london day 5
classes started today. english looks to be fabulous and exciting- we're
reading dickens and going on a dickens walking tour to see places that
are in the book! we had a long break between classes and so we found a
pretty cafe to sit at and drink coffee and watch people. the street is
closed to traffic and all the shops have brightly colored fronts and
flowers hanging from window boxes above. back to the f.s.u. building
for history with sean piggot, who is amazing. he hates hitler and
george w. bush. he identified parallels between the flow of events in
iraq and that of british imperialism in africa. he was wearing
timberlands, jeans, and some rugged sort of button-down shirt. he's
about fifty and built rather large, though not fat. he looks like the
guy from sliding doors who
listened to all of the ex-boyfriend's problems and laughed. sean seems
a little out of place in the classroom, though he's ridiculously
intelligent. he looks like he ought to be very drunk in a pub cheering
for a rugby team. he says "fuck" quite a bit.
i've come to love the tube. the system is a perfect cross between the ny subway and the dc metro. the stops are in prime locations and easy to find. absolutely wonderful. the seats are cushioned. with the kind of seating cushions you see on charter buses. they're also quite clean. the names are great too: maida vale, elephant & castle, picadilly circus. we live off the bakerloo line. i'm already pretty good at getting around. the escalators move faster here than they do in the states but there's less pushing and shoving to get in and out of the doors on the train.
i've begun to think with a british accent. i was reading earlier and realized the character's voices in my head had british accents. and it's only been five days.
after class today i finally got a chance to get away from the group- first time in days. i took the tube home and dropped off my things at the flat, then went up to the kilburn high road and went shopping. i got an alarm clock at woolworths and stamps at the little news shop around the corner, then i went to sainsbury's, which is the best grocery store ever, and bought all sorts of basic food stuffs- fruit, pb & j, rice, milk, cereal, etc. for just over ten pounds, which is about $20. our stipend allows for about 60 pounds per week (about $120) and we're all so thrilled that we can make it go so far that our house has decided to do big special dinners once or twice a week. we can certainly afford it if the school's paying. hopefully we won't just piss away the extra money on beer. speaking of extra money, it feels like you've got extra money when you can pay for things like beer, stamps, and postcards with change because all money up to two pounds comes only in coinage. i love the one pound coin.
i think everyone went food shopping tonight, only we did it separately and at different times. we all have the bright orange sainsbury's bag which you can buy for 10p and when it's too old, they'll give you a new one. around seven we all wound up in the common rooms reading, cooking, eating, talking. we had the french door style windows thrown open at each end of the room and it was still sunny and bright out. absolutely lovely. an truly excellent way to wind down the first day of classes. i'm really looking forward to wednesday when nearly everyone else in the house has to get up and go to the theatre class, which is the one i'm not taking. guess what i'll be doing. ha, i mean quietly laugh to yourself if you know.
yoghurt, (which is how they spell it) tastes better here than i've ever had. it has a kick to it and it takes a little getting used to, but i'm impressed. apparently they have very old cultures that can't be shipped to the u.s. because it violates customs, and our cultures just aren't old enough to make great yogurt. now it's easier to believe that spike in notting hill could mistake mayo for yogurt and eat it with a spoon. that makes it sound like it tastes nasty, but it doesn't. peanut butter tastes different as well- like actual peanuts. i like it, but not like i like j.i.f. also, if you think you've had chocolate, come to europe and eat some cadbury chocolate. you'll never go back to shitty american candy. fuck, it's good.
i love our bathroom. we're on the third floor, which in the states would be the fourth, silly europeans, and it has windows that unlatch and push out to look very cute and let in a lot of light and air. a mirror at face level stretches across one wall, above the sink and toilet, and a large built-in tile countertop runs the length of the room and goes under the window right up to the edge of the shower surround. we have so much counter space. three people can't fill that counter. our tub is really high, so i worry that i'll slip and kill myself getting out of it. our water pressure stinks because we're on the top floor so there's a pump we can turn on and then the pressure is fabulous. the shower head is a detachable sort, which is good, since the bracket it hangs from is mounted lower than any of us stand, so we kind of have to detach it to get wet. so much natural light in this house. i love it. the water in this country is super hot. nothing like it at home. makes tap water dangerous.
tomorrow we're going to baz's class and having an f.s.u. orientation (again), a lecture from the local cops, and an orientation at the international student house, which may or may not have a gym. i have to go to the bookstore near the tottenham court station and pick up a copy of the history book sean wants us to have. i want to go to the bureau de change down the street from f.s.u. and change the rest of my american money before the dollar gets even worse. i think i saw a sign today that said i can get .53 pounds on the dollar. sucks, but i'll take it. so then we have the afternoon to ourselves, and someone suggested we ought to use it to get dinner and a few pints, and then we have a play to go to, which apparently involves pigs and gunfire. i think it's called harvest. sounds good.
there are so many things to enjoy about this country. the people are nice, albeit they generally have very bad teeth- probably from the spectacular orgasm-inducing chocolate. more natural light inside buildings than you get in the states. no air conditioning, but mostly you just don't feel the need for it! it's so light and cool and breezy here. there's a grand mixture of old and new architectural features that makes the whole city feel more authentic and lived-in than in a city like dc or ny, where things that are new are too shiny and things that are old just seem neglected. i have to go home in december and finish my degree, but i'm seriously considering coming back to london after i graduate. i think i could definitely live here and feel good about it.
i want to meet a british guy.
new photos are posted here.
i've come to love the tube. the system is a perfect cross between the ny subway and the dc metro. the stops are in prime locations and easy to find. absolutely wonderful. the seats are cushioned. with the kind of seating cushions you see on charter buses. they're also quite clean. the names are great too: maida vale, elephant & castle, picadilly circus. we live off the bakerloo line. i'm already pretty good at getting around. the escalators move faster here than they do in the states but there's less pushing and shoving to get in and out of the doors on the train.
i've begun to think with a british accent. i was reading earlier and realized the character's voices in my head had british accents. and it's only been five days.
after class today i finally got a chance to get away from the group- first time in days. i took the tube home and dropped off my things at the flat, then went up to the kilburn high road and went shopping. i got an alarm clock at woolworths and stamps at the little news shop around the corner, then i went to sainsbury's, which is the best grocery store ever, and bought all sorts of basic food stuffs- fruit, pb & j, rice, milk, cereal, etc. for just over ten pounds, which is about $20. our stipend allows for about 60 pounds per week (about $120) and we're all so thrilled that we can make it go so far that our house has decided to do big special dinners once or twice a week. we can certainly afford it if the school's paying. hopefully we won't just piss away the extra money on beer. speaking of extra money, it feels like you've got extra money when you can pay for things like beer, stamps, and postcards with change because all money up to two pounds comes only in coinage. i love the one pound coin.
i think everyone went food shopping tonight, only we did it separately and at different times. we all have the bright orange sainsbury's bag which you can buy for 10p and when it's too old, they'll give you a new one. around seven we all wound up in the common rooms reading, cooking, eating, talking. we had the french door style windows thrown open at each end of the room and it was still sunny and bright out. absolutely lovely. an truly excellent way to wind down the first day of classes. i'm really looking forward to wednesday when nearly everyone else in the house has to get up and go to the theatre class, which is the one i'm not taking. guess what i'll be doing. ha, i mean quietly laugh to yourself if you know.
yoghurt, (which is how they spell it) tastes better here than i've ever had. it has a kick to it and it takes a little getting used to, but i'm impressed. apparently they have very old cultures that can't be shipped to the u.s. because it violates customs, and our cultures just aren't old enough to make great yogurt. now it's easier to believe that spike in notting hill could mistake mayo for yogurt and eat it with a spoon. that makes it sound like it tastes nasty, but it doesn't. peanut butter tastes different as well- like actual peanuts. i like it, but not like i like j.i.f. also, if you think you've had chocolate, come to europe and eat some cadbury chocolate. you'll never go back to shitty american candy. fuck, it's good.
i love our bathroom. we're on the third floor, which in the states would be the fourth, silly europeans, and it has windows that unlatch and push out to look very cute and let in a lot of light and air. a mirror at face level stretches across one wall, above the sink and toilet, and a large built-in tile countertop runs the length of the room and goes under the window right up to the edge of the shower surround. we have so much counter space. three people can't fill that counter. our tub is really high, so i worry that i'll slip and kill myself getting out of it. our water pressure stinks because we're on the top floor so there's a pump we can turn on and then the pressure is fabulous. the shower head is a detachable sort, which is good, since the bracket it hangs from is mounted lower than any of us stand, so we kind of have to detach it to get wet. so much natural light in this house. i love it. the water in this country is super hot. nothing like it at home. makes tap water dangerous.
tomorrow we're going to baz's class and having an f.s.u. orientation (again), a lecture from the local cops, and an orientation at the international student house, which may or may not have a gym. i have to go to the bookstore near the tottenham court station and pick up a copy of the history book sean wants us to have. i want to go to the bureau de change down the street from f.s.u. and change the rest of my american money before the dollar gets even worse. i think i saw a sign today that said i can get .53 pounds on the dollar. sucks, but i'll take it. so then we have the afternoon to ourselves, and someone suggested we ought to use it to get dinner and a few pints, and then we have a play to go to, which apparently involves pigs and gunfire. i think it's called harvest. sounds good.
there are so many things to enjoy about this country. the people are nice, albeit they generally have very bad teeth- probably from the spectacular orgasm-inducing chocolate. more natural light inside buildings than you get in the states. no air conditioning, but mostly you just don't feel the need for it! it's so light and cool and breezy here. there's a grand mixture of old and new architectural features that makes the whole city feel more authentic and lived-in than in a city like dc or ny, where things that are new are too shiny and things that are old just seem neglected. i have to go home in december and finish my degree, but i'm seriously considering coming back to london after i graduate. i think i could definitely live here and feel good about it.
i want to meet a british guy.
new photos are posted here.