This morning, I got a message from Oscar. Apparently, his step-father is uncomfortable with a stranger in the house for Christmas, and his mother just went "Okay then" without a second thought. So I can't spend Christmas with them anymore. Oscar repeatedly said that he felt like an asshole for breaking the news to me. I decided to go spend some time alone to sort of think about what I'm going to do instead.
I think I mentioned in a previous post that Andy made fun of Oscar from Devon last Thursday. He had also jokingly mentioned spending Christmas like a "real British family" with him. So I sent him a Facebook message asking if that offer was legit and if I can take him up on it. No word on it now, but I'm sure he'll be talking with family and such about it and I'll know in a couple of days. In the meantime, I'm going to talk with some other people about my situation and if anyone would welcome a lone American into their home for the holiday. I hope they do. Otherwise, Sarah back in Madison suggested going to Germany and exploring some of their awesome Christmas Markets. Which would be tempting if I didn't have anywhere else to go. So we'll see.
Because of this, my plans for the Imperial War Museum were foiled. Instead, I distracted myself by watching The Big Bang Theory and Friends on the computer. In my search for transport around Scandinavia, I bought myself a Europass for $300, which will grant me travel anywhere in Scandinavia for five days within two months. I'm sure I'm not going to push the two month limit, but it's nice knowing that I can travel anywhere with this one thing. And on a train no less! That, and I self-indulged and finally bought myself a corset from this woman. Having it shipped to Sarah on Emerald Street, where she'll keep it somewhere safe until I get back. Got it cheap too for about $50, which is a lot less than what they usually go for (shipping included in that price).
Then I went to visit Oscar because I was tired of being along. Cieron came by because he wanted to go to a store to get some things, but he didn't want to go alone. So Oscar and I went with him to Waterloo Station. On the way back, Oscar tried to find a sandwich or something for dinner. He found a can of soup, and I found a 275ml bottle of Smirnoff. Once back, Francie was going out to Costa to get a cup of coffee because she can't function without it. We went with her too.
Francie's going to Spain, Italy, Bosnia, Prague, and Russia after this semester for Christmas and New Years and some travel time. All alone, I guess. She mentioned a friend in Bosnia. But she said she loves traveling alone. Sometime last year, she flew to Seattle and took a train to Vancouver for a few days. Met some people at the hostel that she hung out with, then went to Seattle and had a blast on her own because she could do whatever she wanted without waiting for anyone. Then she spent a day in Oregon before flying back home.
For dinner, I fried some sausages and mixed it in with a can of Spaghetti-Os. Didn't spend much time hanging with Oscar after that because I wanted to watch a bunch of videos and stuff. So yeah.
Talked with Sarah all evening, as usual on a Sunday evening. Also determined that I'll be going on the London Eye with Shelby next Sunday. Details to be discussed on Tuesday at the internship class. Sarah's still looking for places for next year in Madison, and she found a house on the other side of the capitol but it looks really big and really nice. It's a three bedroom but it's only $1200 a month, which would be about $400 a person. I think water and heating are included. Not sure about electricity, though. Don't think so. But that looked really nice. Hardwood floors too.
No new developments. Tomorrow I'm meeting Becky at 1p and we're buying tickets for Flashdance, which has an interesting poster on the Tube but I know nothing about it except the poster is kind of cool. We're going to see that tomorrow. And on Wednesday, I'll be joining the Social Program for Wicked, which I'm excited about.
The story about the Wicked came about when I went to Edinburgh. Don't think I mentioned this to anyone. But a girl in the Social Program couldn't make the Wicked show because she planned a trip to Dublin that weekend that left on Wednesday. So she's selling her ticket to anyone who is interested. Well, I told Becky I was interested because I love Wicked in all its witchy glory. Becky told the girl, Rae, that I was interested, and so Rae got in contact with me and gave me the details and such. So now I'm going to see Wicked on Wednesday. I owe Rae $20 for the ticket, but it doesn't have to get to her before the show. We have the creative writing and internship toolkit classes together, so at least we're familiar with each other even though we've never had a proper chat before.
Heard a crack of thunder this afternoon that went on for a minute. It was glorious and wonderful. There is no such thing as thunder in London, I swear. First time I heard anything and it's the only time I heard anything. I savored it.
Although Christmas has me bummed, my current inner debate will be Oslo or Fjords? Oslo or Fjords? Both? How should I manage that? Stop in Oslo for a day or so? (Oslo's price is what turned me off about it. I wonder what the Fjords are like in the wintertime?) Still determined to go to Helsinki. Still gotta research what's all there. It's a slow process, but it'll happen, though. Francie thought road trippin' Scandinavia was pretty cool. I should go hang out with her more often. Just to talk or something. She's really accepting of people and really personable. I should.
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Saturday, November 13, 2010
At least the food rocks
This morning I dined on crumpets because I was tired of eating oatmeal with water. Also, I still had to get rid of my old butter. There's not much left, though. I'm excited.
Then I went shopping for food. I made sure to limit myself in what I bought so I didn't weigh down myself on the walk home. Seriously, walking a half-mile with fifty pounds of food held by various points of your body is hard work. Luckily, there's a very convenient bus that'll take you a block from the giant Tesco to right outside International Hall. Oh, lucky me.
Then I went and got Oscar because we were supposed to walk to Elephant and Castle together to look around the shopping center there. Well, there is a shopping center there, but it looks kind of sketch. And what I mean by sketch is not very well maintained and filled with stores with the cheap quality and the cheap prices to go with it. The people that shop there resemble the best of the people of Wal-Mart. (I'm sure no one as weird as the real people of Wal-Mart would dare show themselves in British public. It's a culture difference thing. People seem to be more conscious of what others think of them over here.) All the while, Oscar kept complaining about the state of the building and I sort of said "yeah yeah, you're too good to be here, I know." His
Found a factory outlet for a store warehouse. And while some of the boots looked nice and I checked out a few, nothing really tickled my fancy to the point of spending 30 quid on a single pair. Which I guess is kind of cheap over here, but it's still $60 for me.
There were a bunch of market booths outside the shopping center. One of them sold shoes as well, but none of them tickled my fancy either. So we left.
Oscar had to stop at his bank, which isn't your normal NatWest or HSBC apparently. I followed him until we walked along the South Bank to Waterloo Bridge. When there, he turned to me and said "I wouldn't be offended if you want to go back." And because I was hungry and didn't want to buy anything from a shop (even though it was really tempting to get a kabob), I went back to eat lunch, which involved toast, bacon rashers (it's the kind of bacon closest to the American style bacon they have), turkey meat, cheese, ranch on one piece of bread, and some mixed greens. It was good. Also finished the last of the cookies and ate an apple.
Meanwhile, Chris from across the hall came by asking for laundry detergent. I gave him some because I'm a nice person and he's a nice person and he's always been really polite with me. When he came to give it back, I asked if he'd be interested in visiting Brussels. He said that yes, he would be, because he hasn't been getting around much either (just the south of France with his parents and Barcelona this past weekend and Wales some other time). Then he let me use the vacuum he borrowed from the front desk, so my room is freshly vacuumed now. When I went to return the vacuum, he said that he won't be able to do the weekend I was planning. He's planning a trip to Italy over Thanksgiving and he doesn't want to travel two weekends in a row. He asked if December would be better, and I said no because I'm going to Rome, then Madrid, then Devon, then Scandinavia. And there's hardly any work for final school projects with that sort of travel schedule. He understood. So now we're not going anywhere together.
Called my parents afterward and they're doing fine. They asked about the Harry Potter World Premiere and how the Brussels planning was going. I presume the actual National Express website has some sort of feature that locks my card every time I attempt to book the bus tickets. Which makes booking so frustrating I want to snap my card in two whenever it doesn't work (I don't though. That'll just be silly and counter productive).
During this call, I started to hear popping noises from outside that sounded like fireworks. Since I've been interacting so much with Chris, I thought I'd check them out from his room because he would have a better view of them. And he did. Fancy fireworks show along the South Bank, yippie. We talked for some more (this was where we established the "our schedules are too busy to find a compatible date" thing) and then I returned to my parents on the phone.
Dinner, for me at least, was quite amazing. Here is what I had including recipe in case you want to make it yourself. This came about because I had this gnocchi since early October and I had to get rid of it. But it wasn't just going to be any old heat-yo-noodles-and-eat-'em, this was going to be an attempt to recreate the Chicken Gnocchi soup at the Olive Garden! I deem this a success even though it's nothing like the Olive Garden (but it's been a few months so I may be wrong). I even tried to share, but Chris was the only one who agreed to have a bowl. Even then, he stored it away for later. So I'm upset that no one tried my soup while it was still fresh, but at least I got to share it!
Jessica called while I was away, so I called her back. Normal friend talk there. Nothing spectacular.
Tomorrow is the Imperial War Museum. I think I'll check out the Shepherd's Bush Shopping Center on Monday. Sounds like a good plan to me.
[EDIT] Just booked Brussels using my emergency card. So you all know.
Then I went shopping for food. I made sure to limit myself in what I bought so I didn't weigh down myself on the walk home. Seriously, walking a half-mile with fifty pounds of food held by various points of your body is hard work. Luckily, there's a very convenient bus that'll take you a block from the giant Tesco to right outside International Hall. Oh, lucky me.
Then I went and got Oscar because we were supposed to walk to Elephant and Castle together to look around the shopping center there. Well, there is a shopping center there, but it looks kind of sketch. And what I mean by sketch is not very well maintained and filled with stores with the cheap quality and the cheap prices to go with it. The people that shop there resemble the best of the people of Wal-Mart. (I'm sure no one as weird as the real people of Wal-Mart would dare show themselves in British public. It's a culture difference thing. People seem to be more conscious of what others think of them over here.) All the while, Oscar kept complaining about the state of the building and I sort of said "yeah yeah, you're too good to be here, I know." His
Found a factory outlet for a store warehouse. And while some of the boots looked nice and I checked out a few, nothing really tickled my fancy to the point of spending 30 quid on a single pair. Which I guess is kind of cheap over here, but it's still $60 for me.
There were a bunch of market booths outside the shopping center. One of them sold shoes as well, but none of them tickled my fancy either. So we left.
Oscar had to stop at his bank, which isn't your normal NatWest or HSBC apparently. I followed him until we walked along the South Bank to Waterloo Bridge. When there, he turned to me and said "I wouldn't be offended if you want to go back." And because I was hungry and didn't want to buy anything from a shop (even though it was really tempting to get a kabob), I went back to eat lunch, which involved toast, bacon rashers (it's the kind of bacon closest to the American style bacon they have), turkey meat, cheese, ranch on one piece of bread, and some mixed greens. It was good. Also finished the last of the cookies and ate an apple.
Meanwhile, Chris from across the hall came by asking for laundry detergent. I gave him some because I'm a nice person and he's a nice person and he's always been really polite with me. When he came to give it back, I asked if he'd be interested in visiting Brussels. He said that yes, he would be, because he hasn't been getting around much either (just the south of France with his parents and Barcelona this past weekend and Wales some other time). Then he let me use the vacuum he borrowed from the front desk, so my room is freshly vacuumed now. When I went to return the vacuum, he said that he won't be able to do the weekend I was planning. He's planning a trip to Italy over Thanksgiving and he doesn't want to travel two weekends in a row. He asked if December would be better, and I said no because I'm going to Rome, then Madrid, then Devon, then Scandinavia. And there's hardly any work for final school projects with that sort of travel schedule. He understood. So now we're not going anywhere together.
Called my parents afterward and they're doing fine. They asked about the Harry Potter World Premiere and how the Brussels planning was going. I presume the actual National Express website has some sort of feature that locks my card every time I attempt to book the bus tickets. Which makes booking so frustrating I want to snap my card in two whenever it doesn't work (I don't though. That'll just be silly and counter productive).
During this call, I started to hear popping noises from outside that sounded like fireworks. Since I've been interacting so much with Chris, I thought I'd check them out from his room because he would have a better view of them. And he did. Fancy fireworks show along the South Bank, yippie. We talked for some more (this was where we established the "our schedules are too busy to find a compatible date" thing) and then I returned to my parents on the phone.
Dinner, for me at least, was quite amazing. Here is what I had including recipe in case you want to make it yourself. This came about because I had this gnocchi since early October and I had to get rid of it. But it wasn't just going to be any old heat-yo-noodles-and-eat-'em, this was going to be an attempt to recreate the Chicken Gnocchi soup at the Olive Garden! I deem this a success even though it's nothing like the Olive Garden (but it's been a few months so I may be wrong). I even tried to share, but Chris was the only one who agreed to have a bowl. Even then, he stored it away for later. So I'm upset that no one tried my soup while it was still fresh, but at least I got to share it!
Jessica called while I was away, so I called her back. Normal friend talk there. Nothing spectacular.
Tomorrow is the Imperial War Museum. I think I'll check out the Shepherd's Bush Shopping Center on Monday. Sounds like a good plan to me.
[EDIT] Just booked Brussels using my emergency card. So you all know.
Friday, November 12, 2010
It's Friday . . . that's about it.
This morning, I submitted the samples of writing to BlackDog. Since my strongest writing is creative, I decided to submit a flash fiction I wrote last semester and the poem Kabuki Switch that got published in WUD's Souvenirs magazine. Then Tom asked if I could submit an academic essay. Which I will hunt for later this weekend.
There is an intern named Helen at Black Dog. She's a bit older to be an intern, she thinks (about 25 or so) and she's from the UK. But she's really nice. We peeled letters of a wall today and while we were at it, we talked about or love for board games, some more language differences between British English and American English, which stores had the best trousers, and so on. It was a fun time.
For the record, we were peeling letters off the wall because Black Dog is switching art exhibitions on the ground floor. They had vinyl letters on the wall to explain the exhibition instead of having some sort of sign somewhere. I thought it was really cool, and I thought they were painted until I started peeling them off. Who knew?
Also had to head to the post office to mail about 15 small packages. I feel sorry for the worker to has to put up with the American who doesn't always understand the British Postal Service and who has to mail a bunch of stuff. Sorry postal workers.
Got back from work and ate a quiche with Oscar. I 'm almost out of food so I'm just getting rid of it before I go shopping tomorrow. I thought I would go to a Museum or something, but I think I'll check out the Imperial War Museum on Sunday. Instead, I have to buy food. Then I'll be getting Oscar so we can check out the Elephant and Castle shopping place. I also want to head to Shepherd's Bush because Alice mentioned a really awesome shopping center there. And then there's a second-hand shop Hanne visited and really liked over on a stop on the London Overground (whose name I can never remember until I actually look at it). We'll see if I have enough time for all of this tomorrow, though.
That's the plan, and that's my Friday! [corny exit line here]
There is an intern named Helen at Black Dog. She's a bit older to be an intern, she thinks (about 25 or so) and she's from the UK. But she's really nice. We peeled letters of a wall today and while we were at it, we talked about or love for board games, some more language differences between British English and American English, which stores had the best trousers, and so on. It was a fun time.
For the record, we were peeling letters off the wall because Black Dog is switching art exhibitions on the ground floor. They had vinyl letters on the wall to explain the exhibition instead of having some sort of sign somewhere. I thought it was really cool, and I thought they were painted until I started peeling them off. Who knew?
Also had to head to the post office to mail about 15 small packages. I feel sorry for the worker to has to put up with the American who doesn't always understand the British Postal Service and who has to mail a bunch of stuff. Sorry postal workers.
Got back from work and ate a quiche with Oscar. I 'm almost out of food so I'm just getting rid of it before I go shopping tomorrow. I thought I would go to a Museum or something, but I think I'll check out the Imperial War Museum on Sunday. Instead, I have to buy food. Then I'll be getting Oscar so we can check out the Elephant and Castle shopping place. I also want to head to Shepherd's Bush because Alice mentioned a really awesome shopping center there. And then there's a second-hand shop Hanne visited and really liked over on a stop on the London Overground (whose name I can never remember until I actually look at it). We'll see if I have enough time for all of this tomorrow, though.
That's the plan, and that's my Friday! [corny exit line here]
Thursday, November 11, 2010
HARRY POTTER WORLD PREMIERE!
Woke up to wind this morning. THE WIND! That windstorm in the midwest a week or so ago? It visits London when its dark and I'm nestled in my bed attempting to get some shut eye.
So I woke up because I figured I would have a big day today. And I did. This morning, I made my way over to Buckingham Palace with the intent to watch The Changing of the Guards. On the way there, I saw a giant crowd of people by Westminster Abbey. It's apparently Remembrance Day and they honor their veterans by a ceremony thing at the Abbey. The bus stopped for a moment's silence at the Abbey out of respect.
It's lucky the Changing of the Guards was happening today. I later learned it happened every other day after 30 October. Anyway, soldiers in grey uniforms marched with a band, someone barked some orders, and there were sharp and crisp movements. Then some pacing as a second group of soldiers in the same uniform came with a band of their own. Again, some shouting and crisp movements. Then they did some not-fancy and not-complicated marching around the courtyard between the giant gates keeping out the pressing tourists and the Palace. They ended the show with the bands alternating between lively marches and slow melodies. I left somewhere around song 4. Somewhere between the music and the marching, a rich-looking carriage rode into the palace. It was good and red and the horse looked lively with high steps and such. Don't know if it was really the Queen herself or just a fake carriage, but it was cool nonetheless.
The crowd was abundant and I heard a couple Americans, a couple French or Italian people, saw a few people from the South Pacific. No one from Britain, I don't think. Anyway, I took pictures until my camera's battery life ended. Then I went away and walked through St. James' Park because, why not? It's there, I'm here, and there were lots of ducks to see. So I walked through and looked at all the ducks and decided that I didn't mind the wet pavement getting my jeans all wet because they'll dry by the radiator tonight anyway. And I discovered that St. James' Park is really close to Piccadilly Circus.
Upon arrival at said Circus, I saw the words plastered on a screen "HARRY POTTER SEVEN! WORLD PREMIERE TONIGHT! LEICESTER SQUARE!" And I thought "I actually know where that is" about the same time I thought "Crap, my camera died." But I didn't let that deter me. I found Leicester Square (pronounced "Lester Square" I should tell you. Took a few times for me to get it) and saw the posters and the hanging banners and the set ups for the lights and the gathering crowd. It looked really awesome. They even had the red carpet rolled up in front of the Empire Theater and the path for it blocked off by fences. I had my fill before I took my lunch and headed to class.
Learned about the ICA phonetics alphabet in Linguistics today. And then I learned the differences in British accents vs. American accents. But the professor didn't get angry at my work. He was like "Well, if you pronounce the R there, then I guess you'll have it." He's a chill dude. Too bad he's not more entertaining to listen to.
I told Andy about Leicester Square being all set up for the HP Premiere, and I asked if he wanted to check it out with me. He said sure, why not, and so we went. I was excited because it's Harry Potter but he hasn't read the books or seen the movies. His excuse was "I'm 28!" Should have told him about my Dad, who at least has seen the movies. Or Angela at Bemis, who read the books in college. Don't have to be a kid to enjoy Harry Potter.
We were lost in the crowd this time as well. Rupert Grint was being interviewed when we showed up and I smiled because it wasn't a recording I was hearing, it was his real voice! Which sounds exactly like it does in the movie, only a bit more natural. Anyway, I stuck around for an hour and half, maybe two hours. Andy only stuck around for an hour because he had to meet some people. I said "Okay, see you next week" and left it at that. Then I pushed my way forward until I was at the fence blocking access to the place where people can get autographs. There was a fence blocking access to another fence --- designed for people like me who were just passing by and wanted to get a closer look. All the while, I wondered if you needed tickets to get closer. Something in me doubts it, but I wouldn't put it past anyone with a business sense to do something like that. Anyway, I hung out in the crowd until I saw who I came to see (you know, those three and the JK Rowling herself). Once they started interviewing the producers and director, I decided to leave.
While eating dinner, Chris, Kevin, and Alice came in to make their dinner. Chris and I commented on the differences in bacon. Then all four of us complained about the Mysterious Dish Thief. Apparently, I'm not the only victim of said person. A lot of people on the 8th floor have had their dishes stolen as well. And Alice has had a few things taken from her. Like her small knife and a sauce pan that's bigger than mine (that I would use once in a while because my own sauce pan isn't very big). We had lunch together. Kevin asked if I would like to visit Amsterdam Thanksgiving Weekend. I said "sure" but we'll see what comes of this. If he approaches me with more details, then yes, I would be willing to go. If not, then I'm not going to bring up the subject.
And that leads me to now, with a charged camera battery (placed in the charger when I got back) and a few more science fiction emagazines in my bookmark bar.
[EDIT] Yesterday, I discovered that a piece on my headphones broke off. This morning, I attempted to fix said headphones with super glue. Just a few minutes ago, I played with said headphones and deemed them fixed. For how long is up in the air, but at least I still have headphones for now. (I hate buds. I will never get buds. *shiver*)
So I woke up because I figured I would have a big day today. And I did. This morning, I made my way over to Buckingham Palace with the intent to watch The Changing of the Guards. On the way there, I saw a giant crowd of people by Westminster Abbey. It's apparently Remembrance Day and they honor their veterans by a ceremony thing at the Abbey. The bus stopped for a moment's silence at the Abbey out of respect.
It's lucky the Changing of the Guards was happening today. I later learned it happened every other day after 30 October. Anyway, soldiers in grey uniforms marched with a band, someone barked some orders, and there were sharp and crisp movements. Then some pacing as a second group of soldiers in the same uniform came with a band of their own. Again, some shouting and crisp movements. Then they did some not-fancy and not-complicated marching around the courtyard between the giant gates keeping out the pressing tourists and the Palace. They ended the show with the bands alternating between lively marches and slow melodies. I left somewhere around song 4. Somewhere between the music and the marching, a rich-looking carriage rode into the palace. It was good and red and the horse looked lively with high steps and such. Don't know if it was really the Queen herself or just a fake carriage, but it was cool nonetheless.
The crowd was abundant and I heard a couple Americans, a couple French or Italian people, saw a few people from the South Pacific. No one from Britain, I don't think. Anyway, I took pictures until my camera's battery life ended. Then I went away and walked through St. James' Park because, why not? It's there, I'm here, and there were lots of ducks to see. So I walked through and looked at all the ducks and decided that I didn't mind the wet pavement getting my jeans all wet because they'll dry by the radiator tonight anyway. And I discovered that St. James' Park is really close to Piccadilly Circus.
Upon arrival at said Circus, I saw the words plastered on a screen "HARRY POTTER SEVEN! WORLD PREMIERE TONIGHT! LEICESTER SQUARE!" And I thought "I actually know where that is" about the same time I thought "Crap, my camera died." But I didn't let that deter me. I found Leicester Square (pronounced "Lester Square" I should tell you. Took a few times for me to get it) and saw the posters and the hanging banners and the set ups for the lights and the gathering crowd. It looked really awesome. They even had the red carpet rolled up in front of the Empire Theater and the path for it blocked off by fences. I had my fill before I took my lunch and headed to class.
Learned about the ICA phonetics alphabet in Linguistics today. And then I learned the differences in British accents vs. American accents. But the professor didn't get angry at my work. He was like "Well, if you pronounce the R there, then I guess you'll have it." He's a chill dude. Too bad he's not more entertaining to listen to.
I told Andy about Leicester Square being all set up for the HP Premiere, and I asked if he wanted to check it out with me. He said sure, why not, and so we went. I was excited because it's Harry Potter but he hasn't read the books or seen the movies. His excuse was "I'm 28!" Should have told him about my Dad, who at least has seen the movies. Or Angela at Bemis, who read the books in college. Don't have to be a kid to enjoy Harry Potter.
We were lost in the crowd this time as well. Rupert Grint was being interviewed when we showed up and I smiled because it wasn't a recording I was hearing, it was his real voice! Which sounds exactly like it does in the movie, only a bit more natural. Anyway, I stuck around for an hour and half, maybe two hours. Andy only stuck around for an hour because he had to meet some people. I said "Okay, see you next week" and left it at that. Then I pushed my way forward until I was at the fence blocking access to the place where people can get autographs. There was a fence blocking access to another fence --- designed for people like me who were just passing by and wanted to get a closer look. All the while, I wondered if you needed tickets to get closer. Something in me doubts it, but I wouldn't put it past anyone with a business sense to do something like that. Anyway, I hung out in the crowd until I saw who I came to see (you know, those three and the JK Rowling herself). Once they started interviewing the producers and director, I decided to leave.
While eating dinner, Chris, Kevin, and Alice came in to make their dinner. Chris and I commented on the differences in bacon. Then all four of us complained about the Mysterious Dish Thief. Apparently, I'm not the only victim of said person. A lot of people on the 8th floor have had their dishes stolen as well. And Alice has had a few things taken from her. Like her small knife and a sauce pan that's bigger than mine (that I would use once in a while because my own sauce pan isn't very big). We had lunch together. Kevin asked if I would like to visit Amsterdam Thanksgiving Weekend. I said "sure" but we'll see what comes of this. If he approaches me with more details, then yes, I would be willing to go. If not, then I'm not going to bring up the subject.
And that leads me to now, with a charged camera battery (placed in the charger when I got back) and a few more science fiction emagazines in my bookmark bar.
[EDIT] Yesterday, I discovered that a piece on my headphones broke off. This morning, I attempted to fix said headphones with super glue. Just a few minutes ago, I played with said headphones and deemed them fixed. For how long is up in the air, but at least I still have headphones for now. (I hate buds. I will never get buds. *shiver*)
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Developments in the Internship
Internship today.
Attempted to help Noortje with several tasks, but two of the three times I didn't have the correct computer program. We attempted to work around this, but it just didn't happen. Finally, I addressed envelopes for her. Yippie.
Spent the afternoon doing just that for Adrianna after lunch. I asked her a few small, picky questions and it's lucky I did. For one of them, I went up to her the same time Leo did. They started speaking in Italian to each other and I just sat there wondering what they were saying because I didn't recognize anything (not speaking a word of Italian myself). Then Leo noticed me two minutes later and said "Oh, sorry!" and continued the conversation in English for my benefit. I didn't say anything. I may have had an uncomfortable look about me, but I still appreciate the fact that he switched languages for my benefit. That was nice of him.
Somewhere down the line, I was waiting for a web page to load. Then a little animation at the bottom of the screen caught my eye. It showed a cartoon guy lifting weights. When you hovered your cursor over him, text appeared in place of the animation that said "working on it!" I thought it was so cute.
During lunch, I checked Facebook. Jessica from Madison and I had previously planned to take a certain class together. But when the roster came out, we couldn't find it anywhere. She finally found it under Literature in Translation (LIT) simply titled "anime". I know you just face palmed, Mom. And it's probably up in the air whether I get credit for it or not, but Jessica is also an English major. If she's getting credit for it, then I can too. (We're just not going to mention her certificate in East Asian studies . . . ) But, with that class and the other classes I have previously planned, I have 17 credits, a part-time job, and at least one extra-curricular I'm not giving up (Working Title). As of now, the class that would be sacrificed is the fourth class I took on because I couldn't find this anime class. But now that looks really interesting. I'm not giving up my English classes, which leaves my ComArts classes: Intro to Media Production and American Film since 1970 are the two I adopted. While one is practical, the other is theory. I've also been thinking about my two English classes (Intermediate Fiction Workshop and American Literature) and how one is a practical and the other is a theory (only essay writing in American Lit). This Anime class would be a theory class (as in, no hands-on work), so I am more inclined to drop the American Film since 1970. However, the Intro to Media Production starts at 8:55a Tuesdays and Thursdays. So there's an argument for either way here.
Also, Pheobe told me that she would like a writing sample from me to see what I can do in that area. This excites me! I asked what kind of writing, and she said any kind. Marianne took me aside when I was about to leave and mentioned the writing sample as well. She also said that it could be more than one i.e. a flash fiction and a poem and a short essay, or something. I don't know if I should submit that much, though.
So maybe just a flash fiction and a poem? I already know which poem: Kabuki Switch because so many people seem to like it. And Amy Quan Barry, my creative writing professor last semester, really liked it as well. So it's gotta be good, right? Also, there's a piece of flash fiction that I usually default to when it comes to submitting something short and demonstrative of my writing capabilities. However, I have yet to look over that within the last three months, so maybe it's high time I do that again. (With the help of Jessica through Skype because she's the one who collected the critiques from Working Title's first meeting this semester. Those will be helpful.)
There is also something I wrote while in my creative writing class over here that I quite like. So I'll eventually digitize that and edit my heart away until it's something I really like. I'm thinking this thing will be my next Souvenirs submission.
I've also been thinking about freelance writing. Or at least doing something of the sort just to test it out and see if I can handle it.
In other news, I found ways to check train fares from Oslo to Stockholm. Will be looking more into that later on. Meanwhile, I attempted to hunt down and book one night's accommodation for Brussels, but found that anything that looks decent is booked and everything else is really sketchy and not very good. And I may be a solo traveler, but that means that my standards are a little higher than usual. So now I'm thinking of taking an overnight bus to Brussels and an overnight bus from Brussels on that same day. So I'll leave Friday night and come back really early Sunday morning. Which is only a day in Brussels, but it's much better than doing nothing all of November.
Was asked to see Flashdance on Monday but that'll mean skipping class. But still, it's veeeery tempting. So I decided to go. Opportunities like these don't pop up often enough!
Been missing my old phone. Oh, American phone with your glorious sliding keyboard and your camera and your better calendar and alarm clock settings! How I miss you so!!! (This brought about because I'm charging it again. What can I say, the time doesn't work at all but I still like playing with it. I miss it. It still feels awesome against my ear, especially now that my current international phone comes directly from the ghetto. Piece of cheap crap phone . . . )
Attempted to help Noortje with several tasks, but two of the three times I didn't have the correct computer program. We attempted to work around this, but it just didn't happen. Finally, I addressed envelopes for her. Yippie.
Spent the afternoon doing just that for Adrianna after lunch. I asked her a few small, picky questions and it's lucky I did. For one of them, I went up to her the same time Leo did. They started speaking in Italian to each other and I just sat there wondering what they were saying because I didn't recognize anything (not speaking a word of Italian myself). Then Leo noticed me two minutes later and said "Oh, sorry!" and continued the conversation in English for my benefit. I didn't say anything. I may have had an uncomfortable look about me, but I still appreciate the fact that he switched languages for my benefit. That was nice of him.
Somewhere down the line, I was waiting for a web page to load. Then a little animation at the bottom of the screen caught my eye. It showed a cartoon guy lifting weights. When you hovered your cursor over him, text appeared in place of the animation that said "working on it!" I thought it was so cute.
During lunch, I checked Facebook. Jessica from Madison and I had previously planned to take a certain class together. But when the roster came out, we couldn't find it anywhere. She finally found it under Literature in Translation (LIT) simply titled "anime". I know you just face palmed, Mom. And it's probably up in the air whether I get credit for it or not, but Jessica is also an English major. If she's getting credit for it, then I can too. (We're just not going to mention her certificate in East Asian studies . . . ) But, with that class and the other classes I have previously planned, I have 17 credits, a part-time job, and at least one extra-curricular I'm not giving up (Working Title). As of now, the class that would be sacrificed is the fourth class I took on because I couldn't find this anime class. But now that looks really interesting. I'm not giving up my English classes, which leaves my ComArts classes: Intro to Media Production and American Film since 1970 are the two I adopted. While one is practical, the other is theory. I've also been thinking about my two English classes (Intermediate Fiction Workshop and American Literature) and how one is a practical and the other is a theory (only essay writing in American Lit). This Anime class would be a theory class (as in, no hands-on work), so I am more inclined to drop the American Film since 1970. However, the Intro to Media Production starts at 8:55a Tuesdays and Thursdays. So there's an argument for either way here.
Also, Pheobe told me that she would like a writing sample from me to see what I can do in that area. This excites me! I asked what kind of writing, and she said any kind. Marianne took me aside when I was about to leave and mentioned the writing sample as well. She also said that it could be more than one i.e. a flash fiction and a poem and a short essay, or something. I don't know if I should submit that much, though.
So maybe just a flash fiction and a poem? I already know which poem: Kabuki Switch because so many people seem to like it. And Amy Quan Barry, my creative writing professor last semester, really liked it as well. So it's gotta be good, right? Also, there's a piece of flash fiction that I usually default to when it comes to submitting something short and demonstrative of my writing capabilities. However, I have yet to look over that within the last three months, so maybe it's high time I do that again. (With the help of Jessica through Skype because she's the one who collected the critiques from Working Title's first meeting this semester. Those will be helpful.)
There is also something I wrote while in my creative writing class over here that I quite like. So I'll eventually digitize that and edit my heart away until it's something I really like. I'm thinking this thing will be my next Souvenirs submission.
I've also been thinking about freelance writing. Or at least doing something of the sort just to test it out and see if I can handle it.
In other news, I found ways to check train fares from Oslo to Stockholm. Will be looking more into that later on. Meanwhile, I attempted to hunt down and book one night's accommodation for Brussels, but found that anything that looks decent is booked and everything else is really sketchy and not very good. And I may be a solo traveler, but that means that my standards are a little higher than usual. So now I'm thinking of taking an overnight bus to Brussels and an overnight bus from Brussels on that same day. So I'll leave Friday night and come back really early Sunday morning. Which is only a day in Brussels, but it's much better than doing nothing all of November.
Was asked to see Flashdance on Monday but that'll mean skipping class. But still, it's veeeery tempting. So I decided to go. Opportunities like these don't pop up often enough!
Been missing my old phone. Oh, American phone with your glorious sliding keyboard and your camera and your better calendar and alarm clock settings! How I miss you so!!! (This brought about because I'm charging it again. What can I say, the time doesn't work at all but I still like playing with it. I miss it. It still feels awesome against my ear, especially now that my current international phone comes directly from the ghetto. Piece of cheap crap phone . . . )
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
How to Be Alone (A YouTube Video)
The Badger Herald Shout-Outs have been riddled with various students voicing their opinions on the best Disney Channel Original Movie. So, when I woke up this morning, I started watching Zenon: Girl of the 21st Century, which I really liked back when we first got the Disney Channel when I was, what, thirteen? I find it's littered with plot holes now, but I still got a good laugh at it.
My creative writing class is canceled this week and next week so our instructor can go over our short stories and say how we're doing on them. The week after that, we're supposed to read Pretend You Have Big Buildings by Ben Musgrave, which is a stage play I've never heard of.
On the bus today, I started thinking about how mundane the ride was. How I've seen this road before and I know where it leads. Nothing is amazing and I don't look out the window in wonder. I only wonder how everything got to be routine, when it happened, and what I can do to change it. So when I got to class, I made a list of all the things in London I should do before I finally leave. And it grew and grew and it'll get here eventually. It's not a very neat list because I wrote in cursive so others couldn't understand what I wrote unless they really looked. I also wrote the list in paragraph form because my hand needed something to do so I just let it do what it wanted.
Walking out of class, I was talking with Shelby in how I want to go up on the London Eye at night. She wants to do the same. So she'll be getting back to me on a date for next week because she doesn't know when she interns exactly. Her boss just texts her and asks if she can come in (she interns at a theater. They're really laid back, I guess).
Internship Toolkit today talked about personality and motivation in the workplace. Knowing what motivates you and your personality helps figure out what kind of worker you are. It's a logical conclusion, but I feel like I could make that conclusion based on my own experiences and not by the research of others. We even took a very intense, very in-depth personality test. It's so intense, I' m just going to tell you the bits where I stray from the Average Person:
- More likely to accommodate to others' wishes and to avoid conflict. Likely to make fewer demands.
- Less likely to be bound by rules and regulations. Improvising and expedient.
- Judgment usually influenced by subjectivity. interested in the cultural facets of life.
- Reflective, focusing less on detail and more on the broader issues. Less attentive to detail.
- Less concerned with planning and organizing. Leave more things to chance.
There were 16 points to this personality test. I only stray in five of them. I'm okay with that. I like how I'm really accommodating but I don't follow rules all the time. I'm also very abstract and very sensitive. Who knew?
Once again, I claim this class to be one of the biggest culture clashes of my stay. I guess it really demonstrates how may people in the States work during their university education, and thus we learn good work ethic and such at the same time we're learning our trade. Over here, you learn your trade first because the government gives their students money to go to school. It's easier to be at the very bottom and work your way to the top over here because of this government student pension. No one pays tuition, apparently. Or they do, but the government really pays for it. By default. No FAFSA required.
Which indirectly leads me to the next big news of tonight. Oscar only has about 200 quid from now until January. And although he really wants to go to Brussels, he can't unless someone else pays his way. When he told me, he also said (and excuse the language), "But I'll have money ... FUCK you're back in America!" Which I found humorous at the time because it's one of those dialogue lines you find in sitcoms and not in real life. His money comes from the government. Hence the indirect transition. Could his parents pay for him? I don't know. Perhaps I'll ask about him borrowing money.
But until then, I'm getting cold feet about this "traveling to another country alone" bit. Which I guess is ironic considering the conditions in which I came here. So really I shouldn't be scared at all. But it's not the customs or the traveling, it's the vacationing alone for a few days. It's lonely, but then I think about the times I go wander London and how alone I am then because it's usually after class and the students I meet in class don't live in my area so I always go home alone. And I think that it'll be like that sort of alone where you're content with being alone because you sort of have to be alone. But the traveling alone is more choice than anything so it's like choosing to be alone. But everyone else already has plans
Messaged Becky on Facebook to see what her plans are in November and if there will be room for one person on them. But they're probably already soundly booked so I don't have much hope.
And then I start to really think to myself. I say something like "Dude, you're going across three countries alone. You said you wanted to travel to another country alone just to get a feel for it. So now's your chance. What are you waiting for? Why do you always need that little extra shove from someone else? Shove yourself, dammit!"
And then my bank card was declined.
But while we're on the subject of being alone, this is a video I favorite-ed back last Spring because I liked the beauty of it. But now I tend to think about it when I think about the time after Christmas and before Home. Sort of gives me strength, I guess:
My creative writing class is canceled this week and next week so our instructor can go over our short stories and say how we're doing on them. The week after that, we're supposed to read Pretend You Have Big Buildings by Ben Musgrave, which is a stage play I've never heard of.
On the bus today, I started thinking about how mundane the ride was. How I've seen this road before and I know where it leads. Nothing is amazing and I don't look out the window in wonder. I only wonder how everything got to be routine, when it happened, and what I can do to change it. So when I got to class, I made a list of all the things in London I should do before I finally leave. And it grew and grew and it'll get here eventually. It's not a very neat list because I wrote in cursive so others couldn't understand what I wrote unless they really looked. I also wrote the list in paragraph form because my hand needed something to do so I just let it do what it wanted.
Walking out of class, I was talking with Shelby in how I want to go up on the London Eye at night. She wants to do the same. So she'll be getting back to me on a date for next week because she doesn't know when she interns exactly. Her boss just texts her and asks if she can come in (she interns at a theater. They're really laid back, I guess).
Internship Toolkit today talked about personality and motivation in the workplace. Knowing what motivates you and your personality helps figure out what kind of worker you are. It's a logical conclusion, but I feel like I could make that conclusion based on my own experiences and not by the research of others. We even took a very intense, very in-depth personality test. It's so intense, I' m just going to tell you the bits where I stray from the Average Person:
- More likely to accommodate to others' wishes and to avoid conflict. Likely to make fewer demands.
- Less likely to be bound by rules and regulations. Improvising and expedient.
- Judgment usually influenced by subjectivity. interested in the cultural facets of life.
- Reflective, focusing less on detail and more on the broader issues. Less attentive to detail.
- Less concerned with planning and organizing. Leave more things to chance.
There were 16 points to this personality test. I only stray in five of them. I'm okay with that. I like how I'm really accommodating but I don't follow rules all the time. I'm also very abstract and very sensitive. Who knew?
Once again, I claim this class to be one of the biggest culture clashes of my stay. I guess it really demonstrates how may people in the States work during their university education, and thus we learn good work ethic and such at the same time we're learning our trade. Over here, you learn your trade first because the government gives their students money to go to school. It's easier to be at the very bottom and work your way to the top over here because of this government student pension. No one pays tuition, apparently. Or they do, but the government really pays for it. By default. No FAFSA required.
Which indirectly leads me to the next big news of tonight. Oscar only has about 200 quid from now until January. And although he really wants to go to Brussels, he can't unless someone else pays his way. When he told me, he also said (and excuse the language), "But I'll have money ... FUCK you're back in America!" Which I found humorous at the time because it's one of those dialogue lines you find in sitcoms and not in real life. His money comes from the government. Hence the indirect transition. Could his parents pay for him? I don't know. Perhaps I'll ask about him borrowing money.
But until then, I'm getting cold feet about this "traveling to another country alone" bit. Which I guess is ironic considering the conditions in which I came here. So really I shouldn't be scared at all. But it's not the customs or the traveling, it's the vacationing alone for a few days. It's lonely, but then I think about the times I go wander London and how alone I am then because it's usually after class and the students I meet in class don't live in my area so I always go home alone. And I think that it'll be like that sort of alone where you're content with being alone because you sort of have to be alone. But the traveling alone is more choice than anything so it's like choosing to be alone. But everyone else already has plans
Messaged Becky on Facebook to see what her plans are in November and if there will be room for one person on them. But they're probably already soundly booked so I don't have much hope.
And then I start to really think to myself. I say something like "Dude, you're going across three countries alone. You said you wanted to travel to another country alone just to get a feel for it. So now's your chance. What are you waiting for? Why do you always need that little extra shove from someone else? Shove yourself, dammit!"
And then my bank card was declined.
But while we're on the subject of being alone, this is a video I favorite-ed back last Spring because I liked the beauty of it. But now I tend to think about it when I think about the time after Christmas and before Home. Sort of gives me strength, I guess:
Monday, November 8, 2010
I say, Dear Watson . . .
I made a list of things to do before I left the room this morning. First on my list was the Sherlock Holmes Museum on Baker Street. I found it quite easily. It's a quaint little museum, not much to look at. They have quite a big shop and a lot of rooms as the museum. You can walk around the study where Holmes and Watson hang out, there's also Holmes' bedroom and several other rooms up the stairs. Quite a few of the upper rooms had wax figures featuring several prominent scenes from several different short stories. It was interesting. There was a guest book I signed to leave my little mark and to say that I visited it. Went to the shop again afterward and bought a present for Dad.
Then there were some errands I had to take care of. Like buy body wash because I'm almost out of the stuff I brought. There is a store called Boots that's sort of like the British version of Wal-Greens. I walked around there looking for some tissues because they're really handy, but I couldn't find any. So I'll have to look at a bigger Boots because this one wasn't very big.
Lunch was ate a place called Eat. They were pretty good. Ate lunch across from an elderly woman who didn't look like she wanted to talk, so I didn't press her. I ate my hot sandwich and drank my apple juice and enjoyed myself.
Then I forgot to turn in my time sheet for my internship. Whoops. Instead, I hopped right over to the Harrow campus and spend quite a long time reading in the cafeteria over there. Don't worry, it's a good book: Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman. It's about two Londons, London Above and London Below. More specifically, it's about a businessman named Richard Mayhew who helps a young lady who's injured and then gets sucked into London Below where people converse with rats and head to the Floating Market which is never held in the same place more than twice in a row. It's a really cool book and I know a lot of the places that's mentioned in it.
My class talked about messages in films. There's the message that's meant to be read in it and then there's the messages that the author didn't intend that the audience can pick up on. This is where film studies is similar to literature studies and this is what I thought the class would mostly be about -- interpretation -- because so much of studying literature is interpretation as well. But I guess this is the only class we'll get in it. Well, this one and next week. We watched a Dutch movie called Antoina's Line which was really good. It's about a woman and her teenaged daughter and how they move into the small town the mother grew up in. They start their life and unite a hodge-podge of different people into one community under one roof. It ends with the death of Antoina, who you can say is the head of the family. Her daughter has a daughter, who also has a daughter. One of the questions we're supposed to answer is "Is this a feminist film?" and I would answer "Yes." In a most obvious sense is this a feminist film. A woman is head of a family, she's independent and strong, a pillar of strength for so many people. Her daughter, granddaughter, and great-granddaughter are all strong women. We meet other strong women along the way. In fact, there are very few men with a strong enough personality to match those of the women. Alongside this note, I also enjoyed the film because you could relate to the characters not just in what they say but also in everything you see them do. There's a lot of visual cues that hint about a person's character throughout the movie. And I like that about it.
Dinner was a hodge-podge of different things. Ate my leftovers from Imperial Tandoori which I finally ate at over the weekend. (I walk past it every day on my way to the Tube.) Boiled a corn on the cod and ate that. It tasted kind of funny. Then I had some toast because I wasn't done munching yet. There were a few carrots involved, mostly because I still have a lot that I have to get rid of. Finished off my Smirnoff, which I would say is good tasting alcohol. Need to try more vodka in the future.
Was finally able to Skype into Working Title tonight. It was good. Someone jumped out the window and into the balcony, I saw the nighttime Madison skyline and Memorial Library. And the Red Gym. Didn't really officially meet any of the new Working Title people, but I heard them talk and read things and they fit pretty well into the group. There's also an older man there and I don't know his story just yet, but I figure I will know in January. Or February at the latest. He seemed surprised that the computer was talking an interacting with everyone, which amused me. Didn't understand a smidgen of what was going on, and it was enough to keep me quiet and attempt to figure out the topic of conversation. At two my time, I attempted to get someone's attention and managed to call over Teagan from across the room. Don't ask how I managed that. But she came by and I said I wanted to say "Good night" so I did and then I left.
Then there were some errands I had to take care of. Like buy body wash because I'm almost out of the stuff I brought. There is a store called Boots that's sort of like the British version of Wal-Greens. I walked around there looking for some tissues because they're really handy, but I couldn't find any. So I'll have to look at a bigger Boots because this one wasn't very big.
Lunch was ate a place called Eat. They were pretty good. Ate lunch across from an elderly woman who didn't look like she wanted to talk, so I didn't press her. I ate my hot sandwich and drank my apple juice and enjoyed myself.
Then I forgot to turn in my time sheet for my internship. Whoops. Instead, I hopped right over to the Harrow campus and spend quite a long time reading in the cafeteria over there. Don't worry, it's a good book: Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman. It's about two Londons, London Above and London Below. More specifically, it's about a businessman named Richard Mayhew who helps a young lady who's injured and then gets sucked into London Below where people converse with rats and head to the Floating Market which is never held in the same place more than twice in a row. It's a really cool book and I know a lot of the places that's mentioned in it.
My class talked about messages in films. There's the message that's meant to be read in it and then there's the messages that the author didn't intend that the audience can pick up on. This is where film studies is similar to literature studies and this is what I thought the class would mostly be about -- interpretation -- because so much of studying literature is interpretation as well. But I guess this is the only class we'll get in it. Well, this one and next week. We watched a Dutch movie called Antoina's Line which was really good. It's about a woman and her teenaged daughter and how they move into the small town the mother grew up in. They start their life and unite a hodge-podge of different people into one community under one roof. It ends with the death of Antoina, who you can say is the head of the family. Her daughter has a daughter, who also has a daughter. One of the questions we're supposed to answer is "Is this a feminist film?" and I would answer "Yes." In a most obvious sense is this a feminist film. A woman is head of a family, she's independent and strong, a pillar of strength for so many people. Her daughter, granddaughter, and great-granddaughter are all strong women. We meet other strong women along the way. In fact, there are very few men with a strong enough personality to match those of the women. Alongside this note, I also enjoyed the film because you could relate to the characters not just in what they say but also in everything you see them do. There's a lot of visual cues that hint about a person's character throughout the movie. And I like that about it.
Dinner was a hodge-podge of different things. Ate my leftovers from Imperial Tandoori which I finally ate at over the weekend. (I walk past it every day on my way to the Tube.) Boiled a corn on the cod and ate that. It tasted kind of funny. Then I had some toast because I wasn't done munching yet. There were a few carrots involved, mostly because I still have a lot that I have to get rid of. Finished off my Smirnoff, which I would say is good tasting alcohol. Need to try more vodka in the future.
Was finally able to Skype into Working Title tonight. It was good. Someone jumped out the window and into the balcony, I saw the nighttime Madison skyline and Memorial Library. And the Red Gym. Didn't really officially meet any of the new Working Title people, but I heard them talk and read things and they fit pretty well into the group. There's also an older man there and I don't know his story just yet, but I figure I will know in January. Or February at the latest. He seemed surprised that the computer was talking an interacting with everyone, which amused me. Didn't understand a smidgen of what was going on, and it was enough to keep me quiet and attempt to figure out the topic of conversation. At two my time, I attempted to get someone's attention and managed to call over Teagan from across the room. Don't ask how I managed that. But she came by and I said I wanted to say "Good night" so I did and then I left.
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