Laziness, Homework, Omelette

Today is the Bank Holiday here in the UK, so not much is happening. Similarly, I had a spectacularly lazy day, which I'm going to argue is justified, considering that classes start tomorrow (bright and early for me).

I rolled out of bed at 11:30 this morning, then proceeded to shower and get ready, then grabbed my books and slouched down to the Starbucks on the corner for coffee and some homework that's been hanging over my head since I received the assignment in July. Oops. I hung out there for about two and a half hours, reading Castle Rackrent and a history of Ireland. This assigment isn't actually due to be completed until October, but both books need to be read before the first day of class for phase II, so I thought I'd get a start on it before my phase I classes begin tomorrow.

Slouched home, made an omelette with red peppers, onions and cheddar cheese. It wasn't bad. Fun fact: The Brits (and most Europeans) don't refrigerate their eggs! So, the rest of the day looks comparably lazy. We have a nice TV in the flat that gets a really bad American movie channel, so that's looking like the plan.

Tourist Tour of London, Wagamama, Getting Lost in Zone 3

Today began early, again. We were up and out by 9am this morning to get to the teaching site in order to catch our tour bus. We were accompanied by an effervescent Cheapside native who acted as our guide, and it was truly an experience. As is to be expected, the tour packed a lot of information into not a lot of time, and I found myself feeling a bit overwhelmed. London is a BIG city with a LONG history, and it's hard to retain all the little details. One of my favorite pit stops of the day was St. Paul's Cathedral, and because it was Sunday morning, we got to hear the bells going. It was very calming. They certainly don't do churches in America like they do here. The tour basically went ALL around central London, and as I write this I'm finding it hard to summarize the whole tour. Lots of information and good tips on where to go and what to see, so I suppose I'll be re-visiting a lot of the sites again this semester.

Lunch. Lunch was divine today. The tour guide recommended a small chain of restaurants called Wagamama... basically an inexpensive, quick, cafeteria-seating style Asian noodle place. After the tour, myself and five other Grinnellians found one. I ordered the seafood ramen, and with a little soy sauce, I was in heaven. The ramen comes in these giant bowls with lots of perfectly cooked noodles, delicious broth and lots of yummy fish, prawns, and calamari. I have a feeling that I'll be there quite a bit this semester, especially on cold, rainy days. It's like the perfect comfort food!

After lunch, we headed back to our flat to recuperate for a couple of hours before leaving for our program advisor's house. She hosted a garden party at her house in Chiswick this afternoon. My flat-mates and I managed to get to the Gunnersbury tube stop in zone 3 easily enough, but we were working with pretty awful directions, and basically we wandered around suburban London for an hour and a half before we finally found the place. Suburban London reminds me a lot of someplace like Ridgefield, CT... nice shops, tree-lined street, relatively non-descript. We only stayed at the party for about half an hour, and though I previously complained about how much energy it takes to get around in London, I was glad to be weaving my way through tube stations and dodging people in central London once we got back. Tomorrow, I'm most likely going to the Notting Hill Carnival with some friends, and then classes start on Tuesday. Very excited for that. Mostly because I'm a nerd.

JMW Turner, Steak

Today, I was off to a late start. I woke up around noon, rolled out of bed, slugged around for a bit, then finally decided I wanted to see Turner's paintings at the Tate Britain. They have the largest Turner collection (I think) in the world, and, being a big fan, I knew I had to go. So, I grabbed Joey and Mali and we set out for the museum.

First, though, there had to be coffee. We stopped at the Starbucks next to our flat and I discovered a telling detail... at Starbucks in the UK, they have mugs that you can use if you choose to have your drink in the shop. I've NEVER seen that in Starbucks in the US... you only have the option of the "to-go" cup. Interesting...

Once at the Tate, we headed straight for the Turner galleries. They were unbelievable. In the summer of 2008, I saw an exhibition of Turner paintings at the Met in NYC, and I fell in love there, so it was pretty amazing to see even MORE of his work. We also went through some of the British historical paintings, and we saw some really awesome paintings, which I included in this post.

At around 4, we got tired and started for home. Once back in our flat, I decided that tonight was definitely a steak night. Using what little implements were included with the flat, I managed to blanche some fresh broccoli and fry up 5 or 6 thinly sliced steaks. Surprisingly, the meal wasn't too shabby. Plus, I had a glass of my new favorite beer, Stella Artois. Tonight, we've committed to hitting up a pub or two, and we're going to investigate a "disco" to see if we can't dance a little.

Orientation, Indian Food, Proms

Today was a very busy day. It began with me waking up at 6am, getting ready, laying in bed for a while, then heading down to Great Russell Street to go to our mandatory orientation. LOTS of information, but I found out that I can go to ALL of the plays and ALL of the field trips for FREE, regardless of if I'm enrolled in the course or not. Wooo! Gotta love Grinnell and its endowment...the Oberlin kids have to pay for tickets and admission and all that.

We had an hour break for lunch, and instead of following the pack to Pret A Manger, Joey, Mali and I broke off to find some Indian food. We found a little place near the FSU study centre and I ordered my first chicken pakora, which was OUTRAGEOUSLY good, and only cost three pounds.

After orientation, we rambled back to the flat to grab a quick bite to eat before going (via tube) to the Royal Albert Hall to see the annual BBC Proms concert. It's called proms because people can buy five pound tickets and stand ("promenade") at the front pit. We had seats, and we enjoyed Stravinsky and Tchaikovsky (sp?) played by a chamber orchestra. It was really a lot of fun, but I'm beginning to realize how energy-draining it is to LIVE everyday in a big city. Just getting around takes a lot of effort, or at least more than getting in your car and driving right where you need to go.

So, tomorrow is our free day. I'm thinking I'll light out for the territories (i.e. go out on my own) and check out either the Tate or the Tate Modern, again, both of which are free to the public. Solid.

British Museum, Fish & Chips, Tottenham Court Road

Today began with me, Malory and Mali waking up at the stroke of noon. I thought I was going to get away with no jet-lag, but alas, it finally caught up with me. After a quick scramble to get ready, we set out for the British Museum, which is literally a block away from the FSU Study Centre. We began by scoping out the Ancient Greece galleries, and I absolutely loved the Parthenon Gallery. It was a quick trip this time, but I'm sure I will be at the museum a lot this semester.

Ever the individualist, I decided to break off from my flat-mates to explore the city by myself. At around 14:30 (that's 2:30pm for all you yanks...) my stomach started rumbling, and, finding myself in London, I decided to splurge and treat myself to fish and chips. I found a little hole in the wall place called Munchkins on Great Russell Street and tucked into my golden, fried fish. Noticing the vinegar bottle on the table, I resisted dousing everything in ketchup (catsup?) and opted for a true Brit meal. The vinegar was a great choice.

After a late lunch, I wandered up Tottenham Court Road, which connects Great Russell Street and Euston Road (Great Portland Street is right off Euston Road). It was a little touristy, but not too bad. I scoped out a few places I want to eat at this semester, including an Indian place and a vegetarian buffet. The lunch specials are only 3 or 4 quid (pounds)! Before heading for home, I stopped at Sainsbury's and picked up some groceries, including British "fry steaks" and a big bottle of Stella Artois. All in all, a pretty sweet day.

Phone, Welcome Tea

Second update of the day...

First and foremost, I got a cheap mobile phone like my flat-mates. I caved, but it's okay because I am going to need to be in touch with them, and god-forbid I get lost or need to call someone. (For Mom and Dad, you can reach me ONLY in a dire situation at 011.44.750.311.2733 and that includes country and city code, like you should only have to dial that number). Anyone in the US can reach me here, but I also have skype (username is torrey.macgregor) and Facebook is usually a good option.

Anyway, today me and my flat-mates went to our "Welcome Tea" with all the professors and the Oberlin kids. It was really good to meet everyone, although it was definitely a bit awkward at first. I got to see my advisor, Professor Barlow, though! Tomorrow we have a day off, so my flat-mates and I are heading to the British Museum (which I found out has FREE admission) for a day of wandering, etc. We've also decided we need to have "our favorite pub", so we're going to start scouting tonight, looking at pubs in our immediate neighborhood. Tonight, we are tentatively checking out The Green Man, which is right across the street from the Great Portland Street tube stop.

Day 1, Part 1

Good morning! Well, not so much for Malory (my roomate) who has come down with a mysterious case of nausea/the barfs. She's been sick all morning, and though she doesn't feel particularly ill, we've sent out Joey and Mali to get some Pepto Bismol for her at the local Sainsbury's.

This morning, I woke up before 8am and realized that the "coffee mate" I bought yesterday was not actually coffee, but that nasty powdered creamer stuff. Thus, I ventured out in the early morning to afore-mentioned Sainsbury's to get real coffee. The morning has been spent reading the September issue of Vogue and various London travel guides. In the flat, there's a Lonely Planet guide, as well as one on day trips from London, which will be useful. Mostly, I'm just trying to acclimate and get a feel for the city from the books, so that I can be a little more informed when I'm wandering around.

This afternoon, the six of us are going to our "welcome tea" at the FSU teaching site in Bloomsbury, right next to the British museum. We'll meet up with our other Grinnell-in-Londoners and meet the Oberlin kids, as well as our professors. Exciting! Hopefully I will be able to pick up all the books I ordered for my classes, too. That's all for now.

Also, I plan to be online (skype, facebook chat) tonight. I probably will be most nights, as I am 5 or 6 hours ahead of my bebes in the States.

My Flat. Not Apartment, Flat.

My flat is awesome. Like, holy cow. Not only is it in one of the nicest parts of London, but it has that antiquated feel that I love so much. I am running on no sleep in at least 24 hours at this point, but I've already managed to take a quick stroll around the neighborhood and it is really cool-looking. I took a few hare-brained photos that I will attempt to post here, but suffice to say it's a cool neighborhood. There's a Sainsbury's market where I bought some bread, pastrami (that I thought was prosciutto...oh well), brie cheese, coffee!!! and a bottle of rose wine. I felt so sneaky checking out with a bottle of wine, but the drinking age IS only 18, remember. I love London already.

My flat-mates are lovely. The last one, Mali, just arrived and is scrubbing the airport off herself in the shower (the first thing I did when I got inside the flat), and the rest of them (Malory, Kayla, Sam and Joey) are out hunting for cheap mobile phones. I declined, mostly because I'm tired and kind of want to hang out alone, but also because I'm not sure I'm going to waste money on a mobile phone. It doesn't seem worth it to me. I have SKYPE!

The journey from Heathrow Airport to Central London was QUITE the adventure. It took me like, an hour and a half by the time I had purchased my tickets, etc. Let's just say I plan on spending the majority of my time in Zones 1 and 2 this semester.

I'm overwhelmed with excitement, exhaustion, emotion... I'm SO happy to be here in this adorable little flat in this wonderful big city.

Arrival!

Well, I've arrived. I am exhausted/hungry/sweaty after dragging myself halfway around the planet and through London. I will update in more detail this evening.

Threshold: Eve of Departure

Tomorrow, I shall embark on my journey to discover the roots of my European heritage, for exploration of my ancestral origins I shall cross the great Ocean and abide in London for the forthcoming months during the near future. Packing has been stressful, I would not let my boyfriend aid in the arduous process because I felt this adventure will be too close and personal for me to tolerate outside involvement in its preparation. I am shivering from nervous pangs, a strange foreboding, it is as if I stand upon the abyss of the unknown and I know I am about to take the plunge. I shall plumb the depths of my ignorance and conquer them, I know I can handle it, I can overcome this challenge and tomorrow I shall take the first step. Today held both celebration of the truths that shall soon be mine and lament for those I leave behind, waiting with open arms and bated breath for my return.

If all goes well, my following post should describe the environs of my London abode.

--T.R. MacGregor

Less than 2 weeks to go...

As the days go by, I realize how close my departure is... am I ready for this? I'm feeling 99% excited and 1% nervous. Last summer, I backpacked through Europe for a month. That is, slept in a tent and traveled through 6 countries, the majority in which I couldn't speak the language. London should be a breeze comparatively, right?

I still can't wrap my head around the idea that I'm going to be LIVING in London. For 4 months! It doesn't at all feel like I'm going to be going to "school" there. If I'm being honest with myself, homework and all that is definitely going to take a backseat to wandering around London. Who am I kidding? Hello, it's London!

If there's one thing I'm going to miss, it's all of the people I care about. Being at home this summer was nice, for the most part. I had a great babysitting job and got to see my boyfriend, Eliyah, pretty regularly as his parents live about an hour and a half from mine in New York state. I didn't get to see my friends Isabel, Elizabeth or Becca at ALL which was pretty awful, but I got to see Betsy on the weekend of the 4th of July which was great. I think I'm definitely ready for a change of scenery, and living in London (a huge city) is going to be fun after 4 semesters of Grinnell, Iowa, but I am going to miss my little school in the middle of nowhere. It's so much fun (my Dad doesn't understand this at all), and I guess being in London for a semester will only make my return to the cornfields that much more exciting.

More later.

T-minus 3 weeks!

Hello to all who may or may not be reading this......

I decided to start a blog in which I will document my fall semester studying abroad in London! I am leaving August 24th and will be gone until December 20th. I figured this would be an easy way for all my friends and family to keep tabs on what I'm up to.

So, now I'm in the final stretch of summer. During the second phase of my semester abroad, I'm taking one, intensive course called "Modern Irish Literature". The study-abroad coordinator recommended I do the reading required for the first day of the course THIS SUMMER, so I'm beginning to take it seriously. This week, I intend to start reading "Castle Rackrent" by Maria Edgeworth, which, according to the introduction, is the first Irish novel, and a novel upon which many subsequent Irish novels are built.

In terms of items I need for London, I'm pretty much set. All I need to get is a webcam with a microphone to Skype with my parents and friends with and a few pairs of tights. Sooooo excited for the London fashion scene.

That's all for now.