"Oh my Lordy" It's the busride from Hell Amsterdam Day 1

So to be honest I had no clue when signing up for this trip that it would involve a 14 hour coach ride. yea....14 hours. I know some of you are probably like, “Well Bryce suck it up I was on a bus for 14 weeks”...and you know what? I don’t care.

Kara and I got super pumped up about the trip and were smart about packing. We packed lightly and headed to the pick up point which was the MMU student union. It was cold and we ran inside to get some snacks. I got 2 bars of healthy shit and 1.5 liters of water lol. I wanted to make sure since this was an overnight trip that I was properly hydrated.

The buses arrived there were SOOO many people waiting to get on the bus. The first bus was a double decker and here is a little sample of how it was like to get on it.....

yea it was pretty much exactly like that. I am not much for crowding and pushing so Kara, Leah, Kelly, and I all waited back to see if another bus was coming. I did fast counting in my head and knew that not all of these people could fit in the two buses that were outside getting ambushed by the hundreds of guys ready to smoke.

I was right. (Like always) Another bus pulled up, but we heard “party of four” out of the corner of our ears and of course Kara heard it and yelled “Right here!!!!” So the four of us got on the couch and found our seats. Leah and Kelly sat a couple rows behind us but we were just glad to all get seats.

They came around and checked our tickets, more like a quick glance. Soon we were off to Chesire campus to pick up some more students. I guess they saved some seats for them on purpose.

Kara and I looked around us and everyone, I mean everyone was drinking. Bottles of vodka were being passed around and beer cans were being opened and I finally remembered....’Oh yea, I forgot I was in England.” I mean any excuse to drink is used in this great country.

I was proud and fine with my 1.5 liter bottle of water. It tasted good and I knew that it would not leave me feeling like shit in the MANY hours to come. Not even two hours later, everyone on the bus was wasted. I mean screaming girls and guys screaming “oh my lordy.” It was a mess. I mean here we are driving to the cliffs of Dover in the middle of the night and everyone on this bus was wasted.

Also I should mention that on the way we stopped a million times. The smokers on the bus had to have that puff. It was quite annoying. All I wanted to do was sleep. Being Bryce is difficult though. It has always been hard for me to sleep on buses, trains, cars, anything really except for a bed. I have to be sprawled out and flat.

We got to Dover about 2:30am and mind you we had been on the bus since 6pm. We were supposed to board at like 3:15 or something so we waited on the bus a little bit longer.

Once we finally got off the bus and climbed the stairs we were settled on the ferry. It was 3:30am and naturally everyone headed to the bar. Kara and I felt like we were dying from hunger so we ran straight to the food court. It was weird because this was the same type of ferry that I took from Dover in 2008. It was exactly the same.

We waited in line and got our food. They were serving English breakfast. I wanted something else but I just needed food in my stomach. It came with scrambled eggs, toast, sausage...and I don’t know what else because I consumed it in about 14 seconds. (yes that is the exact amount of time)

After breakfast (which Leah and Kelly met up with us for) we decided to do a little exploring. We just went to the shops and such. We looked at the alcohol prices as well because we wanted to get something to pregame with before the bar crawl on Saturday night.

Looking around the boat you saw everyone passed out. The Rooms were filled with students laying on the floors and curled up next to each other in their chairs. We found a little table and sat down. I was in pain because I had inhaled my food and was bloated to the extreme. I felt like something was going to burst through my stomach and kill me. I even went to the shop to get medicine to help. I honestly just wanted sleep.

We tried to relax and bit and when we were just about to fall asleep, the announcer came us saying that we had already made it and it was time to get on our rides. Once on the bus everyone was exhausted. There was not much talking and I'm pretty sure everyone’s main goal was to sleep! Most people were now hungover. HA!

We road through France and Belgium before entering the Netherlands. I slept for about 2 hours or so but was very uncomfortable. Kara and I lent on each other and the window to try to get comfortable. It was not working. I was awake for most of the morning and got to see all the pretty countrysides and even all the windmills that we drove by.

We finally arrived in Amsterdam Friday morning about 11am. My eyes were wide open to take in the city. It was absolutely beautiful. Stunning. it would soon be time to get off the bus and explore. How lucky am I! Amsterdam for the weekend. Lets get it popping!

So I leave tonight......

Which will be a nice little break away from England. I am going to spend the weekend in Amsterdam. Check that off of my bucket list. :)

Everyone in my flat will be taking a bit of a break as well. Since coming back to Uni everyone has been partying a bit hard. Take last night for example. About 95% of the flat went out. We went to some club pretty close and all got on the guest list. I did not really feel like drinking and I was a bit moody but promised Jemma I would go out. (for various reasons ;) )

We started drinking here and I was lucky enough to get 2 bottles of wine for 5 pounds. Lucky is not the word. The wine was absolutely horrible and I had to add in apple juice to make it drinkable. I know I should have known i would be gross from the price but come on, I am on a budget here.

We got to the club and entered the wall to wall packed club. The music and atmosphere was good but I was still in a horrid mood. It was shoulder to shoulder and I do not deal well with that. I like to dance and have my room. I do not like to get shoved and poked as I walk around. I did get one drink there which was really cheap and walked around. It was a two level club and was really nice. I got lost a couple times and the drinks were just not doing me justice. About 2:30 I left and walked all the way back to all saints campus to go to Deaf institute. (a club i mentioned before)

People from the flat next to us were there. I met them and danced a bit. I soon left and just went to bed. I was tired enough and just needed rest. I should have stayed at the club though, because from all the stories and evidence in our hallway, it seemed to be quite a night.

Ellie ended up in the hospital because her and Mike fell down the stairs. Typical. I have fallen down plenty of stairs since I have been here. Kara as well. Ha! But she was so drunk that she started to breathy heavily outside. Someone called the ambulance and too her to the hospital. She ended up only having a sprained ankle. Thankfully she is fine.

When I woke up, however Ellie’s door was covered in food. I don’t know what it is but my flatmates have gotten into the habit of covering each others doors in food and other items. I mean there were beans and onions all over her door and it just smelled of trash. The kitchen as well was completely wrecked.

I love my flatmates to death, but this is a great time for me to get out for a couple days. It will give them the chance to realize how much the love me and will miss me. ;) Just kidding.

I am excited to go to Amsterdam. My first time to the Netherlands. :D I am sure it will be a great trip. Kara is going with me and I am sure we will not leave each other’s sides. I am excited to go to Anne Frank’s house and other things. I don’t think there is much to do in this city though. :P Maybe I will eat a banana out of a prostitute's vagina. HA. kidding again. just the thought of that makes me.......

.....yea one second. I need to throw up.

Just an Update.....

Yes I am still alive in well in the great city of Manchester! I am still having a blast but after the first two weeks here at MMU, things are starting to calm down just a bit. I am actually sitting on my bed at the moment reading a play for class tomorrow. I am being a good boy and reading before class. :)

The past week has been a bit crazy. I went out a couple times to new places including Factory, and 5th avenue. Factory turned out to be a great night. Most of my flat came out and half had a good night and the other didn’t. As for me, I got to drink and dance. Two of my favorite things.

Jemma and I. Start of the night. (double fisting it)

5th avenue was a complete disaster because only Jemma and I went out to celebrate Katie’s and Charlotte’s birthday. Jemma and I ended up getting way too drunk and because of my many years of practice, I was able to hold my own. As for Jemma, she was a completely different story. I literally had to drag her home. She would stop

walking every so often and just fall completely passed out on the sidewalks. This was not one of her best moments. I was getting upset because I do not like to see anyone like this. My number one concern was just getting her back to the flat safely and in her bed. After a good hour I finally managed to get her to the dorm and into her bed. I left her once on the stairs to go get her bed ready. It was a complete mess!

I should also mention that the fire extinguisher went off that night in our kitchen. It covered everything in the foam and ruined a lot of stuff. Our kitchen looked like the aftermath of 9/11. It looked as if it was covered in ash and gunk. When I heard the alarm go off I was in the flat beside us and ran into our flat. The exhaust filled the corridor with what looked like smoke. I seriously thought our flat was on fire. I grabbed Jemma’s hand and just told her it was time to go out. I just did want to deal with it.

Everything in the kitchen is now clean. Mainly because the cleaning lady came in this morning and threw EVERYTHING out on the counters away. If you have been keeping up with my blog you know that there was a lot of junk on the counters. Well it was all thrown out. Many people lost a lot of stuff. It sucked. Luckily I keep everything in my room so none of my things were thrown away.

Also, our freezer is broken. I know right, what else can go wrong?? Lots. We have two small freezers in our room to use while it is getting fixed. (wonderful!) Also my lock is broken. I can lock my room with the key but I cannot lock it whilst inside. I have reported it but if they don’t come today I’ll have to go back down tomorrow.

With all of this crazy happening, I am happy to report that I am still loving it! I have already made some great friends. I am glad to have met Kara and Caitlin on this trip as well. They are some terrific girls. :)

Lastly, I am going with Kara to AMSTERDAM this weekend. I am SOOO excited. You know there will be plenty of blog posts to cover that trip. It is going to be, whats the word?.......EPIC

Officially Official

That is all. ;)

Classes

It may come as a surprise to most of you, but I am here to take classes. I actually have three classes!! Shocker!

My Classes:

20th Century British and Irish Drama.

In this class we read british and Irish plays and discuss them. We analyze the stories and characters. What a great class! Right down my alley! I did theater in High School so I will defiantly enjoy reading British plays. I hope to do some comedy plays since the british humor is very different from American humor.

Reading and Writing Crime Stories

I was sold at the title. Who doesn’t love a great crime story!! In this class we will read crime stories and debate them. We will learn to strategize the stories and what is the basic style to writing a crime story. How interesting. I start this class this week so I will let you know how it actually goes. ;)

Novel Selves

This class will be a lot like my English classes at home. I did a ‘Intro to Narrative’ class. We will be reading novels and discussing them. WE will be reading Jane Austen to Charles Dickens. I am very excited about this class. I will have to read a novel a week but I feel like it will be worth it.

The best part of my timetable is that I have Mondays and Fridays off!! How amazing is that?? Perfect for traveling!! Any my classes are only one day a week for 3 hours. Amazing. I just need to get my life together so I can read and do the assignments.

Dear Kidney, I'm Sorry (Part 2)

Now the part you have all been waiting for. I wish I could have remembered most of it and wrote it earlier, but im busy. ha

So for Thursday night Caitlin and Kara decided to stay in so I was the only American that was going out. We all decided to go to “Tiger Tiger” which was located at city center. A Taxi would be the best choice to get there. So we started to drink in the common room. TJ and I decided to split a bottle of vodka because it would be cheaper and we all know I will stretch my vodka out.

Anyways, we all drank and some of us already got a pretty good buzz going. Jemma’s friend from home, Ashley joined us so i knew it would be a pretty fun night. By fun I mean crazy. Sarah, TJ and I got a cab and got there. The taxi driver was nice but he dropped us off quite far from the entrance. I am still not so sure why. Maybe he didn't want to be seen with us. TJ stopped at another club because she was about to piss herself. After she was relieved we finally arrived at Tiger Tiger. With a 5 pound cover it better be amazing. We got in and circled around to hang out with everyone who was outside smoking. I went in and got my first drink. Luckily the drinks were not expensive.

This place was pretty big. On the ground floor was just a bar connected to a restaurant that was closed of course. The floor below was for coat check and restrooms. The upper level floor was were the party was. You had a large bar with a raised dance floor and then two rooms that connected to the main one. One room was the white room while the other covered all of the 70s, 80s, and 90s music.

I had lost my buzz from home so I was hoping that the drinks at the bar would help

me along my way. I kept drinking and drinking but I was not feeling anything. I watched them pour my drinks and it wasn’t so bad. I even took a shot of tequila to try to help me get on another level. I was having the experience my sister Tahlia had on New Years. She drank and drank and drank but still felt nothing.

I became Papa bear because since I was not getting drunk myself, I was going to look after all of those who were already shitfaced. Jemma was my main concern. She was being funny and kinda droppy, so my eye was always on her. I kept asking her if she needed anything and brought her to the restroom a couple of times. TJ was having a good night because since she got her braces off guys were buying her drinks left and right. Needless to say she was pretty wasted.

The night went on and soon I was getting hungry. I have a horrible condition where when I have a buzz I always want something to eat. So my newly found obsession with cheesy chips had to be sought through. I rounded up Jemma, Ashley, Sarah, and TJ and we went outside to get a taxi.

We got to Babylon and ordered our chessy chips....this was when all hell broke loose.

Three American guys came into babylon and one bumped TJ. TJ, being pretty drunk asked him to say excuse me.

“I don’t know about America, but in england, men respect women.”

At this very point the white guy called TJ and ‘English Whore.” Tj went, whats the word?.....BANANAS!!!!!! She was trying to get at him and I kept having to hold her back. I was trying to calm her down but by this point she had lost control. She is from Liverpool so by this point she was screaming at the top of her lungs and trying her hardest to get at this lad.

Then the guy turned to me and said as plain as day, “You need to handle your bitch!”

Ummm.....in the back of my mind I was trying to convince myself that he did not say that. No one in their right mind would try to disrespect me or my friends like that. So I asked him, quite pissed off “What did you just say?????”

He repeated what I hoped he had not said and TJ heard him this time. Tj then became the HULK. She was jumping over tables and even the guys at the register were telling her it wasn’t worth it. I was very angry at this point as well but my main concern was calming TJ down and not getting into a fight. I knew that if I let TJ hit him I would have to get involved and aid in the fight.

I grabbed her plenty of times and as a guy it was hard to hold her back. She was swinging arms and legs. All she wanted was a piece of him. I could only imagine me letting her go, there would not have been any pieces left of the poor guy. I grabbed her and her purse and even her chessy chips, as a good friend would do and literally pushed her out of the door. I held on to her until we were about half way home and even then she wanted to run back. I talked to her and guided her up to our flat. And once we were in the kitchen all that mattered were the chessy chips.

Ahhh. Thankfully the police were not involved and Bryce was not in trouble. I am smart in these situation and I know violence is never worth it. Unless its started on us.

Ahh My first week in Manchester is up. What a fine week its been.

I raise a glass (of milk) to the next 5 months and 3 weeks. May they be ever so action packed as the very first.

Dear Kidney, I’m Sorry (Part 1)

So! If you are still reading my blog you pretty much know I am having a great time. If you know me personally you know that I enjoy drinking. But man, It has been a crazy trip so far on this Island. It brings me back to Freshman year at UNCG. Its funny because it is no different from my freshman year. I mean we drink all the time and go out and party all the time. I love it. This is like vacation to me. And yes, don’t worry I will be up with my assignments as well. My classes consist of me reading novels. And I love to read, so it works.

The past two night have been super messy. I’m getting used to the British slang and even have a horrible British accent when I’m drunk. They say messy quite a lot. Like:

“Last night was so messy” or “You getting messy tonight?”

Haha. So Wednesday night Grace, this wonderful girl from the flat nextdoor invited us out for coffee. Caitlin had finally moved into my dorm so we needed to go get her a few items. Since Kara, Caitlin and I were already downtown we decided to meet with her for some food. We chilled out and just chatted it up. We soon left to go back to the flats to get ready. We took a bus back since we had stopped to get alcohol and of course on my first bus ride it was a mess.

We stepped on the bus and a man stuck his hand right into Grace’s bag. I didn’t realize it until I heard Grace screaming at him. “Can you get your hand out of my bag? Can you not do that.” She was dead serious and super pissed about it, like anyone would be. She sat down and I joined her. The guy disappeared and we sat tight on the bus until we had reached our spot.

This night we just pregamed in Grace’s flat. Chloe soon joined and we were all just drinking and having a blast. Beer had bloated me so I switched to vodka. It meant trouble. Caitlin and Kara took forever getting ready and didn’t get over until like 11:15. WE drank and bit and Kara tried to teach them some American drinking games. She bought a deck of cards and really wanted to play.

Since Grace had invited us out she picked the place which was walking distance from Cambridge. It was called the Deaf Institute. It was absolutely a blast. It was only a pound for shots so you knew what that meant! TEQUILA!!! Grace, Ellie and I took 3 tequila shots right off the bat to get us started. WE got quite messy, quite fast. We were dancing and having a great time. I just remember I got really excited when I hear Kanye’s Monster start to play.

I ended up falling down the stairs and have a huge bruise on my ass. Kara beat me and fell once down the stairs and again up the stairs. It was a great night. We kept going out on the rooftop and up to the balcony where Jemma and Tj were. We were all dancing and of course a tab bit drunk. It was a blast. Everyone was getting along and all we cared about dancing and having a great time.

Basically, This picture sums up my night. <3

Wednesday was a success.....As for Thursday night. Well lets just say thats a blog post all on its on. What a disaster.......

ASDA, as in the British Walmart.

Ok, so it was time to go grocery shopping! I need lots of food and didn’t want to spend all of my money eating out. We all know that that can be super expensive. So Tj, Jemma, and Ellie took me to ASDA. I went to Tesco before but i needed a larger grocery store. We took a cab because we couldn’t walk there. When we got there I laughed because it had a McDonalds in it just as lots do at Walmart back home.

I quickly became overwhelmed. I didn’t really make a list. I’m a guy I don’t do that. I also was not too sure what I would want to be eating. At home I made lots of mac and cheese or went to cookout. The girls were grabbing all this healthy stuff and here I was with like 2 things in my cart. I did get my basics like milk cheese bread sandwich meats and etc. The frozen section ended up being my savior because I was familiar with frozen shit. I scooped up frozen pizzas and all that stuff you can pop into your oven or microwave. I also did get some fruit. I couldn’t eat that unhealthy while I’m here. My plan was to eat one meal a day and drink the other two meals. ;)

I also got to eat at McDonalds. The fries were actually better because they did not have so much salt. It was nice. I got the Mcchicken and it actually looked just like the picture. HAHA. It may of just been that McDonalds. Also they go easy on the mayo and heavy on the lettuce. I was ok with that. Another thing I found odd was that you have to put in a pound to get a cart. TJ said people steal carts so they have to make people pay. (you get your coin back when you release the cart)

So now I have food. Hopefully I won’t be starving anytime soon.

Flatmates

My Hall

So i moved in on Saturday but went straight out to buy things for my room. I needed blankets and such for my bed a bit of food to hold me over. When I was moving in a girl in my hall TJ came up and introduced herself. She was only one who had come back since. All the others would be arriving shortly.

She was SO sweet. She was very lovely and showed me around and told me about everyone else. When you walk in its a straight hallway all the way to the end where there is a large kitchen and sitting area. I walked in and there were dishes everywhere and sinks were full and trash about. I was then informed that that would be the tidest of the term. Oh my

I went out with Kara for the rest of the day and went to bed. I turned the heater on about 20 minutes before I went to bed and it was a COMPLETE disaster. I was freezing. The throw I bought for my bed was so tiny. I was curled up. I soon put on two pairs of socks, a tshirt, a sweater, my fleece north face, and a wool scarf that i wrapped around my neck and head. Needless to say I did not sleep well.

I got up and met a few more flatmates. Caitlin was coming back into town so I was going to meet up with her and her MMU friend and go for a drink. I ended up meeting more flatmates and friends like Dom, Stephen, Katie, Jass, Ryan. I went into Dom’s room and hung out with them.

It reminded me so much of freshman year. Here in the UK it is no different. They were crowded into one’s dorm room playing video games and smoking. Here you can smoke in your room or in the kitchen. Naturally of course we were all drinking. They asked a lot of questions about America and I gave the best answers that I could.

The kept asking if US university is a lot like “American Pie” I told them yes it does get to be like that. IN the kitchen it was just the guys and it was the same kind of talk I endured freshman year at UNCG. About booze and girls and going out every night. I just sat back and reminisced. I soon knew that I was going to love my hall.

Caitlin called me and we all soon met up at a pub called Font. It was a really cute pub and was not so crowded because it was Sunday night. They have 2 pound cocktails so it was the perfect place for a cheap drink. (of course I stuck to my beer)

Caitlin brought along her flatmate, Kelli who is a super nice girl from South Dakota. She also had Becky meet us there who was an exchange student from MMU that studied at UNCG and joined Caitlin’s sorority. We just had a few drinks there because we planned to go back to my flat and drink with my mates.

Kara got a good buzz going because she didnt have dinner so it was all a good time. We stopped at the market to get some more beer and wine to take with us. We went up to my room and I introduced everyone to the four girls. I was the cool roommate now, bringing hot girls up to the 6 guys in my flat. I was trying to get on there good side. ;)

My bed with the new duvet I had to buy haha.

We soon began to drink and play games and just chat. Soon people started to leave and those who stayed continued to get smashed. Soon Music was blasting and others joined and even the strobe light came out. It turned into quite a fun night.

I am so glad that I got into a flat with 9 British roommates. I could not have asked for a better living situation. I did not want to be with any internationals and all of the mates on my hall are perfect. I, naturally got into the party flat and the madness is just going to continue. We are going out to a club tonight to celebrate Ryan’s 20 birthday. They couldn’t imagine having to wait till they were 21 to drink. I told them I couldn’t blame them. I am sure more fun drunken blogs will arise in the near future.

Sorry this blog was so long but I needed to tell you all about my flatmates and how excited I am to be here and start the new term. I really think its going to be an AMAZING 6 months. :)

Let's try to outdrink the English!

As I sit here I can barely type this blog because I just arrived at my hostel this morning to check out. I feel like dying. Last night was a complete disaster. In a good and bad way....

Kara and I got kinda bored about 4pm here because we still were not used to the time. It got SUPER dark really early and when it was 4 it felt like 8 or 9. We decided since we spent the day in the middle of the city and finding Kara’s dorm it was time for a beer. We went to this cute little place called “Shakespeare.” How appropriate we would have our first beer in a bar named “shakespeare.” haha

Kara and her first beer in England

Well we had about two there and it soon started to smell like straight ass. From all the jetlag we got a bit tipsy off just two beers so were were extremely giggly as we breathed through our mouths and chugged our beers. We decided to walk some more and maybe find a place to have dinner. We walked downtown and then soon hit canal street. We found a bar and went in for a drink. We got our beers for a pound 85 which was the best price yet. We didn’t realize that the prices changed once it hit 7.

We read the bulletin boards and found out that nothing really went on until about 9pm. It was POP night 9-4. We went back to Kara’s hotel which was really close to pregame a bit and change clothes. We grabbed drinks in the lobby and headed up to her room. She got redbull with a slash of vodka and I got a Corona. It felt like home.

WE jammed to some music as we got ready. I didn’t want to go right at 9pm since we usually don’t go out till 12pm in the states. I had already picked up my british accent so I was talking with that pretty thickly. I find myself going in and out of an accent. Its quite annoying actually.

So we finally went out and choose a nice little bar/club that had the brightest lights. All of the signs said if you looked under 25 you would get carded. Everywhere we went the security guards opened the doors right away for us. I guess we looked old. haha

We went to multiple places because hey, no cover means we wanted to experience it all. You also can take plastic into the streets. Of course I would buy a beer and ask the security guy if I could take it out. It was about 5 till 11 and I was already pretty drunk. I ran by the club that we had our first beers and they were giving out coupons. I love cupons and the cute lady who looked just like Robyn gave me multiples.

They were buy one get one free shots so of course I was all over it. I went in and bought two shots and got two free. I don’t even remember how much they were. Kara took one and I took the final three. That was the start to the disaster of the night.

We went to different places and got pictures with the Djs and even some shoutouts “To our friends for North Carolina.” It was a mess! Kara saw Captain America outside so she had to get her pic with him. He sent us to a club called “New York, New York.” We went in but it smell awful so we left quite quickly.

By this time I was completely smashed and the night didn’t end too well. I ended up somewhere I didn’t need to be and got lost by myself. I kept calling Kara and ended up taking a cab back to her hotel. I met her with the friend she had made. I kinda broke down mentally and just wanted to lay down. I was a complete disaster. It was a mess. Gezzz, Bryce really?? I got back up to her room and of course ended up getting sick. We knew one of us would. By law it had to be me.

I slept over at Kara’s before having to wake up at about 8:30 to walk back to my hostel to check out by 10. That is where I am now. I check out of my hostel and I feel like shit. Sitting in the lobby writing this to make sure that it gets posted. Someone has to read it. Right?

The good news, however is I’m pretty sure we are not on Britain’s time. This is the second night. If this is any indication of what is to come I better prepare myself because it’s going to be an absolutely crazy 6 months.