All You Need is a Haircut

I forgot how small I was when Stacey was in the US with us until I sat down with her yesterday morning and watched her old home movies of Melanie and I. There is only one word to describe them - hysterical! I was this little six photogenic six year old who only wanted to steal the attention away from my sister, and Mel was this little three year old who was still crawling around in the frog position and always had to have something in her mouth. Stace and I sat on the floor of the family room for a good hour just cracking up at some of the scenes that she had filmed. There was the one of Melanie singing songs off of the old "For Our Children" CD (which actually benefited Elizabeth Glaser for all you AEPhis out there reading this). There was another moment of all of us at the zoo marveling at the newborn baby animals in the spring. Stace and I were going back in forth there - arguing if the thing on the baby gorilla was a diaper or a nappy. After that hour or so of watching the videos, Stace said that there was never a dull moment with Melanie and I - we always kept her laughing.

Later in the afternoon Kurt, Stacey, Astin, and I all loaded up into the car and headed towards BlueWater - the closest enclosed shopping mall. In some ways the mall was so similar to what we are used to back in the states. There was a footlocker, a Gap, a lacoste store - but then there are also all of these stores that I have never even heard of. But, the most shocking thing of all that I discovered while we were there were the outrageous prices. Stacey has been looking for a comfortable pair of boots that she can wear to work, so we popped into this little shoe store. There were Uggs there and she fell in love with a gorgeous pair of leather ones. The price of these things were the equivalent of almost $400 American dollars. When I got back here that night, I looked them up online and they are only $179 American dollars at nordstrom. The prices are just insane! I can't bring myself to buy a single thing here because I just double whatever the price is in £s and watch my jaw drop. It makes me quite happy that I am not spending my entire semester here in the the UK, to be quite honest.

For dinner we went to TGI Fridays. When Stacey was in the States, it was her most favorite restaurant, so it is just about a dream come true for her that there is one within driving distance. As I was sitting in the restaurant, I realized that I could have been sitting back in Cincinnati or at any Fridays all over the US. The food was the same, the decor was the same, even the plates were the same. The one thing that wasn't the same, though is the service. Stacey and Kurt had warned me that I would think service over here was awful, and at first I didn't believe them, but after being here a few days I defiantly agree. People in the service industry just aren't as attentive here as they are back at home. For example, after getting your food at most restaurants in the States, the waiter or waitress would come back a few minutes later to see how everything tasted and to see if you needed anything else. Not here. They essentially drop your food off and come back only to clear the plates and give you the check. It truly makes me appreciate even bad service back in the U.S.

Before leaving BlueWater, I got some Krispy Kreme donuts for the morning! Just like home...which is exactly how it should be!