Awkward Moment

I'm in a bit of a rush today, guys, but I wanted to share the Awkward Moment of the Day. I was at Clemson's Language and International Trade conference because my Italian teacher asked us to go listen to two speakers instead of coming to class today. The speakers were a little boring and there were sound problems, but that's not what I want to focus on. Nope, I want to talk about the girl I sat next to. Let's call her Jessica.

Jessica and I are in the same Italian class, and while we aren't really friends (Facebook or Real Life) we do know each other. She sits diagonal to me, we are partnered up in groups sometimes, we have chatted, etc. So it wasn't weird or awkward sitting next to her. No, the awkwardness came at lunch.

We broke for lunch, and Jessica and I got in line together and were talking and as we finished dishing up our plates I said something like, "You're the only one I recognize here, so I'm just gonna follow you, okay?"

And she's all like, "Yeah, cool."

So we walk downstairs to the tables and she's looking around and then turns to me with this grossed out look on her face and says, "You didn't want me to eat with you, did you?"

What. The. Hell.

No, I didn't, Jessica. I just wanted to follow you down here so I could ignore all the comfy chairs upstairs and sit down at a table by myself. Thanks.

I don't know what it is about me that repulsed her so much she couldn't offer to let me sit with her and her friends. I don't smell today. I'm dressed extra nicely for the conference. I smile--I'm nice to people. I have no history of random acts of violence and I don't rudely dominate conversations. What is it? Why?

So, yeah. That was awkward. See if I help her on group projects again, bitch.

Harry Potter World

So, this is a bit late. But only by a week! That's hardly anything, when you think about the whole scope of things. Really, how long is a week compared to the months I waited for each of the Harry Potter books to come out? Really?....It won't happen again. If only because I missed it.

The last you heard from me I was frolicking in Florida with my roommate, Julia. I have bunches to catch you up on, so here is a bulleted list of the major points that are going on in my life before the actual blog-content. I know, you're on pins and needles.

• Julia's family eats a ton. They go out to eat almost every day, and when they aren't eating out, her mom cooks amazing meals that could easily feed 10 people. I must have gained ten pounds in that little week I was there--I have no clue how Julia stayed skinny for the first 18 years of her life!
• I'm finally caught up on Once Upon a Time and WOW! Without any spoilers, I'll just say that there is so much going on and I can't wait until Sunday! On a side note, Julia knows the girl who plays young Snow White. How cool is that?
• I got sunburnt on my first day in Florida (I have very pale skin that resists sunscreen no matter how many times it's applied. It's like my superpower.) and spent the rest of the week under an umbrella with a towel draped over my legs while Julia had fun in the sun. Sadness.
• I GOT AN INTERNSHIP FOR THE SUMMER AND IT PAYS REAL MONEY
• I finally got my application for Italy, so now I just have to fill it out...I'll get right on that, I swear!
• I went to Harry Potter World!

It is this last bullet that I would like to expound upon. This was my first experience with Universal Studios ever. I'm a huge Disney World fan, so when I'm in Orlando I generally stay at Disney and don't move around much. But Julia and I (the huge potterheads we are) just had to see HP World, so we made the trip. It felt really weird to be in Orlando and see signs for Disney but not pull off, but I am glad I went--and both parks would have been too expensive for us broke college students.

Harry Potter World was amazing. We didn't even bother with the rest of the park at first, just headed straight for the castle and didn't look back until we'd done everything that we wanted to. 

We started with the castle ride because it had the longest wait and we knew it was a must see. We waited 90 minutes, and I'm not gonna lie, the outside portion of the line is brutal. However, it does move pretty regularly without long periods of standing still, which helps. I'd heard a lot about how the inside portion of the line was great, and for the most part it was. I really liked seeing the Mirror of Erised and Dumbledore's office and our little convo with the Golden Trio. My only problem was a plain door marked 'Kitchens'. Everyone knows that the entrance to the kitchens is behind the painting of a bowl of fruit, which would have been a great detail to add that wouldn't have been too hard. I also really would have liked to get a picture of me tickling the pear!

The ride itself was great! I would compare it to a combination of Soarin' and Dinosaur in Disney World, because it is intense and simulation-y, but not a roller coaster. It's been a while, so I'll admit to not remembering every detail about the ride, but I remember specifically thinking that they did an excellent job blending simulation and video with real life...if that makes any sense to you.

From there I got my wand. I didn't wait in line for the show at Ollivander's because we had to leave by 4 and didn't arrive in Universal until 11ish, so we were in a bit of a hurry to get everything done. Instead I just went in through Dervish and Bangs. I ended up choosing Hermione's, and I'm really happy with it. I originally wanted Draco's, then I got in line with Luna's, then I got out of line and picked up Lucius', and then I finally decided on Hermione. I like to think that it was calling to me :)

Next was lunch at the Three Broomsticks where I got the shepherd's pie and Julia got fish and chips and we both tried butterbeer. Frozen is better than non-frozen, by the way. Lunch was a bit expensive, but what do you expect in a theme park, I guess. I do think it was more expensive than Disney though.

We did the Tri-Wizard Tournament ride twice so we could experience both sides. I prefer the red side and Julia liked the blue. The wait for this ride was really short, the first time being 25 minutes and the second only 10 minutes.

After that we headed over to the Hulk, which had a very short wait, and was awesome! I lovvee roller coasters, and that really satisfied my fix. The Hulk was probably the biggest roller coaster I have been on to date, but it wasn't that bad. I keep telling people that so they will agree to go back with me.

As amazing as I thought Harry Potter World was, Universal itself didn't impress me much. Parking was very unorganized, the staff nowhere near as friendly as in Disney, there wasn't a lot for littler children to do (even the carousal was intense), and I felt like the copied a lot from Disney, without any of the magic.

As fun as it was to go on the more 'grown up' rides at Universal, my heart remains with Disney.