Mar. 15th, 2009 at 12:26 am
So today wasn't terribly exciting- I slept wayyyyy in, ate, planned out a huge chunk of Italy with Keens, and then met up with Caitlin and two friends of hers from home that are visiting.
We ended up at 'spoons (Wetherspoons/The Half Moon, I don't understand why it's called both), and after acquring a table, Caitlin takes her friends up to the bar to order their food. I go up on my own after, and this guy who was at least late twenties was trying to order a drink, but saw me waiting behind a woman ordering food and told me to come stand up at the bar. He proceeded to tell me that I am very pretty, and I discover that he is both Irish and, typically, drunk.
The woman who was ordering was taking forever and asking a hundred fifty thousand questions, and the bartender kept shooting me apologetic looks both for the wait and the fact that the Irish clan was trying to get me to play 'hot or not' with them, when really I just wanted to tell them all that they are older than I find attractive so they all lose. However, I was polite but distant, and finally placed my order whilst fending off questions of whether I was there alone or not and comments about how my friends can't possibly be as pretty as I am. I was a bit put out that he didn't at least buy me a drink after talking at me for so long (he got a kick out of one of my responses, which was to indicate that a friend of his that was twenty years older as the 'best looking,' rather than himself or another friend that he was trying to compare himself to).
Lo and behold, they were sitting in the same area of 'spoons as the four of us, so just after I sat down with my water, I started trying to tell my story of woe when Patrick came up yet again, introduced himself, and tried flirting with all of us and attempting to get us all to rank him and his friends. We were just about dying laughing, especially when his rundown of names went 'Emily, Emily, Caitlin, Steph,' rather than the two Caitlins and the one Steph and Emily actually at the table.
One of his friends came over and asked if we are Australian, which brings me to the main purpose of this post. What is it about rather indeterminate American accents that makes British people think we are Australian? I have heard that from numerous others, and it always strikes me as rather strange. Maybe I'll start working on an Australian accent, and see if they think I am American if I speak with one of those.
At any rate, his visitations made our decision about dessert, so we hoofed it to Budgens, bought some cupcakes, consumed said cupcakes, and now I am shivering in the library since they apparently don't believe in heat here at night.
I really enjoyed the guy who was yelling at his computer a little while ago- he was very, very intent on a boxing match. The guy across from me and I gave slightly weirded out looks. Also, I saw my copy/paste friend from the library in a phone booth today, which would not be strange if it weren't for the fact that she was on the phone for at least two and a half hours.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
I'm not dead, but my computer is.
Mar. 13th, 2009 at 11:04 pm
Uh oh, I have some catching up to do now!
I didn't get to blog much while Ha was visiting, and then not at all in Wales, and then my laptop redied. So here goes.
Monday
I went to my niner, went back to my room and showered, and then took Ha to Picadilly Circus to catch a bus tour.
We got her ticket at a kiosk, and when she went to get on the bus, the guys taking tickets started messing with her and freaking her out a bit, saying they couldn't take those any more since they'd had lots of counterfeits lately. I was laughing, but she was not impressed. I think they got along in the end when I left though.
I found out I have to have 12-15 sources for my 2000 word architecture paper. He expects there to be original thought how, exactly? I'm going to try to get a start on that this weekend, with any luck, since a bunch of my friends are off on various excursions.
Ha got herself back to my dorm before my last class started, and took a nap, and then we got the biggest group yet together and went to Brick Lane. Caitlin and I played off of each other quite well, and we managed to get two rounds of drinks, starter, main course, rice, nan, pompadons, and service charge for nine pounds a head. It was soooo good, and some of our British friends that had never been loved it. It is going to be tough going when I can't do Brick Lane once a week any more, I'm officially addicted.
We went back round to Paul's after dinner and the Beigle shop, and Ha and I taught the Brits how to play Kings, which they embraced whole-heartedly.
Tuesday
Ha and I got up nice and early on Tuesday and powered through the V&A- I think we spent as much time in the jewelry room as the rest of the museum combined (we're girls, we like sparkly things, okay?). We got some pasties at Budgens and then made our way to Paddington station and onto our train to go see Carly in Wales! I was going to do work but ended up sleeping most of the four hour journey, and we were both famished by the time we got to Carmarthen.
Carly met us at the station and we lugged all of our stuff the twenty minute walk to Carly's campus. Her uni (Trinity I think?) is really cute, and is situated directly across from a picturesque misty meadow with sheep in it.
In Wales, people learn Welsh first, and then start English intensely when they are nine or so, so all of the signs and fliers are written in Welsh and English, it's pretty interesting to look at. I learned more about pronouncing Welsh than Carly has so far- for example, one L at the start of a word sounds like an F, but a double L in the middle of a word has a Th sound.
Carly kindly cooked copious amounts of pasta for us to consume, and then it was getting late so we headed to Jacksons (Carmarthen's version of Hayfield's) for her friend's 21st birthday celebration. The bartender was stellar and opened the bar up early just for them, and kept giving us free credit on the jukebox so her friend could have whatever music she wanted for her birthday.
Wednesday
After sleeping in a bit, the three of us got up and met up with a bunch of Carly's friends for lunch. I actually got tea (I'm so refined now!), and Ha and I split a ham and cheese panini and also a peanut butter and nutella one (I am henceforth always making things with peanut butter and nutella, warmed; deliciousness). Being still hungry, after parting ways with Carly's friends, we meandered through downtown Carmarthen. I bought my first donut since December, and it was delicious (though not nearly up to par with Dunkin Donuts). We also went and checked out Carmarthen Castle, which was really cool, and located in Nott Square, which I thought was a funny name for a square. I mean, is it a square, or is it Nott?
We stopped at Tesco's on the way back to Carly's flat and got dinner stuffs and snacks, and made delicious curry and nan (are you sensing a trend in my eating habits here?) for dinner. We also made some guacamole, and brought houmus, and went to watch Crash in the international student's lounge on her campus. One of her friend's Welsh flatmates was watching with us, and it was entertaining to hear her talk about how relieved she was when she first saw the film and realized we don't all use the obnoxious brown paper shopping bags with no handles on them.
In talking to that girl and Carly's flatmates, I sensed that Welsh girls are pretty tough- they get injured a lot, and laugh it off a lot more than a lot of people I know would. I forget her name, but the one watching the movie with us was talking about how she thought it was so cool to be able to see all the layers of tissue before it started bleeding when she sliced her hand open down to the bone; not a usual reaction.
Thursday
We just missed the train I was supposed to take from Carmarthen, which made me just miss the train I needed to take from Swansea back to Paddington, which meant my trip home cost an extra £65 on top of the £10 it originally cost me. Bummer. I got a chunk of my maths homework done, though, which was good. Some soldier was trying to chat me up acrost the aisle, but I just wanted to get my work done so I could nap.
I went to Nando's for dinner, which is a delicious chicken chain, and decently cheap too. I'm surprised that I'd never been there before, you can order different levels of spiciness and put sauce on it; I got medium on pitta bread (pronounced pit-tah, not pee-tah) with pineapple (yum!), and also houmous (not hummus; who-muss? you must!) as an appetizer. Happy stomach ensued. Happiness furthered by a trip to Cookies and Cream for ice cream.
Also, something I tend to take for granted is often recognizing the brands in movies. This was pointed out whilst watching Hot Fuzz, that Brits often aren't familiar with brands in shops and things like that, so it's fun watching good British movies and recognizing all the names.
Friday
My computer decided to stop working this morning, which was fantastic. So I went to the gym, then the library to do some emailing (I might have another chance at a UNUM internship, huzzah!), and took a shower. I ran out of time to eat in my room, so brought my mashed potatoes with me to Diff Eq. I ran into Haider on the way and he judged me for my lunch, so I went and got a tuna melt (no raspberry vinagarette like Kimmy and Molly put on at Hillside) and chocolate cake, both delicious, to eat in the library while I finished trying to catch up on stuff before Actuarial.
No smackdowns occurred in Actuarial today, which is probably for the best, and then Caitlin and I hit up Leceister Square. We ended up seeing Mousetrap, which is an Agatha Christie play. It's been running for fifty six years or so now, and I wasn't sure how I was going to feel about it, but it was hysterical and did a pretty good job with the twist ending to the murder mystery. I actually figured out the biggest bits (such as who the murderer is, but I'm not supposed to say!) but there were still lots of intriguing ties that I didn't predict.
I also liked that we were sitting way high up in the upper circle, and had to go outside and walk around to the sketchy back staircase to get to our seats. I decided it was where the pleebs sit; even the bathroom was tiny and dirty, definitely plebian.
I am now finishing my marathon blog catch-up in the library, supported by Mr. Coca Cola and Miss Maryland Chocolate Chip Cookies, and should probably leave soon since it's almost midnight on a Friday. Just because the library is open 24/7 doesn't mean I need to spend the entirety of my time here :-)
Uh oh, I have some catching up to do now!
I didn't get to blog much while Ha was visiting, and then not at all in Wales, and then my laptop redied. So here goes.
Monday
I went to my niner, went back to my room and showered, and then took Ha to Picadilly Circus to catch a bus tour.
We got her ticket at a kiosk, and when she went to get on the bus, the guys taking tickets started messing with her and freaking her out a bit, saying they couldn't take those any more since they'd had lots of counterfeits lately. I was laughing, but she was not impressed. I think they got along in the end when I left though.
I found out I have to have 12-15 sources for my 2000 word architecture paper. He expects there to be original thought how, exactly? I'm going to try to get a start on that this weekend, with any luck, since a bunch of my friends are off on various excursions.
Ha got herself back to my dorm before my last class started, and took a nap, and then we got the biggest group yet together and went to Brick Lane. Caitlin and I played off of each other quite well, and we managed to get two rounds of drinks, starter, main course, rice, nan, pompadons, and service charge for nine pounds a head. It was soooo good, and some of our British friends that had never been loved it. It is going to be tough going when I can't do Brick Lane once a week any more, I'm officially addicted.
We went back round to Paul's after dinner and the Beigle shop, and Ha and I taught the Brits how to play Kings, which they embraced whole-heartedly.
Tuesday
Ha and I got up nice and early on Tuesday and powered through the V&A- I think we spent as much time in the jewelry room as the rest of the museum combined (we're girls, we like sparkly things, okay?). We got some pasties at Budgens and then made our way to Paddington station and onto our train to go see Carly in Wales! I was going to do work but ended up sleeping most of the four hour journey, and we were both famished by the time we got to Carmarthen.
Carly met us at the station and we lugged all of our stuff the twenty minute walk to Carly's campus. Her uni (Trinity I think?) is really cute, and is situated directly across from a picturesque misty meadow with sheep in it.
In Wales, people learn Welsh first, and then start English intensely when they are nine or so, so all of the signs and fliers are written in Welsh and English, it's pretty interesting to look at. I learned more about pronouncing Welsh than Carly has so far- for example, one L at the start of a word sounds like an F, but a double L in the middle of a word has a Th sound.
Carly kindly cooked copious amounts of pasta for us to consume, and then it was getting late so we headed to Jacksons (Carmarthen's version of Hayfield's) for her friend's 21st birthday celebration. The bartender was stellar and opened the bar up early just for them, and kept giving us free credit on the jukebox so her friend could have whatever music she wanted for her birthday.
Wednesday
After sleeping in a bit, the three of us got up and met up with a bunch of Carly's friends for lunch. I actually got tea (I'm so refined now!), and Ha and I split a ham and cheese panini and also a peanut butter and nutella one (I am henceforth always making things with peanut butter and nutella, warmed; deliciousness). Being still hungry, after parting ways with Carly's friends, we meandered through downtown Carmarthen. I bought my first donut since December, and it was delicious (though not nearly up to par with Dunkin Donuts). We also went and checked out Carmarthen Castle, which was really cool, and located in Nott Square, which I thought was a funny name for a square. I mean, is it a square, or is it Nott?
We stopped at Tesco's on the way back to Carly's flat and got dinner stuffs and snacks, and made delicious curry and nan (are you sensing a trend in my eating habits here?) for dinner. We also made some guacamole, and brought houmus, and went to watch Crash in the international student's lounge on her campus. One of her friend's Welsh flatmates was watching with us, and it was entertaining to hear her talk about how relieved she was when she first saw the film and realized we don't all use the obnoxious brown paper shopping bags with no handles on them.
In talking to that girl and Carly's flatmates, I sensed that Welsh girls are pretty tough- they get injured a lot, and laugh it off a lot more than a lot of people I know would. I forget her name, but the one watching the movie with us was talking about how she thought it was so cool to be able to see all the layers of tissue before it started bleeding when she sliced her hand open down to the bone; not a usual reaction.
Thursday
We just missed the train I was supposed to take from Carmarthen, which made me just miss the train I needed to take from Swansea back to Paddington, which meant my trip home cost an extra £65 on top of the £10 it originally cost me. Bummer. I got a chunk of my maths homework done, though, which was good. Some soldier was trying to chat me up acrost the aisle, but I just wanted to get my work done so I could nap.
I went to Nando's for dinner, which is a delicious chicken chain, and decently cheap too. I'm surprised that I'd never been there before, you can order different levels of spiciness and put sauce on it; I got medium on pitta bread (pronounced pit-tah, not pee-tah) with pineapple (yum!), and also houmous (not hummus; who-muss? you must!) as an appetizer. Happy stomach ensued. Happiness furthered by a trip to Cookies and Cream for ice cream.
Also, something I tend to take for granted is often recognizing the brands in movies. This was pointed out whilst watching Hot Fuzz, that Brits often aren't familiar with brands in shops and things like that, so it's fun watching good British movies and recognizing all the names.
Friday
My computer decided to stop working this morning, which was fantastic. So I went to the gym, then the library to do some emailing (I might have another chance at a UNUM internship, huzzah!), and took a shower. I ran out of time to eat in my room, so brought my mashed potatoes with me to Diff Eq. I ran into Haider on the way and he judged me for my lunch, so I went and got a tuna melt (no raspberry vinagarette like Kimmy and Molly put on at Hillside) and chocolate cake, both delicious, to eat in the library while I finished trying to catch up on stuff before Actuarial.
No smackdowns occurred in Actuarial today, which is probably for the best, and then Caitlin and I hit up Leceister Square. We ended up seeing Mousetrap, which is an Agatha Christie play. It's been running for fifty six years or so now, and I wasn't sure how I was going to feel about it, but it was hysterical and did a pretty good job with the twist ending to the murder mystery. I actually figured out the biggest bits (such as who the murderer is, but I'm not supposed to say!) but there were still lots of intriguing ties that I didn't predict.
I also liked that we were sitting way high up in the upper circle, and had to go outside and walk around to the sketchy back staircase to get to our seats. I decided it was where the pleebs sit; even the bathroom was tiny and dirty, definitely plebian.
I am now finishing my marathon blog catch-up in the library, supported by Mr. Coca Cola and Miss Maryland Chocolate Chip Cookies, and should probably leave soon since it's almost midnight on a Friday. Just because the library is open 24/7 doesn't mean I need to spend the entirety of my time here :-)
Zeeba Neighba
Mar. 9th, 2009 at 01:31 am |
There was a "UV Rave" at Drapers Friday night, which was really, really, really fun, though it resulted in me staying up way too late dancing, wearing white and neon colours, glowsticks, and neon facepaint (it looked awesome in the blacklight!).
I got a grand total of two and a half hours of sleep before I rolled out of bed and onto the tube to go meet Ha at Heathrow; I completely passed out when I got on the Picadilly line, and almost didn't get off at the stop for Terminal 2, which would've been disastrous. (Not really, I would have just had to go back a bit and been even later than I was).
We chatted a bit on the way back, though I fell asleep standing up on the last leg of our journey, and we both crashed for a couple hours until we got woken up by a text asking if we wanted to go to the London Zoo. So we did!
The zoo was pretty awesome, there were animals and they were cool. Vanessa and I watched baby monkeys playing around, and we all went into the Reptile House and saw where a scene from the Harry Potter movies was filmed, though I was very disappointed that I looked at every snake in the place and there was not a single Brasilian boa constrictor. What a waste of me getting creeped out. Apparenty when Harry helped him escape, there was no replacement.
Kevin and I enjoyed watching the giraffe stick his head over the fence to say hi to his Zeeba Neighba, and we all spent a little too long watching the penguins waddle around adorably. One of them fell in, it was cute.
After an epically long trek around the park, we managed to navigate the underground closures and get to Byron for burgers. The place is a bit overpriced to me, but I was hungry, so whatever. When we got back to campus, we met up with a big group of people and went to the New Globe and then Hayfield's for Damien's birthday, which was really fun.
Ha and I slept in today to make up for the lack of sleep yesterday, and then we went to the British Museum. It started pouring whilst we were on the tube, so it was really fun walking around the chilly museum slightly dampened. We're definitely on an equal museum going level, where we wander around and investigate what looks really interesting a bit more closely, but don't insist on seeing everything.
We came back and did some work and made dinner, and watched an episode of the Office, and then I decided to take her to check out Parliament at night, since that's really pretty. It took a while to get there, again thanks to line closures, and we walked around, took some photos, and then just missed the last train. Following our study abroad advisor's advice, we found our way to Trafalgar Square via bus; however, none of the buses that go to Queen Mary leave from Trafalgar Square, so that advice was sort of worthless. We took another bus to Bank (after asking the driver for advice), and went to wait for the 25. We just missed one, so were really excited and cold when another 25 came along ten minutes later... only to be out of service. Growing colder, Ha started showing me a partners' jig she learned in a dance class, and the one other person waiting for a bus was watching and laughing.
We finally caught a bus and got back to QM, and are slowly thawing out with the aid of hot chocolate. Yumm!
There was a "UV Rave" at Drapers Friday night, which was really, really, really fun, though it resulted in me staying up way too late dancing, wearing white and neon colours, glowsticks, and neon facepaint (it looked awesome in the blacklight!).
I got a grand total of two and a half hours of sleep before I rolled out of bed and onto the tube to go meet Ha at Heathrow; I completely passed out when I got on the Picadilly line, and almost didn't get off at the stop for Terminal 2, which would've been disastrous. (Not really, I would have just had to go back a bit and been even later than I was).
We chatted a bit on the way back, though I fell asleep standing up on the last leg of our journey, and we both crashed for a couple hours until we got woken up by a text asking if we wanted to go to the London Zoo. So we did!
The zoo was pretty awesome, there were animals and they were cool. Vanessa and I watched baby monkeys playing around, and we all went into the Reptile House and saw where a scene from the Harry Potter movies was filmed, though I was very disappointed that I looked at every snake in the place and there was not a single Brasilian boa constrictor. What a waste of me getting creeped out. Apparenty when Harry helped him escape, there was no replacement.
Kevin and I enjoyed watching the giraffe stick his head over the fence to say hi to his Zeeba Neighba, and we all spent a little too long watching the penguins waddle around adorably. One of them fell in, it was cute.
After an epically long trek around the park, we managed to navigate the underground closures and get to Byron for burgers. The place is a bit overpriced to me, but I was hungry, so whatever. When we got back to campus, we met up with a big group of people and went to the New Globe and then Hayfield's for Damien's birthday, which was really fun.
Ha and I slept in today to make up for the lack of sleep yesterday, and then we went to the British Museum. It started pouring whilst we were on the tube, so it was really fun walking around the chilly museum slightly dampened. We're definitely on an equal museum going level, where we wander around and investigate what looks really interesting a bit more closely, but don't insist on seeing everything.
We came back and did some work and made dinner, and watched an episode of the Office, and then I decided to take her to check out Parliament at night, since that's really pretty. It took a while to get there, again thanks to line closures, and we walked around, took some photos, and then just missed the last train. Following our study abroad advisor's advice, we found our way to Trafalgar Square via bus; however, none of the buses that go to Queen Mary leave from Trafalgar Square, so that advice was sort of worthless. We took another bus to Bank (after asking the driver for advice), and went to wait for the 25. We just missed one, so were really excited and cold when another 25 came along ten minutes later... only to be out of service. Growing colder, Ha started showing me a partners' jig she learned in a dance class, and the one other person waiting for a bus was watching and laughing.
We finally caught a bus and got back to QM, and are slowly thawing out with the aid of hot chocolate. Yumm!
I Really Want to Eat a Child
Mar. 6th, 2009 at 06:01 pm
I managed to squeeze in a really quick gym run after lecture and tutorial and before my other tutorial yesterday, though I decided to take a shower rather than eat, so I was chilling with tortillas and humous or however hummus is spelt here. I managed to look up a few books in the online catalogue, then finally returned my massive pile of Westminster Cathedral texts to Senate House Library. I was glad Liz met up with me there, so that we could go get lost in the bowels of the buildings (and by bowels I mean maze-like upper levels) trying to find a book. She told me that the building wasn't bombed in WWII because Hitler wanted to use it as a headquarter if they took over England. I thought that was cool, and creepy.
We went and hung out in Westfield Shopping Centre for a little while, and after crepes (CrepeAffaire is so good, I'm glad it's pretty far away!) we went to Foyles. We found a book about a crocodile family that ate bananas, only the baby crocodile got pissy and wanted to eat a child. It was a superb children's book.
After doing not much in my room when I got back, I went and hung out in Drapers with some friends- it was so empty! James and I came really close to beating Damien at pool, though probably because James and I took some turns for him while he was off getting another pitcher. So that was epic.
We went to Halal Bite after. I've yet to determine how they keep the names of these fried food places straight, since they all have some combination of Chicken, Taste, Halal and Bite in them, and all have almost the exact same menus and prices.
Diff Eq was really exciting today- three girls got shown the yellow card by the professor, and they kept talking so he finally said, "That's it! You've been red carded! Get out!" I really like that it was a football match, apparently.
That's the only exciting thing that's happened so far today, aside from Grand Tours (I was hungry), a two hour break in which I looked at courses for next semester, Diff Eq, an hour break (I made mashed potatoes and they were delicious) and an Actuarial lecture that went on for forever.
I managed to squeeze in a really quick gym run after lecture and tutorial and before my other tutorial yesterday, though I decided to take a shower rather than eat, so I was chilling with tortillas and humous or however hummus is spelt here. I managed to look up a few books in the online catalogue, then finally returned my massive pile of Westminster Cathedral texts to Senate House Library. I was glad Liz met up with me there, so that we could go get lost in the bowels of the buildings (and by bowels I mean maze-like upper levels) trying to find a book. She told me that the building wasn't bombed in WWII because Hitler wanted to use it as a headquarter if they took over England. I thought that was cool, and creepy.
We went and hung out in Westfield Shopping Centre for a little while, and after crepes (CrepeAffaire is so good, I'm glad it's pretty far away!) we went to Foyles. We found a book about a crocodile family that ate bananas, only the baby crocodile got pissy and wanted to eat a child. It was a superb children's book.
After doing not much in my room when I got back, I went and hung out in Drapers with some friends- it was so empty! James and I came really close to beating Damien at pool, though probably because James and I took some turns for him while he was off getting another pitcher. So that was epic.
We went to Halal Bite after. I've yet to determine how they keep the names of these fried food places straight, since they all have some combination of Chicken, Taste, Halal and Bite in them, and all have almost the exact same menus and prices.
Diff Eq was really exciting today- three girls got shown the yellow card by the professor, and they kept talking so he finally said, "That's it! You've been red carded! Get out!" I really like that it was a football match, apparently.
That's the only exciting thing that's happened so far today, aside from Grand Tours (I was hungry), a two hour break in which I looked at courses for next semester, Diff Eq, an hour break (I made mashed potatoes and they were delicious) and an Actuarial lecture that went on for forever.
Being Harry Potter
Mar. 5th, 2009 at 12:27 am
I am not going to remember many of the names of the places I was at today, but this day was a lovely long one dedicated to visiting Carrie.
She lives in the sketchy part of Oxford, which is still ADORABLE. I got to meet her flatmates- very fun girls, I must say- after she picked me up at the bus station, and then we started wandering. We walked along Martin's field, which is very pretty, albeit a bit muddy (no huge deal, we had fun jumping over puddles), and generally enjoying the arbitrarily sunny day (it was supposed to pour all day; no complaints here that it worked out to the contrary!) Then we started to play a game called "let's see which colleges we can get into!" which was really fun. When I am more awake I will name all of them.
The first quad we went into was where they based some major scenes from the Golden Compass movie out of- Christ Church. We also went into the dining hall that they based the Harry Potter Great Hall off of, which was so cool. Carrie is going to try to eat there one of these days. We also walked down an outdoor corridor that was most definitely used in the movies, and Carrie told me about how one of her friends has to wear a huge black cloak for certain formal occasions, and he lets her wear it and flap around in it a bit before he heads out. I want to be in Christ Church and wear a black cloak- talk about feeling so Harry Potter!
We went into St Mary's after that, and paid a couple quid to go up a staircase... and then up this really narrow twisty one. Halfway up, two people were coming down, and there was no room to pass; since we didn't want to go down and start again, we decided to stand in the window nooks while the other two went the rest of the way down. It was inventive, but I think the other two thought it a bit odd. The view from the top of the tower was really cool, and Carrie pointed out the library where she usually does work (which we can't go in since I'm not a student) and some of the other colleges, along with random trivia about things in their courtyards we could see.
As we walked along some more, she told me a story she had been told about a certain area that supposedly inspired CS Lewis; there was a black lamppost in the walkway, and a bit further down from it, a doorway that had what looked eerily like one would imagine Mr Tumnus to appear, and a door with a tree that has a face and ears ("Here, even the trees have ears!"). She doesn't know if that truly did inspire him, but it was still cool.
We walked through the courtyard of the Bodelian library- that's the big deal one, where when you go in, you have to have everything in a clear bag, and you're not allowed pens, and you have to swear not to be wet when you go in, or to take anything from it. We passed under the Oxford Bridge of Sighs (inspired from Venice), and then went along to Waterfords, which has the most miles of shelving in a bookshop. It was epic, I almost got lost in there and loved it. We passed Trinity college but couldn't go in, and went down to the Eagle and Child, where the Inklings would often meet and hang out.
After buying milkshakes (I got Cadbury Caramel, and it was SO GOOD) and Ben's Cookies at the covered market, and inquiring about where the fishmonger's crabs were imported from (apparently Denmark- Carrie had been guessing Maryland or Alaska), we found ourselves at Keble College. It was a strange mix of gothic structure but very Byzantine decoration, which was interesting.
I forgot the name of the pub we ate at (I usually write that stuff down!) , but lunch was yummy and at a very cute sprawling pub, and we got in a good talk. From there, we went to Carrie's college- Mansfield- and she set me up in the library while she went to meet with her tutor. Classes there sound so cool- they're on a trimester system, and you have a primary course that you meet one-on-one with a tutor for once a week, and a secondary, also one-on-one, that meets every other week, and you get to choose a topic, and they'll find you a tutor, and then you work with the tutor to decide what you want to study, and they'll make reading suggestions and things like that. She says it's a lot of work, but very interesting and worth it.
After we left her adorable library, we went and got afternoon tea, and watched two little British boys run around playing a game that, when asked, they didn't know what it was either. We tried to go shopping, but the one store we went into was adorable and pricey, and then everything else closed, so we went back to her room and watched an episode of the American Office and then one of the British ones, and had fun comparing the two. Then she saw me off and I slept my way back to Mile End!
I am not going to remember many of the names of the places I was at today, but this day was a lovely long one dedicated to visiting Carrie.
She lives in the sketchy part of Oxford, which is still ADORABLE. I got to meet her flatmates- very fun girls, I must say- after she picked me up at the bus station, and then we started wandering. We walked along Martin's field, which is very pretty, albeit a bit muddy (no huge deal, we had fun jumping over puddles), and generally enjoying the arbitrarily sunny day (it was supposed to pour all day; no complaints here that it worked out to the contrary!) Then we started to play a game called "let's see which colleges we can get into!" which was really fun. When I am more awake I will name all of them.
The first quad we went into was where they based some major scenes from the Golden Compass movie out of- Christ Church. We also went into the dining hall that they based the Harry Potter Great Hall off of, which was so cool. Carrie is going to try to eat there one of these days. We also walked down an outdoor corridor that was most definitely used in the movies, and Carrie told me about how one of her friends has to wear a huge black cloak for certain formal occasions, and he lets her wear it and flap around in it a bit before he heads out. I want to be in Christ Church and wear a black cloak- talk about feeling so Harry Potter!
We went into St Mary's after that, and paid a couple quid to go up a staircase... and then up this really narrow twisty one. Halfway up, two people were coming down, and there was no room to pass; since we didn't want to go down and start again, we decided to stand in the window nooks while the other two went the rest of the way down. It was inventive, but I think the other two thought it a bit odd. The view from the top of the tower was really cool, and Carrie pointed out the library where she usually does work (which we can't go in since I'm not a student) and some of the other colleges, along with random trivia about things in their courtyards we could see.
As we walked along some more, she told me a story she had been told about a certain area that supposedly inspired CS Lewis; there was a black lamppost in the walkway, and a bit further down from it, a doorway that had what looked eerily like one would imagine Mr Tumnus to appear, and a door with a tree that has a face and ears ("Here, even the trees have ears!"). She doesn't know if that truly did inspire him, but it was still cool.
We walked through the courtyard of the Bodelian library- that's the big deal one, where when you go in, you have to have everything in a clear bag, and you're not allowed pens, and you have to swear not to be wet when you go in, or to take anything from it. We passed under the Oxford Bridge of Sighs (inspired from Venice), and then went along to Waterfords, which has the most miles of shelving in a bookshop. It was epic, I almost got lost in there and loved it. We passed Trinity college but couldn't go in, and went down to the Eagle and Child, where the Inklings would often meet and hang out.
After buying milkshakes (I got Cadbury Caramel, and it was SO GOOD) and Ben's Cookies at the covered market, and inquiring about where the fishmonger's crabs were imported from (apparently Denmark- Carrie had been guessing Maryland or Alaska), we found ourselves at Keble College. It was a strange mix of gothic structure but very Byzantine decoration, which was interesting.
I forgot the name of the pub we ate at (I usually write that stuff down!) , but lunch was yummy and at a very cute sprawling pub, and we got in a good talk. From there, we went to Carrie's college- Mansfield- and she set me up in the library while she went to meet with her tutor. Classes there sound so cool- they're on a trimester system, and you have a primary course that you meet one-on-one with a tutor for once a week, and a secondary, also one-on-one, that meets every other week, and you get to choose a topic, and they'll find you a tutor, and then you work with the tutor to decide what you want to study, and they'll make reading suggestions and things like that. She says it's a lot of work, but very interesting and worth it.
After we left her adorable library, we went and got afternoon tea, and watched two little British boys run around playing a game that, when asked, they didn't know what it was either. We tried to go shopping, but the one store we went into was adorable and pricey, and then everything else closed, so we went back to her room and watched an episode of the American Office and then one of the British ones, and had fun comparing the two. Then she saw me off and I slept my way back to Mile End!
What's the matter with BU?
Mar. 4th, 2009 at 12:37 am
Just in case you were all wondering, I have not yet become a full Londoner. I was popping over to Budgens to top up my phone, and passed a girl wearing a BU hoodie, and had to bite my lip to prevent myself from saying "BU sucks!" as she passed.
Otherwise... yesterday was pretty legit. We had a field trip in architecture to the Royal College of Physicians. Unfortunately, photos will not be forthcoming as I had to sign a waiver saying I would only use the photos in relation to the class, so I can't share them. There were some cool things though- despite being modernist, I thought it was actually rather pretty. They had some cool stained glass windows that were actually a new design, but made of glass from previous locations of the RCP. The library had some really creepy dried out veins from the seventeenth century that were "teaching tools," and there was a collection of old "home remedies" in the basement, such as leech applicators, nipple guards (a double pronged one for twins) and the largest syringe ever seen, for giving enemas, accompanied by two coins depicting King Louis getting one, I believe.
USC Kevin and I got to the meeting place to go to the RCP a half hour early, so we were going to walk down and look at the zoo (literally just look at it from the outside), but our architecture professor hailed us from across the street, so we had to go over and talk.
We had a really funny conversation on the underground back to Mile End, but I can't remember what we talked about right now. So you just get to know that it was fun. I finished editing my video together, and then went and watched My Best Friend's Girl. I was so out of it, that it took me until more than halfway through the movie to realize it's set in Boston.
I slept in pretty late today, and haven't done much in the way of real work, though I have figured out most of my travel for the next couple weeks, which is good. I just need to decide if I have enough money to go to Athens for two days right after Italy, or if I will end up starving to death. Vanessa and I also had a nice chat stressing about what we're going to do slash planning out essentially the rest of our semester. She didn't eat enough of my Maltesers, that silly girl.
Getting Gram to Skype is really entertaining.
The cleaning staff confuses me. I got yelled at today when I went to take my laundry out of the drier, it was scary. I've succesfully stayed out of the way of the lovely lady who cleans my room for the last two weeks, though, so hopefully that means I'll have another pass to have her come in while I stay in bed :-)
Just in case you were all wondering, I have not yet become a full Londoner. I was popping over to Budgens to top up my phone, and passed a girl wearing a BU hoodie, and had to bite my lip to prevent myself from saying "BU sucks!" as she passed.
Otherwise... yesterday was pretty legit. We had a field trip in architecture to the Royal College of Physicians. Unfortunately, photos will not be forthcoming as I had to sign a waiver saying I would only use the photos in relation to the class, so I can't share them. There were some cool things though- despite being modernist, I thought it was actually rather pretty. They had some cool stained glass windows that were actually a new design, but made of glass from previous locations of the RCP. The library had some really creepy dried out veins from the seventeenth century that were "teaching tools," and there was a collection of old "home remedies" in the basement, such as leech applicators, nipple guards (a double pronged one for twins) and the largest syringe ever seen, for giving enemas, accompanied by two coins depicting King Louis getting one, I believe.
USC Kevin and I got to the meeting place to go to the RCP a half hour early, so we were going to walk down and look at the zoo (literally just look at it from the outside), but our architecture professor hailed us from across the street, so we had to go over and talk.
We had a really funny conversation on the underground back to Mile End, but I can't remember what we talked about right now. So you just get to know that it was fun. I finished editing my video together, and then went and watched My Best Friend's Girl. I was so out of it, that it took me until more than halfway through the movie to realize it's set in Boston.
I slept in pretty late today, and haven't done much in the way of real work, though I have figured out most of my travel for the next couple weeks, which is good. I just need to decide if I have enough money to go to Athens for two days right after Italy, or if I will end up starving to death. Vanessa and I also had a nice chat stressing about what we're going to do slash planning out essentially the rest of our semester. She didn't eat enough of my Maltesers, that silly girl.
Getting Gram to Skype is really entertaining.
The cleaning staff confuses me. I got yelled at today when I went to take my laundry out of the drier, it was scary. I've succesfully stayed out of the way of the lovely lady who cleans my room for the last two weeks, though, so hopefully that means I'll have another pass to have her come in while I stay in bed :-)
Tube Fail
Mar. 2nd, 2009 at 11:05 am
I finally finished being a tool yesterday :-) Oh wait, I don't think I'll ever be done with that...
Anywho, the underground was an even bigger mess yesterday than it'd been Saturday. Fail. Plus Caitlin and I had a major Tube Fail. We were waiting for the last train (of three or four) we had to take on our journey back to campus, and one pulls into the station and we hop on, noting that the benches facing each other are really cool and the train itself is shockingly empty, considering only one line was going in through Mile End. Then we realized it was purple. Whilst a lovely colour, purple is not a line we take very often, as it is the Metropolitan. So we hop off at the next stop, run around, get back on a train going in the other direction, run around, and then succesfully make it to Mile End. Hey, it already took over an hour to get back to campus, the extra ten minutes really wasn't a huge deal.
Haider made us dinner, which was yummy- fajitas and nachos. And he made fun of me for bringing milk over, until Hilary brought out a box of brownies.
Speaking of brownies, I finally solved a mystery yesterday. See, I had purchased some Cadbury Chunk Brownie mix, and was debating making it the other day, but noticed it was MIA. I thought maybe one of my flatmates had borrowed it, but after a few days of it not being replaced/no one saying anything, I decided I should check with Caitlin as to whether or not she'd used mine when making brownies after dinner last Tuesday. She had, so mystery solved!
I went over and hung out at Adib's place for a while, and played an AWESOME zombie game on the Wii. I was pretty okay at it, considering I'm bad at most games. Then we played some Smash Bros, and he annihilated me after a couple rounds, but then I made a comeback and left while still on top. But it was fun, I really like playing video games and listening to my British friends exclaiming, "bollocks!" etc.
Thus far today, I woke up exhausted, went to Diff Eq, turned in some courseworks, and went to the gym for a bit. Enthralling, I'm sure ;-)
I finally finished being a tool yesterday :-) Oh wait, I don't think I'll ever be done with that...
Anywho, the underground was an even bigger mess yesterday than it'd been Saturday. Fail. Plus Caitlin and I had a major Tube Fail. We were waiting for the last train (of three or four) we had to take on our journey back to campus, and one pulls into the station and we hop on, noting that the benches facing each other are really cool and the train itself is shockingly empty, considering only one line was going in through Mile End. Then we realized it was purple. Whilst a lovely colour, purple is not a line we take very often, as it is the Metropolitan. So we hop off at the next stop, run around, get back on a train going in the other direction, run around, and then succesfully make it to Mile End. Hey, it already took over an hour to get back to campus, the extra ten minutes really wasn't a huge deal.
Haider made us dinner, which was yummy- fajitas and nachos. And he made fun of me for bringing milk over, until Hilary brought out a box of brownies.
Speaking of brownies, I finally solved a mystery yesterday. See, I had purchased some Cadbury Chunk Brownie mix, and was debating making it the other day, but noticed it was MIA. I thought maybe one of my flatmates had borrowed it, but after a few days of it not being replaced/no one saying anything, I decided I should check with Caitlin as to whether or not she'd used mine when making brownies after dinner last Tuesday. She had, so mystery solved!
I went over and hung out at Adib's place for a while, and played an AWESOME zombie game on the Wii. I was pretty okay at it, considering I'm bad at most games. Then we played some Smash Bros, and he annihilated me after a couple rounds, but then I made a comeback and left while still on top. But it was fun, I really like playing video games and listening to my British friends exclaiming, "bollocks!" etc.
Thus far today, I woke up exhausted, went to Diff Eq, turned in some courseworks, and went to the gym for a bit. Enthralling, I'm sure ;-)
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