pastapastapasta

Ok, I am leaving.
Dec 29th - I'll see you in Rome.

home!

I'm home.
It's amazing.
I'm never leaving.

Berlin ist super cool ja! Ich wunsche ein Berliner war!

I wish my German language skills were better. I've maintained enough to understand snippets of strangers conversations, but when I talk to Germans in German, they switch to English. Bad sign, right?

(Yours truly at the Brandenburg Gate).

Berlin is amazing. Best city so far, I believe. We had the most wonderful 7-hour walking tour that introduced us to all of the main sights, and all of the history and controversy that goes along with them. (Such as: terrible irony: the gloss that covers the Memorial to the Murdered Jews is made by the same company that made the gas that killed millions of them in WWII -it wasn't known when they were choosing the contract. Also, did you know that Hitler's bunker is right in front of a boring apartment complex these days? It's an eerie sight).

It was a long day, but our tour guide had some treats along the way. His girlfriend left the city, forever, the night before, and he was easing his sorrow with Jaegarmister - which he shared with everyone so we could "keep warm". Gross alcohol, but a funny story. We made some good friends on the tour and afterwards, we all went out to celebrate the spirit of Berlin and scooped out a wine bar that operates on the basis of humanity's general goodness. You can drink as much as you want, and they only ask that you pay what you think you owe. Apparently I need some more practice before "Ich bin ein Berliner, stimmitlich," for in a city that comes alive at 2 AM and doesn't stop until morning, I only lasted until 12:45 AM. I am so Midwestern.

Today we visited the Pergamon and Egyptian museum, and went up in the big dome in the Parliament building, and then strolled along the Christmas markets. More Christmas shopping . . . expect small gifts, meine familie.

We catch a night train tonight (in . . . 2 hours or so) to Munich, where we meet up with Trisha, Lea, Janeane and Ryan. Jewell reunion in Germany - should be a good time.

THEN home. :)

Words from the Road

Free WiFi in the Berlin Hostel = my favorite.

Traveling is going well, minus continental Europe's  crappy weather.
It feels as though we have been following the same thunderstorm throughout the continent.
Boo.


(Rain, rain, rain, rain, rain, and more rain in Brugge, Belgium)

But the sights are good.

(Right: Famous Food Street in Brussels, Belgium.)

And the hostels are getting better.

This one in Berlin is really nice (so CLEAN!) but the first one in Brussels was not satisfactory.

I'm not sure what else to say other than we're having fun, although backpacking through Europe seems like more work than I was expecting it to be. And so far, we have escaped major disaster, minus a frantic backtrack this morning when John forgot something at the hotel in Amsterdam after we were at the train station.

No worries - we made the train in enough time. Mainly because I'm a hugely nervous traveler and we were a the train station mucho early.

I think my nerves are strung much tighter than your average backpacker.
But what are you going to do?

My last nights in Cambridge were really great too, although I was out MUCH too late on Friday and only got an hour of sleep before I caught a bus to go to the airport to go to Brussels. Whoops!

I'm not sure how Homerton W1 and W2 Novices fared in comparison to other colleges in the Fairbarins race, but I had a lot of fun! W1 had a rough race and were pretty disappointed by the end of their race. Frankly, that worried the W2 crew but we rowed really really well. and fast!

And speed is important and good.
Unless you have a lot of speed when you crash . . . into a houseboat.

Our boat is called Bad Tempered Cyril for a reason - she has bad luck. We finished the race, despite our broken boat. Half of the Cam came out of it, however, when we turned it over to put it away. Bad news bears.

But still - it was good fun. And we look good. :)



I come home in less than a week. I can't wait - you don't KNOW how excited I am to be heading back to the States. I half want to cancel my Italy leg and stay home until Term, but I'm not sure if that's really an option.

Much love!

tis the season

This is a huge snowman by Homerton.
I love Christmas time.

They have built an ice skating rink in the middle of Parker's Piece, and so every time I'm cycling to rowing practice (which has been a lot the past few days), I get to enjoy snippets of Christmas music and the smell of roasting chestnuts.

My toe is doing a lot better, I'm sure you are all glad to hear.

This is good, because we have a rowing race on Thursday (2.7 k) and so training has been rather busy and intense.

We're trying to fit in as many outings as possible before the race, so we've been on the river a lot. Today we had an afternoon outing, and the river was so empty - it was wonderful, and warmish, and there were swans and houseboats to look at as we went whizzing (well, maybe more like gliding) by, and we only ran into one thing this time! I consider that a successful run.

My schedule is pretty full right now - travel preparations, end of term work, training, AND fun stuff - Stephen Hawking speaks tomorrow at the Union, the Union's Christmas party is Thursday and the Casino Night is Friday (free to members and lots of delicious snacks = wonderful), PLUS we have a rowing breakfast Thursday morning and a rowing dinner Friday night.

And at 2:40 AM Saturday morning, my world travels begin.

Life is exciting!

i'm so legit . . .

My sweet badminton "stash" isn't coming home to the US this break, so I thought I'd show it off here.

Last weekend in Cambridge. One week from today I'll be in BELGIUM!

Can't wait. School is hard, man.

thanksgiving in the land we left . . .

Thanksgiving is completely ignored by the English.
They don't really understand the beauty of the holiday.
I told them the wonders of THE Thanksgiving meal, and the Indians and the Pilgrims, and they asked me if I get presents because of Thanksgiving.


Presents?!


Who needs presents when you have turkey, and stuffing, and mashed potatoes, and diet coke, and biscuits . . .

Oh America, I miss thee.

The university lunch (cost: 5 pounds = 10 dollars) was DELICIOUS. Me and John sat with a cute Mormon couple who were studying international law at Cambridge. They were very interesting, and we had a nice meal ... although the pumpkin pie tasted like they forgot the pumpkin. Other than that though, not so bad. They served chocolate mint candies with the tea after lunch. Yum.

Tonight we have another Thanksgiving meal, but here at Homerton - which is good news, considering I jammed my toe yesterday at rowing practice, and it's all swollen and black and blue, and now I walk with a limp and look really, really, really silly. So, its a good thing that I don't have to walk too far now for the rest of the day.

Don't worry Mom, I can move it, so I know it's not broken. And I taped it to another toe, for moral support.

Although it hurts like the Dickens. And dead chickens.

Seriously.

I thought I'd take a picture to show you all, but the photo doesn't give the toe's disgusting look justice. In the photo, it doesn't look half as painful as it really is in real life, and I don't want you to think I'm overreacting. The lighting must be off in my room. So you'll just have to imagine it.

Anyway. Thanksgiving away from home: it could be worse (no Turkey, no tea, no diet coke) but it could definitely be better (have you BEEN to St. Louis? It's wonderful).

However, I'm consoling myself with a Christmas music marathon and tea and a huge box of cookies ... but not too many cookies, because I have another Thanksgiving to eat tonight.

foggy london town

My mom's last weekend across the sea was last weekend - we went back to London and took touristy photos at all the required places. Great, great, great time, although I think the famous wax museum is overrated. And overpriced. I wonder if the celebrities get a cut of the profit made from their likenesses . . . ?

We didn't have any more adventures this time involving (living) royalty, although I got pretty close to some of the wax figurines of the Royal Family. BUT we did meet up with Leah (who has spent the whole semester trekking around the continent with a woman's studies group) and Lorenzo (whose spending a year in Paris) for tea in London. The world really is much smaller than you think. We had fun catching up.

Rail pass arrived today. We leave in less than two weeks. Woah. Lots of planning still to do.

Emma sprints was canceled due to wind. The next race is next week - they hope to enter two boats, so lets hope the weather agrees and we get enough time on the water. We did 2k on ergs today - it was good, but exhausting.

And of course, it's Thanksgiving week. Clearly, it's not a holiday here, but the university throws us Americans a meal anyway. I'm sad I won't be going home. First Thanksgiving away - I feel so grown up. We had a "Happy Thanksgiving" banner up, but one of the cleaners disposed of it because it was a "fire hazard". She lies - I think she was just bitter we have a holiday celebrating when we left their country.

love from across the sea . . .

Rowing training has picked up - my abs were so sore today, that laughing was painful!

Our first real race is Sunday - Emma Sprints. Unfortunately, Homerton is only entering one novice boat - the rest of us just haven't had enough time on the water where it would be safe to race. I'm rather disappointed - it's supposed to be a great race. I hope W2 can catch up on outings - there are only 3 weeks left in the term, and I still haven't decided if I want to keep with it for the year, but I remember that being in a real boat is more fun than exercises on ergs . . . hm.

But - the silver lining - my mom is still on this side of the world, and we'll be meeting up in London this weekend, and hopefully seeing Leah (a great friend from high school)! So I'll be back on the tourist track = excitement.

John and I are finalizing our travel plans. We're looking at (in 13 days) seeing Brussels, Brugges, Amsterdam, Berlin, Bremen, and Munich. Hopefully the trains are fast and on time!

Even better news - I come home a month from today for two weeks! I'm ready to be spending the American dollar again, let me promise you.

London!

London is amazing.
Expensive, but amazing.

My mom and I left early Saturday morning, caught a train, and arrived in London by 9:45 AM. I came back tonight (Sunday evening) and she went on to Paris (to return to England Friday).

We saw the London Tower - a medieval fortress turned prison that was used up until WWII. It housed a lot of people who pissed off the royalty, including Anne Boleyn, up until they chopped off her head in the yard. It put a whole new face on the sonnets of Edmund Spenser (who apparently was in love with her). Poor girl.

We concluded the day with a classic pub meal - fish, chips and beer and turned in early to our swanky hotel. It gets dark so early now, we didn't want to wander around too much in the dark.


(Jeannie quote: It's the wrong color!)

I have the most amazing story about today (Sunday). So it's Armistice Day, and there were some memorials around the city that interrupted the bus tour we were on. With the traffic jams, we changed our plans and decided to jump off the buss, walk to Buckingham Palace, and then see Big Bend up close. The plan, however, didn't take into account the fact that people were EVERYWHERE and as a result, we couldn't move along very fast. Long story short - we joined the crowd and SAW THE ROYAL MOTORCADE. Seriously - 

I SAW THE QUEEN OF ENGLAND!

And Camilla. I imagine some more were in those cars, but those were the only two that were sitting on my side of the street that I could see clearly.


(Me at Buckingham Palace - the Australian Gate)


(I promise you - THE QUEEN is in that car!!!)

After that, it didn't really matter what we did - you just cannot top seeing the embodiment of the country in the flesh, you know?

Crazy, crazy adventures.

goodnewsgoodnews

My mom came in today!

We're going to London this weekend, and then she's going to Paris - by her lonesome! Isn't she modern? And neat. Have you met my mom? She's super, and I'm not just saying that because she brought me a suitcase full of American comforts (hello Milano cookies and clean sweatshirts!).

I have a rowing outing tomorrow morning. I'm looking forward to the water part, dreading the bridge to bridge warm-up run.

Millions of people run for fun every day - I just don't understand it. Must be the flat feet, right? (My favorite excuse . . . ).

And if you know how a rail pass works, please email me. I'm so confused.


Unrelated Photo: W2 Queen's Ergs (Thanks Anna for the photo!)


our heat results. (I'm at Homerton, in case you forgot)

procrastination . . .

Did I tell you that I made one of the rowing crews?

I think only a couple of girls didn't make the list, but all of the Americans who stuck with it this far are in.

I guess I'm slightly more athletic than I expected!

Except we have to go running soon (um. . . in 53 minutes, to be exact). I hate running.

Boo.

strange English ways . . .

Sometimes the things that happen here make no sense. For instance ...

I'm standing in the cafeteria line, which is having a special deal where you can get one of the main courses, chips (fries), a dessert AND beans (beans?) for 3.50 pounds. Delish you say? Agreed! Yum! BUT . . . I don't like beans. Plus, the English have a tendency to put everything on top of one another. And, shockingly, if I don't like beans, I am near-confident that I won't like cheese pizza covered in beans. So:

Me: Can I still have the deal if you don't give me the beans?
Cafeteria lady: Uh (converses with cafeteria worker) . . . No.
Me: I don't want to substitute anything, I"ll pay the same, just don't give me the beans.
Cafeteria lady: Then you can't have the deal.
Me: So I have to have the beans?
Cafeteria lady: Yes.
Me: Even if I know I won't eat them, and will just throw them away?
Cafeteria lady: Yes.
Me: Fine
(she puts a scoop of baked beans on the plate)
Me: That's enough . . .
(she puts another scoop on the plate)
Cafeteria lady: Here. Can I help you? (next person)

Did that make sense to anyone in the line? No. Their economics are a bit off, I believe.

Also - today was Guy Fawkes Day! Bonfire Night! This doesn't really make sense either - why  celebrate an attempt to blow up Parliament with a night full of fire hazards? Homerton hosted a bonfire and fireworks, and the Dean even passed out sparklers. Then I hopped on my bike, and rode down to Mid-Summer Common with the badminton girls to watch a MASSIVE show of fireworks at the Guy Fawkes Fair. Super fun, even if it isn't too logical.

Here's proof I've made friends (and proof we can't pose for photos). From the left: Emma, Me, John, Kayleigh, Anna, Zoey, Heather and Bex. We're facing the bonfire.


Much love from across the sea!

Visit!

Janeane came in on Friday, and naturally, it was a wonderful weekend.

I didn't do any work - (surely I'll catch up, when best friends aren't around) but I showed her around the city, we checked out a few of the university's museums, watched The Hours (to conclude my V. Woolf kick), ate junk food, and caught a show of James and the Giant Peach (and we can reinact if for you, later, if you like - we've memorized all the catch phrases). We also made some serious progress on our trip planning - thank goodness!

Truely - a refreshing three days.

some excitment!

This week has given me some great stories.

Did you know . . . Daylights Savings happens a week earlier here in the UK than in the US? I woke up pretty late on Sunday, flipping out a bit because I had a paper that I needed to be working on, only to realize that it was an hour earlier than usual! What a great surprise.

Of course, this means that it gets darker earlier, which means that land training for rowing (read: running laps and core work = no fun) is in the dark. Boo.

Speaking of rowing - I had my first outing in an eights boat on Tuesday! And rowing in a real boat is much better than rowing on an erg. It was fantastic fun. Of course, it was everyone's first time, so the boat was quite shaky, but the cox (who tells you what to do) said that we improved a lot over the outing (yay!). Apart from it being early, very early, in the morning (we had to be there at 6:55 AM) and then having to race to my first lecture at 9 AM (smelling like the Cam), it was really fantastic.

Queen's Ergs, a huge indoor race on ergs (which are indoor rowing machines) was Tuesday evening. While I didn't make the original cut for the two crews competing, on Tuesday morning one of the captains told me that one of the rowers was sick, and that I was the next best time. What?! I know. Crazy, truly, because I thought I was pretty slow, but I ended up competing, and it was so much fun (although I was pretty nervous!).

The race is set up in a big gym, with 15 ergs set up, with a crew (of 8 girls) at each erg. Each person completes a 500 meter sprint, and then you have 20 seconds to switch over to the next rower from your crew. All of the ergs are hooked up to a main computer, and each crew is represented by a tiny boat on this large screen, which shows your progress and speed in comparison to all of the other college's boat clubs. There's a DJ, everyone is cheering, and your captains are on either side of you, screaming at you - its an amazing atmosphere. I rowed 2nd, and John, (who was watching with Anna, who competed in the first crew, and Lea), swore to me that I wasn't the slowest rower on the team (which is what I had feared). It was fantastic. In the heat, our crew finished in 2nd place and missed first place by 2 seconds! Overall, we landed in 5th place, which I think is pretty wonderful (out of 31, assuming all colleges were represented). Homerton's first women's crew also finished second in their heat, but 13th overall - missing the finals by 3 spots. I also got a sweet shirt. Here are some photos:

We had just started the race - can you see how nervous I look?



That's me racing! I'm so fast the camera couldn't catch me (ha, not really . . . ).

LAST story (and then I need to go get ready for my supervision):

This is what my brain looks like:



I signed up for a research study on the brain. I spent a little less than two hours at a lab, where they taught me how this program works on a computer where I would hit a button depending on what combination of blocks and colors came on the screen. Then, they put me into an MRI machine, and for 40 minutes, I did the test and they scanned my brain. I was struck with claustrophobia the first time they put me into the machine - its a tiny hole! - but the tech told me that I might feel better if I remembered I wasn't closed in by wiggling my feet, which worked! So after that, I was fine, although it was hard to concentrate that long with all the noise that was going around me (MRIs are LOUD - I had to wear ear plugs and head phones). But I left with this sweet picture of my brain, and was paid 22.50 pounds (=$45 dollars). Not bad, I say.

I visited the Fitzwilliam Art Museum today, and I got a great taste of fall colors on the walk home. It's still my favorite season.

The art museum had some really neat pieces, but I was more distracted by the gorgeous building it is in - very ornate, very cool. And of course, I'm still busybusy with Mrs. Woolf, so I had some interesting ponderings about the all important relationship of art and literature - it might be the paper topic of this week. Hm.

Good news: I'm slowly getting better at badminton. More importantly, I'm met some wonderful people through badminton, and I'm having a lot of fun. Even better news: my mom booked her flight to come visit!

On Thursday I went to the debate: "This House has no confidence in Her Majesty's Government" - featuring some Members of Parliament (who really hold no qualms about yelling and interrupting each other - the Parliament procedure carries over to the Union, I guess). I followed as best as I could, and really enjoyed it. That is, until another American stood up and praised the English by making fun of Bush. Now, I'm not a fan of George, but I think there's a code of loyalty in being an American overseas, and that involves not making idiotic comparisons when you are one of the only Americans in a room, because you're acting as a representative, and you should at least do it with style and class and intellect.

I'm a tad homesick for all the homes I have collected.

My plant is beautiful, don't you think?
It lives next to the radiator - I'm tricking it to think it's in the desert.
And I've named it Gloria.

The work is piling up, and I'm not doing the best job on keeping up with it. We're almost at half term too, which is wild.

I'm loving the badminton team. I have yet to go in a proper boat for Rowing, so I'm saving my total judgment for that sport until then. I didn't make the preliminary crew list though, so that decision might be made for me if I don't improve. However, I don't think I'll be that heartbroken. I'll stick along for the term though. Probably. I'll see what my calves and abs say tomorrow night.

I'm going to hear the Head of State of Libya speak tomorrow. As the term card puts it - he lead a small group of officers in a bloodless coup to take over Libya (and its pro Western gov) in 1969. USA has had diplomatic relations with Libya since 2006. It should be interesting. I hear the man is crazy.

James Watson canceled ("postponed") his speech at the Union on Tuesday, following the uproar that has been chasing him since he suggested that Africans should not be considered intellectual equals with Western people because we evolved separately. Stupid.

Oh, and I wish you could see the impressive bruises I have from my bike collision. I look SO tough.

good news, or the bad?

Good news: I earned 5 pounds ($10) in a research study where I all had to do was flick my wrist back and forth for around 40 minutes. (The study had something to do with robot development).

Bad news: I was in a bike accident on the way there.

I was on my way to the Engineering Dept, so I'm going through one of the bike paths (with all of the cows). There was a bike up ahead of me, coming towards me, and I moved from the middle of the path to the left side, but literally, she was all over the path, like she was losing her balance (or a drunk wino). And before I knew it, she cut in front of my bike (sideways across the path, into the grass on my side of the path) and I run into her. We both fall.

Luckily, we were both ok (and wearing helmets!) so that wasn't an issue. She, however, did land in a cow patty (but part of me think she deserved it, especially afterward she turned it into a hit and run). She assured me that she was ok, and at this time, a cute little old woman came running over, screaming "Dearies! Dearies! Are you all aright?". The other woman (aka Rider of Doom) kept telling me that she was ok, she was fine, she was in a hurry, she has to go - she wouldn't even wait for us to try and clean her up a bit (While the majority of her body missed the poop, her bike basket - and its contents - didn't. EW.). She then TOOK OFF. 

At this point, I looked down at my bike, and realized what a crumpled mess the front of it had become. Now - while I realize that it takes two people to run into one another, to my virtue, the other woman did admit fault to me. She had explained that she was swerving to miss a cow patty when she cut in front of me, and why she served right instead of left will always be an ironic mystery. But what do you do in a bike hit and run? It's not as though there was insurance information to swap (although there should be, because she DID break my basket. Sob.). The elderly woman was kind enough to help me straighten it all out so it was semi-rideable and told me to have a cup of tea when I got to wherever I'm going to "help with the shock" (accompanying this advice with a story about how once she fell down a flight of stairs and really, the tea helped calm her down quite a bit). I think if she hadn't have been there, I might have sat in that field and cried. Yes, that might have been a bit of an overreaction, but the elderly woman assured me that was because of the shock.

I was able to get it back to the bike repair shop (which was an interesting half ride/half walk) and I became pretty good at balancing on the bike with my handlebar curved over to the right while keeping my wheel straight. And it only took a few moments and some wrenches to get my bike in working order again (although my basket is a bit worse for wear all the same).

But how's that for a bit of excitement?

I told you they were serious about the grass here.

My bike is fixed (and sounds beautiful), my glasses are fixed (they had lost a screw), I got the Union refund (sweet), and I bought a flowering cactus!

In terms of activities - so far, today has been incredibly productive.
As far as the 5-7 books I have to read, not so much.

I did promise . . .

Me and my fire warden vest. It wouldn't be so dark if the vest didn't suck all of the light out of the room.

After some free goodies were left on bikes at the lecture site (part of a promotional campaign for somethingorother), I now have a sweet reflective ankle band to match it.

I have to start taking my camera to lectures.

On the way, I saw cows kissing.

And . . .

We had our first land training today (and time trials for an indoor erg race). Lesson learned: Rowing is not as easy as it looks!

binary oppositions

Good news: bike IS guaranteed = free repairs for 6 months. I'm taking it in this week.
Bad news: first essay due tomorrow.

The first ones are always the worst.

I've been working on it all day, and I'm on my second package of biscuits (in the past three days).

Good news: cookie calories don't count if I have rowing practice this week - which I do.

No Crunch

As I was riding to lectures today (past the cows), the wind was blowing and the leaves were falling off the trees. I miss the American fall though - the English trees are pretty, but their leaves give no crunch, and what good is a leaf without the crunch? Especially when I have two big bike wheels on which to seek them out? 

The cows were especially close to the bike path yesterday, and luckily, they didn't mind me riding through. There were also lots of people in the park, making cardboard structures that were still up today. I was interested and intrigued, but not enough to stop my bike.

My bike, by the way, is a lot like my car. The brakes are SO LOUD! I've taken to dropping my feet (a'la age 5) on the ground to stop when I'm around other cyclists. I want to fit in with them, and not draw attention to my loud, squeaky bike. There are so many cyclists here, riding around the city centre during the day, the streets are full of them, and sometimes, we're all riding very closely, and I imagine "This is what being part of a bike gang would be like."

I'm in a bit of a silly mood.

Sadly, one of my bike's pedals has a crack in it. I need to call the Bike Shop and have them repair it, but I'm worried they will make me pay for it. I'm pretty sick of spending money.

Cambridge students, technically, are not allowed to hold jobs during term. There was a fascinating article in one of the independent university newspapers about the strange things some students do for money (mainly - prostitution, stripping and essay writing). The other two aren't my style, but I was interested enough to look into the essay writing - which, to no surprise, is blocked by the university's internet service. However, I have enough of a problem compelling myself to write my own essays, so I imagine that's not the best career choice for me here.

Luckily, Cambridge is full of smart scientists who need subjects. I've signed up for some research studies (all non invasive, don't worry Mom), which pay surprisingly well and require no skill. One starts next week.

In good news, 2 klennex boxes later, I'm almost over my cold (or "Fresher's Flu). You'd be interested to know that England has two Kleenex sizes - normal, and "Mansize" which resemble thinner, softer paper towels. You get more "Mansize" tissues for a cheaper price too, the economics of which are beyond me.

Lastly, there are a lot of things that I miss about home, but one thing I love is the Cambridge Union. I attended the "This House Believes God is Dead" debate last night, which was so entertaining (although I learned that I have to pay more attention to where I sit - I was on the wrong side of the debate, and was behind Simon Blackburn, pronounced atheist. Whoops . . . ).

Much love.

rain rain go away . . .

The rain returned, but I still decided to bike to my lectures. Surprisingly, it wasn't terrible at all on the way to Sedwich (but my ears were a bit chilly!). After lectures though, I was scheduled to go down to the boat house and check out rowing. So . . .

rain + my sense of direction + traffic = me, terribly lost.

Ok, really, my sense of direction is the one to blame, but the other factors didn't help!

Thankfully, the rowing girls were able to get me straightened out after around 10 phone calls (3 cheers to my decision to get a cell phone!).

I learned how to row on the machines, and then they put me in a "tub." I wasn't very good (read: horrid, terrible, and bad) but it WAS my first day.

By the time I made it back to Homerton, though, I was soaked through and through. Those clothes are still sitting in my sink, in fact.

Above: Scavenging for Food.

Lesson Learned: "Open 24 Hours" does not necessarily equal to "Open on Weekends". John and I wasted a bus ticket trying to go grocery shopping on a Sunday, only to find that the Tesco was already closed. To add to our annoyance, we were then heckled by British preteens who were playing in the parking lot. Boo. Thankfully though, Tesco Express WAS still open, and so we still got to eat.

I attended a wonderful lecture today on Rushdie's Midnight's Children. Definitely the best academic hour I've had so far here in England - it was really engaging. Even though I'm not taking a related comp, I think I might continue on with the lecture. I think it would be a nice, politically-charged-literary beam of sunshine in between the versification theories and lit crit lectures and depressive modernist books I'm involved in. (you know . . .)

Lastly, I found Harry Potter cupcake mix in the grocery store today. Neat.

school starts . . . finally

I have to say, it's really nice to be back in classes. We started lectures yesterday and those have been surprisingly crowded, and I learned that if you get there too late, that means you're sitting on the floor. And there are always people sitting on the floor. So far, they have been fairly interesting. The Cambridge system means that we can attend any lectures we like, no matter our major, but I've also discovered that they tend to be relatively spread out across the city. With 5-10 minutes separating one lecture from the next one, it can be near impossible to get to the next one on time. The English only study one topic, so they don't have to travel very far between lecture halls, and don't see this as a problem. I am not yet a speed cycler, so I still do. Lame.

Last night we were introduced to the Homerton Horn - a huge communal cup, full of wine, that everyone is supposed to drink out from to signal the start of the year. And when I say cup, I mean hollowed out bull horn, and when I say wine, I actually mean a delicate mixture of wine and the germs of 300 freshmen and billions of students prior to that. Don't tell the college, but I passed.

Even better than the Horn was our visitor! Brandon made us his last real stop before heading back to Kansas City, and it was really refreshing to see a new, familiar face. Unfortunately, he walked on the grass at King's, and will probably never be allowed back into Cambridge again. The English are odd about their foliage.

Miss you all!! And you should download Gizmo, and talk to me, because I'm getting a tad bit homesick for some more familiar voices. Do you feel guilty yet? Good. Love!

Gizmo

More more more -

Free phoning on the internet:

Download Gizmo (Gizmoproject.com) and create a profile, and then I can talk to you. My name on it is KathleenAdams. Easy, right?

and some more . . .

Homerton - our college. We're a bit out of the city center, but it's a beautiful campus.





Our dorm is the one further on the left.

Courtney was so nice to offer me her bike, but I was told that repairs to it would be almost as much as a newer, second hand bike would be, which lead me to buy this one! It's called a Hawk Margarita - doesn't that make me seem tough? :)

photos

John learned that British plastic still burns in the microwave.



The rest of these are from the city center of Cambridge, and of the other colleges in the University.

settle settle

Address:

kathleen adams
queen's wing
homerton college
hills road
cambridge, england
cb2 2ph

I bought a bike that works, which is super exciting, and hopefully, I can find someone who will buy the old (or shall we say "well loved") bike for parts or something. Other than spending mucho money on getting said bike though, I then had to ride it back home, which was pretty terrifying. People actually use them on the streets here (and not just the friendly neighborhood ones!) I'm currently trying to master the much needed "look behind the right shoulder to see oncoming traffic" move, so I don't have to stop and walk my bike across the street like the toddlers do, so wish me luck. 

Mom - don't worry: I have a helmet, and I bought it new.

In more good news - I hopefully will get internet in my room today (cheers!) and you know what that means - super photos of me and my fire warden vest.

jewellers - - -

You should read Trisha's article in the Hilltop Monitor - it sounds as though she will be preserving all of our adventures (and misadventures) here in print, and hopefully, she will praise my superb fire wardenness. (What that exactly entails, I am still unsure). 

Many thanks to all the previous JYA's - we appreciated going through all of your left-overs and left-behinds yesterday. The hangers were much needed, and the Halloween decorations and costumes were quite a surprise.

Bad news- my inherited bike lacks working brakes and has 2 flat tires. I'm also missing the  key to the lock box in my room, which I don't think I ever received. I'm going to sort that out Monday.

Mucho love.

Arrival!

Friends!

I am currently writing to you from the computer room of Homerton College, in Cambridge, England. Until they have the internet up and running on my computer (which might be a few days), I won't have any pictures, but the place is gorgeous (and quite cold, and a bit rainy - but really beautiful).

We avoided all any major travel mishaps - J. and I met up with everyone except Anna in DC, and then once we landed in London, we found her pretty quickly in the airport. The journey to Cambridge even went pretty smoothly, minus an hour and a half delay. But, we arrived with enough daylight to get settled and see a bit of the city, and hopefully, an early night in - it looks like there is a lot to do tomorrow!

As I said, so far, England is really pretty and the people have been very friendly and helpful. It is surprisingly cold here, but the porters of the college (who resemble charming security guards) have promised me it is only a cold snap and that Cambridge should warm up again before winter really starts. We have about a week before classes begin, which is useful since I don't think any of us have a real handle on what we are supposed to do yet. 

The best (and most humorous) part? I was appointed Fire Warden for the hall and have a fabulous bright yellow emergency vest. Garner is my Deputy Warden (seriously). It had to be given to me because of the alphabet, because I'm sure my skills have nothing to do with it - I can barely lock my door yet! Either way - I'm pretty excited to exercise my new authority, and hopefully I'll be able to share some related pictures with you soon! (I think it's pretty funny and amazing).

That's all for now, love!

Above: The cake from our going away party.

We leave Tuesday, and will arrive in England roughly around midnight, Tuesday night. Keep us (and our luggage) in your thoughts!

almost there

Countdown - 5 days.

First set of travel plans ...

Trick: For cheap travel prices - www.kayak.com. I think it's easier than studentuniverse.com, and loads quicker. You should use that information to come visit. :)

John and I booked our first travel arrangements for the winter break. Before I head home to the States for Christmas, we're going to hit Amsterdam, Prague and Munich. Then he's going on to Paris, and we'll meet back up in St. Louis to fly to ROME, Italy to ring in 2008. Right now, we're planning on investing in a rail pass for Italy, absorbing the wonders of country, and then heading back to London. Want to come? (It's ROME! of course you do!)

Also - the packing has begun. Two bags for 10 months? Yikes.

2 weeks

The exchange rate is murderous.

For 300 pounds, it cost me around $650. That includes some bank fees, and might be hiked up a bit because I'm still in the US, but its a bit discouraging.

Here's hoping that the federal reserve will pull through for me in the next two months.

in between

(Above: Me and Lea at the National Zoo)

For those who tried to follow along online, I am so sorry my blog had to remain empty. To be honest, the stories will be better in person - then you wouldn't miss the hand motions. And while I avoided getting roped into any political scandals while I was in town, I definitely had my share of semi-involved adventures - including apartment evacuations, SWAT teams, and friends getting mugged - and here I was, thinking Georgetown was safe. No really, no one was hurt during my two months in the district, and my roommates and I all walked away with enough drama to share over a couple of Starbucks' shaken-black-ice-teas. I whole-heartedly recommend the experience to anyone and everyone of you. Summer in Washington belongs to the young and poor.

I also went by "Kathleen" (my real name, didn't you know?) in DC, which was only weird for three days. It seems strange that I could adjust to a new name so quickly, and probably strange that I changed what I went by for a group of strangers. It is mine, however, and I wanted to see how it felt, being a Kathleen rather than a Katie. Kind of tricky, but still very honest. I liked it. I could go more in-depth, but I fear I would come off pretentious. Be assured, however, that you can call me what you've always called me. I don't mind being both.

I'm back home now, missing Washington, feeling misplaced from Jewell, waiting for Cambridge, and getting homesick for home in advance.

I leave for Cambridge in four weeks, and my only preparation thus far is a plane ticket (which secures a seat next to the one and only JM, naturally). There's a to-do list written on a post-it stuck to my desk, but I'm still enjoying the laziness that comes from being far in-between of two adventures, and I probably won't start on that for another two weeks. 

Coming up - a much needed trip to Jewell and then continuing to soak up the atmosphere of my couch, TiVo, and the list of recommended books SD compiles for me each time we meet. And then - university with the Brits. My my.