September 29, 2008

"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))

3 comments:

Carolyn said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Carolyn said...

Hi. I enjoyed your blog about London. I've never traveled on a plane alone, I have always been with friends or family. I can imagine the hesitation you must have felt over such a huge trip. The Thanksgiving you shared with your friend sounded like a lot of fun. I can't wait to make it to London one day! I've already seen Puerto Rico and Spain, both very beautiful and a completely different world than what life in London must be like.

Teacher: Jackie said...

Great tale of a surprise trip and all the anticipation it involved!
I lived in London and just loved it. I hope you get to go back for a longer period of time.