Episode 2 Abby and Brittany: Joined for Life

-My name's Abby Hensel.

-And I'm Brittany Hensel. We're 22.

People have been curious about us since we were born.

BOTH: We're identical twins who are conjoined.

But we never use that as an excuse.

Life has its challenges.

-I like this.

-But I don't need it.

-We were raised to believe we can do anything we want.

-So we do!

-The most amazing thing is...

-We're just like everyone else!

-I'm definitely more normal than Britt.

-Whatever!

Anyways...

BOTH: This is the story of our normal, regular life.

Well, our normal, conjoined life.

This is our life!

I hate packing. I was so stressed out last night.

-Are you wearing that?

-Yeah.

'The end of year is crazy - we're getting ready to graduate.

-'Looking for jobs and trying to figure out a new house to find.

-So it's just crazy right now.'

-Do you need help?

-No.

'For graduation, we wanted to take a road trip.'

-So us...

-And our roommate Katy. And our friend Erin and friend Kristen decided to go to Chicago.

'We decided to do a girls' weekend to hang out with each other.'

-Ready to go to Chicago?

-I'm ready for the drive!

-Yay!

'It's so weird to think of not living with them.'

The year's gone by so fast.

Who knows where they're going to be, where we're going to be? No one knows exactly the next step.

'It's so sad to think about not seeing them every day

'because it's just become so normal to have them as part of my day.'

-Bed buddies.

-Strength in numbers.

-You don't like high fives.

Bye!

ALL: We're going to Chicago!

-Such a good day.

-Yeah.

We're five minutes late, but that's great.

-We're only six minutes late. That's excellent.

-That is good.

-'When we're driving, we're...

-Both watching the road, both checking mirrors.

'And just making sure everything is good. And we're both steering.'

They know we're here now! BEEPS HORN

Road...

-Road trip!

-Road trip!

-Road trip!

We're off to Chicago!

-Chicago!

-Woo!

-Woo!

-We were so excited...

-When we got them.

-We wanted to go and get...

-Started. It was exciting.

-You just relax back there.

-Enjoy the ride.

-We're relaxed, don't worry.

-Seriously, do not worry.

-I have my pillow.

-You better believe it.

They have to be up higher.

-I have abnormally long legs.

-And a very short torso.

And then the seat has to be really far forward.

One time I tried to drive their car. Trying to get into it was so squished.

If I was separated, we'd be taller. And if I did have back surgery on my spine, I'd be taller.

-I think we're good drivers.

-We have two licences.

-We each had to take the test.

-We both passed, obviously.

-Can we put different music in?

-'When we drive,'

-Abby has control of the gas and brakes.

-And then we both steer.

-And then I'm in charge of the clicker.

-For the blinker.

-So...

-How do I put on cruise control on this shindig?

-There we go.

'I don't know how they do it.'

So much of driving is instinct and intuition

'and to have to communicate to someone else, too...'

It's over my head. I don't know how they do it.

'Road trips are fun in the sense that it's exciting and you get to see everything you pass.

'It's also fun just to hang out with your friends in the car.'

SINGING ALONG WITH RADIO

It was one of the last weekends that we could hang out with them. It was nice to...

'All be together.'

-No.

-Aren't you almost done, though, actually teaching them?

This week I did two classes.

-Next week I'll do one class.

-We're literally the last people to graduate.

Onwards!

-Two hours and 47 minutes!

-Let the countdown begin.

'We took turns driving because it was such a long trip. We were all relieved to get there.'

-We finally made it to the hotel. We were delirious.

-Super happy.

All of us are here. Four bathroom stops. Lots of food.

-It was the GPS.

-We're here. We're ready to go to bed.

'We chose to go to Chicago because we love this city.

'And we all kind of got together and planned the trip.

'Erin had done Segways before so we decided that would be fun.'

-Yeah!

-Yeah!

-We're going to get you guys some helmets for safety.

-Do you want to grab a helmet?

-Yeah!

Where is the sun?

-Abbey Road!

-Yeah, really.

Back straight. Look towards me.

And you go ahead and step on.

There you go. Get a feel for it.

-But how?

-Shift your weight into your toes.

You are all cruel!

Just stand straight.

The Segways were hard for us cos we balance a little bit differently than everyone else does.

-I didn't think about that.

-'It's quite the difference.'

Whether it be our legs or our torso. I mean, it's in both.

We have quite the height difference. So we had to figure out on the Segway how to balance.

It was the first time I had seen them do something where they couldn't figure it out instantly.

'Britt is a lot shorter. She's always on her tiptoe.'

She's got a huge calf muscle.

She is always on her tiptoes to be the same height.

I just don't think this is safe!

You guys are going to be great. We're going to conquer this together. Aren't you cold?

It's freezing. We've got some sweatshirts here.

-Thank you so much.

-Let's get those on.

That's so much better.

We're always different temperatures. Even like our stomach, if we're in a swimsuit or whatever,

I can be a totally different temperature than Brittany. Weird.

-And our hands...

-Sometimes.

-A lot of times our hands are different temperatures.

I get super hot way faster. There's a distinct red line.

My legs are sweating. Everything. It's awful. And she's fine.

Isn't that weird?

We're going to be on a little bit of a hill.

-Oh, my God! Pot hole.

-We're going to stay at the back here! No big deal!

-Are they dancing?

-Whoo.

-So we started training.

-And that took...

-A lot longer than we thought. And it was cold.

-So we decided to...

-Cut our Segway tour...

-A little bit shorter

because we had a lot to do and wanted to get everything in.

-And kind of because it was more the experience of riding a Segway...

-Rather than seeing all of Chicago.

'We felt we did get to see all of Chicago.

-'Just by driving and walking.

-We got to see all of it. We just didn't do it on the Segways.'

And smile! Hey!

We went back to the hotel, changed into warmer clothes, fixed our hair.

-It was time for lunch.

-So we went for deep dish pizza.

-'We found a place down the road.'

-Ladies, take care.

-Brittany likes...

-I like being in the city.

-I don't like the city very much.

-Sorry.

-'I wouldn't want to live there in the city.'

We'd rather have, like, a yard and a more private home.

I'd rather just be in a smaller suburb.

-Guys! Pizza Due!

-Give me some of the pizza!

I'm Shonda. I'm your waitress and I want to welcome you...

'Our server's name was Shonda.'

-She was so funny and hilarious.

-We loved her.

What's going on? What have you been doing all day?

Segwaying.

She was just super-entertaining and so cute because she referred to herself in the third person.

Excuse me. Shonda is back!

-We got a medium pizza. It was really good.

-We liked it cos we got to try a variety.

'You could only really have one piece because it's so filling, but it was really good.'

'We kind of all had stomach aches after we ate that pizza.'

What did we just eat?!

We were all sick. Katy was awful.

If my stomach hurts, it hurts here and I can't feel this.

I can't feel anything. And Brittany's stomach hurts here and she can't feel that.

-I can only feel my right side.

-I only feel my left side.

-So it hurts on the opposite side.

-Isn't that weird?

'So we went to the Skydeck. That was previously known as the Sears Tower.

'Now it's the Willis Tower. The ledge is on the 103rd floor,

'approximately 1,400 feet high.'

-It's just like a glass ledge, box and it's made of all glass.

-And it's really cool.

-You can see the city. It's a great view.

-I think you can see four states out of it, I think I read.

-But you can also just take fun pictures.

-We goofed around, pretended like we were flying.

Don't look up.

-I'm not scared of heights. Brittany's petrified.

-Not petrified. I can do it, but I don't like it.

Yeah!

-Hey, is that really how tall she is?

-Wait, this is five foot.

-You can measure me now.

-This is the moment of truth.

I have a little bit of a heel on.

Throughout the museum there were rulers everywhere. We found out how tall we are.

-Want me to cheat a little?

-No!

-Good.

Oh, wow. That's significantly shorter.

'We make fun of Britt'

for being so short! I don't think she's even five foot. She's tiny.

'So it's just funny to see the difference. And when Britt's flat-footed, they're super-slanted.

'Even they're sometimes off-balance because of that.'

Last night we were putting up pictures of us in our bathroom.

They said, "Yeah, that's straight." I was like, "It's the most crooked thing!" "Looks straight to us!"

'Sometimes with things like that you can tell they don't have the same viewpoint as everyone else

-'because of how their bodies are.'

-60 seconds to the top, guys.

-That's probably pretty fast.

-18 miles per hour.

-18 miles...?!

We can do that.

-How you doing?

-How are YOU doing?

-I'm fine. You're the one we're worried about.

-I'm fine.

'There's a lot of things that Abby doesn't want to do, or Britt.'

They just do them because they have to have some sense of compromise.

We're over 1,000 feet in the air.

Just saying.

'I knew they were scared of heights, but I didn't realise

'how much until we got up into the Skydeck.'

That's OK.

Oh, my God! You could fall straight down there.

You can see straight down, which is kind of daunting. Whoa!

Brittany didn't want to, but knew she had to.

-You can do it. Just step really quick. It's super-safe.

-Just don't look down!

-Whoa! Whoa!

-You got it!

I think at first Britt's a little more cautious than Abby is to go try things,

but she has a big vision of doing all the adventures with her life.

This is nuts. We were right there!

'Abby isn't scared of heights and Britt is.'

Britt would do it. If Abby was scared, maybe she wouldn't have.

-Britt, how are you doing?

-Good.

-You're feeling OK?

-Yup.

OK, we need to snap some pics.

'It's kind of a bummer cos it was cloudy. It would have been nice.'

to have a clear day. But still fun.

-Lie down there. I want to see if it looks cool.

-OK.

-In the corner.

Just wait. OK?

-Where are we going?

-Up here.

-'We wanted to go see the bean. It's pretty famous in Chicago.

-It just looks like a bean.

'And it's cool because there's a reflection.'

People do different poses, but it's just really pretty. People go there to hang out.

There's tons of sculptures to see.

-'We love taking pictures.

-We've always been into photography.'

We're always the ones... Along with Erin, so that's good.

We're like, "Let's take a picture."

-'Photos are just a great memory.

-Of what you're doing.'

We're super-artsy, so it's a way to let that creativity out.

-Get one?

-Yeah.

-Good?

-Yeah, good.

-Now where to?

-Down here.

-Down?

-No, I mean to the left.

-We just went back to the hotel room and we were just...

-Exhausted. So we lay down for a little bit.

BOTH: I'm so tired!

Can we just watch a movie?

I want to sleep!

-Who wants to take a nap?

-Me!

-Me!

-We decided it would be fun to...

-Paint our nails.

Options, options. Choices.

-Kayla made me promise not to use the nail clipper...

-For two weeks.

-Why?

-Because I do it every day.

-You cut yours super-short.

-No, no, no. They aren't this short normally.

-Then what are you cutting?!

-The babiest nails I've ever had.

-I don't like when they're weak.

So I just cut them short.

-Oh, em, the Skydeck.

-What was your favourite part?

-Segways.

-Segways? You got good at them.

-I just think they're funny.

Once you've figured out the balance.

You guys just plant your feet. My legs are shorter than each other.

-What do people come to Chicago for?

-It's smaller than New York and easier to navigate.

'We aren't going to get a lot of time to take trips like this any more and see people as much.'

-It's a good time to...

-Catch up.

-And enjoy each other's company.

-'And paint our nails.

-And relax.'

You've got to move out all your stuff that's been accumulating.

I'm not looking forward to that.

We're not sure where we're going to be, so it's nice to get away

'while we're still together and have adventures and memories.

'It just dawned on us how close graduation is.'

I don't want to go back because now we have three weeks, two weekends, until we graduate.

-Is it really only two weekends?

-Two weekends, then graduation.

Since it's the last semester of our senior year at college,

-we've been student teaching and hanging out with our friends.

-Before graduation.

-Most school days, we try to get up...

-Around 6.45. And then...

-We try to leave for school by 7.45...

-7.50.

-7.45!

-7.45.

-BOTH: We are not morning people.

-Like...

-We don't talk to each other.

-Or to anybody.

-We do what we gotta do.

-Yep.

-'We're teaching a Fourth Grade classroom.

-Today we're teaching a review of math.'

With a test tomorrow. It'll be a good day.

We're there every day, all day.

-'The morning message is something...

-To get the kids started.

'Today we said: What is an adjective that could describe yourself?'

-Morning, girls!

-How are you doing?

'My name is Geri Von Grey.'

I work with Abby and Brittany as their supervisor. We have worked together for three years.

'She's there for us to talk to'

-and she tries to observe one lesson a week.

-And give us feedback.

-Good morning!

-How are you?

Write some adjectives down. How would you describe yourself?

'The question of separate majors or one major is common.'

Initially, they thought of having different focuses.

'Physically, it was really impossible for them to take twice as many classes as the average student

-'and then get the homework done.'

-Did you write "funny"? Nice?

-Attitude.

-All right.

'For the most part, we definitely teach'

-in a collaborative...

-Team approach.

All righty.

-'In order to get the kids' attention, we do clapping rhythms.

-We have them follow along.'

Some people are still not with me. All right. Very good job.

Put up your desks and take out your math.

'I definitely have more math and science.'

-That's my strong point. Brittany's more...

-More focused on language arts.

'Writing and reading.'

And seated and quiet.

My connection with Abby and Brittany,

I've followed them through the years, understanding their unique situation.

'The fact that they are together, they're constantly in a team teaching mode.'

Come sit on the floor.

'We see a difference in the tolerance.'

I'm more strict in the sense that I want to keep them as quiet as we can.

-Brittany can handle more chatter.

-Noise.

-Goes with the flow more.

Who can remember what we don't do with our markers?

-We don't draw.

-Where do our markers go? Adam?

-On the floor.

-And we are NOT writing notes.

We had concerns about how the students would respond. It's such a unique situation.

-Let's start with factors and multiples.

-'It was important to give students that exposure visually.'

We had an open question and answer forum where they took their questions

and from then on they were dismissed, Abby and Brittany, and the teacher asked the students very candidly,

"Do you have any other questions?" And they were like, "No.

"That's it. They're just part of our classroom now."

The top number is 56. Draw an array for me.

56 has to be inside, so give me two factors that give 56.

-8 and 7. Very good.

-'Once you arrive'

to the place where you recognise them as very qualified and dynamic teachers,

then it becomes a non-issue, really. And that process for kids happens...like that.

Boards up, boards up.

BOTH: Excellent.

-So we decided that we...

-Would get feedback from the students.

-About having student teachers.

-What's it like having a student teacher?

-Or two!

-Or two!

And you've done that.

-'I have to focus a lot harder.

-Yeah.

-Like when we are doing'

-two different things. "What are you doing?"

-What's the other one doing?

What does that mean about how many eyes we have?

-Anthony, you can answer. I tell you this a lot.

-Four.

There's four eyes watching you!

Saying the same stuff at the same time.

You do like that, don't you?

-I would not hesitate to put them in the classroom and hire them.

-Group 3. You get three points.

I'd like you to go for recess.

Some of the uniqueness is in terms of contracts. Is it one contract? Is it two contracts?

'They applied as two separate people'

and they'll both have their own teaching licence. But they need a job where they can be in the same space.

Group 2, you get three points and you can also go and enjoy recess.

Bye!

There's no question in my mind that they will change the world for the better and influence lives

in ways that those like myself, as one person, never will be able to do.

Bye! 'We are winding down student teaching.'

We only have 13 days left, which is so sad.

But we're excited to graduate. It'll be a good week.

Bittersweet, but we're excited.

Is that it?

Josiah is...

-one of...

-Our best friends from Bethel. We met him the first day.

We try to do a once-a-week hang out and catch up on each other's week and see how things are going.

-You guys getting excited for graduation?

-Yes. Are you?

-Yeah.

'We were in the same dorm.'

They were mixing with boys and girls, as awkward as that is.

BOTH: What service are you graduating at?

What ceremony? I am at the 12.30 ceremony.

It's been a ton of fun, we've been great friends. Blessed to have them.

-What time are you two graduating?

-Nine o'clock.

-Both?

-Yeah.

-Maybe I'll graduate at four. I'm not sure yet.

-OK.

-Did you know we're conjoined(?)

-Knock that off! You're what?!

-We're conjoined. Did you know that?

-What does that even mean?

-We tried to talk about this before.

-Seriously. I felt like you had said something.

-I mentioned it.

-I thought you said you liked pork loins.

'I probably knew three people at Bethel that time I met them.

'This was an opportunity to meet more people.'

I don't remember what I thought and to me that's huge. I saw the potential for two friends.

'And I've always joked with them it's two for the price of one.'

-You had an interview recently?

-Yes. We had a job interview.

-What questions did they ask you?

-What was one of my greatest successes?

-What were your greatest successes?

-I would say doing teaching.

-And there is the points system that we put together.

-We give kids points for good behaviour.

'They're very much sisters to me.'

I'm very protective of them. They don't really allow for their friends to be too protective.

That's the unique bond I have with them. They allow me to do that.

-Are we excited?

-Our last Chilly Billy's before graduation.

-He is super-supportive and encourages us. And always makes us laugh.

-We're always laughing.

We play off each other's stupidity or weirdness.

What was the song we made up? Hit it with me, come on.

-I don't know it.

-Yeah, you do!

-Oh, shucks!

-I didn't know we played guitar.

-I did.

-I did, by myself.

-You're pretty good at acoustic air guitar.

-I've never played in my life.

-We're also able to...

-Connect.

-On a more serious level.

We often ask him for advice and he is super-encouraging and supportive.

-It's sad we won't be with our friends.

-I'll be around.

-I'm sad about that.

-You don't know that for sure.

-You've still got high school friends. So why not your college friends?

-That's a good question.

-Thank you.

'The way they interact is totally different to how I would with my own sibling.'

I think that's such a unique bond that no one in this world could have

besides those two with each other.

BOTH: Bye! Thank you.

-All right. Here we go.

-I'm OK.

-So all that remains...

-Is graduating.

-Katy's in social work and Cari's also in education.

It's our last weekend at college.

-Brittany, will you get out of your phone?!

-I'm texting Josiah.

-None of the roommates...

-Have jobs. We're all interviewing and looking.

-'We're living in our house until August.

-We're excited.

'And then come September we're not sure where we'll be. We haven't figured out our job yet.'

-How are we feeling about graduation?

-Are we nervous?

I'm not nervous for the actual graduation, but it'll not ever be the same.

-I'm nervous for tripping. I have a record.

-So do I!

-Like prom.

High school graduation.

-Let's practise.

-OK.

-You have to practise with your shoes on.

Cari Jo Hohncke!

Britt and Abby Hensel!

Will you please drop it? Drop it.

'It'll be exciting to go through this next season together and living here this summer.'

And just being able to celebrate together. That's really awesome.

-What are we going to do for jobs?

-It's a foreign language!

-It is, but it'll be super-fun.

-We'll figure it out, guys.

-Let's take a pic.

Make a sad "We're graduating" face.

-We're graduating on Saturday!

-To graduation.

You went, you went...

Yaaay!

-Do I want a watch?

-No.

I'm wearing earrings.

-What do you think? Pearls or diamonds?

-Diamonds.

-'Graduation day finally came.

-Our ceremony was at nine.'

So us, Cari Jo and Katy all got ready early. We had to be there at eight.

-Or the light shoes. What's better?

-Put one of each on.

Are they going to stay on while you walk?

No.

Oh, it will stay on a while, though.

-Have you tried on the hat?

-No.

-OK.

-Love you!

-Oh, we're graduating!

-Is that OK? It doesn't look too tight?

-No!

I don't think it actually hit us because there's so much stuff to do. Our robes, tickets...

We've got to go!

Now!

-OK, we've got to move.

-We should have woken up earlier!

Bye!

-You girls look great.

-Thank you.

Ready? Let's do it!

-I know it!

-Oh, coffee!

Oh, coffee.

Oh, your coffee! Everybody, then.

-It wasn't stressful, more exciting.

-We were like, "Let's just get there."

-And get things rolling.

Here we go!

Are you really putting that on?

-How are you?

-Good.

-This is so weird.

-This is just stupid.

-How's this supposed to be on?

-I don't remember. I think on the right, then you put it to the left.

How have they not perfected the graduation look yet?! They've had centuries.

-Hi!

-Hi!

Fix it. Fix it now.

Do you want it on the right or left? It's supposed to go on the right.

ORGAN MUSIC PLAYS

Yeah.

You secured it real tight.

I think when we were all walking in we all got excited. "Oh! This is actually it!"

Knowing they want to be a teacher,

I knew they'd go to college and do well in college.

You may be seated.

-Is anybody excited?

-STUDENTS: Whoo!

Looking at the financial aid part,

Bethel did approach it as, "Let's try to do a two-for-one here for the most part."

And now we get to graduate you. We've been looking forward to that almost as much as you have.

They each had to pay a fee and each got diplomas, but they only took up one spot in the classroom

and most of the homework they only turned in one assignment. So I think it was fair what they did.

President Barnes, I present them to you for conferral of their degrees.

You may now move your tassels from right to left

signifying that you are the proud holder of a degree from Bethel University.

Congratulations. We salute you.

Abigail Loraine Hensel.

Brittany Lee Hensel.

So they called our names and we got up there and we were like, "I'm not going to trip!"

My hat fell off, but I recovered quickly with the fist pump!

Nothing really embarrasses me.

-We tried not to drop everything.

-But we weren't embarrassed.

-So...

-We managed.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is your class of 2012!

After graduation, our family went out to dinner at Dixie's.

-Found your keys, girls?

-Know where they were, Dad?

-Where?

-They were in...

-The car.

-The car was running for four hours.

No way!

-The doors were wide open.

-The car was running?!

-Who left the car running?

-Me, I drove. Dad's trying not to say much!

-So is it out of gas, then?

-No. I still have a half tank.

'We were late. We lost our keys.'

-And they were in our car with the car still on.

-So it ran...

-8, 9, 10, 11, 12.

-Four hours.

-What are you drinking?!

-Root beer.

-Are you 18, Koty?

-Are you 18?

-Are you kidding me?

-19.

-Oh, I didn't know.

-Koty's 19. He's going to be 20.

-My brother's Koty. He's two years younger than us.

-We have that...

-Bickering relationship.

-But...

-It's getting better.

-We're definitely bickering less.

You didn't say Happy Birthday.

That's right. How old am I?

'Me and Koty fight more.'

-Brittany's more...

-Laidback. I don't get bothered by him.

-I fight back.

-Oh, thank you.

-Is it a horse?

-It's not a horse.

-BOTH: Oh, look at that!

-It's my name!

-It'll be on my desk. When I don't get a job(!)

-Morgan is 17...

-And she's going to go to our college. We're going to love having her in the city.

Morgan, you're going to Bethel.

She's so excited(!)

More Post-Its and stickers.

-Now you just need the job.

-Which I won't get.

-You'll get a job.

In Alaska!

-You have to be at least 100 miles away from home.

-At least!

-I can't believe they left the car running.

-Shut up! I didn't try to.

-They are their mother's kids.

-Mom is a lot like us in every aspect!

'Brittany's a lot more stubborn, like Dad. And I'm more like...'

-Abby worries a lot.

-Just like Mom.

-We're definitely a mix.

-We're really close to them.

- OK, now you can enjoy your meal. - Go out see if the car's running.

Whoo!

Awww!

'They've probably had lots of challenges,

'but they don't consider them a challenge. If it's just something'

they want to do,

they're just going to do it.

'I'm sure they look sometimes at situations and think, "We can never do that," but if they want it,'

it doesn't matter - they're going to go after it.

OK, let's check.

-Passports.

-Money. IDs.

-Abby.

-Brittany. 'We are going to London.'

-And England for a trip.

-London IS England.

-I mean we're going to Italy and London for a trip.

-With some girlfriends from college.

-Erin and Becca.

-So we have our boots.

-Make sure our camera's there.

-Yeah, I feel it.

-'We love London. We have studied abroad in London.

-Twice. We student taught in Maidenhead.'

Rain jacket.

Erin and us always talked about going to London since sophomore year so we want to make it happen.

-And we decided...

-We wanted to go to Italy.

Meep-meep!

So we decided to spend five days in London and five in Venice and Rome.

- BOTH: We're going to Europe! Whoo! - Ready?

-Yeah, I'm all packed.

-'We were all really excited to go on this trip.'

It had been a trying time for all of us.

'There are so many uncertainties trying to figure out where to live, where to work.'

We knew this would be the only time where we could have ten days off to be able to travel.

-Have a good trip, girls.

-Love you. See you later.

-Bye!

-Be good!

-I will.

-Not.

'I'm very excited for them.'

-Here we go!

-'I don't have any concerns.'

We talked with their primary doctor and got a prescription for almost anything they could possibly need

'from bronchitis to cellulitis to urinary tract infections to pain medicine.'

-Oh!

-'Because for them to walk into another country's hospital, you know,'

it would be hard to start from the beginning with them.

-Good.

-Hi.

-Go ahead, thank you.

-May I have your passports?

-I did remember our passports!

-'We have two passports.

-One each.'

We have two Social Security numbers, so it makes sense.

-I'm not sure if we're booked under Abby or Brittany.

-It's Brittany.

But we only take up one seat.

-How many bags?

-One.

We've never had a problem with it.

-Thank you for flying Delta today. Have a good flight.

-And we're off!

So the first morning in London we took an open-top bus tour.

-How are you?

-I'm Abby.

-I'm Brittany.

-Hi, nice to meet you.

'It's just a good way to see the whole city.'

-We thought it would be fun to get a history-type tour.

-Which was super-fun.

This is so great.

The Battle of Trafalgar was won by Lord Nelson. He's on the column.

If Trafalgar Square is the geographic centre, Piccadilly Circus is the social centre.

It's fun to see all those sites relaxed, not taking 100 pictures.

-There's Big Ben.

-That's really cool.

But we still took 100 pictures!

It's so unnecessary, how many I've taken.

I always hit the picture button, but we take turns at whoever wants to look into the little viewer.

Ladies.

When Brittany's focusing it, I know when she stops moving. So I click the button.

But it's not something that we are consciously in thought of.

The Palace is just ahead of us.

That's the balcony that you see the Royal Family coming out on on special occasions.

-Morning!

-Morning!

Holy cow! There's a lot of people.

No, it's too beautiful.

It's different, travelling.

'In these crowded situations, I am far more aware of where they are and just what's going on.

'No one expects that they're going to see conjoined twins so it's normal to have a reaction,'

but you never know what people will do or say.

Holy crap. 'They've had bad experiences of unwelcome attention

'or unwelcome photographs so when that happens'

everyone's on high alert.

What the heck!

'You want to make sure they're safe and not completely exposed.

'Definitely standing in the way of pictures, keeping an eye on what's going on and how the girls are'

reacting to the crowds.

-All right? Shall we go?

-Sometimes if they get overwhelmed, we just need to get away from the area.

-Let's bounce out of here.

-'But they amaze me with their ability'

to shake it off and keep seeing what we're there to see.

'You've got to take it as it comes and go with it.'

-It doesn't wreck the whole day.

-Got to make it fun.

-Time's up.

-I'm talking to my boyfriend and my fiance who I don't know.

Hello. Yes. Where's my ring? Fine, goodbye!

-This is how rumours get started.

-There was this rumour that I was engaged and it's not true at all.

-It was a dumb joke.

-So...

-No boyfriend.

-No engagement.

Whoo hoo.

-Picture time?

-Yeah, let's just wait until this crowd passes.

'So then we went to Tower Bridge, another favourite cos it's so beautiful.'

Look! This is really special. That barge is the royal barge.

-Oh, wow!

-That's amazing.

-Is somebody on it?

-I doubt it.

'We saw the Queen's barge go through, which apparently is...'

Very significant.

-The kings would always do pageants on the river.

-OK.

This was revived for the Jubilee.

-Is there significance to that?

-It's just a sculpture.

I'm going to give you £5 to go hug that thing right there.

We saw this weird statue. Erin dared us to give it a hug.

That was well worth it.

-Well worth it.

-'We were running a little faster than we thought.'

-And it was like...

-Bang! We startled everyone, I think. Made a big ruckus.

I think you made this mark on it. This was caused by you, right there.

-You left your mark in London.

-Well done.

-'They're always willing to make themselves look stupid.'

-That was really good.

-But that one surprised me.

-We've had a lot of fun today.

-So much fun!

-Has everybody been here before?

-We did it once. It's hard. The traffic doesn't stop.

-It stops for me.

'While in London, we decided'

-to go to Abbey Road.

-And try the walk.

-From the Beatles.

-You go first, I'll go second.

-'It's a little tricky to time a picture.'

And not get hit by traffic. It's a busy road.

Go! Go! 'It was kind of like Frogger.'

Don't get hit!

Guys, we did it!

-Guys!

-I told you traffic stops for me.

-Right, where next?

-Have you done high tea?

-No

-It's so cool.

-This table?

-Perfect. Thank you.

'We went to this tea house.'

And we had high tea. A very English thing to do.

-Wow.

-Oh! Fancy schmancy!

You get like a platter of sandwiches and little cakes. And desserts.

-Here's to our first, classy...

-High tea.

That's tricky.

-You get your own type of tea.

-Spin the loaves.

Which will we try next?

Ooh, squishy! 'There was like this'

mango meringue. It was SO weird.

-That's disgusting!

-You're trying it.

-Brittany will try it.

I'm picky. I'd rather just have pasta.

-Take a bite.

-No.

-Abby!

'I'm more adventurous and will try different things.'

-I like a wider range of food.

-So trying things was easier for Brittany than for me.

-You ready for this?

-Yeah. Have you rown before?

-No.

-Is it rown?

-Rowing. How about you?

Have I ever "rown"?

-We wanted to go out to Maidenhead.

-Which is where we lived for two months and student taught.

-Hello, hello.

-'One thing that our host family was into was rowing.'

-And so we decided to do...

-A rowing lesson on the River Thames.

Drive with the legs, then pull in with my arms and then lean forward like so.

-The instructor's name was Chris.

-He was very good at rowing.

-And he had taught a lot of newbies.

Abby and Brittany, try to keep your arms straighter for longer. That's it!

Oars we actually call blades. The end part we call the spoons.

There's feathered and there's square. The right-hand side is called the stroke side.

And this side is the bow side.

To stop you, I'll say, "Easy there."

-Is there going to be a test?

-There's the test!

-Don't dump me in!

-I'm not going to dump you in.

-I don't want any broken feet. Boats are not my friend.

-OK.

-Brittany, are you scared?

-Yeah!

-We play volleyball. Boats and water...

-Break our feet!

-We can't do this!

-Whose idea was this?

-Erin's!

-No, it wasn't! Whose was it?

-A team effort.

- I'm going to hold it. - This isn't the hard bit!

-I broke my foot twice.

-Three times.

Getting in is where I break it!

As long as we get in the boat, we should be OK.

-All right, let's do this.

-Two ends of the handle.

I'll help stabilise the boat. OK?

-Oh, babycakes! Whoa!

-OK.

-Whoa!

I'm laughing now, but...

-Yeah, don't you even start to laugh!

-OK.

-Cos if I die...

-I haven't got a job yet.

-There we are.

-There we go. They look like pros.

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

Stroke. I want you to lift your spoons up. Take a baby stroke.

And push down. And away.

It didn't even go in the water.

Their strokes would be off or their consistency...

It was a trying time for all of us.

It's not in the water! How do we do that? It's so hard.

It is.

Sculling with two blades needs absolute co-ordination and it is hard enough for one person

to get that co-ordination going. It'll be doubly difficult for Abby and Brittany.

-What am I doing wrong?

-Ah! You don't want your bum to go "whoo" like that and shove the seat back.

You want your shoulders coming back.

Shove your arms out. Now come forward. And put them in.

'I've never been a part of something with them that they couldn't achieve.'

So I didn't think twice about it when we started to row. "Oh, this will be no problem."

-He was very intense about his job.

-You're not square on bow side! Got to make sure you're square!

-Get square on bow side!

-"Square! Square!" Oh...

Whole crew, come on. In time with stroke. Make sure you're square.

-Oh, sorry. Ah!

-Ah!

-We've all got out of sync so we'll start again.

-The hard part was...

-Being in sync with everyone.

-Oh!

-That was me.

It's a very big thing of trust.

Two, wait for stroke. In time with stroke!

In, out.

'They were able to get that difficult hand co-ordination together and also be'

doing the other things, which is the leg, then pulling back with the arms.

-You're getting it.

-Are you sure?

-Yeah!

How they can manage that, you know, with two different controlling brains,

I was extremely impressed. ..It's not square. That's it. Make sure it's square.

'We are very co-ordinated, but we didn't know what his terms meant.'

On the water! Easy!

So we had to figure that out.

It's not square on bow side. It's not square.

-'When you start to row, you need to have your oars...

-Square!'

Vertical and perpendicular with the water.

-Keep checking that you're square.

-Brittany, it's not square.

You're not square. Easy now! Easy!

Don't think your blades will be square. You have to keep checking.

Check all the time.

It was interesting to watch them communicate with each other,

trying to figure out how to row at the same time, then one of them was done with it.

Like, "I'm sick of it." Then it made everyone else off, too.

It was interesting to see how they had to keep going.

In, out! That's it.

-We learned it.

-Wow. We are motoring. Keep it slow.

Don't get excited.

Yes!

-Yes!

-Aaah!

You forgot to square them!

They're lovely girls, all of them.

Easy. ..I feel honoured to have spent a session with them. I want to be their new best friend!

There you go.

Ta-da! Dry land!

-- Thank you. - Thank you. That was so good.

-Thank you so much.

-Hey!

-Hey!

-How are you?

-Hi!

This is Jake and Emily.

'After our rowing lesson,'

we saw these kids we taught, Jake and Emily. They're so cute.

Their mom is a teacher's assistant in the class that we were in, so we got to know her.

Jake was in our math class.

-They are going to grab some coffee.

-OK.

-Is it going to bite me?

-No, it's fine.

-Aaah!

'We went to Odds Farm, which is like petting zoo/jungle gym. It was fun.'

-Do you guys have school tomorrow?

-Yes.

-Do you have homework?

-No.

They taught me in maths and literacy.

-So what do we do?

-You pedal.

-Just pedal?

They're fun, so good to listen to.

They're more proper and polite and respectful.

-Ha!

-I'm too big for this!

-'Really good personality.'

Jake's going to get us!

-It's hard!

-You've got it! You're doing a good job!

We really like them cos they're two separate people and really nice.

-Ready and...go, go, go, go!

-Thank you!

'Did you get two different perspectives in teaching?'

The schools are run very differently. They're more strict. Respect is driven in a lot harder.

"The farmer's lost his sheep. Can you help him find them?"

-Which way shall we go?

-That way.

Then go down here. ..Ah, a dead end.

-What?!

-Straight away.

'We went through a maze.'

The goal was to get through it and find all five sheep and remember them.

-There's one!

-There's a sheep.

-Curly!

-This is an actual maze.

-Curly and Fluffy.

-We're just doing a circle.

-Are we?

-There's Curly.

It's really, really hard.

-Which way? There's Fluffy again.

-Have we been this way?

It would be the same sheep.

We're lost in this maze! Help!

All right.

-I'm going to say the names in British. Ready?

-Yeah.

ENGLISH ACCENT: Curly, Floppy and Snowdrop.

-That was good!

-Can you say it in American?

-Curly, Fluffy, Snowdrop.

-Whoo! Great! Jake?

-AMERICAN ACCENT:

-Uh, Curly...

-Um, Fluffy and Snowdrop.

-That's great!

-Emily does a great American accent.

-So does Jake. We tried British.

We were just having fun. They were so cute.

-Yay!

-We made it!

-And we got all of them!

-Whoo!

-Whoo!

-Yes!

-All right. Here we go!

-Ready?

-OK.

-OK.

-Whoo!

-Yay! You did it!

'Inside the barn was this soft-play obstacle course.'

We were too big for it, but we went anyway.

-Hey!

-Hey!

'It was more difficult than we thought.'

ALL SCREAMING

-'But it was fun.

-It was cute to see Jake and Emily so excited.

-It was fun to hang out with them.'

-They're so cute.

-We love them.

Bye, honey. It was lovely to see you.

-Bye!

-So good to see you.

-I'm scared of heights.

-I know.

-Terrified. 'On our final night,'

-we wanted to try the London Eye.

-This is so cool.

'It's a giant Ferris wheel'

to see all of London.

-Are we going down?

-Still going up.

-It takes about a half hour.

-It was perfect. It was sunset and a clear day. Perfect for picture taking.

-New view?

-Yeah. St Paul's Cathedral.

-..Oh, there's some air! Ahh.

-I am hot.

I was hot. Probably because we're scared of heights. We were a little nervous.

-There's air vents.

-Perfect.

-'There was some nice vents we sat on top of.

-I don't like being hot.'

-No, I don't.

-Is there ever time where Abby can feel hot and Brittany doesn't?

-Right now.

-I'm fine right now.

-I'm freezing.

-This is such a good time to see it.

-It's a beautiful time.

The London Eye was perfect. We all just love London.

It's just a place we'll have to go back to again and again.

-Tomorrow...

-We fly to Venice.

-We're going for five days in Italy.

-We're super-excited about that.

BOTH: Italy!

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd