Hello little boys, little toys

Where did this bruise on my forehead come from? And how the hell did my feet get so dirty? Most importantly, how in god's name am I not hungover?

And if you have five seconds to spare, I'll tell you the story of my life

Had my first experience with London theater tonight. Not too bad, I guess. I saw The Shawshank Redemption, which would not have been my first choice but it was for my London Theatre class. My only problem was that we were supposed to watch as critics, and take notes and whatnot. It turns out, I really don't enjoy plays when I'm criticizing them. If I'm just going to watch, I can usually just disregard any mistakes, unless they're really blatant, or the show is just really bad. Tonight, though, all I could focus on were the things I didn't like. And the show really wasn't bad at all, but apparently Critic Lily is Ms. Negative, and only wants to see the bad in things. Oh dear. I really hope this class isn't going to ruin my ability to enjoy shows. That would be tragic.

Last night I rode the London Eye, and like a genius forgot my camera. Taking pictures is basically the only reason people even go on that thing. Sometimes I want to punch myself. Afterward, though, we did a (school organized) pub crawl on the South Bank. I love when my educational institution provides me with the opportunity to feul my delicious vodka-y habit. When was the last time Hampshire ever organized a tour of Amherst's finest drinking establishments? Never, that's when.

I totally just burnt my arm on the oven, and I'm not happy. My arm is even less happy. I can tell, because it's red and kinda shiny, which for an arm means sadness.

Now my sad arm and I are going to eat a vegetarian "ckicken" sammich, because it's the reason my arm is in the state it is, and thus we must seek revenge.

Everytime you state your case the more I want to punch your face

I booked my Ireland trip, too! November 20th-22nd. I'm pretty excited. Especially since I don't have to pay to stay anywhere...

So, today has been kind of a bust. The NFL had a game here (they have a game every year in Europe, I don't know why) and I was planning to watch it with a friend from my hall, but she ditched me for some boy. So, I found another football fan to watch with, but we don't get the channel here, and she wasn't willing to take the tube to he pub where they did have the game. So, I sat in my room. Then my light bulb burned out, and I only have one weak lamp, so I sat in my room in the dark. It was awesome.

I've been really restless lately. I think it has to do with the fact that I only have class 3 days a week. I get bored. It sounds awful, that I'm bored in LONDON. I'll try to work on that.

Some of the Brits from my hall are going to a pub later, and I think I'll try to infiltrate their little British circle and join them. I need to go somewhere. Plus, I've been hanging out with way too many Americans since I've been here. Well, and Germans. And Danes. Basically everyone BUT the British...

Sammiches, sammiches...

I officially booked a trip to Edinburgh! I'll be there November 13th-16th. Unfortunately, I couldn't find a single hostel that had all 3 nights available, so I'm staying in one Friday and Saturday nights, and a second one Sunday night. I don't mind, though, because the second hostel is only 5 pounds on Sunday nights. Sweet!

I'm now starting plans for my Amsterdam trip. I'm trying to find maybe one or two people to go with me, but I'm worried then it'll turn into some giant group trip, and I hate hate hate traveling in large groups. I might end up just going there by myself, too. I can always meet some friendly hostel-mates.

As for the other trips, Barcelona probs won't happen, and I'm only doing one Ireland trip. because I have a free place to stay in Shannon, and the group going to Dublin involves this one bitch with whom I really don't want to spend anymore time than is necessary, which, as far as I'm concerned, is none at all.

Finally getting over the plague. And by "finally" I mean that was actually one of the shortest plagues ever. It was just very sudden, and very mean. Now I'm just all stuffy, but I can handle that. I feel well enough to drink again, and that's really what's important, right? And by that I of course mean... I feel well enough to go to class...yeah.

It's such a pretty day today, which is still surprising to me. Before I got here everyone I talked to said it rains everyday forever and ever and there's never any other weather. Ever. That's a big lie. I mean, it is gray a lot, and it does sprinkle from time time but we've had a lot of lovely, sunny days, too. So today I think I'll enjoy the weather bu walking a couple miles up to Hampstead Heath, a park which I haven't seen yet but which is supposed to be gorgeous. Perhaps I'll bring a book, too!

Oh, and SAMMICHES SAMMICHES BARELY EVEN HUMAN!

Edit: Just booked Ireland for the weekend after Scotland! Woohoo!

My body is a cage

So, I did something I told myself I was NOT, under any circumstances going to do while in London: I skipped class. At Hamp it's not usually such a horrible offense, because classes meet usually two or three times a week, but classes here only meet once a week, and there are only, like, ten sessions. However, yesterday I woke up with a sore throat, which very rapidly, in the six or so hours that I was on campus, morphed into some horrible lung-hacking, chest-constricting, throat-scratching, head-congesting disease of ickiness and despair. So, in a haze of congestion, sleepiness, and mucous (mmm...) I forgot to set my alarm last night. It's probably for the better, though, that I'm not in class. I'd be That Sick Kid, the one who sits in back and sniffles and crinkles cough drop wrappers all class. No one likes that kid.

So, so far I have TWO trips to Ireland and hopefully one to Barcelona in the works. I wanted to go to Amsterdam, also, but we'll see. Also, Scotland is a must, but it's not as far, so it shouldn't be too difficult.

I definitely just spent the last five hours napping. I don't know if that's considered a ne right nap anymore. Now, I think I really need a shower, since I've been stewing in my own diseased filth for too many hours. I bet I sound really attractive right now.

Sniffle, sniffle.

You're in your head; you're all turned around

I am officially finished with my first week of London classes! True, I only went to three classes this week and dropped one, but still! I feel accomplished! My final schedule, after a bit of shifting, looks like this:

Tuesday: 11-1 Studies in Travel Writing; 2-4 Cognitive Psych
Wednesday: 10-11 Psychobiology and Clinical Neuroscience (seminar); 11:30-1 (lecture)
Thursday: 11-1 London Theatre in Performance

So I have a four-day weekend! For to go a-travelin'! Speaking of, I found a flight to Ireland on RyanAir for a penny. For reals. I mean, their rates change really rapidly, so probably an hour after I saw that it went up a few more pennies, but still. I also have a free place to stay in Ireland, because I recently just reconnected with an old friend from elementary school, who moved there in 5th grade. I told her I was here and she invited me to come visit! Anytime I want! So, guess who's goin' to Ireland! I haven't decided when, exactly, but probably mid-November-ish?

Tomorrow morning I'm leaving for an overnight trip to Wales with the Study Abroad and Exchange Social Programme (they really should learn to spell "program"...). We're going to a Roman amphitheatre, a castle (I LOVE castles!) and, of course, a museum. Also, we'll be near Cardiff, where many a Doctor Who episode has taken place, so I'm sure the entire time I'll be thinking geeky thoughts. At night we're pubbing and clubbing, as per usual.... Apparently on Sunday, fully adorned with helmets and flashlights, we're going down into a mining pit, but I'm going to see if there's a way I can opt out of that one, as giant underground caverns terrify me just a little bit. Especially when said cavern has 90+ people in it.

Suddenly I am both freezing and starving, so I feel compelled to remedy both. Perhaps I'll wrap myself in a sandwich and eat a sweater! (Oh lord I'm such a nerd.)

So much past inside my present

Such a disappointing day! I had what was supposed to be my first class today, Literary Linguistics, and the professor never showed up. The whole class sat in the room for about 45 minutes, in awkward silence because it's the first day and no one knows each other, and then as one we all just got up and left. What's frustrating is that this week is add/drop week, and classes only meet once a week, so this was my only chance to find out if I want to keep the class or not. I think now I'll just drop it out of spite, but there's a chance that, when the prof actually shows up, it could be a really interesting class. I just don't think I want to take a class with an instructor who's too flaky to show up to his own class.

In keeping with the theme of the day, I tried to go to the library for my campus (which, conveniently, is 3 streets away from the actual campus) to print out my reading for my class tomorrow, and none of the printers worked. None. I asked a librarian about it and she said, "oh yeah, we've been having trouble with them for weeks." And no one has bothered to fix this? Buh! I was all excited about being a good, prepared student with my reading already printed, and now I have to be same ol' slacker unprepared Lily. I was trying to get rid of her. (I realize that this is where an actual responsible person would say, "why did you wait until the day before to go to the library?" and to that, I would like to point out that my professor waited until the night before that to even post the reading. So there.) Bother bother.

Oh my god. The doors in my building are SO LOUD. I swear to god, whenever someone even down the hall from me shuts a door it sounds (and feels) like a team of basketball players are all throwing balls at the wall at once (hehe, balls).

The day was not without its accomplishments; I finally bought a plate, a bowl, and, most importantly, a cheese grater. Now I can stop sneaking other people's stuff out of drawers, because apparently borrowing without asking is still stealing.

Well, I finally took some pictures - nothing spectacular, just my room and some things around my neighborhood - but I don't know how to post them on a blog. It's probably something really obvious that I'm just missing because what I do, but still. They're on facebook, but I wanted to post them for silly gooses (yeah, gooses) who got rid of facebook...

Anyway. Hopefully tomorrow's class, which is Studies in Travel Writing, in case you were wondering, will actually happen. I'll let y'all know how it goes.

I finally took a few pictures that don't involve me holding alcohol. I will post them shortly.

Today, I took a walk around the other, arguably more interesting end of our neighborhood, Highgate Village. It's beautiful and very homey, and full of fabulously wealthy people. I know, because every other car was a BMW or a Porsche. I wandered around Highgate Cemetary, where Karl Marx and a number of other people of note are buried. I took a picture with his enormous stone head. On my way back I cut through Waterlow Park, which is extremely pretty and full of tiny British children who say silly things in tiny British accents.

Last night we had a boat party on the Thames for the entire Study Abroad Programme (complete with British spelling), which means I got to get drunk with a bunch of other Americans and some Swedes. I swear to god, every other person is Scadinavian. Which means they're also all seven feet tall and impossibly blond. I have never felt so short or brown.

The boat party was quite nice, though. We started at the Tower of London and Tower Bridge, which are both quite impressive. Like a fool, though, I forgot my camera last night. The drawbacks were the rain, which meant we couldn't easily go out on deck to actually see the city, and the fact that they didn't feed us (who puts a bunch of kids on a boat at dinner time and gives them nothing but booze? Poor decision, Westminster).

I got into my theater class, which made me extremely happy. My schedule now looks like this: Monday: Literary Linguistics 2-4 PM; Tuesday: Stydies in Travel Writing 11-1; Wednesday: Psychobiology and Clinical Neuroscience 10-11 (seminar), 11:30-1 (lecture); Thursady: London Theatre in Performance 10-3. Fridays off!

So, I really want to send you all postcards and what not, but the postal workers are on strike and only work one day a week. I'll still send y'all things, but it will likely take much longer than it should.

Groceries now. Later!

How you gonna tag my style when I am so superior?

Man oh man, do the Brits like a party. Apparently during the first week of school, "freshers' week", everyone goes out and parties every night. Everyone. Every night. It's only Tuesday, and I'm exhausted from Sunday and Monday. Not that I haven't had fun (I have) but I usually require recovery time after a night out (or, I don't go out) so two nights in a row while getting over jet lag/general tiredness and sleep deprivation is draining. I've met some really nice people, though. Getting ridiculously wasted in a foreign city is an excellent way to bond with the other international students, and being a clueless foreigner who doesn't know her way around the city is an equally effective way to bond with Londoners. So all in all, good times!

I am pretty excited for classes to start. Especially since I have no class on Friday! I don't think I have ever not had class on Friday, which I always been a bit bitter about. Mostly, this makes it easier to take weekend trips to various fantastic places, as I am in Europe and can do such things.

This week will be really relaxed, or as much as it can be, considering I'm still getting accustomed to a foreign land. On Friday I have a registration appointment to finalize my schedule, which at the moment consists of the following: Psychobiology and Clinical Neuroscience, Literary Linguistics, Semantics, and Studies in Travel Writing; I'm hoping to change Semantics to one of the London Studies courses, though, Theatre in Performance. It's basically a class dedicated to going out and watching London theater. We'll also get backstage tours, lectures by actors/production staff, and other equally awesome things.

I'm so hungry. I still haven't bought any groceries, because I continually have no cash, and apparently most of Britain won't take my debit card. I've exhausted my snack stash, and now my belly is very sad. But tonight my friend Angela said she'd make me a grilled cheese. So, score!

I finally bought a UK phone, so now my calls aren't, like, a $1.80. Which means, now I can actually make some calls. The drawback is, not having a phone saved me from having to give my number to the random guys that I occasionally coerce into buying me drinks... I guess I can still lie.

Somebody outside my room just used the abbrev "convo" non-ironically. Consider her judged.

Food times! Later, friends!

Delinquent days are here again

My room is fucking awesome. I've got a loft! It's like a whole little balcony looking out over the rest of my room! And my window is enormous, all the way to the ceiling, with a cute little window seat. And I have a sink! In my room! Woo! The whole building is beautiful, actually. It's old, and even though all of the walls and the (amazingly detailed) crown moulding are kind of battered and chipped, it gives it character, instead of making it seem musty and crusty.

The only dilemma is: I don't have any sheets. Or pillows. Or blankets. Or even a towel. So tonight will be fun. I went out this evening in search of a linens store, but I walked for 30 minutes in the direction I had been pointed, fruitless, and decided to turn back when it started to rain. So I suppose I'll have to sleep under all of my clothes tonight, and continue my search tomorrow, which can conveniently factor in to tomorrow's "learn the tube routes" lesson I had planned for myself.

On my way back from my failed expedition, I treated myself to dinner at a Thai restaurant, because... a city is only as good as it's Thai food? I used to hate meals alone if there were other people around me being social, but recently I've decided eating alone, by choice, is rather empowering. That's not to say that I want to eat alone forever, but you know. Also fun was the very first legal bottle of wine I have ever purchased. I have since concluded that I am entirely too exhausted to drink any, but it is still momentous.

Speaking of tired, I am. Night!

I'm leavin' on a jet plane!

Later, buddies! In just a number of hours, I'll be roaming the streets of London! Woo!