"Cheers from London"

It was the beginning of the fall semester of my Junior year at SUNY New Paltz. I had been working overtime as a waitress on the weekends to save up some extra cash. My best friend left for London that semester. He would be gone for three months. The days seemed like years. I had always dreamed of traveling to Europe. The days passed, and I continued my studies as an education major. My life had evolved into a monotonous routine of studying, working, eating, and sleeping. After about a month, He called to plead with me if I could come visit him for Thanksgiving. This was an absurd idea, i thought. How would I ever pull off such a thing? I made sure to check my savings before I considered. There was enough in the bank. Could i travel alone? What would it be like when I arrived at Heathrow Airport? So many questions running through my head. After a brief moment of hesitation, and a long conversation with C.J., I decided I was going to try the journey to London for four days. It would be the most spontaneous trip I'd ever done. And so, I purchased a plane ticket and was on my way. The flight was smoother than silk. It couldn't have gone any better. As we came down for landing, seven hours later, I could see the London fog. The airplane cut through the fog as we neared the runway. My heart was racing. There was a permanent grin on my face. I was here ! I made it to London. And what a trip it was! Each minute was worth a thousand words. My best friend and I enjoying college food in an old dorm on Thanksgiving Day. No turkey, no potatoes and no gravy. Just a couple of "mates" having a great time!

monotonous – without variety, tedious, boring
absurd – irrational, silly, ludicrous, senseless
brief – short, compact, condensed
hesitation - to be reluctant or wait to act because of fear, indecision, or disinclination
spontaneous – the result of a natural impulse, unplanned, without premeditated thought
mates - British word,meaning A good friend or companion

(1) After working at the same office for ten years, the tasks became so ______________ I could do them with my eyes closed.
(2) If it weren't for my ___________________ trip to London, England, I dont think I would've ever had the chance to go.
(3) There was a little _______________ for the student to speak with his teacher. He know he was in trouble before he spoke to her.
(4) In England, my _____________ are so funny. They crack jokes about mostly anything.
(5) The teacher taught us a brief lesson on how NOT to stress your self out around the holidays.
(6) The idea to sell steaks for a fundraiser was_________. No one would ever buy them from a kid, and especially not for a fundraser.

Grammar PointProper Nouns
A Proper Noun is a person, place, or thing. It will begin with a capital letter no matter where it is found in a sentence. (ie. I found Sarah's notebook.) Sarah is a proper noun. It names a specific item that is unique. Names, states, countries, brand names, cities, school subjects, and holidays are some examples of proper nouns.
http://www.chompchomp.com/terms/propernoun.htm ((For more on Proper Nouns))

" Food Around the World "

Everyone loves to experience the world of food! You don't have to always travel far to experience food from other cultures. In this case, I have posted pictures from three different countries. Pictured above are three families and the food they purchased in one week. A family from Japan (shown above) spends around 37,699 Yen or $317.25 each week. Some foods they enjoy are : sashimi, fruit, cake, potato chips . (Also shown above) In Sicily, the Manzo family spends about 214.36 Euros or $260.11 on some of their favorite foods which include: fish, pasta with ragu, hot dogs, frozen fish sticks
Finally, the third picture(shown above) was taken of the The Aboubakar family of Breidjing Camp, in Chad. They spend about 685 CFA Francs or $1.23. This family enjoys soup with fresh sheep meat.
To view more photos, visit : the Time.com website. Type - "What the World Eats" or Copy and Paste --> http://www.time.com/time/photogallery/0,29307,1626519,00.html