D.Y.T. to D.C.

To view photos from the Dayton to D.C. whirlwind road trip, click HERE.

Impromptu trip to our nation's capital

Washington, D.C. better get ready, the Hopkins sisters are making a late night (err early morning?) trip to the capital city! As I mentioned before, Liz will be leaving for South Korea on Saturday (2 days!). So why this journey, you ask? Well, as nothing can ever go smoothly for either of us while traveling, there is a complicated story:

Thanks to the u.s. visa policy and the unhelpful people working alongside of the university, Liz's visa never came. She had to resend her transcript today and it turns out it her visa won't actually be available until tomorrow afternoon, making it too late to reach her by mail. So driving to D.C., for the win! We will leave at 3am, drive straight to D.C. and quickly arrive by noon. After giving a holler to my boy Barack and seeing the marvels of Washington, we will be making an equally quick trip back to Dayton; 491.14 miles each way. Yessss.

Besides all of my homework, namely catching up on reading assignments from my bout of sickness, I'm very much looking forward to this spontaneous trip. I haven't been to Washington, D.C. since I was probably 10 or 11, the height of my educational family vacations. I still have most of the memorials imprinted in my memory, but it's mostly a generic view I have of the City. If I'm lucky enough to swing it, I'll take any down time to check out the National Gallery of Art. Robert Frank's entire collection of The Americans will be exhibited and I've been anxious to see his work for years. Even so, I absolutely love driving and this is the perfect trip to have right before my sister leaves for four months, even if the circumstances aren't the most ideal.

Jealousy

My sister, Liz, gets to study abroad in Seoul, South Korea for 4 months beginning next spring. She'll be going through the University of Dayton, but it will be a completely different type of program than my London program. The experiences she'll have are beyond comprehension right now. She will be attending Korea University (one of the most diverse of its kind), taking classes and immersed in culture. I can't imagine saying this a year ago, but I'm going to miss her so, so much. Four months is a long time. She'll miss my graduation (which I'll get over)...maybe I can visit her??

London Photos!

Yes, I finally got around to uploading the hundreds of photos I have from the trip. Here's what I have so far, including the first batch:

Album 1 (London)

Album 2 (London

Album 3 (London)

Click on the above links to view the album and enjoy!

Back in the USA

On Saturday night, America greeted Amanda and I. We have been immersed in European culture for the last month and a half so it was pretty bitter-sweet coming home. Our flight went out from Dublin in the early morning of the 28th and went directly to London-Heathrow. It took about everything in us to get on that next flight to Philadelphia instead of staying in London. After a rushed entrance to our gate and a tragic goodbye to the polka dot bubble umbrella I had just purchased, we hopped on the American Airlines flight to the US. It was incredible how much of an American stereotype was on that plane, but I won't go into that.

Our arrival in Philly was supposed to be calm and easy, but with Hillary and Amanda, nothing is ever that simple. The airport there wasn't the most efficient in getting people through security and we had to run to our plane departing for Dayton. It was the last flight there so it was a good thing we made it just as the plane was supposed to take off. When we got to Dayton, I could see Mom and Terry at the end of baggage claim. Mom was waving here hands at me like I was on stage during a play in elementary school. She brought Amanda and I flowers, too, which almost made up for the luggage American Airlines lost (which has now thankfully been returned to us).

The First thing we did was eat McDonald's fries, since we promised each other we would not eat any American fast food overseas. It was so surreal being home again. My room was not quite as messy as it was when I left and my car had been cleaned out for me as well, thanks to my sister. While some things, like the UD campus and surrounding areas have changed, everything was still basically the same. Driving again was probably the strangest thing. I definitely don't miss buying gas, so I doubt I'll be driving aimlessly as much anymore. After all of my adjusting, the five of us (me, Amanda, Mom, Terry & Liz) all went out to start the celebrating of my twenty-first birthday. All in all it was a very good night for a birthday and a coming home party.

Resting is probably my first order of business, then of course I have all of that unpacking to do. It's been more difficult to explain to people how my trip was than actually adjust to being here again. I almost don't know what to say when people ask me about my favourite part of the trip. There are just so many things that come to mind, I think I need time to just sort my thoughts on the past month and a half. I have SO many photos from everything too, it might overwhelm you. Is 6 gigs a lot?

With my birthday over with and a lot of catching up to do with everyone, my 5 days back in the USA have been a lot of fun. I'm about to go see red, white and boom in Columbus tonight with Zach and Emily and tomorrow is the first reunion with my London flatmates - I can't think of a better way to spend the 4th.

Thanks for reading throughout all my travels and keep checking back for more photos and things.

Happy Independence Day, everyone!

Our Class photo at Stonehenge

I Love Dublin...

..And the Irish. That is all.

Dublin where are you?

The last 24 hours in Paris have been kind of a blur. I think I need to sit on it for awhile to decide my feelings on this city. All I can say is Amanda and I are definitely ready to be in Ireland. The MIA concert is cancelled and while Im pretty bummed about that, Im still very excited for my trip. We have to get up at about 5:30AM to be at the airport early and catch the ryanair flight into Dublin. Im pretty sad that we have to check our bags since we have bought so much crap - we got a backpack to put our new trhings in, but we almost had to get the tragic rolly backpacks that come in bright colours.

We are through with the touristy things for the most part. Today was our time at the Eiffel Tower and Liz, I completed your request (photos soon to come).

That is pretty much all I can update for now. Im SO tired!

BONSOIR!