Hi everyone!

Sorry I havent been on in a LONG time. Just been wrapping things up here.
Alan and I have been trying to secure our new flat (we think we've got it, but we're not positive yet) and been doing a whole lotta packing.
My flight arrives in Baltimore on june 21 at 415 pm. Alan's coming with me until july second. I leave to come back to the UK August 29th. See you all soon!!!

Julienne

Im so sorry I haven't posted in so long. I wanted to wait until I had some sort of news, other than just working. Lemme bring you up to date.

So, I was applying to the University here for my masters and working last time I posted. Well, here we go.

I was accepted into the masters course. I was one of five students, worldwide, accepted. Apparently, my experiance in the field did it (thank you steve and mrs tula). I start in september, and once i get my masters here, I have free range in the EU.

I was suppose to some home on April tenth, but instead, alan and I decided to take our chances. i worked till the last day on my work visa (april 19th) then left to france.

We took coach buses to london, then dover (which the castle there and the white cliffs are absolutely beautiful) then to the ferry to France. We went to calais. We drank a bunch, took pictures of the 1224 tower, rented a room for the night. I must say...the French are so skinny...but we couln't finish the traditional breakfast! Bread, croissants, eggs, you name it. What IS their secret?? It was wonderful. Alan speaks fluent french, which helped quite a bit. We had a wonderful time. We came back the next day, but we're planning on doing it again soon. It was so romantic and wonderful...the bar was flowing, the ferry was swaying...

I came back on a six month tourist visa. Now to deal with the student visa. I dont know if i have to come back for it, but if not....

I love you all. I miss you all. But I have never been happier in my life.

Love,
Julienne

Will update better and put snapfish photos up tonight. Oh, and Alan hon, you are perfect. Thank you for the wonderful holiday and thank you for joining me.l Love you hons!

English people are WIMPS!!!! Half an inch of snow and they shut everything down! I thought Baltimore was bad, oh no! not only did they close all the schools, the closed my BANK BRANCH and sent us all home early, because the NEXT TOWN OVER was getting bad!!!!!!
Not much else is new (mom, I asked, but was turned down. Im very very sad about it, but wheat could I have expected?)
Anyhoo, Im sending some letters and such home. Love you all!!!

Julienne

Sorry I havent updated in a while. I work as a temp for an agency, so when one contract is up, I begin another one. THIS job is NOT fun. Mom, dont panic when i say this, you know I am horrible at math....Im a Bank Teller. Thats right. ME, JULIE, who cant do math to save her life, who is used to DOLLARS, is a Bank Teller at Abbey National Bank. The hours arent bad, but it is so stressful and feels so long, I cant do anything when I get home, AND I work on my precious Saturdays. Not fun, I assure you. BUT, the bank manager says I have done better than any of her new employees, and was asking a bunch of questions about obtaining a work permit (I AM LAUGHING AT ALL MY MATH TEACHERS RIGHT NOW!! HAHAHAHA!!!) Maybe, just maybe....
Otherwise, not much is new. Finally got my national insurance number (kinda like a social secur, but still different) which means they cant tax me as much. :-) I HAVE A WEBSITE NOW!! it is nothing much yet...I am waiting for more pictures of my work to put up. The ones on there are NOT my best, but it isnt bad. Poor daddy is taking the pictures (and doing it very well, I must add) it is gresockart.com if you would like to look. It will at some point be my online portfolio. Alan helped me set it up (he is SUCH a sweetie I must say). (Mom, you know what Im thinking. I am going to, if I can!)
Speaking of Alan, he says hello to all my family, whom he has not met. He says little T is very cute (and that he looks like his dad) and gwennie is adorable (that she looks like her mum) he wishes my Mom and Dad well, he says hello to Nutkin and Jax, but is perplexed by Grrsie. If anyone has a picture of Grrsie, please send it. I only have one, and he says he would very much like to see more pictures of this small, crazy, adorable dog. (Mom, he says you SHOULD send her.)
I found a guide to take us on the cotswold for very cheap. I have off this weekend (thank Lorna Doone) and I am going to try to go with claire. Hopefully it will work (we havent done it because of the cost, but this is much cheaper!)
Wish you all luck and love you all!

Julienne

sorry this isnt a proper blog message. Im sick again (grrrr) and am about to go to bed, but I had to post this to say THANKYOU!
Thankyou Daddy, for the present! it helped A LOT
Thank you Claire, Kirsty, and my hunnies Alan! Thank you so much for the surprise party! You really have no idea how much that meant to me! Thank you everyone for coming as well! You are all wonderful friends, more than I can express.
Thankyou Alan, my honey, my dear, Your present was wonderful (he got me three sets of paints watercolour, acrylics, oils and a set of pastels) It was literally (pronouced with no t ;-) ) exactly what I was thinking of getting. You are such a sweetheart.
Thank you all of you for making one of the most wonderful, memorable birthdays of my life!

Julienne

Okay, so the Great Story is this (hope i dont disappoint you)
So, all my flatmates went away for Christmas. Me myself and I had a lovely little Christmas and hosted a small New Years party. New Years day, I woke up, went downstairs, flushed the toliet and the handle snapped off. No biggie, right? Im my mother and fathers daughter. I can fix almost anything in the house. I cheerily take off the lid and NO! Oh DEAR! The parts are really really WEIRD! I bit my lip, stared at them for about three minutes, then decided (wisely) Im NOT TOUCHING THIS THING. My friend Moley (Craig, but everyone calls him Mole from the South Park Movie) said AH HA! My roomate is a plummer! I thought, yes! It will be fixed before anyone gets home!!! Well....he was busy...Antony (My German teacher flatmate) came home and called me the minute I was out of work. "Julie! What the heck happened???" I almost DIED! I thought no one would be home for a while longer! Well, Antony called our landlady, and she said because I was the one who used it when it broke I was responsible for parts and labour, even though the parts were corroded (hence, they broke) and the contract says it is HER responsibility. My flatmates supported me, we called a meeting with the landlady. It was for 7pm tuesday. She called me to make sure I would be there and stated "Apparently, there are some problems with bills and stuff broken. I am coming to mediate." She had no idea that we were calling the meeting to complain!!! It was horrible! But I stayed calm, presented the contract, talked to her. She kept saying, "We'll go half and half on it!" And I would say NO, my flatmates chipped in. In the end, she paid for it and I was off the hook (although, she insulted me by saying "I'll let you off THIS time!) But now Lee (a flatmate) broke the cooker (oven). :-( Oh dear, but I WASNT HERE! HAHA! Not on the hook!!!!!

Love you all, will update later!

Julienne

PS: Jenny, send me an email and I will send my address. I bought little T a cared, just havent had a chance to send it (you to gweny) Peppermint patties.....you will get my address! Anyone else? Send me an email! Old BAY!!!!!!!

Sorry everyone. A mistake occured with my interent bill and it was shut pff right after Christmas. My flatmate Thom had the bill connected directly to his debit card, and said he wanted to pay it himself due to the small amount that it was. He kinda disappears for long periods of time, so he is never there to get the paper copy of the bill at our flat. Well, there was no MONEY on the card (ah ha, Watson, there might be a problem!) so it was shut off and no one could do anything due to the bill being in his name. Hmmm. Wasnt easy to fix, but low and behold! I did :-)
I started a new job ( I always seem to have a new job, but really it is because I work for a temp agency, so they send me anywhere a temp is needed.) This one is at Vertex,  doing filing. It is very interesting (not the filing, obviously) but the people. I sat on friday and overheard a confersation between a Slovak and an englishwoman arguing about santa claus and wether or not he was american, and the slovak kept saying it doesnt matter because christmas was about baby jesus. The englishwoman looked slightly peeved and said repeatedly, but Jesus is DEAD, so who cares? It was actually HIGHLY amusing.
Anyhoo, got for the moment. Cooking dinner, dont want to burn it :-)
Love you all!! (by the way, anyone who would like to, I am DYING for old bay and peppermint patties)

Merry Christmas and a happy new year to everyone at home! Cant post at the moment, going to play pool (and beat mole at the game, please, let me beat him) at the frog and fiddle pub. Alan, dearest, come home from Croydon soon. Wish your family a merry christmas! I love you Mom, dad, jenny, jessie, jocey, tom, jax, chris, grandma, grandpa, Sherri, Dawn, Ed, Tom, cousins, nieces and nephews, Love you all!!!!!

julienne

will post when I get home

Sorry I havent had a chance to update my blog a whole lot lately. Been pretty busy.
The christmas dinner was very very nice. It was a preordered menu, including different salmon, beef and turnkey dishes, soups and very yummy desserts. I got to try English Christmas pudding for the first time, which is very much like a chocolate fruit cake soaked in a brandy custard sauce. Very heavy, but yummy. My friend Kirsty (a fairly popular english name, apparently. There are many kirsty's here) took me out for a girls night, and it was a riot!
Still working a lot, and looking for a more permanent job. Kirsty is going to help me next week looking for one. She has stated that no matter what, Im not allowed to go back to the US because she simply enjoys my company to much. She is a whole lot of fun.
You know something that is very interesting I had never noticed before? Everything here is covered in moss. The houses, the roofs, the pavement. EVERYTHING. It is rather interesting that in December, it is still green due to this sprinkled layer of green moss. the more damp the area, the more there is of it. It reminds me a little of Lord of the Rings...dont ask me why, but it does.
Anyhoo, Im off back into town. Im going to meet alan for a drink at wetherspoons (kinda like an odd version of TGI fridays, or chili's, just with a more bar-like atmosphere. Not my favorite plave here, but the cheapest, and at the moment, every penny counts) And just for your amusment, here are some word differences between the US and here. Its pretty interesting.
Bloke=man
chavy=a scumbag
fag=cigerette
trousers=pants
pants=underwear (I still accidently refer to pants as we know it and I always get the strangest looks or they say, you can see my pants??)
smart=dressed well
fit=good looking
biscuit=cookie (they dont have our biscuits here)
cheers=thanks
mate=friend
pickle=kinda like our sweet bananna peppers, only a dark purply colour)
chips=fries
crisps=our chips
bagels=as Alan stated, they dont exist. They are a figment of my American imagination
fancy=would you like, or do you like (do you fancy meeting somewhere?)
crepes=pancakes, but not like ours. they are very thin and you put jam on it instead
jam=jelly
jelly=our jell-o

If I think of any more, I'll post them next time. They are interesting, no?

Love you all!!

Julienne

Finally got a chance to update my blog!

I am working a TON, but thats all right. I have a trial shift at a restaurant in town where they say if I do well enough, they will upgrade me to manager. Also, one company called Glouchestershire Media was impressed with my resume and sent me an offical application and intodruction packet of the company. Heres hoping, right?

Thursday, Alan is taking me and claire to a Christmas dinner with some of his friends. That should be a nice time, and I promise to let you know how it goes.
Im still planning on the masters programme. University of Glouchestershire has a WONDERFUL art programme. Im going to try to talk to the head professor and see what I can do about funding and admissions and what not.

How is everyone at home? Havent heard a lot from people on the other side of the pond. If you would like to send me an email, use maytonrye@hotmail.com. I check it regularly, and will usually respond pretty quickly.

Love you all! I'll write tomorrow and let you know about the job!

Julienne