Ah what procrastination will do

I try to do work here. Really.

Ok, not really. I mean, there is work to be done. I could be doing it. I am currently sitting in the library, excuse me the Information Services Centre, attempting very hard to do it. Well.... not too hard. Apparently my desire to procrastinate is so strong that I am blogging for the first time in about 2.5 weeks. So... I mean you can't blame me. Really. All of my classes basically only have work due at the end of term: papers and finals that aren't until May. It's February, excuse me if I don't start studying.
I mean, I do have papers due before then-- but not till next week! In fact, I came to the library today to start my paper due next Monday. Thats seven days away. I am swimmmmming in time.

Will this bite me in the ass? Yes.
Do I care right now? No.

I'm too busy ya know... being in London... and stuff. For example, as soon as this little foray into the library ends I will head to Tesco to buy groceries and attempt to save money on the ever costly food that is served in this lovely country. Hello Tesco mac & cheese, my name is Susan, welcome to my refrigerator (and eventual tummy). Then I will cook dinner and peacefully watch television until I head over to UCL's student bar-- yes I realize I go to King's, the enemy of UCL-- and drink at their pound a pint night. Do you know how much a pint costs? MILLIONS. And not of dollars, of pounds. It's a crime. My student bar does give discounts but its like 2.50 pounds for a cheap beer, that's like $4. If I went to a regular pub, easily 3.60, and the good stuff, 4.20. So what am I to do? Eat Tesco brand dinners and save money, yes.

Right-- off that topic. Tomorrow I have class again, Museums of London. Sounds interesting? I thought it would be too. I mean... I'm being mean. Wait, I'm being truthful. The lecturer tries, she triessss, which is very admirable. But... it's just not working. If I ever meet someone who is more like Trelawney  I will eat my hand. A wee spacey, this woman. But we go on trips, so that's nice. Tomorrow is to the V&A (Victoria and Albert) which is a great museum, and I'm excited to see what 4 random pieces she will decide is relevant enough for our 20 minute trip. But then after!!! I go to Oxford. Yes, I realize that I have class Wednesday morning-- but you must understand-- this is necessary. TJ has been kind enough to give me one of his extra tickets to hear Richard Dawkins speak tomorrow night. Now be jealous, thank you.

Okay. That was good. I'm glad that I did something else productive. But maybe I'll try to work now... maybe.
Goodnight and good luck,
Susan

music induced joy: the best kind of joy

Although I've only been here just over a month, I've been to two concerts, and have two more in the near future.  About two weeks ago I went to see a band called Maps & Atlases with Kate, Lisa, and Spain.  It was at this venue by Old Street called XOYO, which apparently used to be an indoor swimming pool.  I had only ever heard of Maps & Atli (as I pluralized it), and until the concert I literally had no idea what they sounded like.  When we got to XOYO, there was a warm up band on, and we were all excited when they stopped playing and another group (presumably Maps & Atlases) began to set up.  A group of guys came on stage and started playing what I can only describe as the most abrasive, non-musical techno I've ever heard.  I was ready to suggest an early exit and to call the night a failure, but then the band announced that they were not, in fact, the main attraction.  Maps & Atlases came on, and it was a really great concert.  I actually went home and bought (yes, not illegally downloaded) their music.  They are actually one of those bands that's better live, which I love.  

Ze band

The Fearsome Foursome in concert-mode

My next concert experience was just last night with Ayenat.  The band: Young the Giant.  The venue: Monto Water Rats (I know, right?). It's right around the corner from our dorm, and every time we've walked by it before, we chuckle, probably enhanced by the fact that it is right next to the Ear, Nose, and Throat Clinic.  Really?  An entire clinic just for ears, noses, and throats?  Seems unnecessary to me.  But I digress...we listened to a couple of warm up bands, and once again had no idea what the band actually looked like.  A group of 5 hipsta looking guys came on stage, and we thought they might be Young the Giant, but during their sound check they sounded British (Young the Giant=Californians).  But apparently I can no longer tell the difference between british and American accents (so well adjusted to London right now), as they were in fact American.  I can only describe the concert as utterly fantastic...Aye and I were literally in the front row, standing approximately 1 foot away from the band (yes, we inched up a little every song).  We quickly fell in love with every member of the band, but particularly the main singer.  In addition to having a hauntingly amazing voice, he also used instruments such as a tambourine, maracas, and an orange filled with something (we hypothesized for a while as to the possible contents) that sounded like a rattle.  

Best Frands (I wish)

After they finished their set, we got to meet a couple of the band members (!!!) and tried our best to become best friends.  Didn't work exactly as we had hoped, but we did get to chat with them for a bit.  The next band on stage was a truly horrendous cover band that butchered winning tracks such as Poker Face, some Justin Bieber, and others.  Did I mention that they were the most motley group of middle aged people I've ever seen?  That made it a lot funnier.  

Concerts to come: next week I'm going with Kate to see Alex Ebert (lead singer of Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros), and in mid-March Ayenat and I are trekking to Oxford to see King Charles.  

Other exciting news: spring break planning (we have off from March 25-April 26) is going swimmingly.  The agenda is looking like Greece, Italy, the South of France, Spain, Paris, Amsterdam, and Belgium.  

This weekend I'm going to Iver to visit our family friends Mike and Maureen.  Looking forward to getting out of the city for a day or two, and not having to live in a dorm! Next week we have off because it's "Reading Week", which in the US would mean studying, but in London it means traveling.  Instead of traveling, I'm planning on trying to knock out some of my final essays, catch up on sleep, and do some London sightseeing.  Until next time.   

A word about going out

It's quite different here. QUITE different. I'd say this is my impression so far of the Brit going out habits:

Two-ish nights a week (depending how ambitious or rowdy one is) are donated to RAGING. And by raging I actually mean dancing. A LOT of dancing. It's like DU Spinning on Halloween where everyone is down to jam..but times a million. These nights you go out at the normal late hour of 10-11PM and then rage until....3AM? And then wait for the bus (which is approximately forever) and get back circa 4:30AM... glorious. But not. Really tiring. Then the other 5 nights a week its much chiller. Outta class, to the library, dinner, and then to the pub by 8. Meet up with friends, have a pint or two, and bed before 12. Pubs actually need a special license to be open after 11 usually.
I haven't been very successful at this British going out trend yet. But then again...I've got a few months to hone these skills.

-Susan

bloggerton shire (hi laura!!)

Being in London makes me constantly think about LOTR and Harry Potter.  Not that I don't normally do those things...but yeah, the surroundings/accents really bring it out.  Just the other day I went to the Tate Modern with Shweta and Katie, and we saw the Millennium Bridge (the bridge that gets wrecked by death eaters in the HBP film).  Not to mention that I live right by Tottenham Court Road. Okay but enough about Harry Potter.

It's becoming apparent that I'm terrible at blogging.  I constantly forget my blog exists, and then when I try to write a post I usually procrastinate it.  But I guess that's a good sign, because London is so AWESOME that I can't be bothered to take the time to write in my blog.  Right?  

The last week or so has been awesome, and I guess I'll just give some highlights.  On Monday we went to Tiger Tiger (typical) for Shweta's 21st birthday!  Definitely got me excited for my own birthday that's rapidly approaching.  It was quite a fun night, but definitely made waking up for my presentation on the Great Leap Forward a challenge the next day.  (see, Mom and Dad, I do attend classes here!!)

Dinner at Tiger Tiger with Casey, Taylor, and Shweta

Another notable event during the week was a trip to the other side of the Thames (southside) to visit Susie and Sarah Ross (who was visiting for a day or so), and we participated in our first ever real pub quiz!  The basic gist of a pub quiz is that you form a group, and pay an entrance fee (in this case, 2 pounds per person) in order to do the quiz and hopefully win prizes or money.  The first round, luckily for us, was USA.  Everyone else in the pub was hatin' on our American-ness due to the fact that we knew what parallel separates the US and Canada (what's up, 49th), and other useless information like that.  The second round was Miscellaneous, so we didn't do terribly, but when the third round was announced as Sport, it became very evident that our chances at doing well were shot.  Sorry I don't know anything about boxing, and that I assumed that Hulk Hogan would be an appropriate answer for one of the greatest heavyweights of all time.  Apparently boxing and wrestling are different. My bad.  The "Quizmaster" took pity on us and actually gave us an answer to one question.  I will definitely be returning for more pub quizzes, and hopefully we'll actually manage to win sometime.  

Almost forgot to blog the best part of my week.  The SOAS Student Union sends out an email every day announcing club meetings, guest lecturers, etc, and one day what did I see but the SOAS Veg Society going to a talk by Jonathan Safran Foer?!? For anyone who doesn't know, he is the author of Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, Everything is Illuminated, and Eating Animals.  If you're a vegetarian or looking to become one, I can't recommend Eating Animals enough.  If you're a meat-eater and plan to remain so, avoid this book.  It's truly awesome, in a gruesome and horrifying kind of way.  The talk was amazing, and I also got to meet JSF (!!!!) and get a copy of Eating Animals signed by him.  Just in case that wasn't enough to make my night, Ayenat and I went to the SOAS pub to grab a drink afterwards and stumbled upon an impromptu jam session.  We just sat there, taking in the awesomeness that is SOAS, and listening to music.

My new BF

The letdown of the week was the time we attempted to do the Circle Line Pub Crawl.  Last Saturday we were planning on participating in the epic pub crawl that involves taking the Tube to every stop on the Circle line (27, in case you were wondering) and getting off at each for a half pint of beer at a pub nearby.  My friends from Arcadia orientation (Kate, Lisa, Lizzie, Hunter, Jordan, Hilary, and Michele) and I met up bright and early (1 pm...) only to discover that the Circle line was closed for pre-Olympic renovations.  Womp womp. That brought our first attempt to do the crawl to an end, and we ended up just finding a pub for some lunch and catching up instead.  We'll try again, hopefully with more prior research to make sure we can actually do the pub crawl.      

At lunch post-failed pub crawl with Lisa and Kate

Promise I'll actually try to blog more consistently so I don't forget each and every exciting detail of my life.  Oh, also went to Buckingham Palace this week but didn't get to see the changing of the guard.  Guess I'll be returning!  My other artsy/cultural experience of the week was a trip to the V&A (Victoria and Albert) Museum.  Other fun nighttime excursions included the Ministry of Sound with Ayenat and some friends from Arcadia orientation, and Ayenat and I also went to a SOAS party at a nightclub that uses heat energy from the dance floor to power the electricity...so SOAS right now.  And that's enough of this incredibly long catch-up entry. 

Outside Buckingham Palace Gates

Really cool sculpture at the V&A

At the SOAS Nightclub party. Generating electricity!!

Buckingham Palace

London-tastic. 

Different. And other random stuff.

Studying abroad in London is many things: cool, exciting, scary, and to be honest, a bit weird. For one, we speak the language... kinda. The number of times a Brit has said something to me and I've responded with an eloquent, "uhh.... what?" is pretty much uncountable... and its only been 2 weeks. I think its because they sound so pretty. I get caught up listening to them talk instead of listening to what they are saying and then I lack any response whatsoever besides the above. Hopefully I'll get over this.  Then again, something's are just said so differently that it is unrecognizable. A lecturer was talking about HPV and its associations with cerv-I-cal cancer and it actually took me 15 minutes to realize what he was saying. Not to mention am-I-no acids. That one was just funny.

It is actually quite surprising how different it is from the States. Almost irritating. You can mistake it for America so easily but then the minute differences in custom and behavior slowly compile until you are confused and ask "where the hell am I???" Oh right, a foreign country. That's why its all different.

So I'm in my second week of classes. Here is a key illumination of the definition of different. The biomedical classes at Kings, of which I am taking three, are very odd and indeed different from their humanities courses entirely. The module organizer puts together a lecture series, and the classes we attend are the different lectures given by different lecturers who are all "professors" or specialists in the field. The word professor isn't used so much here. Fun fact, I learned yesterday that in the UK your GP (general practitioner.. basically your primary care family doctor) is called Dr. So-and-so, but a surgeon is called Mr. So-and-so. This is because in the Victorian times surgeons were the unqualified rando doctors whereas actual doctors had some schooling. So the guy giving you general health advice is more qualified than the guy cutting off your leg. Huzzah! Then again, times have changed, and being a surgeon is perhaps higher in the impressiveness hierarchy that is the medical professions, but they still don't rock the title doctor....off that tangent, and back to my thrilling class explanation, or module explanation, or whatever. I have one module a day and that module only once a week. We still get the same amount of teachin' time as it is a 3 to 5 hour long class. That one class just happens to have about 3 lectures in it, given by 3 different lecturers. It's kinda cool actually because, so far, all of my lecturers have been extremely passionate about their topics in a way that the professors at Lafayette never really are. And it makes sense because these are their specialties that they are talking about; they all have PhD's and Masters in these topics and know more about them then that 50 minute lecture can possibly hold. Today, for example, I had Molecular Medicine. One of my lectures was on gene therapy and cancer. This lecture was given by a doctor who has just started human clinical trials of using gene therapy techniques to potentially cure a type of leukemia; it apparently has a lot of promise, badass, no?

I guess the gist of this post is that I have come to realize that the difference between the US and the UK is not merely geographical, but social, economic, political, cultural, basically everything. It truly is a foreign country. Makes it a bit more exciting to explore then, no?

--Susan

Classes, Clubbing, and Chips: a good summary of my week

So last week we got to attend a bunch of different classes as a sort of “trial run” for course selection.  I finally settled on Chinese Ethnography, Chinese Language III, Government and Politics of China, and Society, the Environment, and State in the History of China.  The wonderful news about classes in London is that they only occur once a week.  Therefore, my schedule is unbelievable: Mondays from 9-1, Tuesdays 11-1 and 3-5, and an optional tutorial 3-5 on Thursdays.  That’s all. So, I will be enjoying a delightful 5-day weekend, every week that I’m here. 

This week on the SOAS campus I had my first run-in with the so-called “Hare Krishna man”.  This guy comes to the campus every weekday at 12:30pm with a cart full of homemade Indian food, and people line up across the center square of campus to get a huge plate of free food.  While I don’t quite get his motivation for doing this, apparently it’s the Hare Krishna way to spread happiness through whatever way you see fit, and this guy has taken pity on poor college students struggling with London prices.  Needless to say, I’ll be visiting the cart multiple times a week.  Free food is the best food. 

After a week of thoroughly exploring pubs, I felt it was only right to give the London club scene a try.  On Wednesday I headed to a club in Piccadilly Square with Ayenat, Shweta, Taylor, and some of Shweta and Taylor’s friends from Wash U.  The club we went to is called Tiger Tiger, and they have a wonderful 50% off all food and drinks (before 10pm) offer that runs through the month of January.  This club has four floors, each with a different kind of music playing: one with current pop-ish music, one 80s, one techno, and another similar to the first.  It was quite a good time, but the 80s floor was closed and we decided to come back later in the week to see it at full swing.

Other highlights of the week include Susie and my trip to the British Museum, which is conveniently located a block away from the SOAS campus.  Good thing, too, because it looks like it’ll take a number of return trips to fully explore.  We focused in on the Greek and Egyptian sections of the museum, and it was a lot of fun until Susie Q started feeling ill.  Managed to get some noteworthy pictures though

Cool Greek Sculpture

Poseidon, looking a little worse for the wear

Uncanny...

Mummies!

Where I want to do homework...feels like Harry Potter

Joyless museum trip

Failed attempt at a "jumping" picture

The British Museum is so cool

We went our separate ways, and decided to meet up later that night if Susie was feeling better…Lo and behold, a several hour nap did the trick, so we made plans to return to Tiger Tiger with Ayenat, another girl from Princeton named Katie, and Susie’s friend Teena.  To say that Saturdays at Tiger Tiger are better than Wednesdays is the understatement of the century.  We danced for probably 4 hours, and switched things up a lot between floors, which gave our night a lot of variety, including some Backstreet Boys, 80s jams (i.e. It’s Raining Men, a Grease medley, Summer of ’69, and other gems), current pop hits (what’s up, Justin Bieber), and a mish mosh of techno.  It was great fun, and Katie, Ayenat and I took the night bus home and befriended some friendly Brits who insisted to us that Americans are much friendlier than Brits (it’s true…). 

On da' tube, creepin. 

Tiger Tiger dance floor (guy in the right bottom corner looks possessed...)

The group

Today I attempted to go to Piccadilly with Shweta, Taylor, and Taylor’s boyfriend Chris, to watch the NFL playoff game (very out of character for me…), but apparently there is only one sports bar in London, and the entirety of the American male population in London was there to watch the game.  We tried several other places that we thought might have the game on (T.G.I. Friday’s, Planet Hollywood, etc), but our efforts were in vain.  We ended up eating at a restaurant called the Texas Embassy (Mexican food), where they informed us that the reason no one had the game on was that in order to get the channel it is played on (Sky), you have to pay 25,000£ a year for a license of some sorts.  The lack of American sports on TV was much more understandable after this information. 

Oh, the chips reference… I have ended up just ordering chips (that’s “french fries”, for all you Americans) a lot of the time when we go out to dinner, because a) everything is expensive here, and b) I’m so perma-hungry due to all the walking we do that I’m constantly eating/unable to wait for real mealtimes to eat (case in point, I ate dinner at 4:30 today…).  British chips are quite delicious, with my only complaint being that they don’t put enough salt on them.  I LOVE salt, and so I always excessively salt my chips, to the mild disgust of restaurant owners.  But yeah, chips are delicious. Tangent ended.

Tomorrow=classes! And Hare Krishna lunch.  Possibly a visit to the 3.95 all-you-can-eat Indian buffet. Exciting stuff!

So... I'm in London?

I thinks the best word to describe the past 10 days is surreal. The number of times I've whipped that out are shameful but its entirely accurate. I'm in London? For 5 months? WHAT? When did this happen?

Arriving at the airport was a haze of drowsiness and confusion. The funniest moment was entering the baggage claim area to hear my name yelled out, and who was there? One, Maddie Bergner. Coincidence? I sincerely think not. Well I sincerely think yes, but it was pretty amusing. We hugged and split paths. Then I gathered my baggage and went to queue with the other IFSA-Butler's (the program that I am going to King's through). I am very lucky to be surrounded by some of my good friends from school, and we hop on a bus and exit good ol' Heathrow.
And then, we were in London.
The bus dropped us off at the St. Giles hotel, which is located about 2 blocks from the British Museum (not that I had time to visit). I had a quick delirious breakfast before attempting to nap. I was mildly successful. And then the Butler folks arranged a traditional English dinner for us, on them, how very nice. I was served some kind of meat pie which was fairly good, and for dessert was given the ever famous "Spotted Dick." Yes, it was quite a vision. A kind of mysterious nub covered in a more mysterious orange cheesy looking sauce. Sounds delightful, no? To be honest, it actually wasn't that bad. Some kind of pound cake with raisins and the sauce was generically sugary, despite its orange glow. After the meal, a few of us Lafayette kids ventured out to look for a pub. I apparently have no smoothness when it comes to ordering at pubs but we got a pint and sat down at a table. First beer of London: Fosters. I think its a pretty cheap beer here, and not anything spectacular, but it was surprisingly smooth, and pretty darn tasty. We then went back to the hotel in hopes of a long nights sleep. My hopes were not fulfilled. I woke up at a dark 2AM thinking, okay! So! What now? After a little tossing and turning, about 3 hours worth, I was able to go back to sleep. Only to be awoken quite harshly at 8 to start the morning of orienting.

Butler is kind enough to set up an orientation for all of its London students in which we attend a few lectures about Life in London, Spending Money, we even had a Lord come talk to us about the politcal system a bit, he was kinda a baller. Then there was the terrifying speech by the ex-policeman telling us ways to be quite safe, or safe enough: impromptu weapons (a hand of change thrown into your pursuers face), where to keep your money (front pocket), and how to scream well in the face of an attacker (breath out hard, than in, and than YELL). Needless to say, I am a extremely paranoid now. But its waring off into a mild and probably helpful paranoia.

That evening I was moved into my King's accommodations. Goodbye Lafayette safety bubble. I entered my "flat" which is more or less a long yellow hallway with a series of doors on each side. The first door leads to the kitchen, and the rest are either locked or lead to single apartments. Inside I have a bed, a desk, a closet, and a window. Also a bathroom, which I can't help but smile when I think of. The best way to describe this bathroom is that it is a shower, that happens to have a sink and a toilet in it too. There is a curtain present, but it merely separates the sink from the toilet and the shower head... so yes, there is a toilet in my shower. When I first saw it I burst out laughing. 9 days later... I've gotten used to it. Though it is still chuckle worthy. At first I lacked hot water, which was needless to day, annoying. But that has all been fixed up gloriously and the shower is pretty great. My room also lacks heat. Isn't that funny? Kind of.... My plan is to buy a cheap space heater as soon as possible. The radiator that is in my room is more of a taunt and provides 15 minutes of heat before turning off. Good for the circulation I guess? To keep getting up and turning it back on? Right? Optimism.

The rest of the time here has been.... interesting. Sadly my dorm is a little isolated but I am cultivating a few friends. My flatmates are British except for one other boy who is American. They moved in much later than me, but from those I've met, they are very nice.

I've gotten to explore London a little. I met up with Maddie and Ayenat one evening for some nachos and a pint... very British haha. And I went to Camden to catch up with my Lafayette homies that are all studying at UCL.

I went to Stonehenge yesterday... and I had my first class today.... But maybe I'll leave that excitement for my next post, when I can add some pictures.

Cheers, all!