Days 11+12- because I was out.

(Day 11- 20 Jan)
Trying to remember back is kind of difficult to do in detail, but I'll give it my best shot.

This was the day I discovered that nothing lasts a full week in London. Food-wise, at least. I went to cook the last of my burger's for lunch (since they either expired last week, or in two more) only to discover post-cooking that my bread had completely molded over and had to be thrown out. I ended up eating a burger covered in melted cheese with tomato soup. Awkward, and I felt bad since a majority of my hall seems to look down on me for eating meat, but it wasn't too bad. However, it does mean I'm basically entirely out of food options. Even my TV dinners expired 3 days ago, if the eat by date is correct. Hopefully my rice is still good, but I have no idea how to tell that.

We had our art class today for the first time. We started half an hour late, and had two 10-15 minute breaks during the 3 hour class. We also spent 30-40 minutes introducing ourselves. This didn't stop me from getting sleepy partway through the class, or from zoning out through the rest of it. Still, I learned enough to have a new appreciation for the houses we were living in.

So then we went to the FIE reception. Basically, take a junior high dance, add good fried food and free beer, then stir. For the first half of the night most students just stayed in their own groups (FIE is our host college here even though we don't do anything else with them- they're hosting a bunch of other colleges from America as well.) but I managed to meet a few people, mostly through a girl Liz who I met at the train station on the way over, and through a girl named Lani (prounounced lay-knee). I couldn't pick what to drink, so I just picked randomly what was on tap. Surprisingly, rather than getting the ale I was expecting I would dislike, it was a 4.5-5% cider. I should probably mention that all drinks were in classy see-through plastic cups of giant proportion (the wine cups were smaller, but still in a plastic cup) After the cider I used my second free pass to get a Guiness. Supposedly it's smoother here on tap than it could ever be in a can. The favorite of my LC group when british ale is unavailable...I drank maybe 1/3 of it, gave up, and handed it over to Noelle. After that Rachel was bored and wanted to go home, so she gave me her free drink ticket and I gave her the key (she's lost hers somewhere between parliament and coming back home on parliament day.) At that point I discovered that Smirnoff is an excellent substitute for 7up, and had two of those.



(Day 12- 21 Jan)
So I had a dream this morning that was pretty long but it's quickly fading from my memory. It involved bad guys/terrorists/whatever were trying to steal something from sacred falls/sea life park to help them win a war against the US. I was working at a summer camp or something with little kids, when somehow they end up being put in charge of the precious little thing the terrorists needed. So then we get a warning that the terrorists have gotten too close, so the kids, community, and his parents make this plan. I remember there were also screens or something showing the war happening in California and troops moving to take the terrorists out before they could get inland, and that the group of kids I was working with there was this old grumpy man who was a war veteran and didn't like anyone except his wife and this boys sports team that I was working with. So he protects all the boys and gets them to safety while the canoe club racers take kids in various directions to confuse the terrorists and the little boy with the precious thing rides with his dad and cousins paddling the canoe (I forgot the name of it now) until they got safely away to the beach on our island and we won the battles. The old man was cheered by everyone for saving the kids, but the old shrapnel in his leg got a bullet wound added to it, and it was causing these half-moon bruises along his back that his wife said would never go away but it was too difficult to cover. It was okay though- the man kept pulling a Mal and going "I got shot you know...right...here" while in a hospital gown and bending over to show the spot on his leg to all the boys.

And that was it.

So today I went and got a bacon and egg baguette from the sandwich shop, though strangely I wanted a blueberry muffin but then just said something else. That was the start of me wanting one thing, doing another which occurred multiple times today. Also while I was there, I guess since I was so distracted by the overabundance of the word "please" coming from everyone in the shop I ended up saying my own pleases slowly and my thank-yous too early, because when I handed my money over to pay for the baguette and said thank-you, the cashier's response was "please first." I have yet to decipher what that means.

Class with Justin was spent listing off famous british names (fictional characters, politicians, authors, actors, royalty, bad pop music, etc.) british stereotypes, and learning about the differences of terms such as England, the Commonwealth, Great Britain, United Kingdom, Republic, Devolution, British, English, and more. I don't feel like explaining, so I won't. Suffice to say that the United Kingdom is the actual name for the nation, while the countries are starting to think otherwise.

Then I was going to go grocery shopping after we got our per diem, but we only had an hour to eat before class, so instead I went with some people to a pasta restaurant down the street. After deciding I would crash their party and eat with them though, I left while they were ordering and went for a walk. I then decided that I would go check out the science museum, then go back, make some food, then go to class. I ended up just walking the long way back to my flat, microwaving a tv dinner, and then being late for class.

You see what I mean by thinking one thing, then doing another? And it didn't stop there.

I ended up going back to the pasta place for dinner, after spending an hour after class and meetings trying to find someplace cheap and quick to eat at so I could make it to a free pre-concert happening in the same building as the concert we had to go to tonight for class (the Philharmonia Orchestra). I ended up being too late to catch that concert. After the concert we had to go to, I had made up my mind to buy Phish Food ice cream and chill out, until I started thinking about how a pint of B&J is roughly $8-9 american. I ended up guilt tripping myself into the 2 pound cheapy store ice cream, since it was cheaper and a bigger tub of ice cream. Totally, Totally not worth it. I would take it back for a refund, but I bought it together with my roommate, and she said she didn't mind it. Bleh.

So. Back to the concert. Tonight we went to our first orchestra concert. We went to see the Philharmonia Orchestra at the Southbank Centre. They also had a guest pianist who I know simply as "the saucy frenchman" thanks to an in-class presentation. They also had a fantastically awesome conductor, who I know simply as "the santa/polar bear." See what I mean?
His real name is Leif Sergerstam, but he totally is this giant (yet short) of a man, with huge hands and who is extremely expressive when conducting. He was a lot of fun to watch, and just seemed like a great guy. You know, hidden under a mass of shaggy fur. But hey, even Santa Bear needs a day job.

We listened to Mozart's Piano Symphony #20 and Mahler's Symphony No. 5. Mahler's Symphony No. 5, 4th Movement was easily my favorite part of the night. It was beautiful and done really well with the strings and flutes and harps and everything. Also- there was a most excellent triangle player.

Oh- photograph copyright the Telegraph. Just in case somebody gets angry I borrowed it to explain the wonderfulness of this conductor.


So yeah. I don't really know what else to say about all this. Guess that means it's time for tetris then bed.