Barcelona FTW!

Well it has been quite the weekend of win and fail for me.

WIN: Thursday night it was Thanksgiving and tons of people showed up and tons of food showed up and I held a pineapple for the better part of an hour as an impromptu piece of modern art. If this doesn't scream "amazing Thanksgiving" to you I don't know what your problem is. Also, I knew Simon was that hench, masked dude in Misfits. I knew it.

Thanksgiving feast!!

My housewifeness likes to surface now and again.

FAIL: Friday my class was so boring I literally had to fight to stay awake. My palms firmly pressed against my face were the only things keeping my eyes open. I think that was my last class though as I will be in Ireland this Friday (win).

WIN: Cheng's friend Jon came to town and we had authenic Chinese food in London's Chinatown that was extremely on point. Hot tea = yums after walking around in freezing temperatures. Also, I nabbed a pair of soccer shoes for about £8. Here's to fitting into children's sizes!

The converted basketball court where we kick around.

FAIL: Apparently low-rise, straight-leg, light-wash jeans do not exist in London. I have no idea why this is such a phenomenal request to make of clothiers but apparently it is. Apparently I'm super-unstylish which is also full of fail. However, I did have a yummy burger with Adam so that was good.

These are all I'm asking for, really. Simple.

WIN: Chelsea almost lost to Newcastle which was inspiring, I had my first Sunday Roast at the pub, and 4/6 of my flat went ice skating at Somerset House! Which was phenomenal. It started snowing as we were leaving the rink. Ahhh, magical.

The gang doing some quality ice skating at Somerset House.

FAIL: Unfortunately, after leaving the rink I still had to write 1000 words worth of documentary proposal. I still don't know how to write a documentary proposal and I'm fairly certain I never will. Big waste of time and effort, Stephen, you're a terrible teacher. I'm holding onto the hope that 70% really does translate as an 'A' back home. That would be nice.

WIN: BARCELONA ABSOLUTELY DESTROYED REAL MADRID.

The End.

Knackered

I have so, so much catching up for my loyal following to do. First of all, I'm tired because I can no longer sleep on my school mattress and, secondly, I've been less than inspired to write about the doom and gloom around me. Bleh.

A week ago I was in the lovely English countryside visiting old-time pal, Alex. This was an absolutely wonderful/freezing cold experience that I found way more uplifting than the big city. There were lots of cows and everyone knows cows are hilarious. Such a good time. Not to mention Alex kept me busy tour-guiding around the area. He did a fantastic job though he'll probably deny it. He picked me up from the bus station after I arrived Friday night and drove me back to the Avon Tyrrell Activity Centre near the New Forest. Then he cooked dinner which was delish and we watched Blood Diamond, which was disappointing. By the way, the New Forest is a forest created and maintained by William I around 1079 for the private hunting of deer. Just FYI.

The Dorset coast.

Anyways, the next morning we jetted off to the Dorset coast and I saw my first castle! It was in rather poor repair but things should be looking up for Highcliffe Castle in the future. The castle itself was built between 1831 and 1835 by Lord Stuart de Rothesay who stoled most of the stuff he used to build it, most importantly, the stained glass. He actually nabbed the Jesse Window from the church of St. Vigour in Rouen. Other bits and pieces came from Germany, Switzerland and the Flemish. It was completely ravaged by a fire but assistance from Christchurch Borough Council, English Heritage and a £2.65 million grant are restoring it to its former glory.

The inscription reads:

SUAVE MARI MAGNO TURBANTIBUS OEQUORA VENTIS E TERRA MAGNUM ALTERIUS SPECTARE LABOREM

which, for those of you who don't read Latin, means:

Sweet it is, when on the great sea the winds are buffeting the waters, to look from the land on another's great struggles.

It's from the second book of Lucretius, a Roman poet and philosopher. Apropos since the castle sits on a cliff top and was a refuge for Lord Stuart from his turbulent career as a diplomat during the Napoleonic wars in Europe.

Next, Alex and I took off for Corfe Castle which dates back to the 11th century and commands a gap in the Purbeck Hills on the route between Wareham and Swanage. There is some evidence of a stronghold that predated the Norman Conquest. Edward the Conqueror was executed here in 978 and Maud de Braose and her son William were walled alive in the dungeon and subsequently starved to death here in 1210. The castle was also used as a royal treasure storehouse and was a royal prison and stronghold before being sold by Elizabeth I to Christopher Hatton (her secret lover, shhh) in the 16th century. It twice came under siege in the English Civil War and only fell when betrayed by a member of the garrison. Anyways, after the bad guys got in they undermined the entire structure using explosives after which (for the next couple hundred years) the local populace raided the place for building material. Most of the building material can still be seen in a number of nearby houses. There's one pub in the village that's older than my entire country. Imagine that.

Sheeps hanging out on the castle

After that, Alex and I visited the Jurassic Coast to check out Durdle Door. The name "Durdle" is derived from an Old English word, "thirl" meaning bore or drill. It is a natural limestone arch that is very dangerous to jump off of or try to climb.

My last day in town, Alex was a good sport and took me to Stonehenge. It was rather dreary and rainy and I thought that English Heritage could have presented the monument a little better. Moral of the story, don't go to Stonehenge unless you have a vested interest in Stonehenge. I have a vested interest in Stonehenge and I'll link you to my research paper if you'd really like. I'm just that nice.

Domestic Goddess

I have just made chili. And cleaned the flat and my room (almost) in its entirety. I didn't do the dishes but they weren't my dishes to do so that is excused.

So now I am sitting in my clean room that smells vaguely of cinnamon and apples (yumm, smells like Christmas) enjoying a bowl of chili con carne which is arguably one of the best things to eat when it's chilly outside. Potato soup obviously trumps any other cold-weather meal but for arguments sake, chili is good too. I have a ton left over as well so we'll see how long I can stretch it. Perhaps next week I'll make potato soup and then those two plus my coffee can see me through the long, hard, five-weeks-worth-of winter that I'll be enjoying in London.

I'm not complaining much though because the trees have changed color and the city looks semi-decent. It'll be another story, of course, when the leaves all fall and everything just looks stark and depressing. But for now, this is what I'll be enjoying on my little jaunts around the city:

"Halloween" or "Why I can only hear out of one ear"

This is the Halloween post. In this post you can expect to see photos of my make up, my costume, my friends and the venue where we got down. All of this is way more interesting than the school aspect of my study abroad. Suffice it to say, I'm still less than impressed LCC.

This Halloween I was inspired by WWII-era nose art. Probably because I came across the following book while perusing the Imperial War Museum and thought, Gee, that would just be so perfect!

The sultry, pin-up version of Jane. With blonde hair.

However, after searching for possible costume material, I reconsidered and just bought something on the cheap side that I could possibly use again someday. So I morphed from somewhat pin-up to a sort of dirty pirate hooker (I never thought I'd get so much use out of knee-high leather boots). The important part was that everything was somewhat foam-proof and (although my make-up was ruined) my costume survived the night!

London is more fun than San Antonio because absolutely everyone rides the bus.

My date for the night - A Clockwork Orange-ish

Hugh Hefner and a bunny or two.

About fifty students from my building all piled onto the bus around 11:30 p.m. and jetted off to London Bridge, under which our venue was located. Debut is built into the tunnels underneath the underground/train station near London Bridge and it's huge. Which was good because I'm guessing there were more than 3,000 students there last night. Sick. There are more than five different rooms within Debut, all blaring their own music and featuring neon lights, foam cannons, and hot-tubs (if you're VIP). It's from standing in front of the speakers in the techno room that I am now deaf. In one ear. Maybe when my ears stop ringing I'll be able to hear properly again. Thank goodness I don't have class until Wednesday night!

Being silly in line for the cloakroom.

Picture I took while my eardrum was being perforated.

Lotsa neon lights and FOAM!

Movie Night, Movie Night and Crepes

Last week was a blur of activity and, as everyone knows, it's difficult to blog while blurring. Classes are still not worth mentioning, for the most part. In my features class we did an exercise to practice interviewing others and my interview turned into a class-wide free-for-all. Apparently college sports in America are quite interesting. Now I'm desperate to see some university leagues play while I'm here. Not that I wasn't desperate before, it's just that now there's an edge to it where I can justify my obsession by objectively comparing and contrasting... for anthropological purposes...

On Friday night the weekend got started with a birthday party in 101. I have no idea who Lia is but I will admit, without shame, that I was very disappointed she didn't have cake at her party since that was the only reason I went down in the first place. You can say I'm a terrible person. During the course of the party I was somewhat convinced to head to Camden with the crew to go to some Electric... thing... dance place. So I headed up to take a shower and get changed but to my chagrin the whole group had already left by the time I was ready. Tom (who had crashed the party with me earlier) was still here though. I chatted on Skype for a good bit with my family since Grammie and Grandpa and Danny AND Timmy were in town and afterwards I watched Cruel Intentions with Tom.

Cruel Intentions is an insanely depressing movie. I almost want to be physically sick as I'm watching the antics of these mega-rich, private school New Yorkers. Somebody please tell me they don't exist in real life. Albeit depressing, I also love the soundtrack. To whomever can listen to this song for hours on end and not contemplate suicide, I salute you. I didn't get quite to that point on Saturday since 501 was (finally) having a movie night!!!! I was cheered up immensely by The Fantastic Mr. Fox. George Clooney cures most everything. As do the folks in 501.

On Sunday I headed out with the same lovely people for Brick Lane. We wandered around for a few hours and I fought the urge to buy every cheap, little, frilly dress I saw. The sequined ones too. Remarkable self-control. We grabbed lunch in the cafeteria-type place and I nearly choked on my Kung Po Chicken. I had a cough and it was spicy and when I inhaled the spiciness I started crying big, fat tears and was out of commission for a few minutes. Tizzy was very worried. After lunch we wandered around a bit more and then decided to head home. On our way home, we kept an eye out for a nice little coffee shop or somewhere we could enjoy crepes but with no luck. So we decided to go home and make our own crepes and coffee. Sophie, you make much better crepes than Selfridges. I would know because I tasted a Selfridge crepe when I went there with Adam who was shocked that I'd never been in Selfridges. What can I say, a fashionista, I am not. Price tags in swanky stores make me ill.

It Is Raining Again. And Cold.

First week of school: done. I can't say I was very impressed with my classes but the level of attention given to such small, small details was impressive. Who ever thought that there would be a class solely devoted to sub-editing? Or that said class would be over two hours long? Two full hours of looking at symbols to denote where there should be full stops or where text should be italicized. This was my Friday class, though, so I'm getting ahead of myself.

Tuesday was a lovely day off. I had a nice long run and I'm not sure what else happened. I need to buy a planner so that I remember what my plans are (past and present). Anyways, Wednesday was a busy day. I hiked all the way over to Edgware Road (about an hour and a half, but I got turned around sometime before getting to Hyde Park) and picked up some laundry from Sarah and hit Primark for some £4 sweaters. Which reminds me that Gap is having a 75% off sale and that would probably help my current situation. My current situation is not really owning any cold weather clothes. I have coats for really cold weather and sweaters for mild weather but nothing in between. Clearly, I'm unprepared for the next few months. Unfortunately, since it took me so long to get over to Sarah's there would have been no way for me to make it back to LCC for my film seminar. Therefore, I missed my film seminar. Which is a shame because it will probably be my only interesting class.

Thursday's class could be called mildly interesting and it's the only course where I've actually been given work to do. That being said, stand by for email or skype interviews! I need to write a couple of feature stories! I'm not sure my brain is up to it - I haven't seriously written anything for months. Fantastic! Thursday I remember being extremely exhausted and passing out for about 4 hours sometime in the late afternoon. Then I remember waking up and hanging with the flatmates for another good two hours before heading back to bed! I woke up on Friday much refreshed. The refreshed feeling didn't last long though, due to the aforementioned class. Boohoo.

Friday afternoon was much better since Sarah and I decided to stalk Johnny Depp! For all of you that were unaware, Johnny is filming POTC 4 in London! For all of you who are not as savvy as I am, POTC 4 stands for Pirates of the Caribbean the fourth. Now you all can pretend to be as comfortable with movie abbreviations like I do. Unfortunately we did not manage to track down Mr. Depp (perhaps they were not filming that day) but Sarah and I had a lovely jaunt around the Old Royal Naval College and I took some pictures. I like the pictures a lot because every one of them reminds me of that story that begins: "It was a dark and stormy night..."

It was a dark and stormy night...

It was a darker and stormier night...

It was a really, really dark and really, really stormy night...

After we were finished thoroughly searching Greenwich for said actor, Sarah and I headed our respective ways. I just barely beat the rain home, took a little time to have a snack, and then headed out again for Oxford Street. Then I stayed up much too late drinking coffee, talking, laughing hysterically and having a good time in general. I did wake up around 10 a.m. this morning though which is respectable. However, it's raining outside and freezing so I'll decline to join the outside world and instead make tea and watch House. Oh and wait for my couch surfers to return from their football match. For the weekend I'm hosting two Americans who are traveling through London and needed a place to stay. This is in a vain attempt to get karma on my side so that I can stay with someone when I head to Liverpool at the end of the month!

A Case of Preposterous Optimism

"A Case of Preposterous Optimism"

This was the name of an exhibit I encountered while walking home alone in the dark from Waterloo Station where Bakerloo decided to terminate instead of terminating in the usual spot - namely, Elephant and Castle. All at once it summed up my thoughts about my abilities to get home safely and my previously constructed opinion on my course today. Only one of the two was properly justified optimism....

Seeing as I'm typing in my blog instead of in some hospital somewhere you can surmise that I was correctly optimistic about my ability to get home from Waterloo Station. It was, in fact, a walk in the park (I would have much rather it been a cake walk but beggars can't be choosers). I must have developed some sense of direction because I was able to navigate the extensive Waterloo Station and find my appropriate exit. I then was able to make it down the creepy back alley and through the tunnel with no interferences. Once I was on Westminster Bridge Road I could get straight to St. George's Circus with no problems and from there I could easily conduct myself to good ol' Julian Markham House.

However, my classes today were a whole other story, although one of my "classes" was only a brief course to familiarize students with macs so I can be somewhat more gentle with my judgement. My crash course in computers was around 10:15 this morning and it was about 45 minutes of the most inane instruction I've received thus far. It honestly was unnecessary to school us in proper methods of logging onto our computers for fifteen minutes. Let's not dress it up, all you do is click once on an icon. No password necessary. Simple. My later class was much of the same although my professor is a darling so I can forgive him more readily. The first chap closed the door on some students who were five minutes late saying, "The next class is at 11, yeah?" Rather rude. But my second "tutor" is a scrawny, nicotine-addicted, old guy who is barely keeping pace with the technology of today yet is clearly enamored with typography and InDesign. It was just an unfortunate coincidence that I already have experience using InDesign and so the beauty of today's lesson was lost on me. It was much more like a monotonous review of what took me five minutes to learn when I was a freshman.

I have one day to muster my missing enthusiasm, though. Tuesday is a free day for me and so I will go run and get excited about London all over again and hope for the best on Wednesday.

I'm pretty sure Wednesday won't disappoint since it's my film elective and last week we talked in detail about some classic westerns. Which I loved.

Free Drinks

One recurring theme in both my Wednesday and Thursday nights are free drinks. And by "recurring" I mean, this week on Wednesday and Thursday I got free drinks. It could become a grand tradition though.

Yesterday, Maxine and I trooped to Queensway Bowling Alley, Ice Skating Rink and Bar. They also served gelato which is definitely worth mentioning. That was one all-inclusive edifice. After (almost) skating like a pro, (almost) getting run over by rugby players and (almost) making a complete fool of myself (not to mention getting gelato), I then headed to the bar whose name I forget. What I do remember is that Max and I walked in, cased the joint, headed upstairs and realized that the Phillies were on TV. The only thing I could think of was that Dennis would be happy they were winning. Then I wanted to immediately find some growing grass to watch or paint drying because either would be infinitely more entertaining than baseball. Luck was with us though because Adam Richardson (I'm saying his full name because I'm a creep) introduced himself to us and bought us both a pint. As it turns out he dabbles in breakdancing and he entertained us for most of the night and, since he was such an entertaining person, Max and I hunted through Facebook until we found him later that night. Stalkers.

Snowcial!

Today also turned out quite well. Again, I went out into the wild with Maxine - this time to Urban Outfitters. They were having quite a hefty sale and all students got 20% off merchandise in addition. To our delight, they were also handing out goody bags and cider. It definitely pays to be a student in London! I now have two free scarves, a pair of sunglasses I will never wear, a bedazzled little wallet number and a clutch. For free. Not having to pay a cent. Not to mention the cider. I think life must only go downhill from here.

Snapping away during my busride...

Maxine with her loot.

Also, Maxine, Nuria, Sophie and I have become quite the card game aficionados but we are always trying to discover new and more fun ways to make us of a deck of cards. If anyone remembers any games that they want to pass along, please be my guest.

My Alarm Failed

Today I woke up late but (thankfully) with fifteen minutes to spare before my meeting with BA Journalism Course Director Stephen Something. I've forgotten already and since I left my packet of papers in the grocery store I doubt I'll be remembering anytime soon. It was lucky that I actually woke up when it was still morning because I'm knackered. Last week was exhausting but I can't seem to put my finger on why...

Thursday night I went to Debut with a million other UAL students and we were up substantially late grooving and whatnot. Friday Maxine, Nuria and I went to the Cheese and Wine Night at the student bar on High Holborn (that's right, my school has a bar - two, actually). Saturday was a long day, I suppose. Maxine and Nuria and I set off to go to the Cultural Fayre on High Holborn but we kept getting distracted along the way. First we ran into the L.A. Lakers and then we ran into an interesting exhibit. We also found a Belgium Restaurant but we didn't stop there... We finally made it though and got henna tattoos and Krispy Kreme and headed home. Later there was a flat party during which I debated Anglicanism v. Catholicism for like four hours. Literally, that's all I did until 4 a.m. It was fun though. Then on Sunday I skipped the Sports Day since it was raining and the football club said they weren't coming out. I went to bed pretty early as well since I was supposed to get up early and run. I didn't which means Maxine and I will be headed to Hyde Park as soon as she is finished with her orientation day.

I party like a rockstar.

Matching flatmate tats. Good idea, no?

Those are Lakers. Famous people.

Hardy har har

My orientation day was rather short and informal. I met with the course director and two other international students (there are only two, isn't that odd?) and we were carted around LCC getting acquainted with our surroundings. I'll probably end up earning around 15 credits this semester which isn't bad. I don't have all of the information yet but from what I heard today, classes will be on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Classes are once a week and they start in a week. There are about 40 students in my particular course so we'll be split in half and squeezed into classes that way. Unfortunately my last class will probably be Friday afternoon (due to my membership status in the alphabet ghetto) which means traveling will have to be squeezed into a few weekend trips.

Another bummer is that our grades are entirely dependent upon one assignment that we turn in at the end of the course. Cue much stress on my part. Especially concerning my production class since I've never really been on that end of a camera. Argh. Fingers crossed though and hopefully I'll meet more knowledgeable people on Wednesday when the rest of my course is present for orientation happenings.

I Got Free Stuff! I Got Free Stuff!

This week = crazy.

Friday was Disco/Karaoke pub crawl. Saturday was some B.A. ERSing (until really late, it's a legitimate qualifier for crazy). Sunday was Skype-day so I got in touch with the folks. Monday started Freshers week and all the mad activities. Sophia and Nuria and I watched This Is England, a British drama film written and directed by Shane Meadows. It's about skinheads in 1983 before the entire subculture was adopted by the white nationalists. It was pretty awesome. After that we went to a book-binding shindig with Dil. I was less than impressed with folding pieces of paper and sewing them together. Afterwards I grabbed some tea and honey and went back to the flat to nurse my sore throat. Later, Sophie made dinner and then we all headed out to the Darkroom which was hot, sweaty and unnecessary.

Then on Tuesday the internationals of JMH headed out for our orientation. A couple of lectures illustrated that my listening skills are still on vacation and in no shape to start school next week. However, my walking skills are on par and I greatly enjoyed our tour of the City of London. Lots of neat history involved. Also the tour ended at a pub whereupon UAL's Study Abroad program bought the entire group a pint. Back at the ranch I had another therapeutic cuppa and settled down for a nice evening in with Maxine. Ended up asleep by midnight - great success!

This morning Maxine and I were out of the flat by noon and headed to the Big Fayre where we received lots of free stuff. We had to fight tooth and nail for the Urban Outfitters goody bags but consider it Maxine's baptism into the desperate world of university students. Upon organizing my goodies I've found many-a good coupon and planned my nights out for the rest of my life, it seems. Apparently there's a student get-together again tonight but as it is raining outside I'm less than inspired right now. Maybe later.

Disco night at the Elephant & Castle! Our sezzy D.J.

Some quality Egyptian Rat Screw for Nuria's birthday.

Playing some foozball at the Darkroom.

It Is Raining

Today I was looking forward to lounging in Hyde Park with a good book. Alas, it is not to be so. This is my first rainy day in London and I'm almost glad I woke up at 11 a.m. so that it's halfway over. I am not a fan of rainy days.

Yesterday was a beautiful day. I woke up nice and early and went to have lunch with Helen (Clara's friend) in Covent Garden. We ate some delicious Cornish pastries while watching "The Tom Show" perform on the street. I'm a sucker for street performers - I gave him four pence...

Tom the street performer and a view of Covent Garden Market.

After lunch we strolled around Covent Garden and then put our walking shoes on and hit the city (I didn't actually change shoes, this was just a convenient turn of phrase). We blasted through Covent Garden and then hit Trafalgar Square, Horse Guards, Southbank, Chinatown, Leicester Square, and Piccadilly Circus. All in all, a good day. I thoroughly enjoyed the street performer and opera singer in Covent Garden, taking the a picture with the iconic lion in Trafalgar Square, seeing more street performers on the south bank, realizing that there was a cache of delicious but inexpensive Chinese food (my favorite), seeing the set up for the premier of Eat, Pray, Love, and knowing how to get home all by myself from Piccadilly Circus.

The Iconic Lion

The Queen's Life Guard at the entrance to Horse Guards.

Colorful lanterns in Chinatown.

I went all the way back to my dorm, got my running gear on, and then headed back to Hyde Park to do some jogging. In hind sight, I should have found a running route to Hyde Park and not taken the tube but I didn't want to press my luck. Also if it took more than thirty minutes I would have been done for but tomorrow I'll give it a try. So I ran around for about thirty minutes and saw a good deal of people and the water and geese and swans and whatnot. A lady actually stopped me to ask if I'd run past the Princess Diana Fountain as she was looking for it but could not find it. Unfortunately I had not. If I do, though, I'll take a picture and call my mom directly.

I thought about heading back to Leicester Square for the premiere of Eat, Pray, Love but I don't think sweaty and breathless me would have made a good impression on Julia Roberts. Heads up though, this is where I would suppose the cast of Harry Potter comes for HP7. Chea.