So you decided to get educated abroad...

Now that I have completed my foreign legal education I feel it pertinent to bestow some words of advice upon those who are seeking to do the same. I'm also going to do another comparison of Canada vs UK. and this time the topics are more annoying than not having buttered popcorn.  

Education (with a rambling back story...)

Most people who know me well, know that when I started university becoming a lawyer was not remotely in my sights. I thought I wanted to be a doctor, hence why I started a BScH in Biology*. But after a much 'party hardy' first year at Queen's University, my lowly 70 something average, was never going to get my ass in to med school. So I looked in different directions. First, Pharmacy, then Occupational therapy then finally... Law! The first time law was even put on my radar was actually by a pharmacist. I was working as a pharmacy technician during my pharmacy phase, and one of the pharmacist, who was rather apathetic towards his career choice actually said to me, "don't become a pharmacist, become a patent lawyer, that's where the money is."I laughed it off at the time, but would actually like to tell him some day how that off-the-cuff statement has stuck with me. Not that money is everything, but oh my google law is far more interesting than pharmacology (in my personal opinion). I can't actually remember when I was spurred on to law exactly, but a large reason is my good friend's mother who is an awesome lady and a lawyer. Once I decided this though it was too late for me to get a minor in politics or anything that might really help prepare me for law, but I took as many arts courses as I could and got a second undergrad just to help boost my average. But alas, I wasn't able to drag my average up high enough to get considered for an Ontario law school without an exceptional LSAT (law school application test). I wrote that twice and despite a pretty good result, I then learned about Buckingham Uni I decided not to apply to Ontario schools as it costs a pretty penny and even if I had a hope in heck of getting in I wouldn't be starting until Sept 2011. Applying to Bucks was free and I got my response within 2 weeks. Therefore in April 2010 I knew I'd be starting Law School in Jan 2011 AND it would only take me 2 years (as we went straight through the summers). Plus as everyone can see from previous posts, there were massive opportunities for travel, which I fully took advantage of (didn't write about my trip to Spain in Sept 2012 oops). All the great stuff aside there are major drawbacks to being educated abroad. The cost is very high, not tuition particularly as it was about $50000 for two years, which is on par with Ontario schools, but the living costs are certainly more than expected. Buckingham is a small town with a population of about 10,000 and the rent is on par with a city like Ottawa. Then there's the other costs... I may have gotten out of the application costs for Ontario schools but am getting slapped with test fees for the equivalency exams I have to take when I get back. I will have to take a minimum of 5 tests, and they are around $350 each, plus the $450 just to apply to the accreditation board. All this was expected I might add, so I'm not complaining (well maybe a little as I'm fresh out of school and broke as a joke). I am going to be applying soon and should be writing the exams in October or January. 

Overall I am satisfied with my experience as I truly don't think I would have gotten in to a Canadian school without work experience and a killer LSAT since I drank my way through my first undergrad. Oh well, live and learn, but I will give a warning to anyone considering the same. A lot of Canadians are starting to follow suit so in the years to come I image that the Law Society will be more strict on foreign lawyers and make this route more difficult than it already is. I also think this may potentially unfairly prejudice actual foreign lawyers who are simply looking to move to Canada as it is a better place to live, and just aren't lazy people who didn't get good enough grades (like myself), or don't even want to bother with an undergrad, at all. In addition this may flood our legal system with more people unable to get Articling positions, and stuck in limbo with massive student debt. I am fully aware of how hypocritical this warning may be, and that's probably why thus far I've only accumulated undergrad degrees, but think it's worth keeping in mind. 

I haven't yet started on the job hunt back home, but this is another thing that I foresee being a downfall of being educated abroad. If I went to Oxford or Cambridge, an internationally recognized school this would be of no concern, but I went to a small private university that is well respected here, but that means next to nil across the pond. If you're taking this route, be sure to have some connections in the legal (or whatever) field as it's going to be tough to get a job applying cold.  I don't have any connections directly in the areas I wish to pursue, so we'll see how things work out. Strangely I'm not worried, but that's just me. So to wrap up this barrage of personal anecdotes, all in all, if you think you can get in to a Canadian school, do that. As much as I love my experience abroad, do it in your undergrad, not your professional qualification. I'm of course only speaking about law, I know nothing about any other educational areas. 

Ohhh England how you frustrate me...

After living in England for two years I can say with authority this country can frustrate me in ways I've never experienced back home. I'll try and keep this to two specific areas, driving and renting.

When you get to the UK you can drive on a foreign license for 1 year then you either have to take a test or if you come from a 'cooperating state' you can exchange your foreign license for a UK driver's license. So I did this after my year, but unless you take a road test you get some restrictions on your license. The main one of annoyance being that you can only drive automatic vehicles. I personally much prefer driving manual cars, and it is much easier to find a rental car that is manual. That's totally manageable and my brilliant mother bought us an automatic, so no issue there. But having access to said car has put me in contact with the UK Highway Code. First issue, SPEED CAMERAS. Fuck that fucking shit. And they snap your pic if you're going only 10% over the posted speed limit!! Soooo needless to say I have some points on my license. Another frustrating thing that we came to realize as a result of these speed cameras, is that their car insurance is retarded. I went home to Canada for the holidays and my mom called her car insurance and they said 'no problem your daughter (in fact anyone) can drive your car as a visiter as long as she has your permission." That is not the case here at all. Even if you have insurance on your car, and your friend has insurance on their's, there is no guarantee you can drive their car or vice versa. That lead me to taking the fall for a speed camera ticket as a friend of mine was driving my car and turns out she wasn't covered under my insurance, and had I said it was her, she would get slapped with a 1000 pound fine. That sucked because then subsequently I got another speed camera ticket. FML.

Now to the stupidest thing, by far, about England... Letting agents. In December, as I had finished school, I was moving out of our rental house in Buckingham. This is when I came to truly HATE letting agents. Letting agents act as a go-between for landlords and tenants. They make a landlords life really effing easy. All they have to do is surrender about 10% of the rent and they don't have to deal with annoying tenants. But they make life for tenants expensive as all hell. First, there are admin fees when signing the lease. Fair enough. But then there's house inspections, every quarter. For which they barge in and take pictures of YOUR premises and make you feel like you're doing things wrong (they do give you notice, but I was considering refusing entry based on my legal rights as this is ridiculous). But if you have something wrong, then they have to get approval from the landlord to get things fixed, which takes time... When you want to leave you are charged check out fees, and try, just TRY to get all your deposit back. HA! They charge you for everything. They expect some 'minor wear and tear' but believe me that means it should be pretty much in the exact same condition it was when you got the house. I cleaned the absolute shit out of my house and still got charge 185 pounds for cleaning, and another 140 for gardening. To top it all off, they charged me 75 pounds for disputing something on the check out!! I'm sorry I didn't want to pay to have the grass cut in DECEMBER since it didn't need to be cut when I left! Bullshit. Letting agents are a completely superfluous business venture, yet they are EVERYWHERE in the UK. Get off your asses landlords! For shit sakes you're making tenants miserable. Letting agents literally make their money by charging tenants for things that are completely unnecessary. It's thievery! Wow that was a lot of exclamation points, I apologize.  

Thankfully I will (hopefully) never again be dealing with these scum of the real estate industry. 

Well now it's time to actually give up my professional student days and jump in to the working world... Well maybe not quite yet. I'm sticking around in the UK for a few extra months to be with my toy boy and I'll find work wherever I can, and taking a trip to Australia for four weeks next month. Sorry this was such a long post, I'll write another after my Aus trip. I may even keep this up as I wade in to the working world.

Keep on keeping on y'all!

A.J.

xx


*Something I just want to add to that, I had TERRIBLE advice from my high school guidance counselor. When applying to Queen's there was the option of applying to Life Sciences which is what nearly everyone who wants to go to med school does, and when deciding between the options, my counselor told me it didn't really matter which one you apply to, you can change easily when you're there. That is just a bold faced lie. LifeSci is more difficult to get in to, and trying to change programs when you've already started is a pain in the ass, I would have had to wait to the end of first year and hope someone dropped out. Not that any of this is of particular importance now that I'm pursuing law, but had I applied to LifeSci and gotten in, things would have turned out much differently I imagine...

No dogs days of summer for this gal!

Explanations to come...

Zebras at the Whipsnade Zoo

Myself, Dad and Brett in Athens (Acropolis behind us)

Mom, myself and Brett at Greenwich Park 

The Needles on the Isle of Whight

Caitlin and myself in Marrakech

Sorry for the long gap between updates peeps! Much has happened in these last 6 months as you can imagine. My 6th term here at Buckingham wrapped up in the middle of June after my 3 exams. They went alright, would have liked the results to be a bit higher. I will sit my final exams and be all done at Bucks by December 14^th. It has gone crazy fast. The last few months have been really great especially thanks to my, wait for it, boyfriend. Been a long time since I’ve had one of those! We started seeing each other during the break in March, and made it official in April. He’s English, also goes to Bucks and things have gotten pretty serious. Not going to lie, there’s been a bit of a learning curve for me having a boyfriend. Bit out of practice. I don’t really mean like I want to see other guys or anything, but being accountable in general has been something to get used to. I have to care about how someone else feels now. What’s that about?! ;) I’ve been single forever! I think I may have been dangerously close to becoming like a bachelor who is so set in his ways no one can ever fit in their life, but obviously not quite as things are great and we’re even officially moving in together. Sounds insane but he hasn’t spent one night at his since like May AND his land lord has decided to kick everyone out of his house as the other dudes he lives with (none of whom are friends with each other, just randoms in a house) leave the place a complete mess. So it just makes sense. Save us all some money! We’re planning to stay together passed December but not stressing yet about where/how etc.  Alrighty so on to the other stuff!

After my exams in June I had three weeks off during which we spent some time at the bf’s mom’s before he went off to Turkey for a lads’ holiday. He lives south west of London in Kingston-Upon-Thames, which would be comparable to being in the GTA but not right downtown. It’s only a 15-20 min train ride to the middle of London.                   He left for Turkey on my birthday (booked before I decided not to go back to Canada for the break) so I spent my bday with my roommate! It was lovely actually. Had a Mexican dinner then went to Whipsnade Zoo the next day. It’s a small zoo that is incomparable to the Toronto zoo but it was still fun. Highlight definitely was seeing a turtle fight. Hilarious. The next day I was then off to Greece!

The trip to Greece was amazing. Brett and I went with our Dad, his girlfriend and her two daughters who are 21 and 24. We were a bit nervous about meeting the girls and spending 9 days with them, but we could not of had more fun. We spent our first two nights in Athens where we did the history/cultural leg of the holiday. This would have been a bit nicer had my Dad not accidently booked us a hotel in the sketchiest area of Athens. Ironically my Dad’s girlfriend is Greek and knows this about Athens but he booked the hotel on his own… Silly man. It was essentially at the corner of Crack and Whore. We just had to be careful, never walked far and always cabbed back at night. One day we did walk a little ways as it was daylight and we were all together, and we saw someone in the middle of a heroin high for sure. It was fuckkeedd. And the second night, we’d just gotten back and a couple ran into the lobby and the woman was balling her eyes out, they had just been held up at gun point. Ya, so if you go to Athens stay the fuck away from Amonia (sp?). Other than the scariness of where the hotel was Athens was awesome. The ancient buildings and artifacts are amazing and so interesting to see. There are some gorgeous areas near the Parthenon museum that would be nice to stay in for sure. After our two nights in Athens we then took a horribly long ferry to Mykonos.

Mykonos was a party. This is where Brett, myself and the girls really bonded in the typical way, by getting absolutely smashed. Dad had brought two 1.5L bottles of Costco vodka over with him and we polished all but a couple shots of one of them the first night. It was messy. And the rest of the week there continued in the same fashion. Sleep till noon, tan, nap and drink. We always did dinner with Dad and his gf but did mostly our own stuff at night. Dad and his gf had been to Mykonos the year before and made friends with these two brothers who ran a bar so we could go there and drink and then Dad would come pay the tab off the next day. Pretty sweet deal. Mykonos is amazing. I would highly recommend it. Little bit expensive for students travelling, especially the drinks in some of the clubs, however the food was amazing, and the town was so cool. All stone streets with white buildings. Lots of partying till the sun came up. Only thing I don’t like about Greece after now being there a few times is that the beaches aren’t sand beaches, well where I’ve been anyway. It’s nice as sand doesn’t get everywhere, but hurts the feet a bit. However guess I shouldn’t whine about being in paradise.

After Mykonos Brett and I returned to the rain and chill that is England. It was apparently the wettest June they’ve had since records have been kept. Oh well. I was back at school starting my 7^th and second to last term at bucks. My courses this term are actually pretty great. I have Law of Evidence, Law of Trusts and Sports law. Of course trusts can be a bit boring, but the other two are fascinating. Sports is obviously right up my alley, and is really what I’m hoping to pursue as it’s a big thing in Canada, and the US and is starting to become bigger over here too. It’s been poignant especially with the Olympics! The Olympics were really great to be here for. I think everyone in England was shocked at how awesome it was. There were ads earlier this year say “stay in England for the summer” as people were all booking holidays to gtfo as they were anticipating insanity. It didn’t really happen. Maybe that’s partially because so many people left, or maybe the city just handled itself really well. I applied for tickets last year and was allocated some for Dressage. We spend night before our event in London at Brett’s and went to see Spamalot. As a Monty Python fan I fucking loveeedd it and even my bf enjoyed it not being a MP fan. Next day off to Greenwich Park we went as that’s where all the Equestrian events were being held. It was so cool to go and see. It of course poured rain on us and we were soaked to the bone, but the sun came back out and all was right with the world. Definitely an awesome experience. Mom actually came over for two weeks to see Brett and I but also to attend the games with us. It was really nice having her here again! She met my boyfriend and says she loves him (yay!). We spent the first weekend bumming around bucks but then the second weekend her and I took a road trip to Brighton and the Isle of Wight. Very cool places that I would definitely recommend anyone to visit. The Isle of Wight is this tiny little island off England which is part of the UK and gets the most number of sunny days of anywhere in England. Lovely little place. There’s something called the Needles off the coast which are chalk cliffs. Sadly when we went the area was closed so we couldn’t get a down to the beach across from them but they were still neat to see. Mom then headed back to Canada last Tuesday. I wasn't still for long as myself, and 6 friends had booked a trip to Morocco for last weekend (August 10-14, 2012) long ago.

Morocco was unlike anywhere I’d been except maybe the brief time I spent in Egypt during the cruise in December 2010. We stayed in the city of Marrakech. It’s a Muslim (mainly) country so we tried to be relatively respectively when outside of the hotel with regards to our clothing. But there are tons of tourists and we weren’t stared at too, too much… We spent our days at the hotel lying by the pool in the gorgeous sun getting our tan on then went into the city at night. There’s a huge market called Medina which we went to each night. It was unlike anything I’ve ever seen. Crazy busy from after 10pm till at least midnight, as that was the latest we stayed out in that area. There were far fewer tourists out at night, and we did feel a bit of the cultural differences. Being grabbed and harassed to come into stores, or into cabs was not our scene. The last day we were there we also went on a camel ride which was disenchanting in my opinion. Couple of the girls loved it, my stomach got upset and I just didn’t feel well overall. Got some great pictures though, and discovered that I actually like mint tea. We were served the tea which is made with fresh mint and a ton of sugar with some delicious crepes. The tea and crepes were my favorite part of the camel experience. Surprisingly my weak French skills came in handy on occasions as almost everyone in Morocco speaks French. This actually makes me want to go live in France for a month or two just to become fluent. I was amazed at how fast it was coming back. However I do find Parisian French must more difficult to understand so it might be a bit trickier.  

Now it’s back to the grind for a couple of weeks until two of my besties come for two weeks during my next break which is Sept 7- Oct 1^st. Pretty damn excited!! Bit of sadness today however as Brett flew back to Canada and then is off to the land down unda, and I’m not actually sure when I’ll see my baby sister again!! Miss you kiddo and miss all of you back home. 4 months then I’ll be home (maybe) for good! Hope you’re having an amazing summer, I certainly miss the Canadian weather but not the mosquitoes!

Much Love,

Ash

xxx

Spring time makes me giddy and slightly stupid.

It's the end of my first week of second term of my second and final year at Buckingham! Time is a flying by. Still having a ridiculously good time, and  my new roomie has certainly made this experience even better. Danielle (aka The Honey Badger as she's been nicknamed after watching the silly YouTube video) is a constant source of amusement and laughter. This is the first time I've ever lived with 3 other girls and it is an experience to say the least. Certainly have had to be more accountable for my actions, including who I choose to date, as apparently everyone has their say! I'm not complaining as they only have my best interests at heart and let's be honest, dating a 20 year old boy from Northern Ireland was a terrible idea. The third break up (yes third) has finally stuck. I very intelligently deleted his phone number (well got my sister to do it) as my brother pointed out very accurately how horrible of a drunk texter I am, so this has prevented much stupidity. I do of course recognize his number now as he occasionally texts me but thankfully the phone numbers in this country are 11 digits long, so I haven't memorized it. But other than my boy drama I've had a great term! Highlights of which was spending St. Patty's day in Dublin and the weekly pub quiz.

Nicole, me, Dani, Brett and Mandy

 My term ended March 16th and I then had two weeks off. Ever since I got the term dates for this Uni in 2010, I knew I was definitely going to spend St. Patty's this year somewhere in Ireland. 5 girls (the girls I live with plus my sister) packed up my station wagon (they call it an estate, but it's a station wagon) and headed off on the 4 hr drive to the ferry. We had to drive through Wales to get to the port at Holyhead and I had no idea how gorgeous Wales is! And so many castles. I definitely need to go back there. We made it to the ferry on time but turns out, boats, not a great choice!! I knew that I would get motion sick since I've been on many ferries but Danielle did not and the poor girl spent almost all three hours in the washroom. My sister and I both get the same type of motion sickness, and having realized from going on a cruise in Dec 2010 that getting drunk actually helps, that is exactly what we did. We each drank 5 little bottles of wine en route... Needles to say, we were hammered. This proved almost to be a disaster, as I was then the navigator off the boat (someone else took over driving obviously) and the GPS seemed to be a bit confused! But we eventually reached our hotel/B & B after what seemed like the longest journey in history and out of relief, drunkenness, and whatever else was going on in Brett's head, as soon as she entered the front door she drops her crap and goes "fuuuuckkkk". The proprietor, Mary, was NOT impressed. Nicole, Mandy and Danielle had to talk her down from maybe kicking us out then and there. Apparently strict Irish Catholics do not like girls like Brett and I. She even made a comment to Nicole along the lines of "how do you put up with this?" in regards to my activities... Oh well! She ended up being SUPER nice to us the rest of the weekend as we were far from the worst/drunkest/loudest of her guests. We got up at a decent time on St. Patty's and made our way downtown with the intention of watching the parade, but it started raining and none of us felt like sticking it out, so we went to a pub and got to the drinking. And we kept that up all day. Nicole's brother, who lives in Sweden, came to Dublin as well with a friend and we managed to meet up with them also.We made our way down to the Temple Bar area at one point and it was frickin insane. Too. Many. People. We went in to the Temple Bar, had one drink and got the fuck out of there. I got grabbed like 10 times, some guy tried to lick Brett's face, and another started giving Danielle a massage, and there was nothing we could do about it!! We literally couldn't move!  Sadly my dear friends hit the wall around 7 and opted to go back to the hotel and get food, but at that point Brett, myself and the two boys started in on the Jameson's! It was a good night. It was funny seeing the change in the crowds out and about from the day to night. During the day the only Irish people to be found were behind the bar, but at night, all the tourists too tired/drunk (like the three girls!) were mostly gone home and all the locals were out. We nearly got in two fights thanks to some drunken angry Irish and Brett. All and all, it was a successful St. Patty's. On the drive back home we randomly stopped in the town with the longest name in the world. Those crazy Welsh! 

Town name

After getting back from Dublin I essentially spent the next two weeks lazing around, catching up on TV and eating... Made one trip to London to go out and visit Brett which was great. Love that city. Everything else is normal, hockey, school, and behaving like a typical student. Looking forward very much to some warmer weather! Bring on shorts and dresses! Was very jealous of the short heat wave in Ontario, and will fully admit to being happy when it got cold again. I am very sad to be missing yet another amazing Canadian summer, but it should be my last. I was actually considering staying in the UK, specifically moving to London, after I finish my degree, but it looks like it will just be easier to move back to Canada. It would be another 3 years to become a fully qualified solicitors here, whereas back home I should be able to do it all in a year and a half. The prospect admittedly makes me a little sad, as I'm not sure if after 2 years I'll be totally finished with this place. I love it here. But it wouldn't be the same since my friends would all be spread out. Scarily enough I may end up in Brighton if an opportunity comes to fruition, otherwise I'll definitely be looking to move to Toronto. Time for city living! If I end up in Brighton, I will be doing the exact opposite of most commuters, spending the week in the country and the weekends in the city. So that's my current thinking for the future. We'll see what happens! I still love being a student, but I am ready to start my career (about time eh?!). 


Hope all is well back home and from wherever else people are reading this!


Ash x   

Exams can't dampen this kid's mood!!

Hello All!

In just 22 days time I’m home for an entire month for my holiday break! I am of course more than ecstatic about! But man have these two terms have absolutely flown by. It’s going to be nice to be on holiday without any courses to worry about. I have three upcoming exams (I’m clearly procrastinating at this very moment, but a girl needs a break from Contract law) and the school apparently hates my class as they have scheduled our two hard exams (two term courses) back to back. But I really can’t complain since I only have 3 exams in total, 2 three hour and one just an hour and a half. Better than my undergrad at Queen’s really! These exams are our first ones that actually count toward our overall GPA since the first lot we did in June were ‘pre-lims’ so I’m a tad nervous! Can’t believe I’m almost half way through law school, real life is encroaching! We got to pick our options for next year and after much deliberation trying to sort out which courses I can take and not have to take extra accreditation exams when I get back to Canada I’ve figured out I can actually take Sports Law which I am SUPER pumped about. I’ve pretty much decided that I want to take a stab at becoming a sports agent and clearly that course will help since there’s a module specifically on agents. Other good news is that I’ve managed to convince another person from Brighton to come here!! So excited, provided all the paper work goes through in time another lovely blonde Brightonian will be here come January! So what else has been going on…?

Halloween was a really fun night, but exceptionally disappointing at the same time. The English just do not know how to celebrate it properly! We managed to have a great night despite the lack of outsider participation! We did the usual, costumes, drinking games, followed by dancing and debauchery. We also played flip cup with jello shots which was hilarious, and is probably why the time at the club is mucho blurry. Brett (my sister) and I dressed up as ninjas, all in black with some weapons with great intentions to photo bomb people all night but it just didn’t happen…  

Scoring!!

 My hockey team has had a good start to the season. We moved up to the top league in the country so things are clearly much more challenging but we’ve won two and lost one. Not too shabby!! Got a hat-trick in the first game! Woot woot! It’s going to be a tough season, especially since we play three twenty minute periods and we only have two lines. For a boozy asthmatic it’s so harrrdddd. Oh well, I’ll live.

You know how I whined about the lack of butter popcorn and dill seasoning at the movies, it has not stopped me from getting an unlimited movie pass! It’s awesome. I can see as many movies as I want for 15 pounds a month. And being a student, when I’m not studying for exams, I obviously have many evenings free! Hahaha Only thing that sucks is right now is that none of my house mates or friends at school have one, so I can’t just drag em with me, but a friend on my team does so it’s working out ok! Life would be just dandy if they only had better popcorn, although that might be rough on the waist line, so it’s probably for the best! I also went and saw the midnight premiere of Breaking Dawn Part 1, judge away, but I loveeeddd it (of course). I stick by my point that Twilight is like porn for girls, not that women don’t like regular porn, but you know what I mean. It’s superfluous nonsense with plenty of eye candy that requires zero thought. I would never dream of subjecting a guy to it.

Speaking of plenty of eye candy, there are some freaking hotties that go to my gym. One in particular, yummmm (Brett knows who I mean). It’s nice when they’re there and I’m doing cardio as I can just enjoy the view (ya boys, we look too). But I’m sure many of you can relate that when I want to use the free weights it’s so damn intimidating!! It’s a really small gym, so if there’s like 5 guys using the free weights it’s crowded. I long for the days of the Queen’s University gym (not that I went). That’s something I regret, not being more active during my undergrad. I wonder if things would have been different had I not been a bit chubby! Hahaha Oh wellll I had amazing cleavage and I was never insecure. Definitely happier with how I look now though, but I miss those cans.  ;)

Did something else embarrassing today, that I’m so not ashamed of, played my Christmas song play list while I was driving Brett to work and at the gym! Bahahaha loveeeeed it. That shit just puts me in the best mood! I am definitely one of those extremely annoying people who love Christmas carols and can’t get enough of them. And on that note, I can’t wait to see you all during the break! I hope there’s some snow when I get home!! I’m also planning on bringing my hockey equipment home with me since I can’t afford to have an entire month off (the aforementioned 3x 20s…) so if anyone has ice time and wants a skater, let me know. Excited! It’s the most wonderful time of the year… :D

Love you all

Ashley

xoxox

Greece Lightning!!

 Sorry for the delay in a new post, but not much was going on last term that I thought was worthy of informing you of! Since my last post a lot has actually happened, which is unsurprising since it’s been a long time! My third term of Law School wasn’t particularly exciting since we didn’t have any exams but I did have to do an advocacy exercise which was essentially preparing and presenting your client’s case in front of a judge, which was definitely nerve racking and scary. But I got through it and think school is going well! Outside of school I’ve taken trips to Ireland and Greece.

The Blarney Stone - signed by Brett

Brett, Mom and I went to Ireland in August which was definitely a good time! I only went for 3 days but they went for a week and covered almost all of the south end of the country. We did a half day horse ride around the Dingle Peninsula and this was certainly the highlight. We actually got to gallop along a gorgeous beach and then stop and have a pint! We also went out in Dublin and surprise, surprise, the Irish party hard. We went out fairly early (for Brett and I) right after a really posh dinner at a restaurant called Piochet. The meal was delicious and after a couple of bottles of wine, we were pretty buzzed. And by pretty buzzed I mean Brett and I were buzzed and mom was hammered! So we decided to head out to a pub right away since our hotel was a bit of a hike and it seemed like a reasonable progression. I assumed that at 9pm the bars would be pretty dead, but oh my, I was mistaken. Apparently in Dublin on a long weekend, everyone is out and the pubs are PACKED by this time! We went to a pub suggested to us by my friend Alison and it was awesome. Live Irish music and delicious pints. The rest of the night was spent babysitting my drunken mother who ‘hadn’t gone out like this in 25 years’ according to her. It was a freaking blast! I definitely want to go back to Dublin, and since St. Patrick’s day falls on a school break next year I think I’ll try to do it then… I think that would be EPIC!

Laganas, Greece (Turtle Island)

Got back from Ireland and the boy I had been seeing when I was home over the break had started to become distant and then all together stopped talking to me. Took me a while to actually find out what happened, but turns out he moved on with a friend of mine and he didn’t even have the balls to tell me. Thought I at least deserved an explanation, but evidently not! Oh well, shit happens and let’s be honest we all knew I can do better. Shortly after I got cyber-ditched I actually met someone here! We started dating and I finally stamped my British passport… wink wink. 

School Party - Caitlin, Me, Ysamin

I just finished up my 3^rd term of school and on the break between the 3^rd and 4^th terms I decided to go to Greece! There ended up being only three of us going on this week long vacation, but it was AMAZING! I went with my friend Caitlin whom I went to Paris with during my first term break and my new friend Ysamin who is another Canadian in my class that I just got to know recently. Although most Canadians would think of going to Greece for site seeing and historical stuff, but Europeans use Greece like we use Mexico and The Dominican. Sand, sun and BOOZE! We literally got to the hotel and they told us all of the events going on for the week, which were all about drinking and having a good time. It was unreal. I have no idea how my body did it but I drank 6 nights in a row. Got absolutely hammered a couple of times but managed to avoid any serious hangovers! It was amazing. We did a booze cruise, foam party, slutty school girl party, and saw a Brit DJ (Reggie Yates). Best holiday I’ve ever had. Met some wicked boys who go to the University of Bath and they definitely added to the fun. We also did some touristy stuff such as visit shipwreck/smugglers cove, went to see sea turtles and swam in caves, but it was definitely the partying that made it an epic holiday. I had never been to a foam party before and I had a blast dancing and sliding around in that stuff!! I suggest it to everyone, however DO NOT make the mistake we did by going to jump in the ocean after being covered in foam since it forms acid on your skin and burns like a MOFO. We did go to Laganas right at the end of the season and still had a wild time, but I couldn’t imagine how amazing it would have been to be there in July or August (peak season). I should probably try and grow up at some point, but I’m not quite ready!

Sea Turtle!!

That’s all for now! Starting my final term of year one on Monday!! Very exciting. Hope all is well back home!

Ashley

xoxo

Quote of the day - I can't fall asleep to the Lion King music, it's too stimulating - Caitlin  

Home and back again! Plus a random sexy afterthought...

Me, Laura, Nat and Thom at Wonderland

Well hello out there in the internet land! It is amazing how freaking fast time is going right now, and sadly, as my mother says, it’s not going to slow down again… Been back in the UK for 11 days after being home in Ontario for three and a half AMAZING weeks! The trip home started off unreal as I was upgraded to first class and got my own cubby and reclining chair. I can definitely see why people pay for that shit. I got off the flight absolutely hammered. Barely remember going through customs… But thankfully the let me in. I happily got to see almost everyone I wanted to even if it was only a short visit it was still great. Tried to make the most of my time and in doing so I racked up about 3000 kms on the car! Visited people from Waterloo to Ottawa, and it was all well worth the driving. The night Port Dalhousie kicked our collective asses was the first of many messy nights shared with amazing people. Having dinner at Ethel’s Diner and then going to see Tiesto in Waterloo were certainly highlights. Spent my 25^th birthday at Canada’s Wonderland with two of my British friends who came over to visit Canada while I was home! They’re from my hockey team and since it’s near impossible to get decent hockey gear in the UK they had a blast at Pro Hockey Life and bought a bunch of new stuff (brought nearly empty suitcases haha). I also got new skates and gloves for my birthday, they are siiiiick!

Reebok 11Ks and Bauer 4 rolls = LOVE

I spent Canada Day weekend in Ottawa which was unreal and the weather couldn’t have been better. I definitely did enough drinking and partying for a couple of people, but hey, I was on vacation! Then there was of course the boy who made the visit even better, but even more difficult to leave. Isn’t that always the way it goes?! Ugh, you win some, you lose some! But I can’t wait to be home again at Christmas and see you all again. Thanks to everyone who made the effort to catch up, I love and miss you all!

So I’m now in my third term at law school and things are getting real. This term I’m taking Criminal and Contract law as well as a course called Legal Skills and Procedure which is essentially a training course for lawyers where we actually learn what lawyers do! We have to defend a client in a mock trial near the end of the term and it’s very serious. Actually having to stand in front of a “judge” is going to be interesting to say the least. I’ve got some new professors in my tutorials that I really like, very laid back and easy to talk to which makes the learning environment much more relaxed!

Harry Potter fun!

I was planning to try and take this easy party wise since I want to focus on doing really well in school, but that didn’t happen the first week back. I mean, I don’t get tested on two of my subjects until December… So I kinda HAVE to go out! haha So we went out Wednesday for the first mid-week mash-up then Friday night we went and saw the final Harry Potter film which was AWESOME! We were thinking about dressing up, but decided against it since we weren’t going to the mid-night show. Didn’t stop me from dressing up for fun beforehand. 

Then Saturday night we had a ‘birthday’ party for me at our house on the 16^th since my birthday was during the break. My roommate Nicole really wanted an excuse to have a party as she’d be stranded in the tiny town of Bucks for 3 weeks alone so we owed it to her to rock hard. Jello shots, whipped cream and cake! OH MY! So many people came out, it was really nice!  My sister was definitely the ‘pace car’ of the night; a great introduction to the UK for here. She’s fitting in perfectly haha.

What I wore to school the 21st
of freaking July...

That’s about all that’s gone on since I’ve been back. Mom moves home to Canada August 15^th, so there’s lots to be done before she goes. My friend Mandy will be moving in around the time Mom leaves so we’ll have a legit girl’s house! Woo hoo!

Next weekend I’m off to Ireland with my Mom and sister, which we’re all looking forward to, and hopefully we’ll have some good stories and photos to share. Hope everyone back home is staying cool! Having said that I definitely do not have any pity for you since I’m spending my summer in pants and sweaters (trousers and jumpers haha)… Pretty much wear the same clothes all year round here. I’ve worn shorts only twice since I’ve been back. But I really have to no reason to complain as I'm a short flight away from Greece which I'll be visiting on my next break! Bye bye for now!

Quote – “You’re missing the heat wave! Everyone is sweating like a nun in a cucumber patch.” – RhiRhi

This guy def wasn't getting any.

 And here’s an afterthought…  It's not that sexy, but I thought I might catch ya! haha I’m going to take a moment to fill you in on something that just occurred to me. Like most people my age I spend an exorbitant amount of time on the internet. I have Twitter, Facebook, Google+, three email accounts and this blog. Definitely a bit ridiculous but I am far from an excessive user. What I just noticed was how much my internet usage went down when I was at home, and specifically, getting some on a fairly regular basis. Now I know this is no great epiphany as we assume that many people who spend ALL their time online are ugly virgins who can’t get laid, but what about the internet usage of normal people? Haha Silly I know, but I am of the opinion that if you’re in a happy ‘relationship’ where you get to see the person regularly, you’ll probably spend a lot less time online.  Again, not profound, but I mean when I’m sitting around with my family, or friends we all generally have a laptop open in addition to chatting. When I am with a guy, this doesn't really happen… This leads me to ask, what the heck is up with people who appear to be in stable happy relationships but spend a lot of time updating their status to tell the rest of us, just how much they love someone? I mean, tell them not us you weirdo. To me it seems to me if people are happily getting some, the internet no longer owns their life.However there are always exceptions... haha  Anyhooo, just thinking aloud, kind of.

xoxo

Adventure is where your GPS takes you.
(This is an actual road we drove down)

England VS Canada

Since I'm returning to Canada for a visit in a mere two weeks I thought I might share a few of my random culture clash experiences since my relocation to the European side of the pond.

Food/Restaurants/Booze/Fattys

One of the first things that I found odd was that at almost all pubs, which constitute a great number of the places to eat in Buckingham and in most towns, you order food from the bar. When you pick a table you have to remember your table number when ordering or it gets confusing. And they really don't tip at all. Not bartenders or the servers that bring you your food after you've ordered from the bar. All of us Canadians find this quite disconcerting at first! But it is nice to be able to just pay what you see on the menu. However, since they aren't driven by tips, service can be SO SLOW! Especially at clubs when they're busy, ugh unbearable at times. Now we do tip at 'normal' table service restaurants, but they still don't tip as much as we would.

Indian Food

Some of the food experiences have been admittedly disappointing. The only sushi I've had has been pale in comparison to what we have back home, even in Belleville! But that is nothing when compared to how sad I was when I discovered they don't have buttered popcorn at the movies ('cinema where we watch films' haha), or popcorn flavour!! They only have salt or sweet flavour. SWEET?! I mean what the hell is that about. Now I am aware how silly this is, but I love movie popcorn some ridiculous amount, and without butter and flavour, my movie going experience is rather diminished... One thing that has been awesome, has been the Indian food. Apparently England's national dish is curry, so it makes sense. I am IN LOVE with Indian food. It's amazing and made for sharing. Still haven't convinced my friend Caitlin to give it a full try, but my roommate, mom and I are all lovers. 

Booze is super accessible here. It's in all the grocery stores and corner stores. The drinking age is 18, so people do start drinking younger, but that does nothing to curb the binge drinking at all. The government is considering the binge drinking of young people to be some kind of epidemic haha and I can somewhat understand their concern but it's not much worse then what happens in Canada. I would say that they do drink on average more after work etc since 'going to the pub' is a big part of the culture here.

Some lookers at a local bar

I think they may be getting into trouble obesity wise like the US and to a lesser extent Canada. I mean I don't mean to sound rude, but most women over 25 here seem to be overweight. There isn't a lot of obesity, but I think they're getting there! I recently heard on the radio about a study that said the average waist circumference of children has gone up a lot. I can imagine this is putting a massive strain on their health care system...

'Ice' Hockey

Division 1 Champs!

I have finally gotten used to putting 'ice' in front of hockey when explaining to people what I'm getting up to. In my travels with my team I have seen some interesting arenas. I've seen a couple that don't have glass, only netting. In Bristol the rink was made in a converted garage, and we got changed in a bar that overlooked the ice pad. There are a couple of lingo things that we had to get over when I first started playing. They call their equipment their 'kit' and so all your kit goes in the kit bag and you "kit up." Still makes me giggle a bit. They also didn't know what I meant when I said "fanned" on a shot, or said someone has sick hands... That does look funny when written down, but makes perfect sense to me haha. Only me and one other girl on my team shoot left which I find odd., I feel like it has to do with golf, or field hockey... Women's hockey and hockey in general is coming along quite well here. I saw the top two women's teams in all of England play this past weekend and they would probably be a on par with Senior A back home, so not too shabby. My team won playoffs for our league (there's only Premier and Division 1, we won all England Division 1) so we move up to Premier next year and may have to play those teams and we will probably get killed. Oh well! I was pretty happy with the season. I played 14 games and scored 32 goals, so no complaints! 

Fashion/Shopping

There is a decent sized mall about 20 mins from my place which has been awesome. It has a TopShop, H & M and many MANY other stores. Almost all of my wardrobe is now compiled of those two stores though now. Oh, but if you call it a mall, you get funny looks. It's a shopping center. I would love to go shopping in London, and what not, but I just don't have the money as I'm a poor student :( They are a lot more daring with fashion here and I love it! I mean socks with sandal high heels?! Why not. Tons and tons of harem pants, crop tops, over the top jewelry, messy hair... I look forward to coming home and seeing how differently people are dressing. I wish I was more adventurous in my style, maybe one day! 

Education


I have my final exams coming up which is sure to be an adventure. Luckily I only have 3, but they are all 100% finals. Eeeeek. Almost all schooling here, high school and post secondary has 100% finals. Scary stuff. So I won't be doing anything except studying for the next two weeks. Wish me luck, I may need it!

Things I'm looking forward to having at home...

I'm sure you could guess popcorn and sushi, also chicken wings (not a vegetarian anymore obviously), poutine, pitas, Taco Bell, Crystal light, white russians, Caesars, Coors Light, Timmy Ho's, oh and the list goes on... I am aware that these are all food/drink related, but that's really the only things that are missing from my life; other than my friends and family of course! 

See you in 2 weeks Canada!!!! Oh and GO CANUCKS GO!!! Stanley Cup Finals baby!! I'll be up late watching those games FOR SURE :)

Ashley