Employed!

I'm employed and will be starting work at Ellis Brigham tomorrow. The picture to the left shows the ice climbing wall that is located IN THE STORE. If I'm lucky, I'll try that sucker out fo' free. I'll let you know how it goes. In other news, the social health care system seems to be functioning well. I got my NHS card in the mail already, got a free flu shot, and a 4-month supply of asthma medication for only 6 pounds! I just hope work doesn't consume my life and ruin my rock climbing schedule. I get the impression that they are pretty flexible for my hours, so I don't think it will be an issue. Who knew working at Helly Hansen this summer would be such an asset on my resume?

I need to crack down on work. Cheers.

Paddington Station

A Georgetown friend of mine spent this past weekend in London and we met up at Paddington Station. Little did we know that Paddington Station is THE Paddington Station where Paddington the bear was discovered in the children's books. I think we might've been the only ones excited about it.

Thursday Night Wrap-Up

I mentioned a few posts ago that my favorite view of London was West from the Waterloo Bridge. Well, this is it. You can kind of see everything all at once and as the bus moves across the bridge, everything is framed a little differently. Here, you can see the Golden Jubilee Bridge, Big Ben and Parliament, and a bit of the London Eye. And the clouds look pretty good as well. Eugenio took this picture, but it's what I look at every day on the bus. Jealous?


It's a bit chilly and I find myself pressing the Boost button on my heater constantly. It turns on automatically if it falls below 16 degrees Celsius (60.8 degrees Fahrenheit!), otherwise, you have to press a button every hour. That's no good for me. I am intolerant of indoor temperatures below 65, but I suppose it'll toughen me up a little. The weather is starting to cool down meaning that under no circumstances will I be dressing up and wearing skirts unless absolutely necessary. A friend of mine is in town from Oxford and he called me from a bar to ask me to meet up. I knew the bar was more bar and less pub (read: more classy, less casual), and pretty immediately turned him down. I'm willing to bear the cold for short walks to and from places. But for a half hour or more of transit? No. I'll see him this weekend anyway; I'm not that mean or lazy.

Today, I have sustained myself on two TV dinners, a bowl of cereal, and the rest of a bag of crisps (chips). I chewed two pieces of gum as well. I love gum, but when I choose to chew it here, it's a very conscious choice. "Will I eat soon and will I have to spit it out before it loses flavor? Do I need fresher breath? Do I really need to chew a piece now?" So... chewing two pieces today, in my opinion, was extremely extravagant. I'm living it uppppp. I finally did some work , probably the most consecutive hours of reading I've done in 5 months. Insane right? It's still not the workload of Georgetown at all, but some of the material is more challenging. I think they might be on to something here. I'm getting smarter, presumably, by doing less work. Amazing. I can go rock climbing 2-3 times during the school week! Speaking of rock climbing, I broke in my new pair of shoes on Wednesday. I was a little timid wearing my own pair of shoes and even more timid about having my own chalk bag... so timid that I kept my chalk bag in my locker. It was a good day though and as usual, I have big, colorful bruises that indicate I'm more hardcore than I am in reality. Oh well.

I have an interview tomorrow for a job to make some extra cash. So if I don't write about being employed within the next two weeks, it means I've not been hired. I'm excited for money, because then I can more guiltlessly do things that are fun. I want to go to concerts or something. The prices for shows are similar to U.S. prices, but then you multiply by the exchange rate of two and are instantly depressed. Alright. I need to work on an earlier bedtime. Good night.

Photo Op

Who said London is always cloudy? Here's a photo of Grisda (Thailand), Eugenio (Italy), and me in front of Tower Bridge on Sunday, Oct 21. Note: Sunday was the day after the 5 pint Rugby World Cup debacle. It's actually a really nice walk there from my dorm, which I'd never have discovered if not for the pushiness of my Italian flatmate. Both Grisda and Eugenio are post-grads.

I know I've had lack of pictures of myself, so I'm trying to make up for it. In other exciting news, I'm making a quick dash to Dublin Nov. 6-8th!

American music

I was having lunch at this cheap-ish sandwich place in the Covent Garden area sipping my white Cafe Americano, the closest thing to regular coffee at most places, and reading an article called "Too Funny to Fuck" in the newspaper when I heard the opening of Ben E. King's "Stand By Me." These factors combined to create momentary euphoria and I remembered, although I had not actually forgotten, that I love life. These life-loving moments of mine are almost always accompanied by a song.

What else? I got a call from another outdoor company and scheduled an interview so, if for some reason the first doesn't come through, I have a back-up. I feel pretty good about how all my classes are going. Everything seems learnable, except for Development Economics which is one big uphill battle. I feel a tad out of my league in many ways, mostly because everyone in the class has already taken Econometrics, but I think I can rise to the occasion rather than failing miserably.

Check out this video of our LSE Rock Climbing Captain on this weekend's climbing trip. Now... I still don't know much about climbing but I'm learning to climb 4a's, 4b's, and 4c's. She's climbing a 7a+. Norwegians... man. I'm secretly aiming to get good enough to go on the climbing trip to Morocco this winter, but I'm realistic: 7a's are not in my sights.

When In Rome... Yes?

1. Replace "too" with "as well."
Good: I'm a General Course student as well.
Bad: I'm a General Course student too.

2. Replace "very" (in most cases) with "quite" and liberally pair "quite" with any adjective you like, especially "good" and "nice."
Good: That Indian restaurant is quite nice.
Bad: That Indian restaurant is nice -OR- That Indian restaurant is very nice.

3. Replace "Thanks" to bus drivers or cashiers with "Cheers." This assumes the bus driver acknowledges your presence or answers your question, a weak assumption.

A Comment About Georgetown

Georgetown is a bit up in arms this year. First, there was the reaction to the alleged poor coverage of the Jena Six incident by campus newspapers; that, to my knowledge, has died down for now. Then there are the criticisms and protests against the Georgetown administration's handling of an alleged hate crime: one Hoya assaulted a fellow Hoya because he was gay. I'd like to comment a little bit on the developing situation.

It's quite disturbing for me to think that all this is happening at a place I call home. Georgetown is a university of higher learning, so immediately, there is some assumption that alternative views and lifestyles are more tolerated, even embraced, there. This, however, is not the case at Georgetown. Being different, even in terms of how you dress or look, immediately sets you apart from the homogenous student body. In fact, the overwhelming sameness of the student population was THE major point of consideration for me when I was seriously thinking of transferring from Georgetown my freshman year.

For those of you that may not know what happened, here are a few stories of the events on campus that have been stirring up protest:
"Cooney Turns Down Plea Offer"

"Professors Criticize LGBTQ Treatment"

"Student Attacked in Alleged Hate Crime"; This is a separate incident from the first.

Ok, so a major point of attack for the defense is the use of facebook to identify Cooney. However, anyone who has ever used facebook knows that it is the perfect tool for tracking down a face with an unknown name. I've seen people on campus, noted who they hung out with, and then searched through photos of their friends in order to find a tagged picture revealing unknown person's name. Simple stalking 101. So as you can tell, taking only the method of identification into consideration, I'm very convinced that facebook is an ideal tool for identifying a suspect. I suppose the fuzzy part is the role the friend of the victim played in helping him identify Cooney, and it might not be good to ruin a guy's life on "maybe's."

Apart from the crime, GU Pride is upset that it took 3 weeks for students to be notified of the event. In fact, NBC News was the first to break the story and only after NBC showed up at the front gates did the University send out a broadcast email. To their defense, MPD was in charge of the investigation requested that the University let the police handle the investigation. However, there's no excuse for the 2-day delay of alerting the student body about the second hate crime. I would think that Georgetown would send out an email right away to convey that they have understood why GU Pride is upset, that they want to amend their ways. Some outsiders may think, "2 days? That's not that long." But consider that news of other assaults or burglaries are emailed to Georgetown students in less than 12 hours. All the administration had to do to cover their asses was to treat the second hate crime in the same manner as other assaults, but they didn't.

I'm disappointed in Georgetown. Sure, we're a Catholic institution, but we're not fucking Notre Dame. I can't tell since I'm in London, but I'm not really sure if I can detect a lot of school unity following the incidents. I think that most people still don't see Georgetown as homophobic and therefore, they don't bother to stand up for others. I get the impression that people might even think that gay people at Georgetown are over-reacting or asking too much. I don't know.

What I do believe is that if a black student was attacked on campus while racial slurs were shouted at him or her, there would be a whole lot more campus-wide support and a much bigger response from the university. Maybe I'm off on that, but I believe it. I feel like we're living in a new civil rights era or something. I think people take for granted that people can BE gay nowadays, especially in cities like DC, but people can't express being gay without some scorn whether it be in the form of a strange look or verbal disapproval.

It's just strange and I'm almost glad I'm in London and away from it all, so that I don't have to ask myself whether I should stand up or not.

Rugby World Cup debauchery

It's a beautiful Sunday in London. The weather has begun to cool off, but the sky is clear and the sun is out. I woke up at almost 1PM today after a night at the pub watching the final game of the Rugby World Cup between England and South Africa. I planned on spending last night in reading and relaxing, but figured that I should make the most out of living in London and watch the game. We ended up at pub called Mortimer's up by Goodge St and UCL. It was a low-key pub and we got a cheap dinner with a pitcher of cheap pints.

We sat at a table of UCL old-timer's with PhDs: two guys in their late 50s or early 60s and two guys in their 30s. We schmoozed and laughed at jokes we pretended to understand. By the end of the game, I was somewhere in the midst of a 4th pint which JP and Jared generously offered to finish for me since I was dying. But then enters Paul, a chatty 30-something who buys us all another pint. As polite people, of course we are obliged to drink this free pint. But as they say in economics, there's no such thing as a free pint... er, lunch.

I ran into a flatmate and his friend on my way back from a coffee and was coerced into taking a walk on "this a'beautiful day!" (said with Italian accent). So we walked to Tower Bridge and across and got a sandwich at Subway and ate in a park. It was a nice way to spend a Sunday. I know I said my life is a sausage fest and it still is one, but the guys I know and have met are pretty cool. I like them a lot and it could be worse if I didn't know anyone at all.

I'm excited for the start of a new week. Hopefully, I'll be getting more sleep this time around. I am now the proud owner of my very own pair of rock climbing shoes and chalk bag. Now I look legit and the only thing I have to do is BE legit. Climbing as a registered member for the first time on Friday was a little weird. Without some LSE girl or guy pointing to routes and coaching me, I felt a little intimidated. But I just need to dive right in and continue on, lest I waste the 6-month membership I purchased. Ok, to the grindstone...

My Life is a Sausage Fest

I should be going out right now to check out some live music at LSE from student acts and bands. Only 50 pence. But I've been to and from LSE twice today already. Am I unwarranted in my laziness? The trip is like a half-hour ordeal each way. I should go, right? Also, I will have to be energetic and spirited, because I won't know a single person there. And then I'll need a pint or half-pint to loosen up or at least appear loosened up. I wonder if people go there knowing people or what. Hmm. I could go any time from now until 11. The question is... is it worth it to go, let it be a failure, and come back? THAT is the question. That sounds pessimistic, but we're talking worst case scenarios. On the plus side, there's music. Going to watch music alone is okay. I like music.

I feel a little off today. I should point out that I have been here now for 17 days now (I just counted), and I'm not sure what to think about my social progress. I think being here in itself is a challenging experience, good for me to toughen up. As I predicted, it's more alone time than I'd have at Georgetown. There's no one here to just call and be with. Just be with, just exist alongside. You know how you study with someone in a place just so once in a while, you can point out something interesting that you read? Or you can take a study break with that person? I miss that about Georgetown. It's me, myself, and I a lot of the time and being a pseudo-only child, it's not all that new, but still not entirely amazing.

I think I miss having girl-friends, my girl-friends. The Georgetown crew here is all guys and my one girl-friend was struck with a herpes zoster infection of her auditory nerve and is now returning home for the semester. Sigh. In fact, my cell phone is practically girl-less. I have a friend's number in Spain, Andrea's (who's returning to Hong Kong in a few days), and my aunt's. The small girly side of me is going extinct as I fail to actually make girl-friends. I'm trying to see where I fail here. Am I failing? I don't know. I don't see fellow Hoyas racking up friends. But I don't know.

I can't tell if this is sadness or loneliness or what. I see people. I do things. I go out. I explore. Not one tear has been shed since being here. What is it? I feel like I should be able to fix something and be pro-active about the situation. Alright. In the midst of writing this, I think I've decided to go to LSE. I can be mysterious and solitary in a corner if I must, and I can be social and fun if that's an option. Cool.

Edit: So this is me post LSE Live Music. The music scene at LSE is much more alive than that of Georgetown. People are just more willing to take risks or just have fun. I do, however, think there's a limit on how many crowd-pleasing covers one group can do. One male duo played only ones they knew the crowd would definitely know and respond to. I'm all for reeling them in with a witty or fun pick, but then I think you should go out on a limb. This group started off with "Hero" by Enrique Iglesias which segued nicely into "How To Save a Life" by The Fray. I suppose "Cute Without the 'E' (Cut From the Team)" by Taking Back Sunday was their risk, but they continued with "Cannonball" by Damien Rice, and then a little bit of "I Want It That Way" by BSB and "Hit Me Baby (One More Time)" by Britney Spears. Ok, we get it. You're funny. Move on. There was another band that played "Hey-Oh" by RHCP, "Stockholm Syndrome" by Muse (fun to hear for the first time in a while), and strangely "Bullet in the Head" by RATM. The singer was a girl, a girly one, so when I first heard the beginning of "Bullet in the Head," I wasn't sure what to expect. But it was fun. There was another girl with a good voice and mediocre songs, BUT she had the guts to perform them and that was respectable; she ended with Dolly Parton's "Jolene."

I'm glad I went overall, but I didn't say a word to anyone except the bartender when I got my beer. Not the most social place, since it was loud and everyone knew everyone or was a friend of someone performing. But it wasn't that awkward NOT to know anyone.

Manic, Unemployed Monday

I got 5 hours of sleep last night for no reason other than I lay there and couldn't fall asleep. I don't know what it is, maybe my body's instinct to preserve every last bit of energy until it runs out. This morning wasn't so terrible even though the bus, once again, almost caused me to be late. I left at 8:25 and just made it into the classroom at 9:05. Meh. I had my first class this morning (Note: classes are different from lectures; classes are capped at 20, lectures... seemingly not), and it brought to light one of my main frustrations with LSE. Why the hell do they pick out of print books that are a.) unavailable at the library; b.) in limited quantities at the library i.e. 5 books to 40 students; c.) in some library in the Greater London area, but they're not sure which and how many copies; or d.) unavailable on the internet, out of print, or on sale used for 99 pounds. I'm not sure if students actually work harder than students in the U.S. or if they just work harder to simply obtain the books. I'm willing to read, yes. Willing to research at the library, fine. Willing to spend hours tracking down a book to read a few chapters for this week's lecture and class? Fuck no. I didn't come to study abroad to learn the Dewey Decimal system.

Another frustration. I was on time, borderline late, for my Political Economy class this morning as well. My .95p fried egg roll somehow took 10 minutes to get to me and I was enraged and annoyed, but I won't get into it. So I rush off to Peco and just like last time, every desk is occupied and people are sitting on the floor in the back. It's ridiculous that they book classrooms where there are not enough desks for students. We're not talking 1 or 2 desks short. We're talking 10-15 desks short AT LEAST. I went into an empty classroom next door and dragged in a desk to an empty spot at the door. Other students were not so lucky and sat outside the door, unable to see the board, like I did last time. Others cursed, as I would too, when they saw the full classroom and just left in frustration. What the fuck, LSE? In infrastructure so weak that they can't even plan out which classroom to assign for which class?

So as you can see, my experiences with this side of LSE have been unsatisfactory thus far. However, I don't mean to say that my professors or class teachers don't seem good. They are so far. It's just that these fubars (you all know the acronym) are major ones and they should be corrected, not overlooked. They are an impediment to students learning AND it obviously favors wealthier students that can just buy books and be better off with less effort wasted on the frivolous search for books; it's opportunity cost. I'm among those fortunate enough to be able to buy the books and man, I'm thankful for it; less time wasted.

While I said I'm fortunate enough to buy books, the same doesn't apply for eating and feeling full. I'm Starvin' Marvin over here, but testing out this new daily budget to see how it goes. I had a good, filling dinner, but it pretty much cost me my daily budget. So... I spent the day job-searching online. I've applied for three so far, and I'm crossing my fingers. Two are retail, which I'd prefer, and one is data entry. My hours aren't flexible enough for anything real... plus I really don't want to have to worry about business casual right now. So... cross your fingers for me. I need a job and I need it now. Cheers, as they say.

Oh. A happy thing. I finally have some cookware to work with!

Rugby Match recap

Last night I went down a pub by Liverpool Street Station to watch the Rugby World Cup semi-final match of England vs. France. My knowledge of rugby is mediocre at best, but I followed pretty well. Some strange observations though. Throughout the match, a manly man would bellow, "Swing lowwwww" and everyone would continue with "...sweet chariot / Coming for to carry me home" and so on. It's a puzzling choice for a rugby song in the middle of a crowded pub, because "Sweet Low, Sweet Chariot" is a spiritual folk song once sung by field slaves circa the United States in the late 1800s, and I first heard it in my Blues class at Georgetown. Also, it's a favorite of my nephews Ty and Zach. It seems that the Brits borrow a lot of music from Americans and I think, why? It's not like they're lacking in material.

There were some French fans at the pub and the British crowd was surprisingly receptive to their obnoxious "Viva la France!" cheers. I think the Brits just knew that they could probably take out the entire French crowd with a collective punch and didn't bother to react. Judging solely from the crowd at the pub, it wasn't hard to believe that the British have beaten the French in almost every major battle of history. The French were perhaps better looking, slimmer, and more stylish, but hey, looks don't win wars. The Brits were big and burly and slammed their fists on the tables. Before the match started, I asked my biggest male friend to protect me if England lost... or won.

I had a great seat and was in the midst of everything. When England won and people dropped and shattered pints of Guinness, I only suffered beer thrown in my air and on my shirt, a small price to pay for a genuine London experience. Perhaps the only blip in my so-called genuine experience was my McDonalds run at the half. I was STARVING from only eating an apple, banana, and chicken samosa the entire day and was going to pass out or get drunk quickly from my pint if I didn't find food. (Note to my parents: this is my a typical level of starvation thus far. Yes. I will guilt you).

We went to a different pub after the game and I was given a pint instead of a half-pint I ordered and so, paid the appropriate price, financially and physically. An empty stomach is no good. I have to say... I have no girl-friends in London. I am the girl in the midst of guys in almost every activity, except rock climbing, and of course, I am accosted for struggling to finish a pint. When I finally prove myself by finishing, I am bought another. Haha. It's all in fun though and it's a good time. I can't complain, because it's great to have some Gtown guys here.

Alright. I need to get the hell out of here. I've been choking down a terrible TV dinner for lunch and I can't bear it any more. My plan is to return to Soho for the third time in 3 days and acquire utensils and even a bowl and plate if I'm lucky.

Otto, World Traveler

Pretty self-explanatory and yes, I tidied up for the picture. I have few possessions here, so I tacked up every paper and receipt I've gotten to make the room feel lived in. I'm lucky to have my own fridge and I'm appreciating my bathroom/shower room more despite its "space efficiency." Did you notice that Otto is a world traveler? I think he may have been more places than my dad.

Rock Climbing!

Yesterday was a bit of a whirlwind. I decided against meeting with my mentor at 9:30AM and opted to sleep in, a glorious choice. Somehow, I accomplished almost nothing besides eating and setting up my room land line (you can now call me without Skype; you pay, I don't) before I had to start my day. But I did manage to set off the fire alarm while trying speed up the drying of my sweat pants. I'm not positive it was me, but just in case, I quickly unplugged my hairdryer and put it away to conceal all evidence. Then I stared the fire alarm down as it blinked and beeped until it shut off. Whew. Sigh of relief.

So I headed to LSE to meet the rock climbing crew and waited in front of the building where we were supposed to meet. I panicked at first when I realized I had no idea how to identify the rock climbing people. That's a problem I have here... I never expect to actually become friends with anyone I meet, so names and faces disappear from memory as soon as the introduction is over. And then I have no idea who to look for. I found them and we headed to The Castle indoor rock climbing facility in North London. Somehow when I walked in... I didn't realize that the building looked like this:

This is what happens when I'm preoccupied with new things; I don't realize I'm climbing in a former Victorian pumping house.

Anyways. The facilities were amazing. I was shocked to see how much there was inside. There's even a little cafe where people can buy "a spot of tea," a phrase I actually heard used for the first time, inside. They paired us two beginner climbers to one experienced climber. I was paired with Shane, another General Course student from USC. Our experienced climber was Kjerste (pronounced Shesh-teh, or something), a third year LSE student from Norway. Apparently everyone who rock climbs is Norwegian, which somehow makes the fact that I worked at Helly Hansen, a Norwegian company, hilariously useful for chit chat.

We had to rent shoes, tight ones that I think are supposed to let you use your feet and toes to the best of your ability. Then we were allowed to try bouldering, a type of climbing where you don't need a harness or rope. I think I might go for that more when I finally get to go by myself, because I can do it solo. We also did some lead climbing where we learned how to tie this special knot and strap everything to ourself. In order to be able to climb alone without an experienced climber to sign you in, you have to know how to do all this stuff yourself. We ended up climbing for 4 hours and my arms felt a little rubbery by the end. They're sore today, along with my forearms and parts of back, butt, and legs. Mission: accomplished. The picture to the right is of the area where we lead climbed and learned to belay others and tie the special knots. Climbing is both easier and harder than it looks. I can't explain. But I liked it a lot. I like the independent nature of the sport, at least for bouldering.

After I realized it was 6PM and I was still at The Castle, I panicked that I was still wearing sweats still yet scheduled to attend a Jack the Ripper walking tour with dinner at Brick Lane at 7PM. I raced back home and back up to the meeting place and miraculously made it in time. The tour was entertaining, as always, and surprisingly not creepy. I should've be more creeped out by hearing details of the brutal murders and mutilation of women in 1888, but I wasn't. I can see why people become obsessed about theories about Jack the Ripper though.

Alright. I've run on for far too long, but I was excited about rock climbing. Today, I purchased two texts for classes and found that it was either equally priced or cheaper than buying in the states. So refreshing. I also bought two used fiction books for fun to reward myself for surviving in London so far. It looks like books, or at least used ones, are the only products that don't rape you with exchange rates. Ahh, and here I am, back at Sidney Webb, enjoying a sandwich and comfort. I only got 5 hours of sleep thanks to late night necessary laundry, so a midday nap is in order.

Shoot me an email or anything to keep in touch more personally. Do I update this too much? Does it seem like I don't have a life? I feel compelled to reassure you that I do. Never fear.

Two Entries in One Day, Too Many

After I wrote the entry below, I napped for about 3 hours. It was much needed, because I've had two early lectures in a row now. I was 10 minutes late to one and 20 minutes late to the other thanks to the bus system. Apparently, during rush hour when buses fill up, drivers stop but decide not to open their doors to let in more passengers. And so I waited and waited while time ticked away. It wasn't that bad to be late for the first lectures, although I was sitting in a chair outside the classroom for Political Economy unable to see the board. It was really refreshing to see that Political Economy is based on the contributions of Alexander Hamilton and James Madison though. Thank you, America.

Today was a day of rest post-4PM. But I have had zero human interaction since then and I've gone on a spree of looking for cheap season passes of tv shows to buy on Itunes. Itunes is a glorious thing in the UK, because I can still buy things in US dollars AND I'm spending a gift card. Anyways. I think this is as deep as my homesickness (for DC) goes. I just crave the ability to watch American TV whenever I wish and unfortunately for me, I'm provided with an inadequate web connection for downloading torrents and can't stream in the UK. TV and movies and the internet have been my link to normalcy. I have already watched Something's Gotta Give twice, in 20 minute increments, and Notting Hill one and a half times.

I was hoping to sleep in tomorrow, but I feel compelled to meet my faculty mentor and his office hours, or should I say hour, is 9:30-10:30 on Wednesday. I guess it will force me to start my day early, even though I have no classes or lectures. Traveling to school is definitely an adjustment, but I think it's a good segue into the "real world." See you later.

No Money, Mo' Problems

I think that one can judge the wealth of others by what cereal they're buying. If they're buying that grainy crap or 2-for-1 of something that's clearly not delicious, then they're poor or frugal. If they're buying delicious sweet things, then they're looaddded. I've been trying to save money wherever I can here, whether it's ordering a cheese omelet rather than a ham AND cheese omelet to save 40 pence or opting out of seeing Spamalot with friends. Today, due to starvation of two days, I finally went to the grocery store and continued my streak of frugality.

There are several problems I encountered. One. I picked up a 99 pence bag of frozen peas. Awesome. Wait... I don't have a bowl. Or a fork. Or a knife. Or a spoon. Since realizing this, I've been on the look-out for something that will make do, but I haven't seen anything yet. So... for now, no peas. I did, however, buy cereal even though I don't have a bowl. I did the 2-for-1 thing. Milk. Orange juice. Four microwave dinners. A bundle of bananas and five nectarines. Fourteen pounds, an arm, and a leg.

In another effort to save some money, I sought a grocery store where I could top up (the over-used phrase meaning "to add money to") my Oyster card, which is used for buses and tubes. Then, I thought, I could charge the 20 pounds for the 7-day travel card AND buy some food, and it would make the credit card transaction fee all the more worth while. That was a failure. An utter failure. Also, my phone service, a failure. I regret not getting T-Mobile or something, not because it's cheaper but because for some reason, I can't top up online and am going to have to go to a Carphone Warehouse every time unless I call the Mobile World people and sort this out. Sorting out is what I'm tired of doing. I still have to sort out my health registration stuff, but it was raining today and I couldn't find its road. So I'll have to do that tomorrow.

Eating is terrible when you are counting the pence of each bite. I think that biggest failure of my being an adult, as I'm supposed to be at this point, is eating. This summer, if I was too tired from work or too busy, I just would delay meals until late. And I find that the same thing happens here, except now even worse because each bite is so damn expensive. Anyways, money sucks. Send relief aid to Citibank.

Edit (05/07/08): Once there was a picture of cereals on this post... but then 40 people a day came to this entry because of... no more.

First Weekend Photos

So I've been a lousy tourist and haven't taken many photos... until now. Here is a preview (click on them for a less distorted picture) but you can see all of them by clicking HERE. Meggan has more and so does my aunt so those will come soon, since I know looking at pictures of old building is boring.

10 miles in London... WALKING

I feel at home in London. This weekend, my high school friend Meggan visited me from Barcelona where she's currently studying abroad. I was determined to be a good host and to show her the sites... even though I hadn't really seen any of them myself. Apparently the motivation to be a good host is all that I needed to get acquainted with the city. In basically one day, I feel like I became a Londoner. And all I needed to do was walk over 10 miles. Ten miles. Yes, I am bolding all the sites to drive the point home that I saw all of London in a day, basically. Call me obnoxious, but I'm going to boast.

I will briefly, to the best of my ability, retrace our steps from Saturday. We walked from my dorm up to Borough Market, saw Southwark Cathedral, walked past Sir Francis Drake's ship (a replica) The Golden Hinde, stopped by Shakespeare's The Globe Theater, passed the Tate Modern, crossed the Millenium Bridge, went to St. Paul's Cathedral, walked past another Christopher Wren-designed church called St Bride's, walked down Fleet Street to The Royal Courts of Justice and LSE, went to Trafalgar Square and saw Nelson's Column, headed South and ran into a march for Burmese monks, took pictures of Big Ben and The London Eye, and then headed to Houses of Parliament and Westminster Abbey. Woo. Then we headed even further West towards Buckingham Palace. We stopped and got fish and chips and hard cider at a pub a ways away from the touristy area and caught a little bit of the Australia vs. England rugby game. Then we continued on after Buckingham Palace to Picadilly to check out where we'd be eating later with my Aunt, Uncles, Mom, and cousins. After finding our restaurant, we headed North to shopping between the and Bond Street and Oxford Street underground stations. Who knew you could have so many Burberry stores in such close proximity? Finally, we went a little bit East for a slight taste of Soho and Chinatown. We walked back and killed some time at Grosvenor Square where the American Embassy is located before returning to Picadilly for dinner, where we had a good meal with good family. Lastly, we walked back to my dorm near Borough. I think that might've been the most walking I've ever done in one day, considering we didn't take the tube at all.

Today, we took it a little easier. We walked to Borough Market again, ate omelets in the shadow of Southwark Cathedral, and went to The Tower of London. We actually paid entry fee and got to see the crown jewels. The view of the Tower Bridge was also great. We were less ambitious today since yesterday was so tiring, so our only other goal was Notting Hill (see photo of me in front of the Travel Book shop from the movie Notting Hill), which I had explored on Friday with my mom. This time we took the tube and made it there in good time to look around and get Meggan back to the Picadilly Line, where I could send her off to Heathrow.

After the whirlwind of a weekend, I managed to buy cleaning supplies and school supplies before coming home and staying there. At first, I regretted buying cleaning stuff (toilet cleaner and spray cleaner) plus laundry stuff for 15 pounds, because I read that my bathroom is cleaned for me fortnightly (every 14 days). But damn. After I took a good look at it and my level of disgust rose to peak levels, I brought out my guns and disinfected like there was no tomorrow. I sprayed, I mopped, I brushed. The most disgusting thing was taking the toilet brush out of its container and realizing that shower water had been collecting in it. DISGUSTING. But I am now satisfied with the level of clean and don't regret buying the supplies.

Now, I feel a little sick. I haven't really felt 100% since getting here, since I was pseudo-sick before traveling and now I just need to take it easy and relax. No more 10+mile walks. Alright. Big recap. I hope to skype with more people soon.

Hooded Sweatshirt

Somehow, I only feel at home in a place in which I own a hooded sweatshirt sporting its name. Presentation High School. Georgetown. Now LSE. I'm not quite at home yet, but I'm getting there. London is less scary. My neighborhood is less scary. I went to Brick Lane (I think) and had amazing Indian food near the Liverpool Street tube stop. It was my first tube ride alone, since I've been taking the bus everywhere and I made it confidently and successfully. The food was great. I had lamb korma and chicken tandoori with a pint of cider. Mmmmm good. The company was even better, all Georgetown friends from D6 (Darnall 6th floor, my freshman stomping ground). I know it sounds exclusive and unadventurous, but it really has been very difficult to meet British students or even just plain LSE students. I've met some General Course students here and there, but no one who I've stuck with. Back to where we ate... Women and men on Brick Lane stand outside their restaurants and try to coax you in with 30% off deals or free pints, etc. It's weird with everyone trying to convince you to eat. But the place we ended up choosing was good.

After eating, we met up with a group of General Course students on a pub crawl through Southbank. This was nice, because I live on Southbank (South of the Thames, rather than North) and returning home at night was less of a hassle. We walked through London along the Thames and made our way South, stopping at three pubs. I can't remember their names except for the last one, The George. I had a half pint of Peroli at the first, a half pint of... something at the second, and a pint of Guinness at the George. I was carded at the George. Sigh. Alright. I am exhausted and am going to the Freshers' Fair early tomorrow... so good night. This was my attempt at a life summary.

I'm Alive

Short update. Things are looking up, since I met a few other Georgetown kids who live in my residence hall. So now, I don't have to dread figuring out to get back all by myself. My area isn't the greatest and it's just not comforting to be lost (or just not completely sure of where you're going) and alone. Today, following an extremely long-winded introduction by our Canadian dean to the General Course, I caught dinner at a pub called The Monument... right by the monument. I don't know what the monument is called, but it's near Tower Bridge and commemorates the Great Fire. You can barely tell what it is because it's surrounded by scaffolding and net at the moment. I ordered a sandwich and a half-pint of Guinness. Then I was carded. Carded in Europe. So that was a little funny. The Guinness was so good compared to the Guinness that I briefly tasted on St. Patrick's Day last year at Georgetown. Mmmm. The amazingness was somewhat overshadowed by how sick I felt though. I had a bad headache and was wondering how I would survive 4 hours on a boat, my next activity. But I decided to tough it out and luckily I did, or I would still no zero people from Sidney Webb House. That is all for now. I am so incredibly tired.

Update to Kill Time

I'm writing this from an LSE computer lab and the keys are messing me up. I took a walk to LSE this morning at 10AM with a group from my dorm and it turned out to be less helpful than expected. I pretty much have no idea how I got here. Also, I forgot my map but luckily, there's one enclosed in a packet I did remember to bring. The LSE campus isn't much to look at and no one really knows what's going on. Oh well. Friendliness is at a minimum. In fact, I just totally helped a French post-graduate and she just left without saying anything. Haha. Ok, I must be off to find the Peacock theater for "induction."