Good morning all. At least its morning for me.
I have my first class this afternoon, called Geographies of Home. Here geography is like a combination of sociology and history, two subjects that interest me, and since I couldnt get into any of the history classes I ventured over here. Here is a description of todays class.
"The module aims to explore geographies of home on scales from the domestic to the global; to introduce feminist, cultural and postcolonial studies of home in work both within and beyond geography; and to consider the theoretical and empirical importance of geographies of home."
Not really sure what that means but the professor guy thought I would like it.
So since the last time I blogged a great deal has happened, or very little depending on how you look at it. We did go to Brick Lane for dinner that night. FYI Brick Lane is a really long road in the East End that is crammed with almost all Indian/Bangladeshi restaurants. The proprietors stand in front and try to persuade you to come in by making outrageous offers. We went in a group of 12, which was insane trying to walk there, and ended up going to the practically last restaurant on the street because our unofficial leader for the night, my friend Robert, knew of that one. It was okay, the nan was really thick and tasted funny I thought but it wasnt a bad meal. A couple of my friends had never had Indian before and they all enjoyed it, which is good because it means we can go find other restaurants.
In the days in between there has been a lot of pubbing and restaurant touring. The Brits did not arrive til yesterday so we have had no cookware making it necessary to check out the local food scene. We had Japanese at a place across the street which was relatively good, I liked my chicken rice dish but those that had the salmon sushi werent so impressed. And we found another Indian restaurant, next door to the Japanese one, that does a Sunday buffet. Best meal we have had so far, though still not up to my shmancy Los Angeles standards : ) However they had fresh fruit that we all agreed we would pay for alone. The pineapple and honeydew were delicious. They also had these potato things that were like latkes and there was an orange sauce that we dipped them in- SO GOOD. The end of the table that I was with has also somewhat convinced me to make latkes in the near future because none of us managed to have any or many during Hanukkah. - I am pleased to note that there are actually 3 or 4 Jews in my little group! And I found some others around-
Sunday was our bus tour of London. Originally I had not signed up but was convinced by two of my friends at 2 in the morning on Saturday night that I should try to go. Having been sightseeing in London before I did not see a whole lot of new things, though the financial area was a nice addition and I had a good time with my friends. It also worked out that the tour guide never collected the tickets so I went for free!
And yesterday was the first day of the semester. I didnt have any classes but I needed to run around to different departments trying to finalize my schedule. I will provide more info on them as they arrive. The exciting part of yesterday was the cruise down the Thames. Or the booze cruise as we crude Americans termed it. And did I mention that it was only for the Americans? It was a sort of welcome event for the study abroad students. Not knowing if alcohol would be served onboard (though looking back, why were we unsure? There is not a joint in this country that doesnt serve alcohol) a good number of the Americans decided to pregame before we left. With the exception of one or two people everyone was able to hold their liquor and fortunately there were no cases of seasickness. The cruise itself was very nice and gave us all an exquisite view of the city via the river. There was a slight buffet of sandwiches and chicken on sticks which wasnt enough for most people and the dance floor was inside and too tiny. However a good time was had by almost all I would say.
By the end of the evening though a lot of us were very tired. Upon our return to campus we went to Drapers Bar, the student pub on campus, to check out the scene because its not like anyone needed more alcohol. We went in and it looked really cool but it was overflowing as it was the Brits first night back and we all felt like we had American signs on our foreheads. Thus we returned to our flats where some of us hung out for a while and others went to bed. I went to bed somewhere around midnight I think and fell asleep right away. But just over a half hour later I was rudely awoken by an extremely loud ringing noise. A fire alarm... great... And this was not a drill. We have yet to hear what the cause was but the entire building had to troop out into the cold at 1 in the morning. The people in charge then tried to call roll which was absolutely impossible and beyond time consuming. Finally after they seemed to have tried every flat one of the few adults in a yellow vest called for flat 26 from the doorway. Freaking out as we walked up, thinking that "what?! omg?" that the fire alarm was caused by our flat we were told that it was now fine to go back in and we were just the first to be called. Phew. The English really do take fires very seriously; at orientation we had a half hour lecture dedicated to fire safety alone.
And as I just woke up a little while ago that brings us up to the present. There are a few pictures included with more on the way. Enjoy! And hope you are all enjoying your better weather at home, no matter where in the country you are, as I freeze over here.
I have my first class this afternoon, called Geographies of Home. Here geography is like a combination of sociology and history, two subjects that interest me, and since I couldnt get into any of the history classes I ventured over here. Here is a description of todays class.
"The module aims to explore geographies of home on scales from the domestic to the global; to introduce feminist, cultural and postcolonial studies of home in work both within and beyond geography; and to consider the theoretical and empirical importance of geographies of home."
Not really sure what that means but the professor guy thought I would like it.
So since the last time I blogged a great deal has happened, or very little depending on how you look at it. We did go to Brick Lane for dinner that night. FYI Brick Lane is a really long road in the East End that is crammed with almost all Indian/Bangladeshi restaurants. The proprietors stand in front and try to persuade you to come in by making outrageous offers. We went in a group of 12, which was insane trying to walk there, and ended up going to the practically last restaurant on the street because our unofficial leader for the night, my friend Robert, knew of that one. It was okay, the nan was really thick and tasted funny I thought but it wasnt a bad meal. A couple of my friends had never had Indian before and they all enjoyed it, which is good because it means we can go find other restaurants.
In the days in between there has been a lot of pubbing and restaurant touring. The Brits did not arrive til yesterday so we have had no cookware making it necessary to check out the local food scene. We had Japanese at a place across the street which was relatively good, I liked my chicken rice dish but those that had the salmon sushi werent so impressed. And we found another Indian restaurant, next door to the Japanese one, that does a Sunday buffet. Best meal we have had so far, though still not up to my shmancy Los Angeles standards : ) However they had fresh fruit that we all agreed we would pay for alone. The pineapple and honeydew were delicious. They also had these potato things that were like latkes and there was an orange sauce that we dipped them in- SO GOOD. The end of the table that I was with has also somewhat convinced me to make latkes in the near future because none of us managed to have any or many during Hanukkah. - I am pleased to note that there are actually 3 or 4 Jews in my little group! And I found some others around-
Sunday was our bus tour of London. Originally I had not signed up but was convinced by two of my friends at 2 in the morning on Saturday night that I should try to go. Having been sightseeing in London before I did not see a whole lot of new things, though the financial area was a nice addition and I had a good time with my friends. It also worked out that the tour guide never collected the tickets so I went for free!
And yesterday was the first day of the semester. I didnt have any classes but I needed to run around to different departments trying to finalize my schedule. I will provide more info on them as they arrive. The exciting part of yesterday was the cruise down the Thames. Or the booze cruise as we crude Americans termed it. And did I mention that it was only for the Americans? It was a sort of welcome event for the study abroad students. Not knowing if alcohol would be served onboard (though looking back, why were we unsure? There is not a joint in this country that doesnt serve alcohol) a good number of the Americans decided to pregame before we left. With the exception of one or two people everyone was able to hold their liquor and fortunately there were no cases of seasickness. The cruise itself was very nice and gave us all an exquisite view of the city via the river. There was a slight buffet of sandwiches and chicken on sticks which wasnt enough for most people and the dance floor was inside and too tiny. However a good time was had by almost all I would say.
By the end of the evening though a lot of us were very tired. Upon our return to campus we went to Drapers Bar, the student pub on campus, to check out the scene because its not like anyone needed more alcohol. We went in and it looked really cool but it was overflowing as it was the Brits first night back and we all felt like we had American signs on our foreheads. Thus we returned to our flats where some of us hung out for a while and others went to bed. I went to bed somewhere around midnight I think and fell asleep right away. But just over a half hour later I was rudely awoken by an extremely loud ringing noise. A fire alarm... great... And this was not a drill. We have yet to hear what the cause was but the entire building had to troop out into the cold at 1 in the morning. The people in charge then tried to call roll which was absolutely impossible and beyond time consuming. Finally after they seemed to have tried every flat one of the few adults in a yellow vest called for flat 26 from the doorway. Freaking out as we walked up, thinking that "what?! omg?" that the fire alarm was caused by our flat we were told that it was now fine to go back in and we were just the first to be called. Phew. The English really do take fires very seriously; at orientation we had a half hour lecture dedicated to fire safety alone.
And as I just woke up a little while ago that brings us up to the present. There are a few pictures included with more on the way. Enjoy! And hope you are all enjoying your better weather at home, no matter where in the country you are, as I freeze over here.
Cheers!
Snowy mini on the street
Snow falling on the British Museum
Dad with a DumDum in the British Museum
Carnaby Street
Minerva Street for all you HP fans : )
The Barney purple trash cans around campus
The Tower Bridge
The London Eye at night from the Thames
My friends and I in front of Parliament on the cruise
