Lazy

Updates to come! I promise!

I hope all readers had great holidays and that their New Year's Eve will be lovely!

Last Day

Today is my last full day in London! Eek!

So at the beginning of my stay here I was completely overwhelmed with how to spend my time when not in class (which, let's face it, is an awful lot).

So I made a list of things that I HAD to do. Of course, I ended up going above and beyond, but this was just a jumping off point. Also, I like making lists if only to check things off!

1. Go to Primrose Hill

Kind of a crappy picture, but you get the idea. You can faintly see the London Eye.

I'd really never heard of Primrose Hill before, but I read about it in one of my guidebooks and it said that it has one of the best views in London. And believe me, it did. It's in this very tony and swank neighborhood where apparently lots of celebrities reside. I strolled around one of the main streets and it was all low-key high-end. Not at all touristy. All the beautiful locals were eating at outdoor cafes (lots of young hip moms and stuff). Gwyneth was nowhere to be found, sadly.

2. Eat Indian food

My dad at Masala Zone.

What with the huge Indian population here, London has a ton of great Indian food. I really enjoy Indian food, but I can't say that I've had any awesome stuff in New Orleans (and plus I was kind of scared after I choked at Abhita's house on her mom's cooking ... but anyway). So can you believe that I didn't eat any until I went to Paris to visit Katie?! Sadly, it was only OK. But then when my parents came into town we ate at this super yummy restaurant in Covent Garden with humongous portions. And then when Katie came to visit me I wanted to redeem our Indian experience so I took her there again. Yum.

3. Go to Portobello Market

I knew next to nothing about Portobello Market, I could only identify it from my Teen Vogue reading days. But it was very exciting to go! It's in the Notting Hill neighborhood, which is also swank and all that, but this is a few streets over from all the pricey-ness. TONS of street vendors, selling beautiful produce and flowers, and even fish and meat, as well as vintage clothes. After spotting a designer purse (I think it was Bottega Venetta and it was ugly) and I sifted through a bunch hoping for more finds but of course not. But it was fun, I love a hunt! There's also food vendors - I got a ridiculous serving of churros and chocolate and sat on a bench with a woman who had gotten the same. Love this place!

4. Sit in cafe near Buckingham Palace

Photo Credit: Breelyn Ganin

All that was left at this point was the cone...

Why this is on my list - I cannot tell you. All I know is that my future husband lives there for part of the year, and I guess I thought I just wanted to be nearby soaking up the life I want...? I crazy, I know. But my friends and I went there one of the first weekends (too late for the tour, but that's OK I've done it before) and then went to a cafe to detox from all the walking, since this is when it was still semi-warm outside. Sigh, miss those days. And I had delicious coffee ice cream.

5. Visit Harrod's

Did this twice! First time was when Kaileigh visited. Oh and while we were in the home furnishings department S Club 7 was playing on the soundsystem. It was like all my English dreams coming true at once. And then when my parents visited we went again. And true story, my dad shook hands with Mr. Al Fayed (the beyond-rich owner). And then he tried to find the perfume that one of his high school girlfriends wore (why I do not know).

6. National Gallery

Again, did this twice. First time was solo, which was fine for me, I enjoy looking at art by myself. And they have this painting by Hans Holbein, The Ambassadors, which I wrote an essay on in my Survey II class sophomore year, which was pretty cool because there's an optical illusion in the painting that I could never figure out from the textbook, and then seeing it in person really made sense. Also one of my favorite Renoir paintings is there. I took Emily there when she visited and I think she enjoyed it!

7. Shop at Primark

Primark is crazy. It's very crowded, and not too well organized and cheap-cheap. I got an awesome trench coat and a black and white dress (how could I resist) and as well as some crazy pumps that I always wore to Club Sandwich and could barely walk in. I guess it's kind of like going to Century 21 in New York City - lots of jostling other people and digging through clothes and stuff.

8. Eat a pasty

First of all, I'm an idiot and for the longest time thought it rhymed with 'tasty'. No, it's like cast-ty, if that were a word. So, whenever I get off the train at London Bridge, the Cornwall Pasty Company is right there and it smells so freakin-good. Like artery-clogging good. When I was in Bath and starving and looking for food I saw one of their stores and got a spicy vegetable one. Yes it was very good, but not something I'd eat probably until my next London visit. Also, they're mentioned in Harry Potter so of course I wanted one.

9. Buy British candy

Weird, yes, but they have cool candy here that's just not in the States. I can't say buying candy is something I do very often, but I thought, why not! When I was waiting at Paddington Station for my train to visit Oxford I was bored and so went to WHSmith for a magazine and candy. I honestly can't remember what I got, but it was delicious!

10. See a show

I'm a musical-nut so of course this was something I wanted to do. When my parents visited, my mom and I saw Billy Elliot! I was very skeptical (since it was a lot of British kids kind of like Oliver! which scarred me for life) but I was wrong. It was amazing. Go see it right now. I laughed, I cried, I loved it. Also, all my friends are in this London Theater class where they got to see a show every week, and since there was extra tickets one time I got to see the War Horse with them. Also very excellent and a tear-jerker.

So yes, this was super long and if you read until the end, good for you! Cheerio!

Sad

So today was probably my final trip into Central London, for various reasons, one of which is the fact that my oystercard is down to like 90 pence and I have no cash to top it up.

But on the tube/train ride back to school, I legit started to tear up. Who would've thought something like public transportation would make me sentimental??

Ima miss you, London.

Final Countdown

So I realized that I only have one week left in London before going back stateside (!) (I leave on the 12th).

! Exciting I know. I miss all my friends and my family and my cat and my dog and my bed and Special K Chocolately Delight ... but I'm for reals gonna miss here too.

I will miss having a flat full of friends, and going to get Thai at the HobGob. I'll miss hopping on the Tube to go do fun London things (won't miss having to take the train to even get to the Tube grrr stupid construction). I'll miss British accents, and "cheers!" even though I'm still not quite sure what that means... . And when I go back to Richmond in January I'll definitely miss weekly classes and super light workload!

So here's to one last fabulous week! (Although I've checked the forecast and it appears there'll be rain like every last day I'm here...typical London.)

Meep

I'm sick, and the rugby boys were being obnoxious and loud (although they've now left thank goodness). I just want to be at home.

Although I know two Wednesdays from now I'll just be wishing I was getting ready to go to Club Sandwich again.

Weekend in Florence

Ode to Florence:

My first time in Italy

Gelato three times

Many, many stairs up the Duomo

Amazing views at the Villa

Jazz club and Prosecco

Kitty-decorated hostel

Blueberry steak is delicious

Katie is a wonderful Italian guide

Ciao!

Reading Week

This past week was Reading Week at Goldsmiths, where we had no classes and go to do what we pleased! Most people I know went galavanting around Europe...but I stayed here where I was visited by my fabulous parents!

We ate in fabulous restaurants (English gastropub, fish 'n' chips, Indian, Italian, Dim Sum...), got our historical fill at Windsor Castle and Hampton Court, saw the amazing Billy Elliot and walked all over the place!

They left this morning and I miss them already! But I know these next five weeks are going to go by super fast...

Procrastination

So as much as I love London, I also love traveling to other European cities! (See last post for example.)

And in the past two days I have booked TWO different trips!! Whoopie for traveling!

In a couple of weeks I will be visiting my dear friend Katie in Fiesole, Italy! Right outside of Florence. This is gonna be awesome. The city of the Duomo and awesome gelato, so I have heard. (About the gelato. Pretty sure the Duomo is for reals.)

Then I will be doing some traveling with another dear friend, Sarah, to Stockholm, Sweden! Ahhhh my dream!! I almost chose to study abroad there but alas went with an Anglo country instead. So this is really really exciting. Sweden is my dream. And so is Abba but the museum's been delayed for like another year wahhh.

Anyway back to my Media, History and Politics paper on how women's representations in the media have changed in a period of at least 40 years.

Travels

I spent the most magical weekend in Paris, the city of love, with Katie. She was a great hostess!

Us drinking sangria at a very Parisian hole-in-the-wall. Fun!

Higlights:

- Seeing the Eiffel Tower sparkle at night and then a beautiful light show which we didn't even know was going to happen! Quelle surprise!

-Exploring by myself was Katie was in class at Sciences Po and going to the Luxeumbourg Gardens (SO beautiful, I highly recommend it!)

I'm very into this reflecting pond, for some reason.

-Watching 'Hocus Pocus' with Amanda! Ok, so not super French, but very authentic for a French student, non? Plus that movie is sick.

-THE FOOD. Ahhh gelato, falafel, bread, brie, and homemade crepes! A-freakin-mazing.

And now it's back to reality (although I'd hardly call living in London a reality), but just that I have to do schoolwork and it's pooopy.

Reality

So, in a couple of hours I will be off! For Oxford! Woo! Yes that is a bit unreal. "Oh I'm just off to Oxford for the weekend, no big deal." I love this no Friday class thing.

But back to reality. I realized I will actually have to do some schoolwork while I'm here. Boooooo. But at least I have selected essay questions for my classes! Let's hope I don't change my mind again!

But, really it's only four papers. That's nothing compared to Richmond, right? I shouldn't sweat it I'm only young and living in London once!

More thoughts:

I realized I had no idea how long it took to take the tube to various places. Obviously, the farther away something is, the longer it will take but I could not answer how long that was. Well, I found ths handy little formula, if you will. Don't know exactly how accurate it is, but at least it's someting to go off of.

It says to allow ten minutes for your journey, plus two minutes for every stop and five minutes for every train change. Plus maybe five minutes to walk to your final destination. Neat, huh?

I wish there was a Spice Girls tour. Even a self-guided one. I'd like to see exactly where various things from the movie were filmed. If I got to ride around in the Spice Bus that wouldn't be half-bad either.

And I will NOT leave London without my milk chocolate Magnum!

Oh yeah

I love London. That is all. If I never come home ... that is why.

Mo' Food

This blog should really just be dedicated to the food I eat here in London.

Today I went to Notting Hill and Portobello Market. Fun times! The highlights were the eating, of course: a delicious falafel wrap and churros and chocolate. Boy did I eat some churros. The single portion was enjoy to feed a family. And now I myself don't have to eat for the rest of the day.

Besides the food, Portobell Market has a lot to offer. Lots of shops and cafes, as well as the street vendors selling fruits and vegetables, clothes, jewelry, etc.

And right off the road are lots of swanky, chic streets, filled with swanky, chic shops which were fun to window shop at.

And the people! So many glam people walking around. The people watching was excellent. I sat on a bench while stuffing my face with churros and just watched people.

Returning home was a lot easier than on Wednesday (my British Museum trip). Got on the right trains and everything! Holla!

Observation

My hair looks SO much better here. Lovin' the English humidity!

Ode to Food

In terms of food consumption, this was up at the top!

Some of my gal pals and I went to Camden Market today. I bought a shot glass which was exciting. But the best part was the food ooooh man.

Exhibit A: The Waffle

Photo Credit: Dyanna Hallick

Dyanna and I spotted them en route to ATM, and went through hell and highwater to make it back to this wonderful waffle stand. And it was AMAZING. Messy, but well worth it.

Now, a normal person would have stopped at this sweet treat. No, not us. For of course, we HAD to walk through more food stalls. And contemplate meal #2. For Dyanna, it was some chicken fajitas. For me, it was the Falafel Queen. A pita with falafel (of course), bulgar, corn, lettuce, some purple stuff and tahini. Chickpeas were also included, but I omited them because they seemed a bit much.

After that, I decided it was time to stop.

But yay for good food! And my other meals today were pretty good as well (my yummy Start cereal for breakfast, the turky and tomato sandwich I ate on the go (because I thought we were picnic-ing?? And yes I ate a ridiculous amount of food), and then an apple and PB for my true dinner). YUM. Love food.

So thank you Dyanna, for eating lots of food with me. It was a great day, I hope to do it again.

Us in our cute new headbands, pre-meal #2

Independence!

Today was a first - I rode the tube all by myself! And made it back in one piece!

I went to Primrose Hill, which is one of the poshest neighborhoods in London apparently. I believe it. I walked down the street with food shops and cafes and it was a lot of ladies who lunch and such. Rather lovely. It's home to all those Madonna/Gwenyth Paltrow/Sadie Frost types. Saw none of them sadly.

However, the real reason I wanted to go was for the park. Which is a lot bigger than I thought, but I got to see the loveliest view! So much of London was visible from there.

I then did some more walking and ended up back at Camden, which I went to last week. However, Camden is huge, and I was in a different area. Still, I had no idea I was that close! Reminded me of Driver's Ed when one day I was driving and I had learned exactly how some of New Orleans is connected - guess you don't learn those things when you're just sitting in the passenge seat eh?

I look foward to more solo adventures!

Summer's Over

That's right kiddos. My summer offically ended as of 10 AM yesterday morning, with my Structure of Politics as Communication lecture. (I think that's what it's called, it's a rather long class title).

It was a long summer, but a great one. And now, I know I was all, hmm classes won't be that bad, will be good to get into a routine.

And, I mean, they're not thattt bad. But just setting myself down to do the reading is difficult. I think I just need to get back into the swing of things. And also the idea that I only have a paper in each of these classes is marvelous! Kind of scary, but also marvelous!

So yes, besides Structure I had my Psychology of Communications class as well yesterday. My lecture/seminar leader is very strange but I like him. Long ponytail, sleeveless shirt, tattoos, played heavy metal as we walked into lecture, etc etc. And when we had to go around in seminar saying who would play us in the movie of our lives (Scarlett Johanssen, holla!), he said Tilda Swinton. Just to give you an idea.

Anyway, no class Tuesdays! So spent the afternoon at the Natural History Museum. No class Fridays either, so I'm sure will be doing another jaunt around the city. In fact, I plan on doing jaunts tomorrow and Thursday as well! There's always some time to do the reading, even if it is Sunday night?

Let's face it, I'm in London

Wow

It is still a little unreal that I am in London. I suppose later in the semester I might become a bit jaded, but for now I still think everything about here is amazing. I love it.

Highlights as of late:
-AMAZING food: coffee gelato, my first English breakfast (eggs, canadian bacon, beans, toast, chips, ahhh soo good), yummy thai, even the Weetabix I just ate a bowl of!

-Finally thinking that I understand the Underground. Think I'm ready for my first day of solo exploration on Tuesday!

-My really awesome flatmates.

-Beautiful, beautiful weather. Like I want to spend as much time outside as possible before the rain starts. Which it will, a local informed me at Hobgoblin (local pub) the other night. Way to rain on my parade (bada bing I'm here all week!)

Goal: To keep up more with news in America. Am feeling a bit out of touch and not good!

6.One Week!

This time last week I had just arrived at Goldsmiths. Crazy!

5. Fish and Chips

The highlight of my day yesterday?

Fish and Chips!!

Mmm, I love food. I love fried food. I love fish. Man, I'm now wishing I had taken a picture of my meal. But I was so damn hungry and excited.

The Oxford Arms, on Camden Road, where I enjoyed this meal, along with a nice Stella Artois.

We went to Camden to go to the market there, which has soooo much stuff there. Lots of cute dresses (in a Forever 21 vein), and I got a navy and white striped one. Of course. There was also a lot of gross tshirts and such. The salesmen there are slightly creepy and flirt with you, but I suppose it's OK because if you're nice maybe you can haggle with them. We also went to a classier market, with lots of stands with jewelry (where the vendors were often the people who made them, so that was nice).

This area is really funky, and I'm sure I stuck out as an American in my Gap. But it's all good.

Today, I finally found out when the rest of my classes are! I have a Monday morning and early afternoon, a Wednesday morning and a Thursday afternoon. Not too too bad. I like the three-day weekend!

Reflections

Answer: For the first time since getting here, am not drinking. My liver says thank you.

For the first night, I am also not going out. Need to rest up, there has been a lot of excitement the past couple of days!

Got a phone! Yay! Although still need to set up the sim card?? Ahh it never ends.

Had my first bit of ethnic food for dinner! A chicken kebab - esque thing from the local Super Kebab! Mm delish but I am still ridiculously full (also another reason why am not leaving my room, for it's weighing me down).

One of the reasons that I love this school so much: the location. As much as I love Richmond's campus, it can be a bit isolating and you have to drive everywhere. But it's so nice to just walk! And be in an urban environment, I really love that. It's a nice change. I took a long walk today and saw some lovely* residential areas! I love to explore!

*I sound even more of a tool when I say lovely here. Oy.

Wah Wah, Wee Wah

So the reality that yes, I will actually be taking classes here, set in this morning at orientation. But not for another week! Yay, I hope to be doing a lot more exploring, both of New Cross and of London in general.

I am lazy and no good at taking pictures. But I swear. They are coming. I just feel like such a tool, "oh look at that cute pub, let's take a picture!" I'm trying to fit in! Not look a tourist. But pictures, they will be coming.

I now have a student picture i.d. Woo!

Pip pip!

Well, it is day number 2 of London! I am too lazy to write a real post, but this is the post I wrote last night but didn't put up as had no internet.

Enjoy!

September 19, 2009

First day in London. Freaking exhausted after the plane ride, which landed before 7 am. And yes, my pick up from Gatwick wasn’t until 10. I managed to amuse myself until then though.

The dorm set-up is rather lovely, although it can be a bit isolating with the singles at all. But at least I have a private bathroom!

A highlight of the day: A dinner for the international students, at the church, served beer. Nice.
Me and some other Amurricans then went to the Student Union. I wasn’t sure what I was expecting, but it is a bar. And a dance floor. Like all I ever wanted.

Sadly, I am really tired and am writing this now when I could be dancing? However, it’s the right thing to do. And it’s only the first night. There will be plenty more.

Question: Can Elizabeth give her liver a rest this semester as she promised it? Only time will tell.

The Beginning

Tomorrow is the big day! Shoving off for London!

I am slightly nervous, but mostly excited. It's been a nice, long summer, but I'm ready for the next big thing!

I thought I would create this new blog if anyone is interested in the day-to-day happenings of my studying abroad. If you can stand to hear me blather about my favorite things, then maybe you'll like this too.

Cheerio!