Jan 27

Today we had our first actual class of the semester. So far, we haven't had to do anything before 10:00 am, which is pretty ok by me! The class was enjoyable once I got past being incredibly upset at the fact that we do not get stipends for food now. There have always been food stipends, and even our professors thought that we would have them up until yesterday! But it will be ok. I might not get to do field school this summer now though. But, on a happier note, we went to Tesco, one of the local food stores-- and the largest within walking distance of the flat. We got a few days worth of food for about 15 pounds each. Some things are quite inexpensive-- we got a dozen eggs for a pound, and a huge loaf of delicious fresh bread for under 2 pounds. I don't know how much meat is yet, as I haven't gotten any.

We've been pretty good at finding good deals on food. We went down the street to a pub called O'Neils and had an Irish stew with mutton, carrots, and potatoes, and two big slices of soda bread for under 4 pounds. Then for dinner, Cady and I went next door to Mark and Spencer's and found microwaveable pasta dishes that were fantastic and fairly filling. I had spinach and ricotta cannelloni, and a cup of chocolate mousse for dessert and it was under 3 pounds. It was pretty cool to be able to buy a filling meal with 2 coins (a 2 pound coin and a one pound coin.) And then I was able to do that again for breakfast this morning. I got a pain au chocolate (like a croissant with chocolate in the middle) and an apple pastry for about 2 pounds. The food has been pretty tasty, and incredibly fresh.

Cady and I decided to try to find the produce market today. Goron had pointed us in the direction the day before on our tour of the block, but we weren't quite sure which road he had pointed to. We never found it. But we know now that we just didn't go far enough down the road. Along the way, however, we had our first experience with catcalls by European men. It was funny. We just kept walking. 

A few of us decided to head to High Street again (while the stores were open-- see below.) We went to H&M and I got an awesome new hat! We came across a store called American Clothing or something like that, and even though the mannequins and the billboard outside looked kind of sketchy, we went in. It was absolutely HILARIOUS!! I really hope that is not how people think Americans dress. It was straight out of the 80s. I have never seen so much spandex in my life! There were silver leotards, and metallic purple skirts, and crazy leggings, and gold hotpants with matching bra-style top. WOW! Needless to say, we left the store without buying anything and laughing quite a bit. 

The highlight of the day, though, has to be when Cady and I made some new "friends." We were just sitting in our room, when someone opened the door and popped their head in, then left. we were kind of confused. Then a few minutes later, there was a knock at the door, and 3 unfamiliar boys were there. They had very unfamiliar accents, and were asking about how to make the internet work on their laptop. So we tried to explain it to them, but they weren't getting it, so they went up and got their computer, and came back down. By then we had figured out that they were from Turkey. Also, their computer was in Russian! So Cady tried to find the wireless connections and I tried to pull it up on my computer so we could play match the icons. Eventually it worked, and the boys went away. A little while later, after Cady and I made some eggs and toast for dinner, there was a buzz at the door. I opened it and, guess who, they were back! And with large bags of McDonalds in hand. They thrust it upon us, and would not let us refuse. We were grateful nonetheless. But then they wanted us to go out with them. See now, they were probably about 16, so we (the large group who had gathered in our room) found this incredibly funny! We eventually convinced them that we were busy and had homework, and got them to leave. And happily ate the food! 

Shortly after, Fabio, one of our house managers, came down and told us that he didn't want the boys to be in our part of the flat, because they "are naughty little boys who break things." We happily agreed. However, while we were reading the script for the show we're seeing tomorrow aloud, (Stoppard! Super excited!) the buzzer went off again... We sent Andy Peck out to try to get them to leave, which took quite a bit of talking. And now we're all a bit paranoid about running into them again. But they leave on Saturday, and then we won't have to worry about our little Turkish boy stalkers...

One thing that was a pretty big surprise, is that everything here closes by midnight. The pubs mostly close at 11. I thought that we would escape that when we left Ripon, but I guess London isn't a late night city. 

I think we almost have a grasp of the tube system now (the underground train system,) though I would not feel comfortable attempting going places on my own yet, which is ok because I don't really want to go places on my own! The tube is fairly straight forward. You enter the station and have to swipe your Oyster card (a pre-paid card that gives us unlimited access to the 2 zones nearest our flat.) Then, you follow the signs for the particular line you want, and there are signs all over the place showing where each line goes. Yesterday we decided to go to High Street Kensington, one of the shopping streets at around 9:30. Gwen wanted to see if H&M was still open. It wasn't. But getting there to find out that it wasn't open was a fun little adventure! The boys had gotten to the station before us and gotten on a train. The girls got a little confused. There is a station at High Street Kensington, and one at South Kensington, and we went to the wrong one. Luckily, there was a lady who was nice enough to point us in the right direction after hearing us muse about whether we were going the right way. So we got off, then got on another train going the opposite way, and eventually got to High Street Kensington to discover that the shops had closed.

So we decided to go to Piccadilly Circus for the second time that day just to wander around and see the area at night. It was interesting and pretty fun. We walked past a lot of shops and restaurants, then through china town (The Chinese New Years parades will be going on there soon, I'm pretty excited to see them!) We eventually came upon the west end, which is the theatre district. It was fun to see all of the billings outside the theatres. One theatre was showing Grease, and the performance must have just gotten done when we were going past. We saw some of the actors greeting fans at the back door, with their hair still tall and greased back. It was amusing. We also wandered into the gay area unknowingly. There was a man standing on the street who was trying to get us to go to a club, but we weren't interested. So he proceeded to tell us about the time he went to America and a random guy he met at the airport decided to bring him home as "a curiosity to show his friends." Some of the girls were really off put by him, as he was balding and didn't have many teeth, but I don't think he meant us any harm. He informed us that the area we were in had mostly gay bars, and to watch out for pickpocketers because they were prevalent in the area. 

We continued on our way, just walking without any real plan of where to go. As we came to an intersection near the river Thames, we got our first sight of The London Eye, the giant ferris wheel  in the middle of the city. So we continued to walk in its general direction, and low and behold, we ended up at trafallgars square and took some pictures of the fountain, then we noticed that we could see Westminster Abbey in the background, and went there! Then, we saw Big Ben to top it all off! It was pretty awesome to just happen upon these landmarks by accident. Then we decided to head back home, but we weren't ready to go back to the flat. We went to this pub that was celebrating Australia Day, something we had been looking forward to ever since we saw the sign in the window the day before. But it turned out to be not too exciting, so we went back to O'Neils to see what it was like at night. This is when we learned that pubs closed at 11, as it was now 11:15. We ended up going to Burger King and getting dessert. It was pretty dirty, and my chocolate shake was definitely white, and there was a British man who got very upset at the man behind the counter because the bathroom was closed after 10:00. He threatened to pee on the floor... It was an experience. But then it was time to head back to the flat and hit the hay. All in all, it was a pretty fantastic day.