Acclimation

The size of the paper no longer freaks me out.

I look the right way when crossing the street.

I don't notice the accent.

It's time to go home.

Happiness is Finding a Pencil

Or one of your best buddies.

Quick Update

Wow, I really suck at keep up with this, huh? There's been a lot going on, and I've been neglecting my poor blog. I'm just going to quickly outline the key events that have kept me from you.


1) Celine L.Y. Chao came to visit me! With Celine, I finally made my way to the Roman baths to begin the research that will allow me to travel throughout Europe once my program ends. It was a lot of fun. She and I also A) found a new park, B) ate really good cookies, and C) made two trips to the pharmacy since with the arrival of Celine began my descent into sickness that still has not passed.


2) I went to Oxford for a week! That was actually super fun. I got a single, and even if it did smell like someone broke a bottle of cologne, was right on street level so I was three feet away from people who were waiting for the bus, and was opposite the only bathroom of the floor so my foyer always smelled faintly of poo, it was very nice. Oxford the city was great. I regret not following my professor's advice and just applying to Oxford for study abroad, because I liked it so much better than Bath. But I probably couldn't have handled being around all the smarty pants students.

3) Spring break Amsterdam!! Christine and I traveled to the magical fairy land of the Dutch to visit my good friend and housemate, Adriana. Being the weirdo homebody that I am, my favorite part of Amsterdam was Adriana's host family. They let us stay with them, and they were probably the coolest family I've ever met. It was a little terrifying because they legitimately were tall, blond, blue-eyed and gorgeous. Dutch stereotypes! Two of the kids were in Greek and Latin, so I was actually of use in the family. If I were Adri, I would never leave home. Of course we did leave home, and engaged in the wholesome activities of bike riding in the park, visiting the zoo with Adriana's host sister, and looking at hookers in the red light district.

4) Danielle came to visit! I am hardcore breaking the rules of ASE, which strictly stipulate that no one can stay in our homes. Hopefully none of the staff read my blog, but that would really be sad if they did, so I'm not too worried.

Spoon Size

They're either giant or they're teensy.

Time Wasting

Ok, I promised myself I would use this time to work, but I think that instead I'll blog. This week was a pretty good one. It should be the last before the stress starts hitting. All my papers are coming up, as is Celine, so I'm going to have to stop piddling around. Later though.

This week I got to see an excellent show of A Midsummer Night's Dream, at the Tobacco Factory in Bristol. It was black box theater so I was a little wary at first, but it ended up being one of the best times I've ever had at a show. The cast was fabulous, and they'll be doing The Tempest later in the semester so it's not so bad that I have to go back.
This weekend I journeyed to the Cotswolds. I'm still not sure what that is, but it ended up being a long trek through the mud. It was cold but also pretty funny to watch other people fall in the mud. Then we went to a garden and had tea and cake. Definitely a highlight.

Strange Conventions

I know it's been awhile, and posting so soon before I have class probably isn't such a smashing idea (that was some old British slang for you), but I'll give it a go (again, very British expression).

My friend and I went to Sally Lunn's (famous for her buns) to get some dessert over the weekend. The menu tells you that Sally Lunn's is "The Oldest House in Bath!" which is believable because it's a small cramped room where eight tables are squeezed into an area that can really only hold four. The waiters have to be very skilled to maneuver their way through the room. By far the best part of the experience was when we had to rate our service, not in the typical American fashion of assigning numbers, but by drawing in smiley faces. That's right. They provided us with a circle and two eyes, and we had to fill in the expression that best captured our dining experience. Capital, capital!

I also had the excellent experience of hearing British people trying to mimic an American accent, Southern of course. It was really atrocious. It made me feel bad about how I must look when I try to sound British. Not bad enough to stop though.

The Weekend?

Oh, blog followers, I have so much to share with you, but seemingly so little time in which to do it. I've recently become aware of the fact that I actually do have quite a bit of work. I should probably stop blowing it off...

Anyways, today is the first day of the real weekend, but because class is over on Thursday, I feel like I'm already well into it. Thursday night was quite an adventure. My flat mate Kate and I took the train to Bristol to go see Band of Skulls. I know, they sound like a death metal band, but they're actually not--they're very like The White Stripes or The Black Keys. The concert was pretty fabulous. It took place in a club that was a renovated boat (very cool), and I discovered that the Brits are extremely awkward dancers, so I felt right at home. It was a little sad though because I really missed my favorite concert-going chums, Juli and Heath.

Friday was my first day off, and really the first day that I've attempted to do any work. I went to the public library, which I will briefly mention. They had these crazy, self-service check outs where you put the book in this little shelf, and it automatically knew what it is. I was impressed and partially terrified. Despite this technology, they had no computerized card catalogue. Go figure.

I went to see The Princess and the Frog with a few friends, and I believe that we enjoyed it way more than any of the kids there. It was fantastic, and I highly recommend it to anyone reading this.