I've been a bad little blogger.
This week was good. Quite long. I had my first classes - one session on Monday, one on Wednesday. Yes, that's right - I'm only in class four hours a week, and my weekend is 4 days long. It's... interesting. A bit of a change. But it means that I actually have time to get all my reading done, as well as having a life and goofing off a great deal - which is completely exceptional for me.
So what were the highlights of my week, you ask?
Well, class has been quite good. It is seminar-style, meaning we all talk, instead of just listening to a lecture. It is therefore relatively familiar to me, and I've already been speaking in class a great deal, and feeling like I have pretty much got a handle on what is going on. I am already learning a lot - the material (about London and York in the 18th and 19th centuries - the structure and architecture of the cities, the way they were depicted, etc.) is very engaging and is unlike anything I've studied before.
The other highlight of the week was probably training at the radio station. It only took an hour (as compared to WESU's many hours over several weeks), but exposed me to a great deal of new concepts. URY (University Radio York) has less of a broadcast range than WESU, and is pretty much a student station, but it has a great pedigree, as it is the oldest legal independent (non-BBC) radio station in the UK. They have some amazing technology - they use a good deal more computer technology than WESU, including a program which enables you to set up a show from your home computer, drawing both from the URY digital music collection and your own - and then broadcast said playlist from the URY studio without, say, burning a CD. Your uploaded music from home is just there, in the computer, ready for you. And that, my friends... is magic. I can't think of any other way to describe it. And I always like things that add to the magical world of radio broadcasting...
This week I also: cooked a good deal (including my first time ever cooking tofu) and participated in my college pub's pub quiz with some of my American friends (we managed not to come in last place!). I'm sure I did other things, but I can't much remember now.
Oh! I bought a big Doctor Who poster! That was exciting - AND remarkably cheap. Even considering the exchange rate, posters cost about half as much here as they do in the US. The Doctor cost me £2!
This weekend was also quite fun. On Saturday morning I got a message from my friend Patrick (PhD student from the Netherlands; I've mentioned him before) asking if I wanted to go to the aquarium in Hull - which I did, of course. Hull is... downriver from here, and despite travelling there yesterday, I have no idea how far away it was. Patrick, as a post-grad, is allowed to have a car, so he drove - and it was worth the trip just for the views along the road. Little villages, huge expanses of fields with Yorkshire-type heights in the distance; sheep... it was nice. And slightly surreal, as I've not gotten used to the UK roads yet; left-hand driving and roundabouts... and to make matters more confusing, I was riding in a European/US-style car, with the passenger on the right.
The aquarium (The Deep) was nice - their fish collection, so to speak, wasn't especially expansive, but the exhibits were informative (and entertaining), and it was fun to walk around with Patrick and look at fish and watch all the little kids run around being so excited... and, yes, of course, I was pretty excited, too. I love fish!
On the way back we went to a bigger supermarket than my usual ones, and I managed to find canned beans, which was good - every other place I've been to had only baked beans and chickpeas in cans; all other beans are dried, which can be a pain, since you have to soak them overnight, which therefore requires you to plan quite far in advance for meals - which I never do.
I have been meeting more people in my dorm block, which is nice. It's sort of funny, though, because a lot of them are about 2 years younger than me - at times it feels like being back in my freshman dorm at Wesleyan, which is not necessarily a bad thing - it can be very social, and entertaining.
I think that is all I have to say, for now... Other than that my overhead light in my room is broken, making a bit of a strobe-light effect when I turn it on... so I'm living a rather dim life right now, illuminated only by my desk lamp. Eventually I'll ask someone about getting this fixed...
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Sunday, January 13, 2008
More Photographs
All Taken Wednesday, January 9th.
Walmgate Bar again - I was really pleased by the sunlight in this one.
Paving stones and shadows outside York Minster.
The Minster (or part of it).
Me on the city walls. The sun was in my eyes.
Me on the city walls. The sun was in my eyes.
Saturday, January 12, 2008
There are cats in Britain.
On Wednesday the 9th I went into York again - and this time made it to the city center. Tom (who is also on my program) and Becky (another American who is also studying history of art at York these two terms and lives next door to me) and I went in for a bit of sight-seeing and shopping. It was beautiful out but very cold and windy - as it has been most days, when it hasn't been raining. We traversed the city center (the part inside the walls), seeing the narrowest street in Britain - The Shambles - before meeting up with Patrick, the Dutch chemistry student we met Tuesday, outside the Minster.
The York Minster is the largest medieval building in Britain, and it is duly impressive. Quite tall and... made of stone. We didn't go inside, but took lots of photographs and walked in the park beside it. We'll be back before tourist season heats up - that's one advantage of being here while it's freezing, we get to see York without the throngs of tourists that apparently flock here.
After that bit of sight-seeing we had to do shopping - which took us both to cell phone stores and H&M and to the central city market, where I bought some wonderfully cheap produce from (as one of my study abroad orientation documents put it) "authentic farmers." My other big purchase of the day was a bird book, so I can go about identifying all of the birds which float by my window daily.
After the shopping Patrick had to go, and Tom, Becky, and I looked for lunch. We ended up at a place we'd heard mentioned - El Piano, which is a sort of vegetarian Mexican/Latin/Mediterranean place. It was excellent. A lot of food for fairly cheap, and both filling and tasty - which is more than I can say for a lot of the food I've had here so far. As soon as my food came El Piano became my favorite restaurant in York - a crown which is going to be very difficult for any other establishment to claim, I think. There's little that can beat a bowl of beans and rice.
After a satisfying and warming lunch we set off for the city walls again - starting west of the Minster and heading north for the same store we ended up at the first time we walked the walls. The walls were very cool - quite heavily restored, and impressive. The views of the Minster and of the gardens of some very fine houses were nice, too.
We ended the day with more shopping at the big grocery store, actually buying things to make meals. Then we trudged back to campus, just in time to see kids coming home from school in their uniforms, which was cute. In all we must have walked 8 miles - maybe more - and some of it with all our shopping. It was a tiring day, but very good.
....
On Thursday there was an initial meeting for my class - or module, as they say here. We talked about the course and went over the syllabus. It doesn't seem too bad - it's a seminar, so the teaching style isn't too far removed from what I'm used to in the US, and the material seems really engaging.
The lecturer mentioned "In Ruins" as one of the books she thought might be worth buying (unlike in the US, we're meant to mainly rely on checking books out from the library, not buying them) - and I was quite thrilled, as that is one of my favorite books, and I never expected to meet anyone else who had read it - let alone be told to study it. It's too bad I don't have my copy with me.
Today I've been doing a lot of preparatory readings, boning up on my architectural knowledge. This weekend I really need to start doing the assigned readings, as our first class is on Monday.
Tonight I cooked for the first time. The three Americans (including me) on our hall got some pots and pans to share, so tonight I made couscous - which was really easy, given that we have an instant boiling water tap. I also had some of the green beans I bought at the produce stand - it was quite a good meal. It's nice to be able to cook for myself. I know I'm eating better, and cooking food I like and know, in my own space, is so comfortable (and comforting).
All right, it has gotten quite late on me. Tomorrow I will post a few pictures from my most recent trip to York, but until then, you check them all out here.
Also! I'm now keeping a life list of the birds I see whilst I'm here. You can see it here, or by scrolling to the bottom of the page.
The York Minster is the largest medieval building in Britain, and it is duly impressive. Quite tall and... made of stone. We didn't go inside, but took lots of photographs and walked in the park beside it. We'll be back before tourist season heats up - that's one advantage of being here while it's freezing, we get to see York without the throngs of tourists that apparently flock here.
After that bit of sight-seeing we had to do shopping - which took us both to cell phone stores and H&M and to the central city market, where I bought some wonderfully cheap produce from (as one of my study abroad orientation documents put it) "authentic farmers." My other big purchase of the day was a bird book, so I can go about identifying all of the birds which float by my window daily.
After the shopping Patrick had to go, and Tom, Becky, and I looked for lunch. We ended up at a place we'd heard mentioned - El Piano, which is a sort of vegetarian Mexican/Latin/Mediterranean place. It was excellent. A lot of food for fairly cheap, and both filling and tasty - which is more than I can say for a lot of the food I've had here so far. As soon as my food came El Piano became my favorite restaurant in York - a crown which is going to be very difficult for any other establishment to claim, I think. There's little that can beat a bowl of beans and rice.
After a satisfying and warming lunch we set off for the city walls again - starting west of the Minster and heading north for the same store we ended up at the first time we walked the walls. The walls were very cool - quite heavily restored, and impressive. The views of the Minster and of the gardens of some very fine houses were nice, too.
We ended the day with more shopping at the big grocery store, actually buying things to make meals. Then we trudged back to campus, just in time to see kids coming home from school in their uniforms, which was cute. In all we must have walked 8 miles - maybe more - and some of it with all our shopping. It was a tiring day, but very good.
....
On Thursday there was an initial meeting for my class - or module, as they say here. We talked about the course and went over the syllabus. It doesn't seem too bad - it's a seminar, so the teaching style isn't too far removed from what I'm used to in the US, and the material seems really engaging.
The lecturer mentioned "In Ruins" as one of the books she thought might be worth buying (unlike in the US, we're meant to mainly rely on checking books out from the library, not buying them) - and I was quite thrilled, as that is one of my favorite books, and I never expected to meet anyone else who had read it - let alone be told to study it. It's too bad I don't have my copy with me.
Today I've been doing a lot of preparatory readings, boning up on my architectural knowledge. This weekend I really need to start doing the assigned readings, as our first class is on Monday.
Tonight I cooked for the first time. The three Americans (including me) on our hall got some pots and pans to share, so tonight I made couscous - which was really easy, given that we have an instant boiling water tap. I also had some of the green beans I bought at the produce stand - it was quite a good meal. It's nice to be able to cook for myself. I know I'm eating better, and cooking food I like and know, in my own space, is so comfortable (and comforting).
All right, it has gotten quite late on me. Tomorrow I will post a few pictures from my most recent trip to York, but until then, you check them all out here.
Also! I'm now keeping a life list of the birds I see whilst I'm here. You can see it here, or by scrolling to the bottom of the page.
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
Some Photographs
All taken on Monday the 7th.
Walmgate Bar
Topiaries and Heslington House
Heslington House
Church in Heslington
See more at my web album: http://picasaweb.google.com/sarahloveshermusic/England
Church in Heslington
See more at my web album: http://picasaweb.google.com/sarahloveshermusic/England
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
"I haven't played hearts with real people in a long time." - me
So two full days at York have come and gone - two long but very good days.
Yesterday morning we (by we I mean myself, all the other people on the program with me, and one other American girl - the same cast as the trip to the pub on the first night) took an adventure to the local huge shopping market. It was originally going to be an adventure to the York city centre, but we got distracted by the city walls and our need for food and other supplies.
It transpires that to get to the supermarket / the city we walked down a road which leads to one of the old city gates. Upon discovering this we promptly got up on the back of the city wall - where defenders would have stood. This was led by myself and our one guy, Tom. We tend to lead most of the walks / excursions / anything, because we both have long legs and walk very fast, AND we spend more time looking at maps, and get more enjoyment out of the activity, than the rest of the group.
On the city walls we walked north, all feeling rather enchanted, I think - the walls are partially restored at that point, and so look quite nice, and they lead between fairly suburban apartments (inside) and a large ring-road with shops on it (outside). The walls ended at a small tower and what used to be an "impenetrable swamp" to quote the information sign, and what should be right across the road but the store we had been intending to visit later that morning? At this point it started to rain, so the trip to York turned into the trip to the walls and Morrison's.
After a lunch of goat cheese on toast I went out to explore campus with Tom. We eventually discovered that our campus features a place called Heslington Hall, which is a smallish, possibly Tudor-era stately home with a walled garden, a garden of huge topiaries, and a fountain. I was absolutely thrilled by this, for several reasons. Firstly, the rest of the campus is modern and not remarkably attractive - it was built largely in the 1960s and 1970s - so it is nice to have something so picturesque. Secondly, I adore stately homes (aka manor homes, palaces, etc.) and their gardens, and it's wonderful to have something I like so much and that I associate so much with Britain at easy access.
I think that our campus might be built on the old estate. The hall is across the road from Heslington village (with the parish church on the other corner), and our campus has a pretty lake and is surrounded by fields, so it's likely built on top of the lands of the estate, which was in turn associated with the village.
I took a great many pictures.
Last night a number of us ate in the dining hall at our college (York is on a college system - the one we eight are living in is one of many on campus). I had a rather mediocre red curry which did not taste like curry, but at least had semi-decent vegetables in it. It was also Anna's birthday (she is one of the group, and was my roommate at orientation in London), so we went out and ended up at our college pub, talking and laughing and having a good old time. Then I came back and took a shower - and promptly fell asleep on my bed, not even under all the blankets, with my hair still wrapped in a towel. When I woke back up an hour later I decided it was time to call it a night.
......
Today we spent most of the day in orientation, which was both helpful and... not at all. I'm not sure which, really. Then two fellow art history students in the group - which now basically encompasses my group from the study abroad program and two other American girls, one of whom lives next door to me - and I went to find the department, which was a rather complicated task that involved a lot of wandering and asking several people. I've got my course stuff straightened out - or, rather, they do - they're quite on top of things. The department is huge compared to the one back at Wesleyan, which has only about 15 majors. I didn't count, but York's program has many more students, some of whom are double majors (aka, they are following a double course, while I am following a single course). Of course, York also has 10,000 or so more students than Wesleyan.
Tonight I had a "jacket potato" (baked potato) with baked beans in it for dinner at the college dining hall. Not especially nutritious, but it tasted strangely good, and it was filling, unlike many of the meals I've had here. I need to start cooking for myself. After dinner a few of us - including a Dutch chemistry dissertation student I met at orientation today - played card games in the college common room, where we froze - the windows were open, as they tend to be in my kitchen (they tell us to open them so smoke alarms won't go off). It sleeted while we were playing - there's a layer of very wet ice-and-rain on the ground now. So it's been quite cold, obviously - and windy. And rainy. But also sometimes gorgeously sunny. The weather is as variable as they always say it is.
I'll end this post here, and follow up later with photos from the campus excursion Tom and I took yesterday.
Yesterday morning we (by we I mean myself, all the other people on the program with me, and one other American girl - the same cast as the trip to the pub on the first night) took an adventure to the local huge shopping market. It was originally going to be an adventure to the York city centre, but we got distracted by the city walls and our need for food and other supplies.
It transpires that to get to the supermarket / the city we walked down a road which leads to one of the old city gates. Upon discovering this we promptly got up on the back of the city wall - where defenders would have stood. This was led by myself and our one guy, Tom. We tend to lead most of the walks / excursions / anything, because we both have long legs and walk very fast, AND we spend more time looking at maps, and get more enjoyment out of the activity, than the rest of the group.
On the city walls we walked north, all feeling rather enchanted, I think - the walls are partially restored at that point, and so look quite nice, and they lead between fairly suburban apartments (inside) and a large ring-road with shops on it (outside). The walls ended at a small tower and what used to be an "impenetrable swamp" to quote the information sign, and what should be right across the road but the store we had been intending to visit later that morning? At this point it started to rain, so the trip to York turned into the trip to the walls and Morrison's.
After a lunch of goat cheese on toast I went out to explore campus with Tom. We eventually discovered that our campus features a place called Heslington Hall, which is a smallish, possibly Tudor-era stately home with a walled garden, a garden of huge topiaries, and a fountain. I was absolutely thrilled by this, for several reasons. Firstly, the rest of the campus is modern and not remarkably attractive - it was built largely in the 1960s and 1970s - so it is nice to have something so picturesque. Secondly, I adore stately homes (aka manor homes, palaces, etc.) and their gardens, and it's wonderful to have something I like so much and that I associate so much with Britain at easy access.
I think that our campus might be built on the old estate. The hall is across the road from Heslington village (with the parish church on the other corner), and our campus has a pretty lake and is surrounded by fields, so it's likely built on top of the lands of the estate, which was in turn associated with the village.
I took a great many pictures.
Last night a number of us ate in the dining hall at our college (York is on a college system - the one we eight are living in is one of many on campus). I had a rather mediocre red curry which did not taste like curry, but at least had semi-decent vegetables in it. It was also Anna's birthday (she is one of the group, and was my roommate at orientation in London), so we went out and ended up at our college pub, talking and laughing and having a good old time. Then I came back and took a shower - and promptly fell asleep on my bed, not even under all the blankets, with my hair still wrapped in a towel. When I woke back up an hour later I decided it was time to call it a night.
......
Today we spent most of the day in orientation, which was both helpful and... not at all. I'm not sure which, really. Then two fellow art history students in the group - which now basically encompasses my group from the study abroad program and two other American girls, one of whom lives next door to me - and I went to find the department, which was a rather complicated task that involved a lot of wandering and asking several people. I've got my course stuff straightened out - or, rather, they do - they're quite on top of things. The department is huge compared to the one back at Wesleyan, which has only about 15 majors. I didn't count, but York's program has many more students, some of whom are double majors (aka, they are following a double course, while I am following a single course). Of course, York also has 10,000 or so more students than Wesleyan.
Tonight I had a "jacket potato" (baked potato) with baked beans in it for dinner at the college dining hall. Not especially nutritious, but it tasted strangely good, and it was filling, unlike many of the meals I've had here. I need to start cooking for myself. After dinner a few of us - including a Dutch chemistry dissertation student I met at orientation today - played card games in the college common room, where we froze - the windows were open, as they tend to be in my kitchen (they tell us to open them so smoke alarms won't go off). It sleeted while we were playing - there's a layer of very wet ice-and-rain on the ground now. So it's been quite cold, obviously - and windy. And rainy. But also sometimes gorgeously sunny. The weather is as variable as they always say it is.
I'll end this post here, and follow up later with photos from the campus excursion Tom and I took yesterday.
Monday, January 7, 2008
Things I Have Already Learned Today
I have been awake for a little under an hour, and I have already learned several things.
Firstly, the sun does not really rise in York until about 9am. It was still quite dim when I woke up at 8:30. In some ways I like this - it makes me feel like I am missing less of the day. Of course, it also is well on its way to being dark at 3pm.
Secondly, the machine that dispenses boiling water on command is all I could've hoped for.
Thirdly, my dorm kitchen does not have a stove or oven. I somehow managed to not notice this yesterday. But it does have a microwave and a rather large toaster, so all is well. I need to buy bread.
Firstly, the sun does not really rise in York until about 9am. It was still quite dim when I woke up at 8:30. In some ways I like this - it makes me feel like I am missing less of the day. Of course, it also is well on its way to being dark at 3pm.
Secondly, the machine that dispenses boiling water on command is all I could've hoped for.
Thirdly, my dorm kitchen does not have a stove or oven. I somehow managed to not notice this yesterday. But it does have a microwave and a rather large toaster, so all is well. I need to buy bread.
Sunday, January 6, 2008
Welcome to York
I have now arrived in York - just got in this afternoon. The study abroad program dropped us off quite unceremoniously and then we six American students with the program were on our own to find our rooms, move in, and try to figure out what the heck is going on.
My room is quite nice - it was an expansive view of the campus lake, with all sorts of water fowl swimming by a storey below. I've seen ducks (mallards and otherwise), coots (probably my favourite, because they have duck bodies and chicken feet), geese (garden-variety grey and white), seagulls, and black swans. They're a joy, despite all the bird refuse on the ground and the fact that I'm sure they will be quite noisy at times I do not want them to be. I'm hoping there will be frogs in the spring - I can't see how there couldn't be, really.
I think my favourite feature of the room is the fact that it has a washbasin - meaning I don't have to go down the hall to the rather unappealing facilities to brush my teeth, wash my face, etc. I love the last time I had an en suite sink (in France) so I'm quite glad of having one again.
The storage space in the room is much better than the study abroad program alleged it would be. As long as my big suitcase fits under the bed it should be fine.
I now have a cell phone, a hand-me-down from a friend who was at St. Andrew's in Scotland last semester, and today I topped it up (it is pay-as-you-go) only to spend all my minutes talking to my mom within the hour. Soon I plan to top it up again and then spend at least some of it talking to my dad and step-mom.
Some lovely British students who live in the same college as my American peers and I escorted us to the campus grocery, where I bought the essentials - tea, cereal, and milk, and a mug and a spoon. There were no bowls, so I will be eating cereal from a plastic measuring cup until I can find one. The students also let us know something no one else seemed able to explain - classes don't really start until next week, because the York students are doing exams this week from last term. So we do have some time to settle in before things get crazy.
The six of us and another American, had dinner in a pub down the way in the little village which abuts the campus. It was recommended by one of the college porters (the people who work at reception), who has to be my favourite person I've met in the UK so far. He is very friendly and helpful and so nice - he really made us feel welcome, which was nice after feeling rather abandoned by the program and rather lost in general. He gave me a map and highlighted the grocery and the pub and our college on it, and told me how to get to both. And he got me my bedding! An all-around nice guy.
Tonight I've been unpacking (by which I mean taking advantage of the fact that I now have access to streaming video on UK television websites), and I've just had my first shower here. The bathing facilities will take some getting used to. The shower head comes up to my chin, so rinsing the shampoo off the top of my head involved something that felt a bit like yoga. The water pressure and heat are good - although the water is distinctly sulphuric in its scent. There is only one shower, and one room with a tub in it - I'm very curious to find out if anyone actually uses it. The concept is repulsive to me at Wesleyan, where there are tubs in some of the older dorms.
Tomorrow we six from my program are going to York to explore - the city is a few miles from campus, so we will have a bus adventure, I'm sure. I'm really looking forward to seeing the city. It is supposedly a really nice place, and beautiful. I need to take as many maps as possible - the place is not exactly on a grid pattern.
Updates about the time between North Carolina and here might follow. They mainly involve travel delays, lots of time on aeroplanes, and my program's orientation in London.
P.S. - Excuse the spelling. I've put on the UK English spell-check so I can get used to it and hopefully not make too many mistakes in essays later.
My room is quite nice - it was an expansive view of the campus lake, with all sorts of water fowl swimming by a storey below. I've seen ducks (mallards and otherwise), coots (probably my favourite, because they have duck bodies and chicken feet), geese (garden-variety grey and white), seagulls, and black swans. They're a joy, despite all the bird refuse on the ground and the fact that I'm sure they will be quite noisy at times I do not want them to be. I'm hoping there will be frogs in the spring - I can't see how there couldn't be, really.
I think my favourite feature of the room is the fact that it has a washbasin - meaning I don't have to go down the hall to the rather unappealing facilities to brush my teeth, wash my face, etc. I love the last time I had an en suite sink (in France) so I'm quite glad of having one again.
The storage space in the room is much better than the study abroad program alleged it would be. As long as my big suitcase fits under the bed it should be fine.
I now have a cell phone, a hand-me-down from a friend who was at St. Andrew's in Scotland last semester, and today I topped it up (it is pay-as-you-go) only to spend all my minutes talking to my mom within the hour. Soon I plan to top it up again and then spend at least some of it talking to my dad and step-mom.
Some lovely British students who live in the same college as my American peers and I escorted us to the campus grocery, where I bought the essentials - tea, cereal, and milk, and a mug and a spoon. There were no bowls, so I will be eating cereal from a plastic measuring cup until I can find one. The students also let us know something no one else seemed able to explain - classes don't really start until next week, because the York students are doing exams this week from last term. So we do have some time to settle in before things get crazy.
The six of us and another American, had dinner in a pub down the way in the little village which abuts the campus. It was recommended by one of the college porters (the people who work at reception), who has to be my favourite person I've met in the UK so far. He is very friendly and helpful and so nice - he really made us feel welcome, which was nice after feeling rather abandoned by the program and rather lost in general. He gave me a map and highlighted the grocery and the pub and our college on it, and told me how to get to both. And he got me my bedding! An all-around nice guy.
Tonight I've been unpacking (by which I mean taking advantage of the fact that I now have access to streaming video on UK television websites), and I've just had my first shower here. The bathing facilities will take some getting used to. The shower head comes up to my chin, so rinsing the shampoo off the top of my head involved something that felt a bit like yoga. The water pressure and heat are good - although the water is distinctly sulphuric in its scent. There is only one shower, and one room with a tub in it - I'm very curious to find out if anyone actually uses it. The concept is repulsive to me at Wesleyan, where there are tubs in some of the older dorms.
Tomorrow we six from my program are going to York to explore - the city is a few miles from campus, so we will have a bus adventure, I'm sure. I'm really looking forward to seeing the city. It is supposedly a really nice place, and beautiful. I need to take as many maps as possible - the place is not exactly on a grid pattern.
Updates about the time between North Carolina and here might follow. They mainly involve travel delays, lots of time on aeroplanes, and my program's orientation in London.
P.S. - Excuse the spelling. I've put on the UK English spell-check so I can get used to it and hopefully not make too many mistakes in essays later.
Thursday, January 3, 2008
Pre-Departure
It is 5:00 am on Thursday, Jan 3rd, 2008. In about 4 hours I am beginning my voyage to England... and I'm still awake. Packing lasted until almost 3am (I never pack until the very, very last minute), and then it was time to store as much of my music collection as I could consider sane on mp3 CDs to take with me - because my lovely external hard drive, Exy, and all the joys it contains will not be voyaging with me.
It is too late at night. I keep misspelling voyage.
Tomorrow there will be a two-hour drive to Charlotte, then an hour-or-so flight to Newark, then many, many hours of layover. My flight for London leaves after 9pm. It shall be a trek. But I am looking forward to being in London, seeing my friend Zach, doing orientation - and lugging my luggage all over the place. One backpacking pack, stuffed full, my largest (luckily rolling) suitcase, and a big carry on. It sounds like a lot, but for me, this is nothing. It's the same amount of stuff I took to France when I lived there for a month in high school - and then I wasn't packing winterwear.
My last CD is burned. I am going to bed.
And so ends my first "blog" entry. Hooray?
It is too late at night. I keep misspelling voyage.
Tomorrow there will be a two-hour drive to Charlotte, then an hour-or-so flight to Newark, then many, many hours of layover. My flight for London leaves after 9pm. It shall be a trek. But I am looking forward to being in London, seeing my friend Zach, doing orientation - and lugging my luggage all over the place. One backpacking pack, stuffed full, my largest (luckily rolling) suitcase, and a big carry on. It sounds like a lot, but for me, this is nothing. It's the same amount of stuff I took to France when I lived there for a month in high school - and then I wasn't packing winterwear.
My last CD is burned. I am going to bed.
And so ends my first "blog" entry. Hooray?
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