silly things like flying remote control helicopters, or making pancakes. Oh yeah, and the guards. Hilarious. They're the ones who aren't allowed to talk or move. It sounds like such a cliche, but when you see them standing there with their fuzzy hats (*bearskins) you immediately want to go and try to get a reaction out of them. Or just giggle.

3. Went out dancing at a proper club

This is something I would never do in Wichita! I had heard really terrible things about the huge clubs here and how gross the people there were, but somehow I was convinced to go last Sunday. Maybe it was because it was a Sunday and all the gross people were at home, but I definitely had so much fun. This place is called Liquid- they have the ropes outside, and it costs £6 to get in ($9) and £1.50 ($2.25) to check your coat, which you are required to do. The thing I like about it though is they have two dance rooms, one that plays really terrible hip-hop and Britney Spears and such, and one that plays good new music and even better old music. (Needless to say, we hung out in the latter.) I did find out that if you're going to go, take your own guys with you, because otherwise you'll be asked to dance by all kinds of gross dudes, (who can somehow always spot my accent just after a "HUH?")

4. Sang lots of ABBA and made lots of cheese on toast, both for the children

I had never seen Mamma Mia! (the musical made up of ABBA songs) or really listened to ABBA before I came here, but Louise, my lovely host mom (*mum) got the DVD for Christmas and I've probably seen it about 6 times now. The boys love it! Thomas (the 3-year-old) and I were on our way back from swimming lessons at the Leisure center (that's LEE-sure, I refuse to say LEH-sure no matter how much I get made fun of!) and I was pushing him in the stroller (*pram) singing Super Trouper quite obnoxiously, all the while Thomas was very adamantly correcting my mis-sung lyrics. Speaking of Thomas, I make him lunch after picking him up from pre-school (*nursery) everyday and I think I'm becoming quite the pro on British kid food. Back home it's peanut butter & jelly (*jam) and grilled cheese, but here it's Marmite soldiers and cheese on toast, (I showed him the peanut butter sandwich I was eating and he promptly "eww"ed). When he asked for cheese on toast the first time, I thought about it a little and came back with a delicious grilled cheese sandwich. Cheese on toast, however, is exactly that, some toast with melted cheese on top, and he couldn't understand why I had stuck the bread together. Silly American!

Thanks for reading, and now I'm going to work on posting some pictures. Promise!

Love love love,
Kelsea

*indicates silly British counter-word