An Amazing Day

Today I blew off work again and went to Blenheim Palace again, this time with Lauren N., Brenna, Shelby and Jenn. Such an amazing day, one of my favorites here. We left early in the morning so the girls could buy tickets, grabbing breakfast from a local shop while we waited for the store to open. It was a beautiful day, sunny and warm without a cloud in the sky. We reached Gloucester Green at the perfect too, arriving just as the bus was about to depart. Blenheim Palace was a lot busier this time than when Mom and I were here, most likely a combination of it being such a nice day, our arriving earlier, and it being a Saturday. There was a long line of cars as we walked up, and the kiosk where Mom and I exchanged our tickets was really busy, and no one said anything as we walked right by it. There was still a sense of awe walking into the palace courtyard, and being with people who had never seen it before made that feeling all the stronger. We had a little bit of trouble getting into the palace because we hadn't traded in the tickets where we were supposed to, but that was sorted out soon enough.

We went through the Churchill exhibit and tour first, the second time I did it. The guide this time was not as informative as the other one I had. When we reached the end in the library, all of us talked about how we would love to have one just like it. It's so much fun being with book nerds just like me. After the tour we went outside, and since it was so gorgeous out none of us were in a hurry to be back indoors. We spent a while taking pictures iin the first garden before we finally walked down one path, which didn't last long before the girls decided to lay down in the grass and bask in the sun. Eventually we convinced ourselves to move, and we headed off to the Rose Garden, passing some ancient trees, sheep, and tons of wild daffodils along the way. Sadly the Rose Garden wasn't in bloom, so it was just a metal circle, but we spent more time just sitting in the grass. From the Rose Garden we decided to take the long way round that went by another part of the water. At one end of the path there was a beautiful waterfall where everyone was taking pictures, so we had our own little photoshoot. We also had a little banter over my preference for taking pictures instead of being in them, since I was the one taking most of the group shots there with everyone's cameras. After finally tearing ourselves away form the waterfall, we started along towards the Secret Garden. Along the way we saw a herd of sheep, but there was a creek between us so we couldn't get close, and since some of the girls were in skirts and dresses, they really were not up for trying to jump over it. Along the way we decided we were hungry, so we took a detours across the South Lawn to the cafe for lunch. There weren't many choices available, especially for a reasonable price. I got a ham and cheese sandwich with onion pickles and a victorian sponge cake. The onioin pickles tasted different, and while they weren't bad, it's not something I'd want on a regular basis. Lauren and Jenn decided they didn't like it at all, and wound up scraping it off their sandwiches.

After we finished eating we started heading in one direction but then decided instead to do the other half of the house tour. It was a neat automated tour, with animatrons and video screens that told about the history of the house under its various Dukes and Duchesses. They did a cool trick where they had the animatrons looking in mirrors, and then the reflection was a screen so it was like they were actually talking to you. It was fun, but definitely a Disneyinsh tourist attraction. After that we wanted to go back outside, so we headed over to the Pleasure Garden. Sadly the train between the garden and main house is out of operation for maintenance, and the buggy was really full, so we decided to walk over. Again the scenery was nice, and we were joking and laughing the whole way over.

The Pleasure Garden was a separate enclosure designed more for families to enjoy themselves rather than show off the magnificence of the palace. There were a lot of shrubberies and benches set-up for people to relax, most of which was pretty full. The first area we went to was the butterfly house, which was awesome, though extremely hot and humid. The first area was a little explanation room about the different types of butterflies and how they were cared for at Blenheim, and then you entered a long room with two aisles full of various types of flora, all labeled, with butterflies everywhere. Quite a few people were in there, and many people were trying to get a butterfly to land on them. Aside from butterlies, there was also a little koi pond full of fish under a bridge and a couple of birds flying around. There were also a lot of signs asking people to not take anything out with them and to be careful when exiting so nothing got out.

After being in there for a bit, we made our way out, with the exit of course being through a giftshop. Then we went the next big area, which had model homes of the local town along the edge of the walkway as you entered. We spent a while playing with the sundial circle, then went over to do the hedge maze. Honestly, this one was much more challenging and better upkept than the one at Hampton Court. We tried dividing into two teams and racing to the center, but we kept crossing paths and the teams got all mixed up. Eventually Brenna and I were the first two to make it to the center of the maze. We had to wait a few minutes for the others to catch up. We took a couple of photos, and then went through the exit. That was pretty much the extent of what there was for adults to do in the Pleasure Garden, so being mature we went over the little kids' area to have fun. There were ground mazes and different games on the ground, and a couple of giant chess and checkers boards. Brenna and Jenn started having an epic checkers match, and while the rest of us were watching a couple little toddlers came up and started stealing the pieces, and none of us had the heart to yell at them. They gave the girls a couple of chess pieces to replace them, but they decided to call it quits. We left through another area we thought would be fun, but again it was meant for little kids and there were signs saying no one over 4ft or so (it was in meters, I'm not sure how that converts) was allowed on them.

Again the buggy was really full, so we walked back towards the exit. We tried being energetic, but by this point we were all pretty worn out. Upon reaching the crossroads, we decided there was no real reason to go back to the palace, so we left. Had to wait a little bit for the bus, so we looked over some of the souveniers we'd purchased while we waited. When the bus came, it was the same driver we'd had that morning, who even remembered us and asked us how are day had been. We stopped at Tesco on the way back for dinner, the girls got mostly health stuff while I picked up a couple frozen pizzas. I also grabbed a couple bottles of Oasis, which I am definitely going to miss when I get back home.

After getting back to CMRS I went to my room and checked on Facebook for a little bit before heading down to the kitchen to make dinner. The four girls who went to Blenheim were there, along with a few other people. Kelsey even commented that I looked a little tan, I guess we were outside quite a bit. Ate in the common room, and while I had intended to get some work done tonight, that never happened. Wound up watching a movie with the group while scrawling this entry in my notebook. Blowing off work was totally worth it. This has been by far one of the best days I've ever had. I definitely smile and laugh a lot more while I'm here, and I really am not ready for this semester to end.

Integral Week Three: Kenilworth and Stratford-Upon-Avon

My inability to get wireless at St. Michael's hall, a lot of work, spending time with people, and lack of motivation since getting home means these last few blog posts are a few months behind. However, I did write things down in a notebook while I was lounging in the common room or somewhere else away from my computer. So while not posted while I was in England, they are still what I wrote while abroad.

Monday was our last colloquium, which was an extremely bittersweet feeling. It's funny, our first colloquium really didn't start till it was already getting dark, and the last one finished while it was still pretty sunny out. Just shows how long I've really been here. I talked more than usual this time, and even managed to touch on the main point of the article, so I was pretty satisfied. After that though, I managed to accomplish basically nothing. Really need to buckle down, I still have a lot of reading to do. Tuesday I went to the St. Peter's library and was a little disappointed. Since the Oxford students are done, I expected to have the place to myself, but instead it was as crowded as usual. And of course people still left stuff all over the tables so you couldn't use them even after they left. I did manage to get some work done, so I was satisfied.

Wednesday was our last field trip, so sad. We went to Kenilworth Castle and Stratford-Upon-Avon. While I was looking forward to seeing Shakepseare's birthplace, Kenilworth was actually a pleasant surprise and the better part of the trip. Kenilworth is basically ruins of an Elizabethan castle that once belonged to one of the Queen's favored, Robert Dudley. It was amazing, walking amongst castle ruins in England on a beautiful, sunny day. I loved exploring, and I admittedly went a little camera crazy, so that by the time we left my camera was dead. I walked around the entire place and stuck my head in every little nook and cranny I could find. Sometimes I would go with a group, other times I would just go off by myself. I also took quite a few creeper shots while I was on my own. We did spend a little more time there than was necessary, though. We spent an hour just laying in the grass enjoying the sunlight, or other little random things like cartwheels and somersaults.

Finally we went straight to Stratford, which is an interesting little town. The Shakespeare connection was actually not that important until the last hundred years or so, so most of the monuments or buildings are rather new. Of course, there are many old ones as well, and the birthplace and some of the surrounding shops are original. We went straight to the birthplace upon arrival, but had to wait a while before we could go in. It was interesting to see, but I definitely liked the globe better, and I really didn't learn anything new either. After the tour we only had an hour to explore the town, so a group of us hurried over to the church where Shakespeare is buried. I wasn't willing to pay to see the actual spot where his body is, and I was rather irritated to see that the church had its own giftshop inside the chapel. I liked walking around the tombstones, where some of them were so old and moss covered that you can't make anything out on them anymore; or there were some that written in lettering that none of our modern eyes could distinguish anymore. It took us a bit to reach the church, so we were only there about 10-15 minutes before we had to leave. I would have loved to see the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, which just finished major renovations earlier this year, but it was definitely too far away to go and see. There were also a couple of book shops I would have loved to look at along the way to the church, but being me it is probably a good thing that I didn't. There were actually quite a few shops in Stratford that you can find in Oxford.

Looked into getting a snack for the bus, but decided not to. The people who did were late getting back, so we gave them a little bit of a hard time. I meant to do homework during the ride back, but go figure I fell asleep instead. Back at CMRS I stayed up watching TV and talking with people, which is basically what I want to spend all my remaining time here doing, especially considering there's so little of it left. I really don't want to leave.

Thursday I got some work done on my paper after lectures, one of which was given by Alun.

Friday was our last lecture, only one instead of two. The topic was interesting and the lectern was good, but I really couldn't focus and only took one page of notes. Lunch was fun, since we spent it admitting how little work all of us had actually done on our final papers. Sadly, this is probably going to be a serious work weekend. However, while watching a movie in the JCR, I agreed to go to Blenheim in the morning with some people. Not entirely sure who all is going, but it should be fun.

Integral Week Two: Bath

This week has been interesting, and non-homework wise the most stressful since I arrived in England. Honestly I don't know why I'm surprised though. Anyway, Mom and Linda came to Oxford after lectures by train, and I went to the station to get them. I was there when they arrived, but somehow in the crowd of people we missed each other and spent a good 20 minutes trying to find one another. Eventually we did, and headed out. We stopped at Jessops for a while so Linda could look into getting her camera batter replaced, and then came back to my room. After dropping out stuff off we went to the Eagle & Child for lunch, which I was very happy about. From there we went to the Bodleian, but the earliest full tour was already full, so we signed up for the later shorter tour. While we waited we did some souvenir shopping at a few university shops, took a little longer than I would have liked, but oh well. The Bod tour was fun, and I even learned a few things about it that I didn't know, and also learned how to get into the Exeter College gardens, which I will do sometime before I leave. After the tour we were pretty tired and came back here to plan out ticket stuff for the rest of the week. Sadly, that did not go as planned, and after a little while I just gave up and let Mom and Linda deal with it. When settled, we still didn't have play tickets, nor did they know how or when they were getting to Bath on Wednesday. And the plan was not to see each other on Tuesday, such a great idea. Anyway, after that fiasco we picked up all their bags and headed out to dinner. We went to Pizza Hut to prove that I'm not insane and it really is quite different. They agreed with me, and in the end I got leftover pizza for later. I walked with them to the train station and said goodbye, hoping for the best come Wednesday. I came back to the JCR to watch the first Lord of the Rings with people. I really like my group here. We're all so like minded and into the same things that it really is a good fit that I don't want to end-

Tuesday was a much needed day of relaxation for me. After breakfast and lecture, I looked up books I wanted to get for research, and found out what was available from St. Peter's library. At 2 there was my local field trip around Oxford with Dr. Philpott, which I really enjoyed. I like Dr. Philpott, despite some people's opinions of him; he makes little comments that if you are able to catch them are rather quite funny. We got to see Worcester (Wooster) College, which is a sort of mishmash of buildings from different medieval buildings and then some newer ones around them. The trip did run a little longer than it was supposed to though, and by the end I was starting to get ancy to be done. I think there was something I wanted to do, but now I can't remember what it was. Oh well. I relaxed until dinner, and afterwards did a little homework reading. Got an e-mail from Dad telling me what time I was supposed to meet Mom and Linda. It said a different location, but I decided to just go with the one we had picked on Monday.

On Wednesday we had our third field trip, this time to Bath, and honestly it was not my favorite. The countryside we passed on the way there was gorgeous, and I really enjoyed riding the bus around town. There were some nice buildings and neat sites, while thinking about all the famous people who have come here over the centuries and had an influence there, like Jane Austen. Still, it was too much of a tourist town for my tastes, they even had a Disney store! You got nickled and dimed for everything you wanted to do, and we weren't able to get into the Roman Baths until later in the day, so we had to spend the morning finding our own things to do. You even had to pay to get into the parks, which were closed anyway though. And to top it off, we had some true English weather of clouds and rain. While I like the rain, most the girls were anxious to be indoors. We tried the Fashion Museum first, which charged more than most of us were willing to pay. Then we walked over to the Jane Austen house, during the hardest part of the rain, and it still charged an exorbitant amount, at least more than I and a few others were willing to pay. Finally, sopping wet, we went to Bath Abbey, right by the Roman baths. The place was big, and apparently only have the size of the one that stood there previously. It was a cool church, though again if you wanted to see the whole thing you had to pay. We left there and found somewhere to eat, a cool pub with a sort of modern Roman theme. I got a Chicken club sandwich, which was good but definitely tasted different/interesting. I've taken on a policy in England where as long as it doesn't taste bad I'll eat it and don't even bother asking what some of the English names or mixtures are anymore. I ate fast since I had to meet up with Mom, meaning I inhaled my food, and then said goodbye to be at the designated meeting place by 2:05.

There were a lot of school and tour groups around the entrance to the Bath, most non-English speaking, which made looking around a little difficult. I stood around till 2:15, and then decided that maybe they were waiting somewhere else and started looking around for them. After 2 laps around the building I expanded my search area and walked farther away. With still no luck I went back to the front of the baths, and of course there they were, talking with Laura and Craig. Go figure. But we finally met up, except they had to go into the Baths right away, while my group had to wait a little bit to go in. The Bath was amazing, and full of history. It was also an interesting mix of ancient and modern to make it more tourist friendly and preserve it. The audio guide was a nice touch as well, and very informative. While I was walking around and taking pictures of the entrance, Mom came and found me, saying she only had an hour before she had to be back on the bus, so we had to rush through a lot of the baths. The water in the main bath was an interesting shade of green, with signs warning you not to touch it. Mom had to leave after that, and I joined up with people from CMRS. We sat around the main pool for a while, and then did the rest of the rooms pretty quickly. After we reached the Pump Room (a misleading name, BTW, since it isn't actually a pump room. Just a fancy restaurant that they pump the water into), we stayed there killing time till we had to be back on the bus. We stopped in the Abbey for a few minutes, since it was closing. We also stopped in a chocolate shop, where the smell of sweets was extremely overpowering. Later after getting back we watched the Two Towers. A very good movie, but we were all so burned out from the field trip that it was a little too long. It was also a surprise when we got back, because the scaffolding that's been on St. Peter's since last term was gone. It was weird to see the actual building.

Thursday after lecture I grabbed a bus to London. Mom wanted me to take the train, but I waited to long to get a ticket and it was really expensive. I prefer the bus anyway though, so it really didn't bother me. It was also nice knowing I would get dropped off right by the hotel and not have to walk far like I would from the train station. I got there around 3:30, which was when I thought I was supposed to be there. I checked with the concierge first to see if they were there, and then went up. Apparently Mom thought I was supposed to be there earlier, and so had been waiting for me. Oh well. Linda was out shopping when I got there, and the cleaning lady was making the beds, so we discussed what was supposed to happen that night. Surprise surprise, they didn't get tickets to the Children's Hour, or Wicked, but to a musical called Million Dollar Quartet. It had Elvis music and some other big hits, and I enjoyed it, though parts of it were a little too old for me. Getting ahead of myself though. We took the tube to the theatre district, which was slightly problematic and illegal due to some problems with the Oyster Cards they had gotten earlier in the day, but we got there. For dinner we went to a pub next to the theatre our play was in. I got a meat pie, and for the first time since I've been here, mashed potatoes. Considering I'm sick of potatoes at this point and don't want to see one for the rest of the year, it was surprising to see mashed on the menu; it's very unusual here. I did enjoy the play and a good deal of the music, Elvis, Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash and Jerry Lee Lewis (still not a fan of Cash). The end concert was really cool, though the older crowd dancing in the aisles during this freaked me out a little. Glancing around the audience during this, I saw similar expressions on most the younger people's faces, so good to know I wasn't alone. Went back to the hotel after the play, and went to bed pretty soon after. Mom was interested in watching a movie, but Linda and I vetoed that. We were exhausted.

Friday was a bittersweet day, knowing that mom would be leaving soon. We grabbed breakfast and then grabbed a train to Oxford. I got a 3-month return ticket as an attempt not to get ripped off too much, the train is so expensive here. Upon arriving in Oxford, we avoided St. Michael's since class was going on and I didn't want to flaunt that I was skipping.  We went to a varsity shop so Mom could deal with some issues about a sweater she bought, but unfortunately the boss was out and the workerbees couldn't solve the problem, so I was nominated to comeback the next day and finish it. Great. We stopped at a few other shops to get some last minute souvenirs as well, and then came back to my room to drop it off. From there we headed out to Blenhiem palace, stopping at Morton's for lunch to eat on the way. On the way we saw Dr. Philpott, and Mom insisted on saying hello. A rather awkward meeting, with me holding my lunch while Mom brought up why I had ditched (I got an e-mail about that later, BTW), but overall it went as well as could be expected. From there we took the bus to Blenheim, which is amazing. A super long driveway with beautiful grounds, though not the most pedestrian friendly entrance; more designed for cars. Sadly the inside was a little disappointing as well, rather gaudy and overdone, and not a whole lot of info available since it is a private residence. Still, it was rather nice, though it would be nice if you could explore the sections marked 'private,' but something says that would be a bad idea. Also got my ticket turned into an annual pass, which is itself a cool card souvenir and a guarantee that I'm going back. After one of the tours we walked around the nearest garden a little, and then decided to come back to Oxford. It was rather cloudy and windy, and Mom's ankle hurt, so neither of us felt like really exploring the grounds, and since the place was pretty empty, I'd say most people felt the same. After walking all the way back down the driveway though, we were informed that it was a closed and that we had to go back and around to get out. (The gate closed at 4:30, and it was like 4:31 when we got there, so that was extremely irritating, it's not like they couldn't see us coming.) We basically had to do a giant circle through the village of Woodstock to get back to the bus stop. Mom was pretty upset, her ankle was really hurting.
After getting back to Oxford I let Mom talk to Dad on my computer for a little bit while I organized some things for her to take home. When she finished we set out for the train station, stopping in some random Italian restaurant for dinner along the way. We both got the same pasta dish, which was pretty good, especially considering it didn't have any meat. When we reached the train station we had a rushed goodbye so she could catch an earlier train. Rushed goodbyes again, not something I wanted. On the way back I was not in the best of moods. Pain and stressful as Mom is, I'm going to miss having her around. Spent the rest of the evening doing nothing. Watched the 2nd half of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King with everyone in the JCR, they had watched the first part the night before. Too bad I still haven't seen it, but at least now I've seen the ending. A relaxing way to end a busy week, and hopefully the upcoming week won't be too bad. I have a lot of work to finish.

Weekend in Londond with Mom

I really need to get over my dislike for cities, but I have decided that I never want to live in a really big city. Oxford is about as urban as I am willing to go. However, I did see Mom for the first time in months this weekend, which was nice. After lunch I took a train to London Paddington. The ride was pretty smooth, and a lot faster than the bus. Sadly, my trip to the hotel didn't go so neatly. Being me, I of course got lost. I wasn't even able to find the first street I had used to map out how to reach the hotel. After wandering around for a little bit, I stopped in a convenience store and bought a London map to help me find my way. Eventually I found my way to the hotel, sweaty and with aching soldiers. I got some nice looks from the concierge when I walked in, but after calling up to the room there were nice enough and sent me on up.

It was a relief to see Mom as I walked down the hallway and into the room, though I wasn't exactly huggable right when I walked in. After sitting around and talking for a little bit (they really were jet-lagged. Gee, I wonder who said that would happen?), we decided to explore for a little bit and then get something to eat. We walked for a while and reached the wall around Buckingham Palace. Mom and Linda wanted to see the actual thing, so we walked around the to the opposite side to see the palace. Took a couple pictures of it and the fountain out front, and then tried to head back.  After some confusion with the map we finally got on the right path along the other side of the wall, and finally after a little more confusion wound up right back where we started. So, we basically walked around the entire place, though thanks to a lovely barbed high wall, really didn't get to see much. Also go figure that the hotel was on the complete opposite side of the palace. Anyway, on the way back we kept our eyes peeled for restaurants, and except for a McDonald's, we didn't see any. By the hotel we walked around a bit more and found a few, picking a little Italian place. I got a really good soft pizza, and Mom and Linda only caused a few problems for the waiter. From there we were exhausted and went back to the room to relax and sleep. We planned out what we wanted to do the next day, and then crashed. Literally for me. My bed kind of sank when I got in it, not very comfortable.

Saturday we planned on just doing some sightseeing on our own and using the tube to get around. There was a mistake. There was a major rally going on that day in London, and the main point of it was the Speaker's Corner in Hyde Park, right across from Mom's hotel. They estimated that there were and extra 250,000 people coming into London for the rally, so setting out in the morning was fun. There was also the Oxford/Cambridge boat races going on, which added another 100,000 people to the city. Never got the chance to see it either. So the streets were more packed than usual, and to top it off, the tube line in the direction we wanted to go was closed for repairs. So we got to walk quite a long ways. We stopped on the way for breakfast, and also to try waiting for a bus, which were so packed that there wasn't even a chance of getting on one. Eventually we reached the Portobello Market by Notting Hill, our first intended stop for the day. There were some neat things for sale, though again it was a madhouse and super packed. Mom and Linda looked at a lot of jewelry and clothing, while for me there were old books and antique maps, but nothing that really seemed worth the price they were asking. There were some nice pocket watches for a decent price, and in retrospect I really should have gotten one, but too late for regret now.

Took the tube over to the British Library then, which had some awesome ancient manuscripts and book collection. Sadly, you needed a library card to see most of it. There was still a display room downstairs that was a lot of fun. It had a copy of the magna carta, different copies of Alice in Wonderland, one of Jane Austen's notebooks, Handel's sheet music, and one of Shakespeare's folios, too name a few of things people would easily recognize.

After we finished there we looked for a place to eat, but most restaurants in the area were packed, so we decided to just go back. Hyde Park was a mess from the rally, and people were still filtering out. We stopped back at the room for a little bit, then set out to fine food. Also on the TV we saw people rioting after the rally and that Oxford had won the boat race. We went to a really fancy Chinese restaurant, fancier than I enjoy going to, but it was nice with good food. Also got fried ice cream for desert, which was delicious, and probably really bad for me. After that we went back to go to bed. I got a new one, which was a lot more solid and comfortable than my old one.

Sunday we took a hop on-off guided bus tour around the city. I went up top right away, Mom and Linda came up and joined me later cause it was "cold." I got some great photos, though my camera died pretty early and I had to steal Mom's. What I get for not charging it after Hampton Court. We got off by St. Paul's Cathedral, and somehow went in just in time to hear mass. After that we went to a little cafe for breakfast, and then went across the Thames on Millennium Bridge to the Globe Theatre, my favorite thing in London.

I could have spent a lot more time there, and I definitely went camera crazy. We walked around the outside a little bit and spent a little while in the gift shop; so many books I wanted. I did get a Manga of Twelfth Night, my favorite play. From there we took a guided tour of the inside, and Mom really should have taken the camera away from me there. After our tour we spent a while in the museum, probably more that we should have. After we finally finished, we got back on the bus where we got off and rode to the Tower of London and Tower Bridge. Spent a little bit walking around and looking at the gift shop before hopping on the ferry that came with the bus tour. It was fun cruising around the Thames, and the guide was rather amusing and informative. The boat dropped us off by the Houses of Parliament and Westminster Abbey, and it was rather hysterical when I informed Mom and Linda the building they were taking so many pictures of was actually the Houses and not the Abby. I got a burger from a street stand by the statue of Boudica, which was really good actually. Unfortunately when they did find the Abbey they insisted on going inside during a service, and I refused. So they went in while I walked around outside. They came out when the service ended, and we went over to grab the bus. Unfortunately, because of their little excursion the tour buses had stopped running, so we had to grab a regular city bus back to the hotel. Of course right as we were getting to the correct stop, the bus pulled away and we had to wait forever for another one. When we finally got back to the hotel, I spent a little while packing up and making plans, then grabbed a bus back to Oxford.

It was really nice to get back. Being in London made me realize how much I'm going to miss being here. It was also really nice to have an internet connection again, which is probably not a good indicator about myself. I stayed up later than I intended, but finally got to bed. Week is going to be busy.

First Integral Week and Hampton Court

Mom visiting and a lack of internet connection over the past week has made me fall extremeley far behind with these, so there is going to be a lot of backtracking. Hopefully I can remember most of what happened, and I did keep track in a notebook, so it shouldn't be too bad.

The first week of integral was like having regular classes at Elmhurst again, which was rather nice. Get up in the morning, have breakfast, play on Facebook for a little bit and then spend the rest of the morning listening to lectures and taking notes. Unfortunately we have the rest of the day to ourselves, and being me, so much free time has meant I have not been very productive and not done any of the extra work we are supposed to. Really need to get started on those readings, especially since the next few weeks are going to be busier (were, at this point, and yes, now I have a ton of backed up work and pressure. Woohoo procrastinatoin!).

As far as lectures go, I generally like them, but my feelings vary depending on the subject and the lecturer. For instance, there was one lady who was so scatterbrained that she was very difficult to follow, and she assumed we knew quite a bit about Renaissance art, which most of us did not, me included, as this was a subject that I really didn't care all that much for. Anyway, my notes from it are a mess, full of my comments, and after about 3/4 of a page I just wrote "I Quit" and stopped really paying attention, just stared at the pretty pictures. But then there was another lecture on Erasmus that I found fascinating, and I took over 3 pages of notes for that lecutre. It just depends on your interests, and then how the lecturer presents it. By the way, in a week and a half I burned through a new pen, to show how much I've been writing.

Wednesday was our 2nd field trip, this time to Hampton Court Palace. It was a massive and gourgeous building. It is hard to picture people actually living in such a place. There was beautiful architecture and some magnificent paintings. It was really cool. The stairs and hallways are massive, and what they deemed closets would really make my Dad jealous. And then it is difficult for me to comprehend that so many large rooms belonged to one person and they actually lived there. Not really sure I would want to. Again though, it was a little hard to picture exactly what the place would have been like in the Middle Ages, with so much meant for tourists and so many people milling about with cameras (myself included, of course). Still, a really cool place, and somehow I also managed to learn a few things about Henry VIII, the palace, and some of the other monarchs who had resided there.

Of course, one of my favorite parts of the palace was the gardens and grounds. There were so many, and so massive. They were gorgeous, with carefully cultivated landscaping in a huge expanse of green. And since it was so warm and sunny, we spent a good deal of our time outside just basking in the sun. When I learned it was snowing in Illinois at the same time later, it made it all the sweeter. I spent our time there with both Laurens, Brenna, Katie, Pilar, Claire, and for a while Jason and Shannon were with us a good deal of the time, though they eventually disappeared. We did the maze, which was supposed to be really famous. Took us like 2 minutes to reach the center, especially since we were running and chasing each other like little kids. Kind of found the center by accident. Then there are a lot of pictures of us outside. Overall, one of my favorite days in England.

Exploring Oxford

So I've had no classes this past week, which has meant that I have not been getting much done at a very fast pace. Basically this last week has been our version of Spring Break, though there were still a few classes and some people still had work to do. Fortunately, not me! So this past week has been pretty nice, if unproductive.

This weekend was a big travel weekend for some as well. Most of the building was gone, and for the past 2 days there's only been 6 of us here; Me, Jason, Alix, Lauren, Shannon, and Claire, it's really weird. Craig and Laura went to Ireland, a lot of people went to Scotland, and then another group went to France. Easier to keep track of who is here rather than who's gone and who went where. I ate breakfast by myself Thursday and Friday, eveyone else who is willing to get up having left. Still, much as I like Craig, it is really nice to have the room to myself for a while.

Thursday I went around with Alix, Jason and Lauren M. to look at some of the colleges around Oxford while our Bod cards could still get us in for free. Saw Lincoln, Merton, All Souls and two others that I can't think of off the top of my head. They are all gorgeous, and much bigger than St. Peters. A lot of them have little passages connecting the various courtyards, and all of them had at least 4, whereas St. Peters has more like 2 1/2-3 depending on how you look at it. After that we climbed St. Mary's tower. There was a stupid idea. One of the staircases was outside, like a fire escape on a modern building. Then there were these tiny, narrow spiral stairs with ropes hanging down the center to help you hold on. The view up top was amazing, and it's kind of obvious where many postcards have been shot from. But the walkways are super narrow, and getting by people was very ackward. Often if two groups collided, one of them had to turn around, which was a definite problem with the one set of stairs. Good thing I'm not generally scared of heights or anything. Going back down was even more fun, cause first we had to squeeze our way back to the stairs, then we had to wait a while for groups coming up the stairs, and finally some idiot college kids were trying to take a group shot of themselves up there. Oh wait, that was us. We finally had to ask someone to take the picture, no one's arms were long enough to get the 4 of us in such a narrow space. After getting back down (which makes the stairs in Michigan look easy) we decided to come back, since it was almost time for dinner. Pretty relaxing night after that.

Yesterday was pretty much the last day to use my Bodleian card, which I am really going to miss. I really like being in there, especially the camera and old library. So despite someone's protest, I went to the Bodleian after lunch just to read for fun in the Duke Humfrey library. I may also have taken some pictures with my laptop and phone while I was there, but whatever. It was my last day, so I wasn't as worried about getting thrown out. Also, I saw from the window a gorgeous garden that I wanted to visit, that looked like it was part of Exeter college.

Also stopped in the Divinity school when I was leaving, just to have a look around. It's part of the original Bodleian and also where they shot parts of two Harry Potter films. While I was in there Jason, Alix and Shannon showed up, who were just starting to see more sights, so I decided to tag along with them. We went to Magdalen (pronounced Maudlin), New College, University College, Exeter, and poked our heads in Jesus. Again all very pretty, but the gate into Exeter's gardens was locked and said private, and since it was so late already no one was in the mood to find another way in. Maybe I'll go look for one another time. So hours after I planned to be back, finally got here and just relaxed till dinner.

I'd like to say that I spent the rest of the night just relaxing and we had just hung out, enjoying having the building to ourselves. Sadly, such was not the case. There has been quite a bit of drama last night and today, the result of something that happened last weekend and has been building up throughout the weekend. While I am not directly involved, with so few people in the building right now it is rather hard to avoid. Still, being social has not been as fun the last bunches of hours.

Otherwise, things are going well, and classes are starting up again on Monday, so hopefully that will help me to get back into a schedule and motivate me to finish some things. Mom and I are stressing about her visit, there's so many details to figure out. If someone wants to make a lot of money, they should come with a website that explains the best ways to utilize and pay for all the various methods of transportation and how to figure out the cheapest cost to you. It's all very confusing and each little thing is run by different companies and erg, I hate figuring this stuff out. One of the reasons being a homebody is so nice.

Relaxation

So over the past weekend I basically did as little as I could. On Saturday morning I rolled out of bed right before it was time for Brunch, my head felt a lot better. It was such a great feeling to kept up and know that I had absolutely nothing that I needed to accomplish. After brunch I decided to go for a walk around Oxford. I went down St. Giles to Oxfam, which is an amazing used book store. I got a book from 1860 for 3 pounds. It's a little Children's Companion book, but still, I think it's pretty cool. From there I walked down a ways, farther than I've ever gone before. Turned down some random side street and went exploring a little. I finally found a shop that sold erasers too, which they call rubbers here (making the immature part of me giggle). While I was walking I also came across the actual Oxford University Press building, at which point I really wished I had my camera. Definitely going back on a sunny day to take pictures. Now I just have to wait for one, since I missed it for today's. Afterwards came back and just vegged out, didn't even try to accomplish anything else.

Sunday I again got up shortly before brunch again. Wasted time in my room for a while, started working more on postcards that I had hoped to have mailed like a month ago. Anyway, got asked if people could use my computer to watch Tristan+Isolde for our seminar class, so I went down to the common room with them. A good way to spend a cloudy afternoon. I brought my postcards down with me, but that went nowhere. Anyway, afterwards was dinner, and then I got a little writing done. With the stress of paper deadlines gone, it's really hard to motivate myself to do anything. Hopefully that will go away after a few days of relaxing. Anyway, at night I used my gameboy for the first time since I got here. It was a good feeling to play video games after so long and so much stress. I need to find a way to charge it soon though, or once it dies I won't be using it till I get back to the states, and since it was and will be my main entertainment on the long plane ride, I would really like it to keep working.

Today I was a little more motivated, especially since it was sunny and really warm. Couldn't just sit around the building doing nothing. After lunch I went for a walk around University Parks, which is beautiful. While I haven't seen all of Christ Church Meadows, I'm pretty sure I like the Parks better. Took a ton of pictures, which I will hopefully have up on Facebook soon. After getting back I did some work on my computer, got all my pictures transfered to it, now all I need to do is upload them. Tonight my seminar class watched Monty Python and the Holy Grail. While I find the first scenes funny, overall I really don't care for the movie. Not something I'm going to bring up very often though, most people worship that movie. Anyway, it's this, shower, GB, and bed. Again, no work feels so nice.

UPDATE: At some point, I will learn to check that a post was published instead of just closing the browser and assuming it was.

Done

Wow it's been a while since I updated, I've been pretty busy. This last week I had my seminar paper due along with my regular two tutorial papers, and since the seminar paper is 80% of my grade for that class, I was pulling my hair out a little bit. It didn't help that I wasn't really sure what exactly I was really trying to show prove until Wednesday. So most of my week was spent either on my computer staring at a word processor, in a library reading, or at my desk reading/getting distracted by the internet. Despite the hurdles, I managed to finish, and I believe my seminar paper turned out pretty well, though I still have to find out what grade I'll be receiving for it. But it's done, along with my two tutorials, so there's no reason to stress anymore. Spent the weekend relaxing, and getting started on planning things out for traveling after term and when Mom comes, both of which I am looking forward to. After the amount of work I've done these past 8 weeks, I'm looking forward to going back to Elmhurst, which will feel like a cakewalk after this. Being here has definitely helped me prepare for the two Senior Theses I'm going to have write next year, but I am guaranteed going to miss the Bodelian Library system. It's in a class of all its own, and Elmhurst's library can't even compete.

As for this past week, it's been bittersweet. It started with GREEK ending, which made me feel old. That show has been on since before I started college, and now that it's over, I'm growing closer to my own graduation, which is an extremely frightening thought. Anyway, Tuesday was my last Anglo-Saxon England tutorial. While the papers for it were always difficult, requiring hours in various libraries, and Dr. Sykes always found things to critique, it was still a class I enjoyed. I liked the subject matter, and our discussions were fun, where she pushed me to think about things I didn't know or even considered, and really challenged me to push my limits. So while I won't miss the hours I spent researching and stressfully writing papers, I really will miss it. Oh, also on Tuesday they actually had Rice Krispies for breakfast, making it the first time I've had some other than Corn Flakes in 3 months. This is the St. Peter's students last week here as well, so the kitchen seemed to be pulling out all the stops.

Thursday was my last Medieval Travel Writers tutorial, which was very sad. Alun Thorton Jones and I always had such fun conversations together, and most weeks I enjoyed the topic. Some weeks felt pointless, like the Vikings in America, but still, it was all interesting to learn about. It was also to bad that I had my seminar paper this week, since the topic was on imaginary maps now that Europeans had a better understanding of the world, which really was fun but because of seminar I couldn't devote the time to it that I would have liked to. I did bring in the map from Wizard's First Rule to talk about how people still make up imaginary lands and maps today. Fortunately Alun leads the field trips we'll be taking soon, but I'll still missing having a one-on-one tutorial with him. We laughed a lot.

During all this I was working on my seminar paper, reading different books and trying to get a specific topic. I had to meet with Dr. Philpott on Wednesday to try and nail it down, which was a little scary since the paper was due Friday. I had spent about 6 hours on Tuesday after tutorial in the St. Peter's library, and still had some more reading to do on Wednesday and Thursday on top of my last tutorial stuff. Started writing my final paper after lunch on Thursday, though I really didn't start making good progress I liked till after dinner. Got stuck quite a few times where I just stared at the screen with nothing to write. Around 1am I was about 3/4 of the way done, and Craig was looking to go to bed soon so I moved to the computer lab to finish. Unfortunately being me I wasted about an hour when I got there fiddling around on Facebook and watching TV shows on my computer. Finally finished a little before 4, printed, and right as I was about to leave let Lauren M. in, who had just finished her paper. Talked a little with her, then finally went straight to be.

Didn't managed to get up for breakfast Friday, 3 hours was too little sleep. Had one of my Chewy Dips bars though. I'm proud of how long they've lasted, and I've still got some left, which is a good thing cause I haven't been able to find them here anywhere. Beside the point though, spent the morning editing my paper, and on my way to lunch meant to drop my paper off, but Dr. Philpott had a tutorial, so I threw it in my mailbox, and then coming back from lunch turned it in. He just told me to drop it on the table when I walked in, and then went back to work. I was hoping for a little more acknowledgment on having finished, like a congratulations or something. Fireworks would have been nice.

Anyway, after that all the sleep I'd missed out on over the past week or two instantly caught up with me, and my brain just shut down. Also started getting a headache. Still, decided not to nap, and played games till dinner. Friday was also our St. Patrick's day/most people are finished with work party, for which the JCR bought plenty of alcohol and snacks. Fortunately I went down late enough to miss helping with most the set-up, which I was very happy about. I'm so sick of moving that big table. Anyway, they made three things of Jungle Juice, all different, and then there was liters of cider, which is as strong as beer but tastes different, I've been informed. Whatever makes people happy, I really don't care.

I like the Doritos and the chocolate cupcakes with green frosting. Definitely ate too many of those. There were also some kids from the St. Peter's badminton team there, that people here had joined and invited over. It was a little awkward at first, but they were a lot of fun here. Sadly, even though we had to explain Beer Pong to the one English guy Nathan, he won for over over 2 hours before he finally lost the last game of the night. I'd say dominated, but since some of the rounds took over 30min, that doesn't seem like the right choice of words. Might have been easier if we actually had SOLO cups. Anyway, that was a lot of fun, but there was a BOP that night as well, so a lot of CMRS people left early to go to that. After cleaning up, which went really fast since all the English kids helped (seems to be a common thing whenever we have them over), I decided to head over and check it out one last time, since there won't be anymore before I leave.

Apparently BOP stands for Big Open Party, or so I've been informed. The reliability of the information is slightly questionable, since even most the St. Peter's people don't know what BOP means. Anyway, I had a headache that came and went throughout the night depending on what I was doing. So when I walked into the St. Peter's courtyard and the music started to make my head throb from that far away, I knew I was in trouble. Still I went to the bar, which was super crowded, definitely much more than I'm comfortable with, but I managed to squeeze through to find some of my friends. Could barely hear what people were saying, the floor was super sticky, and after like 5 min. I knew staying was out of the question. Said goodbye and pushed through the way I had gotten in, went over to the dance floor but there really wasn't anyone there either, and the music was even louder with a strobe light, so I took off right away.

Came back to the room, put on a movie and just let myself unwind. Got invited to go out to a club around midnight, but neither Craig nor I were up to it. Both of us were just fried. Took a shower, read for a little bit, and went to sleep. Craig was still doing something, but I hit the pillow and passed out. I was dead tired. Spent the weekend relaxing, which I will hopefully write about tomorrow. I feel this post has gotten long enough, and I feel like doing something else.

Work Week

I've spent the last couple days pretty much just working, and all I plan to do for the next week. I have my seminar paper on top of my two tutorial papers this week, so it's crunch time, and I am really not looking forward to it. I got a letter from Grandma on Tuesday, which helped to brighten my day quite a bit. It was also coated in glitter, which was fun to clean up from all over my desk. I'm wary to take it out of the envelope now. Also found a new way to waste time. I downloaded a book I own but didn't bring with me to England so I could read parts of it, and suddenly several hours disappear. Stupid thing to have done this close to the end with so much work to do, but too late. Hopefully I won't procrastinate with it too much. I also did laundry, which I have decided is a main reason to get married. I really hate doing laundry. Otherwise nothing really interesting going on, spending most of my time with my eyes glued to my computer screen or a book. *tear*

Mayhem, Murder and Homework

Friday-2/25/2011

Friday night was our murder mystery party. In the morning I did some homework, mostly for my seminar paper. Since I was helping host, I spent a good deal of the afternoon reading through the entire thing, it was really interesting. I enjoy being in a position where I know everything that's going on and can help direct people rather than having an actual character. Anyway, spent at least a good two hours reading through all of that, then went to dinner where Laura, Lauren and I talked about how we wanted certain things to work and who would have what roles. My job was technically "head librarian" while the other two were head porters. So I dealt with certain aspects of the came and then they took care of the rest. After dinner I ironed my shirt since it was all wrinkled and looked really bad. After 20 minutes with the iron it didn't look much better than when I started, but there was a slight improvement. Next time I'll try ironing it shortly after I was it, maybe. Then went over to the JCR to move furniture and make sure everything was set-up. Ran back to my room when we were done to quickly change and grab my stuff before heading back.

The party was really fun, and right away people started getting into character. A couple of girls came as male characters with drawn beards and mustaches, which were hysterical. We didn't exactly follow the game the way the instructions said to, but then part of the fun is making innovations to make the game your own. We had a ton of food out, almost all of which was gone by the end of the night. I admittedly snacked more than I should have. I kept my mouth shut the entire time I'm proud to say, and only gave a recommendations when people who were really stuck asked for help. There was one point where Lauren and I were cracking up because of some of the people who were working together because they didn't know the other's secret identity. It was also a little scary to see how good some people were at lying. Hmmm. Anyway, it really was a lot of fun, no body seemed to have a bad time, and there were no real problems. Only had two people die though, which of course happened right at the end of the game as everyone rushed over saying they wanted to fight or assassinate someone. Early in the game someone had tried to poison Craig, but another character saved him, the whole scene of which was pretty funny. In the end a good amount of people had figured out the general plot of the main part of the game, but there were a lot of surprises as people revealed the many side arcs that were going on at the same time, and only a couple of people actually for sure figured out who the real murderer was. A third person got it, but she had just guessed. No matter, it was really fun.

Spent time afterwards putting the room back together and helping clean dishes, then just stood around for a while talking. Decided to watch a movie, and after a night of intrigue there was a general consensus of people being in a Disney mood. With the VCR permanently out of commission we were forced to rely on DVD's from home, which still left us with too many choices. A few were argued over for a while, and eventually it came down to a vote between Lion King and Hunchback of Notre Dame. It tied and I hadn't voted, and when they asked why not I said I wanted to watch Hercules, so that's what we watched. Somedays I love my life. Most the group made it about 2/3 of the way through and then went to bed, but since was the 2nd time we'd put it on I was determined to watch to the end. Anyway, meant to go bed afterwards, but stayed up talking and sort of watching Scrubs. Finally went to bed around 3AM.

Saturday-2/26/2011

Definitely meant to get up earlier than I did, but got up just before brunch. I needed to go to the History Faculty Library, which is only open from 10-1 on Saturdays, so I ate rather quickly and then went straight there. Fortunately I only needed one book, so after a little over an hour I left. I would like to say I was productive after I got back, but I spent most of my time watching movies and playing games on my laptop for the rest of the day. Got a little more reading done, but nothing very substantial.

Sunday-2/27/2011

Fortunately on Sunday I was much more motivated, though I still didn't get up much earlier than brunch time. Besides the point though, after coming back here I spent a good chunk of time reading books I had gotten from the Feneley library, with intermittent breaks here and there that were never too long. Alix invited me to dinner to finish off the leftovers from Thursday, which was very nice and much appreciated. Of course St. Peter's had meat pies tonight, which are rather tasty, but homecooked food with friends is still preferable. Afterwards videoed home, which was pretty informative. I know my family was going to the spaghetti dinner for Boy Scouts, while Dad tried bring Kanik to his computer so he could see me. Would have been easier to bring the laptop to him, but whatever. He had no idea what was going on and couldn't figure out where my voice was coming from. He's so cute. And I got a new FB profile picture out of it. Had a committee meeting after that, but since people were missing and there wasn't much to talk about it was pretty short. Basically just what to talk about next week. Anyway, after we finished I ran over to St. Peter's, which is conviently open 24hrs a day to read some more. Definitely get more work done in libraries, less distractions. Came back here and decided to just call it quits, it wasn't worth working myself so hard that I couldn't get up in the morning. Took a shower and read a little in bed before going to sleep.

Monday-2/28/2011

Today was a typical Monday unfortunately. Spent most the day working on my Anglo-Saxon paper, my standard. Feel I did a pretty good job this time, made sure not to stray from the question. After that went to colloquium, for which the reading had been very difficult to find and so most people didn't do it, myself included. Really couldn't follow the professor's logic anyway, so I spent most my time thinking about other things and trying to figure out why my pen wouldn't work right. Can't afford to break this one, I only have two left. Went from there to dinner and have pretty much been relaxing since. Yesterday and today I've been watching Legend of the Seeker quite a bit. I've basically been cycling through stuff on my external hardrive, though I might need to disconnect it soon so I can focus on getting more work done. Two more weeks of the really hard stuff, and then the easier course. Just got keep it up with another major paper thrown on top of it all. Oh joy.

More Work

Tuesday was a good day. My essay for Anglo-Saxon wasn’t that good unfortunately. I focused more on the history, while my tutor wanted me to focus more on the political theory behind Alfred’s kingship. We talked it over though, hopefully next week I’ll get it right. Was actually motivated after lunch, went to the Bodleian and got a good amount of work done. Came back around 4, relaxed till dinner, got minimal work done after dinner. Actually went to bed early though for once, which was really nice, except I did spend a while reading. Still had the lights off before midnight, which was unusual.

Wednesday was not as productive as I would have liked it to be. Really didn’t get anything done during the day. Tried to read a little bit about the Vikings, but really just couldn’t. While their voyage to America may be interesting to read about, I really just could not find the motivation to write a paper about it. There was a lot of procrastination involved, even at 2 AM unfortunately. Finally finished a little before 3, took a shower and crashed.

This morning I edited my paper, got about halfway through and then had to quickly type the changes and print it, wound up being about 5 min late to tutorial. After lunch did work on my seminar paper and finding books for the upcoming week. For dinner Alix invited me and some other people to have homemade Italian food, which was really nice. I helped set-up a small amount when I got there, along with getting crap for not being there earlier to assist. When I asked if there was anyting they would have liked done and when they wanted me to show up they just said 5:30, I feel there complaints were unjustified. Ollie and Henry from St. Peter's were there as well, it really was a lot of fun. Some people had a *little* too much wine, adding to the evening's amusement. Talked about some strange topics, none of which I feel like repeating. There had been plans to go to Maxwell's aftwards for karoke, but since we sat around so long afterwards talking I started falling asleep and decided to stay back with a group watching a movie, actually the same girls I went to London with. Anyway, the people who did go to Maxwell's came back soon anyway, since there wasn't karoke and nobody really felt like just going to the club. While we were watching Across the Universe Bianca came through and informed us that they weren't going to replace the VCR, so the wall of movies we have is useless. Anyway, when the movie ends I'm just going to bed. Too tired to do any more work.

Busy Days

Friday-2/18/2011

I'd like to say I was super productive today, but not really. I got some work done though. I went to the Ashmolean to look at the Alfred Jewel and other parts of the Anglo-Saxon exhibit, then went over to the Sackler to read about what I had just seen, which was pretty fun. Actually utilizing a museum and library that are right next door to each other, one of the awesome aspects of Oxford. Today I ate like a traditional Englishman as well. For lunch I had fish and chips (french fries), and I actually liked it since I really don't care for fish. Though I do think it helped that the fist was so breaded that you could barely taste the fish. Then for dinner I had Bubbles & Squeak, which I have mixed feelings about. The first couple bites didn't taste bad, but I got sick of it really quick. Fortunately I got other things to eat, cause I didn't finish it, and when I got backed I looked up what it is. Fried cabbage and potatoes, which St. Peter's had then topped with bacon and cheese. Something I do not intend to get again. Otherwise this Friday has been a pretty relaxing day. Going to head down to the common room with my guidebook to look up places I want to visit.

Append: While in the common room, I was asked if I wanted to go to London tomorrow with Lauren N. and a couple other girls, to which I said yes. We're leaving at 8am, and it is now after 1. This'll be fun.

Saturday-2/19/2011

My first unofficial trip to London. I will preface with my usual, I dislike cities. Too close, cramped, smelly, and they just make me uncomfortable. Still, I had a good time. I brought homework with me, "for the bus ride" I said. I don't know who I was trying to kid more, myself or the people I went with. I fell asleep within half an hour, and since the ride took about 2 hours, so I got a nice nap. It was me, Brenna, Lauren N., and Sarah who went, and I think we were all pretty tired going that early.

When we arrived there was a little bit of confusion about where to go, but they figured it out. I just followed along, which was a good thing cause the underground totally confused me. Would have taken me a lot longer to figure out on my own. We went to Harrods first, which is a massive department store. Only been in an equivalent once or twice in my life. Also made me feel like a little kid, where I had to keep my hands in my pockets the whole time so I didn't accidentally break anything. The first floor was okay, mostly women's accessories like purses and jewelry. There was a Tiffany's, Cartiens, and others that we stared at in awe for a little bit. Pretty sure the salespeople thought we were sketchy from their looks. Also saw a watch for over twelve thousand pounds (12000), at which point I slowly backed away from the glass. Fortunately we breezed through quickly to get to the food section, the best part of the whole store. It was rooms of all different varieties of foods. The grocery sections were definitely overpriced, like items I've seen at Sainsburys here in Oxford for half the Harrods price. But it was the Tea and Candy sections that were the best. So much to choose from, and so expensive. We stopped back on the way out to buy stuff. I got a tin of tea, decent price for a good drink and a souvenir. I think the other three all got tea too, though I know at least one person got chocolate.

After paroozing the food sections (not a smart thing to do when you haven't had breakfast, BTW), we went upstairs. The second floor was clothing, mostly women's. On the way out we did stop in a men's section for a little bit, I think on the same floor. Anyway, the women's section was crazy. The stuff that bragged about being cheap still cost several hundred GBP, and there was only one of each item on the racks. It was crazy. The girls joked about going to the lingerie section, expecting it to make me uncomfortable. Unfortunately I've already done Victoria's Secret with Anna and Ashley, so that would have been nothing new. We skipped it though. The third floor was more clothes, though these were more street wear and a little cheaper. Note the adjective "little." There was also a travel section, and the Harrods Cafe, which we had planned to eat at, but since afternoon tea was like 30 pound, we decided not to.

The fourth floor was as high as we could go, employees only for the top floor, or at least from the staircase we were using. I also think I've joined or left out a floor. There numbering system combined with the size of the place really had me confused. Anyway, on the topmost floor we went to, there were some very pretty and extremely expensive glass figurines and other luxury goods. Basically things you'll never need and rarely use that you pay out the rear for. Then there was the Pet Kingdom. Best part of the store. It had all the stuff for spoiling your animal and turning it into an accessory instead of a pet, and that I made fun of. But there were some dog toys that said London, and I almost got one for Kanik, till I saw the price tag and thought about how long he'd play with it. But the best part was they had puppies! It was so cute to see them running around, and there were two ugly pugs who just sat together on their bed and stared at you. It was adorable. There were also hamsters for sale. Now these weren't the $10 teddy bear hamsters you get from Jims. They were Syrian hamsters, and the cheapest was 50 GBP. Then the cheapest cage was over a hundred pounds and huge. Still a fun place to window shop.

After that we went looking for a place to eat, found a chain restuarant called EAT. I got a steak and cheese sandwich which I paid to have toasted, such a good decision. Also got a honey and vanilla smoothie. Not as smart a choice. I guzzled it to not taste it as much. The girls then required that I pick the next place since we had spent the morning in a department store. Would have preferred to go to a park, but since it was raining I didn't think they would appreciate that. Instead picked the National Gallery, and thanks to England being awesome, because it was a museum it was free.

On the way there we stopped at a souvenier shop, some pretty random stuff. The condom rack with "I [heart] London," ripped off Vegas sayings and "My First Condom" was probably the most hysterical. Almost bought a couple of things, but decided I really didn't need a London zippo, especially when it said made in China.

When we go to the gallery there we checked our bags (also free, so great), it felt so good to have my coat and bag off. My left shoulder was killing me. We walked around for a couple of hours, the building is amazing. Huge, gorgeous architecture, very confusing. The Sainsbury wing had these monstrous stairs, but we saw those at the end and were too tired to explore where they went. Saw some amazing pieces of art, though Brenna and Lauren were definitely more in to it than Sarah and I. Saw Da Vinci, Van Gogh, other people who's names I don't remember. My favorite paintings were definitely the nature scenes, a tiger crouching in the grass, ships sailing from an ancient city, Van Dyck's portrait of a Duke English explorer. My favorite artist was Raphael. His paintings were the brightest and most vivid. Also for some reason his depiction of the Crucifixion made me think of Summer at St. John's and Grandma's. I have no idea why.

By about 4ish we were all pretty wiped, though we kept going a while longer. Around dusk I started feeling this really weird homesick feeling. I blame being in a city though, since I generally feel the same way when I'm in downtown Chicago at that time too. When we finally finished around 5, we got our stuff, then went to the cafe for drinks. I got breakfast tea, tasted great and helped wake me up. One thing, around Oxford there's a garbage can on almost every corner, in London it took forever to find one. We walked over to Big Ben, then past it and over London Bridge, which is actually very modern. The one with the spires that is famous and people generally think of as London Bridge is actually Tower Bridge. Beside the point. We sat on the other side by the Thames for awhile, sitting on a wet bench while it misted, talking and playing with cameras. Think we were sitting in front of the Aquarium with the front lit up and constantly changing colors, right by the London Eye.

Eventually we decided to head for home, we were all really tired. Taking the underground back ot where we started wasn't a problem, but figuring out where the bus was supposed to pick us up involved a lot of confusion and walking in circles for several blocks. Fine normally, but when you've been on your feet all day and shoulder hurts from a messenger bag, rather sad. We finally found it though, and were the first ones on, so we got to sit up top in the front row. A very cool view, especially as we headed out of the city. We talked for a while, and then as we hit reached the highway and it was only dark countryside, we started listening to our own music. I faded in and out for most of the ride, though I don't think I every fully fell asleep. We got back to Oxford around 8:30, about 12 hours since we left, a lot more tired and our pockets much lighter.

Made it back to the dorm, and came up here to relax. I ate some of the cheese and crackers I bought the other day, and vegged for a couple of hours. Made plans to talke to home later, then around 10 went over to the Bop (still no idea what that is supposed to mean). Everyone was already pretty much there already, spent the first few minutes in the bar area talking, which was fine with me, then we went over the dance room/floor. Danced there for about 45min, then about the time I was planning to go other people started to leave, so I tagged along with them. Pretty much the London group plus a few others.

After getting back took my laptop down to the Lecture Hall to video chat with home, which was fun. Waved a glowstick around the entire time. Then I went up to the common room where they were watching Seventeen Again, so I only stayed for a little while. Then went over the kitchen, talked with Alix, Jason and Lauren M. for sometime, then finally had to give in and go to sleep. Very long, busy, unproductive day.

Sunday-2/20/2011

Got up for brunch, then went to the Camera to download a couple articles from their database and came back to print them. Tried working, but my work ethic was dead and I had no patience for things. For instance, my pen was acting up and after several hours of dealing with it I really lost my patience and broke it. Only 3 left, really need to either look into getting more or be more careful. Or just write less. Still, didn't get much work done during the day.

After dinner had the JCR meeting, where we spent most the time discussing the Murder Mystery party for this Friday. Should be fun. Went with Laura to print off the stuff we would need, then came back up here to talk with home again. That was enjoyable. Then ran to St. Peter's to look at a book quick, came back and just decided to go to bed. Could barely keep my eyes open.

Monday-2/21/2011

There were 5 CMRS people at breakfast this morning. Me, Alix and Zoe at first, and Susan and Jen joined us a little later. Still, really weird.

Spent most the day working on my Alfred paper, even skipped lunch for it. It's not bad, but I definitely would be more proud of it if I had done more research. Anyway, my brain hates me. Had a lecture shortly after I e-mailed it in on Luther, Images and the Reformation. Fortunately it was short and to the point, cause I really don't know if I could have focused for longer than an hour. Relaxed a little after, then went to dinner. I've accomplished very little since then. Gotten things organized and cleaned up a little, hopefully get some reading done. Hopefully going to bed early tonight. We'll see.

Papers Papers Papers

Yay putting this off. So Tuesday was a pretty good day. Had breakfast and read till my tutorial. I did kind of miss the question, but overall she said I wrote a good essay and then we talked about the Vikings. Lunch was fine, then I wasted time until 2pm, then went down to the Feneley library, which is in this building, to move books. The guys were asked last week if we would help, and all 3 of us did. I had a lot of fun, I like working with books. It was also nice because regularly we aren't allowed in the library, which is rather upsetting. However, it is pretty crowded in there, and the books are pretty tightly packed, so I understand there reasoning. Plus Dr. Crowe and Dr. Wyatt have their desks there, so I guess they would not want people constantly coming in an out. Still, it is a nice room. There are comfy chairs and a couch in the middle, every available surface is lined with books, and there is a faint whiff of pipe smoke from Dr. Feneley's office. Craig got a special job of moving small books in boxes up to the lecture hall since he couldn't stay long, while Jason and I got to move books in the main area. In order to make room on the very end for a new collection they just bought, the entire library needed to be shifted left. That was our job. For the first few we had to figure out the system and put them in order, but after the first few shelves the rest were in the right place so we just had to move them, making sure to leave a gap here and there so new books could be added to the collection. After an hour and a half Jason had to leave, while I stayed. For a little bit I worked alone, then Dr. Crowe started helping by handing me books. After a little bit Dr. Wyatt got bored and started looking for anyway she could to help us. I really had a good time. Some of those books hadn't been moved in a long time too, they were covered in dust and my hands were pretty dirty. I really had a good time then, I don't know why. Craig came back to help for the last 10 minutes, and then it was time for the library to close. Got farther than they planned, but there still is more left to do, so they'll probably ask us back sometime to finish.

After that went to dinner, and then the Camera to study. Got pretty far through one book, though I really didn't like it. The author focused more on areas' situations in the nineties and recent history rather than focusing on the medieval aspect that it was supposed to. Came back and relaxed for the rest of the night. Actually went to bed at a decent time, to Alix's dismay.

Yesterday I spent most of the day working on my Medieval Travel Writers paper. Worked on my seminar stuff before class, it was not very impressive. Dr. Philpott was not very happy with it, if his comments on it are any indication. I really need to work on that paper more.

After lunch I went back to the Camera, then came back and worked on my paper after dinner. Dinner was sad. It was pizza with sweet peppers, onions and chicken, which was good, but that was all there was. Not very satisfying. Wasted an hour or so watching the new episode of Glee off my computer with Alix and Lauren, Kiri came in a little bit in. Then it was back to my paper. It was actually longer than I was planning to be, and I was finished around midnight. Very good. Stupidly stayed up reading the Once and Future King, finally finished the third book though. Only one more to go.

Today I got some work done. Not as much as I should have, but some. Edited my paper after breakfast, actually made a lot of changes. Tutorial was fun, Alun and I talked about how obscure and little is known about Mandeville, and how some of the authors about him were idiots.

After lunch went to Sainsburys to buy cheese and crackers so I could do laundry. I get weird looks when I ask for 10p. Came back and planned to get work done, but I spent more time playing video games. I did find books from the Feneley to get and requested those, so at least got that done.

Dinner was surprising. The main course was half a chicken. A small chicken, but still, half a chicken. Like, when he started picking the whole thing up, I really couldn't believe it. Then there were potatoes and salad. Quite a few people weren't there, they were invited to formal hall. After coming back I wasted more time, and got like, 5 minutes of work done. Went down to the common room to write this, and spent more time talking and watching Skins. Not a very good show. Then came down to the lecture hall to annoy people who are working. Hysterical, and little depressing. Not going to name names, since they have threatened me if I transcribe any part of the conversation. At this point, I've pretty much got them all against me, so I'm going to bed soon. Can only take so much harassment.

Yay Weekend

Actually not really. Spent most of it working on my Anglo-Saxon paper. Or at least trying. Did get a good amount of research done, and I know Friday I stayed up till 4am watching movies and talking. Don't really think anything else of interest happened that day.

Saturday when I finally got going I spent a good deal of my time at the Sackler and then the Camera reading. Found out there wasn't a BOP, so that killed my night plans. Oh, I took my coat in to get fixed finally. Going to take longer and be more expensive than I planned, but oh well. I want it repaired.

Sunday was interesting. Went back to the camera to work, one of the books I wanted/needed didn't come in afer 5 days. Irritating. Anyway, then it was to St. Peter's for more research, and then back here for the JCR meeting. Because this is public and I know people from CMRS at least glance at it, I won't name names or specific events, but overall the meeting annoyed me. My work ethic was crap for the night, really didn't get much done. Went looking for Alix and Lauren just so I could procrastinate more, which of course happened wonderfully. And hysterically. There were some funny Facebook shennanigans occurring. At about 2am I got my notebook that Alix had hijacked from me back and went off to bed. The consequence of this was I got a wall post with 500 comments while I was sleeping, possibly look at all of it sometime in the near future. Maybe.

Today I fried my brain writing my paper. Not a bad overview of the Viking invasion of Britain, but I really don't think that was my topic so I might be in trouble for tutorial tomorrow. Hopefully it will be okay. After finally finishing that, I had colloquium. I know I fell asleep, my notes at one point aren't spelled right, I couldn't follow the topic and I know there's a 25 min period where I blanked out. I've pretty much been wasting time since then. We had our Ice Cream social for Valentine's Day at 7, every showed up pretty much right on time, surprise surprise. It was a lot of fun, lasted about 45min. Lazing about since.

I feel there were other little events that happened over the weekend that I left out, but since I really can't remember, and I doubt it would be of interest to other people any ways

The weather here is gorgeous, which is actually being a problem. It's what Illinois is like at the end of March-mid April, so I'm going into spring mode. That means my focus is falling, my motivation is shot, and most my thoughts are of Break, South Haven and summer plans. Not good when I still have a crap ton of work to do. Also makes me really miss Kanik. I need dark and gloomy like it was earlier in January so I can focus more on shoving my nose into books and computer screens instead of staring out the window. As for now though, it is night here, my head hurts from the last few days and working so much today, so shower and bed.

Run On

So this is the combination of a couple of days of blogs that I started on Tuesday and never got around to finishing, and then just stuck the next few days on after.

Tuesday 2/8/2011
Yesterday was pretty a Monday. Spent most of it working on my Anglo-Saxon paper. Finished with like half an hour to go and sent it for today. Had our lecture at 4pm, from there went to dinner and then relaxed the rest of the afternoon. I went to the common room with the intention of reading Marco Polo a little, which was a joke cause I knew it wasn't going to happen when I went down there. Spent a while talking venting frustrations with some people. Think I mangaed to head off to bed at a decent time, like sometime before 2am. Did read a little in bed before falling asleep too.

Today had Anglo-Saxon England, and my tutor actually liked my paper, so that was good. Last week's had sort of been a mess. So that went well, then I took a nap. Was definitely up too late last night.
It was sunny out, so instead of getting started on my Marco Polo paper I took my camera and went for a walk. Went down St. Aldates to Christ Church Meadow to walk around. It was a little misty, but my camera was fine. Got some awesome shots, especially with the sun setting. Only walked around a small part of the park. Definitely going back sometime this weekend, hopefully it'll be sunny again. It's really warm either way, which is really nice.

Here's the link to the photos I took:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=363108&id=756733081&l=1a8521226a

After dinner I went to the Bodleian. It was quiet for a change, probably because it was at night. After getting back I typed this and really haven't gotten any work done. Hopefully get some work done before I go to bed. Or go to the common room and wast time, which is more likely.

Thurday 2/10/11
Definitely went to the common room Tuesday night, though I don't think I stayed too late. Don't really remember. Yesterday was a pain. I really procrastinated my Marco Polo paper. Bascially I'd do anything else I could find to waste time. Did go to the camera in the afternoon to use one book, then after dinner went back to the Bodleian for a few hours. After I got back went to the common room, really just didn't feel like starting my paper. Went with Jason, Alix and Shannon to get Ice Cream. Not Shermans in quality or price, but it was good. After getting back worked in the common room, rather unproductively. I did get the introduction done though while I was there, which I guess is a positive. When my battery got low I went with Alix and Lauren to the food cart Posh Nosh, finally. Got chips and cheese, which were good. Though I didn't get to close the lid thanks to Alix shouting "use burger sauce," so the guy put it on the side for me. After I finished eating  I went down to the computer lab to focus and finally finish my paper. Worked till about 4am, and I really didn't procrastinate that much when I finally got down there. When I finally finished I went to bed, didn't even bother taking a shower. Also fell over taking my jeans off, I was pretty tired.

Today I skipped breakfast, needed sleep. Didn't really have time to edit my paper, which would have been nice. Had a few things in there that I would have liked to change. Need to get it done farther ahead of time, especially since I have to read it aloud. Went from tutorial to lunch, and since then I really haven't gotten much done. Looked up the books that I'm going to need for the next week. Don't know what I'm doing tonight, people were talking about going out, but I still have a headache and really don't feel like being up too late. See what happens.

Friday 2/11/11

Didn't go out last night, too tired. Went to the reading night, though there actually weren't a lot of people there. Me, Craig, Laura, Lauren N., Hallie and Brenna. A few other people passed through during the night, I think, but not for very long. We read Redwall instead of Harry Potter because of Brian Jacques just passing away. I was on the small couch, and I fell asleep after the first chapter. I was fading in out for a while, catching only parts, and eventually I just gave up trying to stay awake. Woke up after about 45min, listened to the last chapter, and went to bed. Alix asked if any of us wanted to go out, but we all stayed in. Everyone had had a pretty long week.

I went to breakfast this morning, Craig didn't. It was pretty empty, think there were six from CMRS. Got a little work done between then an lunch, along with a nap. Going to the Bodleian after this, and then after dinner people were talking about doing something, so I'll see what they're planning later. Really don't feel like working, but I guess it'd be better to get it done now rather than the night before.

Surprise surprise

St. Peter's was a lot of fun, with some interesting conversations. A few people went to Maxwell's at different point, but I stayed with a group that was there till it closed. Me, Brenna, Lauren, Katie, Kiri, and Sarah, while Jess was off talking to some guy. Came back here after, none of us felt like going to Maxwells, while Katie and Jess went to the Cellar.

Quite a few people who went to Maxwell's were already back or just getting back, so glad I didn't go there. Some girls decided to watch Moulin Rouge in the common room, which was pretty good. First time I ever saw it, though I found it funny that at lunch Alix and I were talking about how much people watched that movie last term. And made it even funnier when she walked in and saw what was on. Anyway, we only made it about halfway through before a lot of the girls got too tired and went to bed. I stayed up with Lauren, Alix, and Shanon to watch Wallace & Gromit. Very glad it was short, I was falling asleep. Also learned how loud Alix could scream/whine when Lauren stole one of her crackers (that I gave her), and Alix started calling her a whore. I fell over laughing. After that I went to bed.

Had trouble getting up the next morning. Stupid late nights. After brunch I went to the Sackler, got a decent amount of work done. Stayed until they rang the last bell. Dang thing is really annoying. Relaxed a little, then went to dinner. Came back here and pretty much wasted time after that, IM'ed home, and got no work done. At 10pm I went to St. Peter's library since I was awake, got a good deal done, though still more to do. Decided to stop by the common room afterwards, round midnight or so, to see if there was anyone willing to get up to go to church, and wound up watching TV till 1:45am. I swear that room is cursed. Anyway, got back, fast shower, and bed.

Today after brunch spent most my time in the Upper Camera and St. Peter's. Stopped for dinner, just left my stuff in the library, and then went straight back. Of course someone took over my table, and I made a fool of myself tripping over chairs to get my things. Was rather annoyed too, cause I've gotten some dirty looks just for sitting at table with open stuff on it, so for someone to just push mine to the side was very irritating. Came back to video chat with Mom, probably only would have been there another ten minutes anyway, so didn't go back. Had our JCR meeting at 9pm, which Bianca was at. Everything went fine, got things planned for Valentine's Day. Should be fun.
Haven't gotten much done since then. Hoping to take a shower soon and then read a little before sleeping. No common room tonight, though I guess the Superbowl does start in a little bit. Maybe, but very doubtful. Honestly don't care, just hope the Packers lose. I am feeling a bit nostalgic for home, spring, and South Haven trips right now. Miss Kanik too, there's so many dogs around its irritating. Have a paper to finish tomorrow, so should probably call it quits for now.

I need to stop going to the common room late at night, like 10pm or after. It usually leads to me being up after midnight. It's all fun and great till I have to get up the next morning for breakfast, which I refuse to skip. For instance, Wednesday I was up till 2am finishing a paper, and decided to stop at the common room on the way to my room for like, 5 min. Wound being in there for over 45 min, so I didn't get to bed till sometime after 3. Was not my intention.

Anyway, other than that I haven't been doing much. Went to the Duke Humfrey library on Tuesday and Wednesday, it really is a gorgeous room. Also a disaster area. They are in the process of moving a couple of sections around, so it's a bit haphazarded. I heard one student asking about an open shelf book, and the librarian had no idea where to look for it because of all the moving around. Also been using the Upper Camera quite a bit, which is really nice.

The zipper on my black jacket broke, which is rather upsetting because it's the one I wear all the time. Now I need to either buy a new one or find a place to get the zipper fixed, neither of which sounds very appealing to me cause it involves going clothes shopping, not exactly my favorite subject. And I don't think it's going to be warm enough for me to just live with it. Hopefully take care of it sometime this weekend. Did laundry for the 2nd time on Tuesday as well. Really didn't have a choice, I was out of socks and only had one pair of boxers left. I also really need to get fabric softener, any of my clothes that air dry tend to be stiff and uncomfortable.

Planning to go out tonight, so that should be fun. Definitely going to St. Peter's pub first with people, and then depending on who is doing what maybe going to Maxwell's, see how many people are actually going and whether or not there's a cover charge. We'll see what happens.

Not Much

So I realize I haven't posted anything in a few days, but I really haven't been doing anything all that interesting to read about. I've spent a majority of my time in libraries reading and writing papers. I have a ton of work, which is fine because that is what I signed up for and I enjoy doing. Still, it's a lot of work. Well, fun for me, boring for reading about.

Wednesday I went to the Duke Humfrey library, which is a gorgeous room. It's wear they keep all the really old books in cabinets, and I mean, hundreds of years old. Plus the map room, which is what I was there for. It's kept pretty dark, especially after the sun goes down, and it's made of dark wood and the ceiling is very intricate. And for those of you who don't care about ancient books, it's also the Harry Potter library. Awesome, though the Hogwarts effect dies when you see half the desks stacked with computers and cellophane, but still a very cool room. No bags, pens or cameras allowed though, and since my cell phone makes a loud shutter noise for pictures, not sure if I'll be able to get any pictures.

Thursday relaxed a little and tried to avoid burnout. Some people did a Harry Potter reading where they read the 4th book outloud. It was entertaining, but I really wasn't into it and left after the first chapter. When it comes to books I want to read, not be read to. There were two guys from St. Peters there who all the girls were crowding. No idea how they coordinated what time to be here with them. Went back to the common room later and wound up talking with people till 4am. Lot of fun, but I definitely did not make it to breakfast Friday morning. Spent the day doing homework, and at night was our JCR (Junior Common Room) party. Helped set up for that, moving the table we used for pong was a little scary, but we got it done. Almost everyone showed up at some point, and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. I know I really had a good time. Afterwards went to St. Peters to hang out with people, stayed till closing and then came back. We played truth or dare while we were there, so I got to tell about TPing Blair's house for my turn. Hung out in the common room for a while after getting back. Stayed up kinda late again.

Saturday was mostly a work day. There was a bop, but I decided not to go. Too much stuff to get done and I didn't want to have to cram it all in. Plus it was pretty cold out and I was in a stay inside mood. Did go down at midnight when it was over and people were just getting back. Heard some pretty funny stories, like someone making out with one of the guys who was here on Thursday for over an hour on the dance floor. She's still getting crap for that one. Around 12:30am we put O Brother Where Art Thou? on, think there were about 9 of us. Most of us were tired, so we fastfowarded quite a few parts to get to the ones we wanted. After that most people went to bed, I stayed up talking with Alix, Katie, and Jason. Around 3:30 someone decided to put Beauty and the Beast on, at which point I left cause I really needed to go to bed.

Sunday was mostly a work day. Got up late of course, but after brunch spent like 4 hours in the library, and then did more work here after dinner. Had our first official JCR committee meeting at 9pm, for which almost everyone remembered to show up. Got the rest of the year sort of lined up. Came back to my room to work, and gave into peer pressure a little later and went back to the common room. Got a little work done there, spent more time talking to Alix and watching Return of the Jedi. Fortunately it was close to the end, Luke was meeting the emperor when I got there, and I stayed till a little past the end when my laptop battery died. It hasn't been lasting more than an hour lately, but somehow last night when I planned on it dying early it actually made like and hour and a half. Technology. Spent this morning finishing my paper, and then had colloquium where we talked about More's Utopia that we had to read. I had most of it done. Really haven't got much done tonight, hopefully a little reading. So not a whole lot to read about, but a busy week for me.

An English Rant

I spent most my day working with nothing special, so here I intend to rant about things the British do that make no sense to me and are actually inconvenient. Let's begin.

Walking. You would think for a place where you pretty much have to walk to get anywhere, people would have this one down. Not even close. In America, foot traffic pretty much flows in one direction on each side of the sidewalk, especially in the cities. Here, they just go wherever they feel like, in the street, on the sidewalk. My favorite today was the two girls with their arms locked together slowly zigzagging down the sidewalk. They didn't feel like go fast, and they sure made it hard to go around them. Or they like to walk in lines spread out across the sidewalk. They're not all together, they're just all walking at the same pace with no room between them and no one will move as you come at them, so you either have to push through or run around the whole line.
Also, they like to stop in the middle of the sidewalk. I understand the tourists who do, sometimes with cameras. Irritating, but whatever, been there. No, Brits will just stop, sometimes to look in the window, other times to sharply turn around and nearly walk into the person behind them (aka me) or sometimes for no apparent reason at all. There not even holding a cell phone. Some of them are looking in shop windows from the middle of the sidewalk, and do not expect them to move, or to not suddenly start walking and mow you down in the process. Just aggravating.

Next, cars. Yes, I understand the need to drive to get places and move merchandise, yadda yadda. But honestly, this is a city mostly designed before cars, and the streets were just not made to handle them. And when people tend to walk in most the streets, especially the cobblestone ones, cars really just do not belong. Or big trucks, of which there are quite a few, and I have seen more than one situation where a giant truck was slowwwwly backing up to let another get past. And do not doubt they will drive on the sidewalk to get around obstacles. Or even park on the sidewalk. Again, I was walking down a side street that had an unusually wide sidewalk, and out of nowhere some little black car drove past me, onto the sidewalk 10ft in front of me, and parked there. Literally shut the car off parked. I couldn't believe, the stupid thing was just wide enough to cover from the building to the curb. The dude was sitting in there as I walked past, and were I a little braver or in America, he would have gotten flipped off, but I settled for a dirty stare. Also more than once I have almost been run over by a car coming onto the sidewalk to turn around on a one lane street. I understand the need to drive, but cars really need to be banned from the city center or severely limited.
One good note about cars here, and even the newer trucks and buses, you don't smell any exhaust as they drive by, there emissions are so low. Good thing too, cause gas prices here would give the average American a heart attack.

Somewhere between these two irritants are bicycles. Nimbler and smaller, there not as problematic as cars. Still, there are some main pedestrian foot paths and crowded sidewalks they like to ride through and nearly run people over. Seriously, get off and walk.

Ok, this one I don't know if it's just CMRS or other places, the only public restroom I've been to is in the Sackler and it didn't have this problem. There are two faucets for the sink, one for hot, one for cold, like those ancient push ones they have in elementary schools. It's dumb. The cold is like ice, and the hot gets scalding so fast, it's practically useless. The only way to get warm water is to put the stopper in the drain. And even when there's only one spout, the hot and cold are still separate, which is the case for our bathroom. At first I didn't notice, but when I realized this when I tried using it to shave after burning myself with the one in our room. Nope, the hot and cold are separate, and if you look carefully as the water comes out when they're both on, it looks like fangs. Stupid and painful.

American music. Honestly, I'm in Britain. I don't want to hear Kanye West as I walk through the mall or Miley Cyrus' Party in the USA when I go to a dance. And remixing a song with an extra 5min of techno beats does not make it British either. They were playing King's of Leon's in the cafeteria today, which I'm sick of hearing back home. And the real killer is stuff we had over the summer is new hear, so they're constantly playing it. Just, in this case, less American.

Food is actually not as bad as I was led to believe it would be. Only thing, there is no need to cook meat till the edges curl up, or to never use seasonings or sauces. Just saying. Oh, and the Ketchup here is sweeter than it is back home, probably has more sugar in it or something. Actually tastes better, and worse for you.

A serious overhaul of the building numbering system. Some are numbered, some have numbers with a letter, and others have a name so they don't need a number at all. If you actually have the "address" for a building, use it more as a general guide for where the building is, don't actually rely on it to give you an accurate location.

Smoking while you walk. I get that you aren't allowed to smoke indoors here anymore, and you need your fix, but really, go stand to the side or something. A lot of them lack the coordination to walk normally, so when you throw cigarettes into the mix, and also generally a cell phone, they're just obstacles. And they will exhale right in your face. Not even an attempt to look away or up to exhale the smoke, they shoot it right in your face. I honestly think some of them make a game out of it, seeing if they can hit the target of your nose. Very tempted to trip the next one who does this to, though I doubt it will happen. But after anotehr month or two, will see how I feel.

Lastly, language. I understand that it's to cultures separated by a common language, but some of them don't make sense. Like calling a line a queue. A queue is when you set something to run automatically at a specific time, not what you do as you stand there waiting to buy groceries. Irritating. (And for all the talk about how much emphasis the British put on waiting your turn, bull. If you don't keep track of people, especially in the supermarket, they will cut you off.) Or how did fanny come to not mean in the back? Plus a hob means stove, which was very confusing at first. And they come up with some of the most disgusting names for food that actually taste good, it's just weird. (Though I'd like to know who eats some of the weird sandwich combinations they come up with.) Finally is the F-bomb. That has not lost its meaning, and if you thought people were bad about using it back home, cover your ears if you are ever around lay society here.

That's it. I'm sure I'll find more the next time I go out, or 30 sec. after I click post. Either way, maybe I'll make a 2nd one in the future. For now, I need to get back to work.