The truth is though, since school has picked up, I haven't done anything that is really blog worthy.
Halloween
Halloween is not as big of a deal here as it is in the US, you can't find good candy in the store, and kids don't go trick-or-treating. That being said, young adults still dress up and go out, so I had to find a costume. Myself and a few girls, plus one gentleman came up with the idea of being Jack the Ripper and his victims. My dorm is on one of the stops for the Jack the Ripper tour, so it was an especially good idea. Implementing it was a bit tricky though. A trip to the Capitol Hill Value Village would have been perfect place to find horrible prom or bridesmaid dresses we could have altered to look more like mangled 19th century prostitutes. The only second hand store we could find was pretty lame. We ended up in Camden at a Gothic shop. Our costumes look more like Madonna circa 1983 though than 1883 London.
This is Jacob aka Jack
Here are Nina, Myself, and Despina, aka the victims (notice our bloody throats).
One of the more interesting costumes of the night!
(I have no idea who was in it though)
School
Things at school have become very busy. I have either an essay to write or a presentation to give every week until I come home for Christmas. All of the things I'm reading and writing about are very interesting, but because they are assigned, it makes them tedious to do.
One cool thing to note about school is I discovered the study room for my department. Because there is only one library at school, it gets really full and difficult to find a place to work. The study room has hardly any people in it and has super comfy chairs with large desks. The best part is that we can eat and drink in there. We have to leave the library if we need to eat a snack...very annoying. Sometimes I find myself alone and I crank up the tunes while I work on my essays.
Yesterday was the Mayor of London Day. There was a big parade and fireworks show pretty close to my dorm. The reason though, that I was out and about and discovered this was because St. Paul's Cathedral was free all day and they had free performances of Peter and the Wolf. The organ was very cool and it was fun to see and hear all of the British children. The novelty of adult English accents has kind of worn off. Kids however are still super cute!
Today was Remembrance Day Sunday. By Trafalgar Square, there is a big procession with the royal armed forces and the Queen, along with other VIP's lay wreaths around a war memorial in honor of Veteran's Day (Remembrance Day in British English). Unfortunately I did not get there early enough to find a good place to stand. There were about 5 rows of people in front of me, with most people much taller than I. All I could see of the whole event was the tops of the black bear hats the guards wear. I was though probably within 200 yards of the Queen. Unfortunately no photos to show.
Domestic Stuff
Most of you know that I really like to cook and bake. It has been challenging to do so though in my dorm, with my limited resources in terms of kitchen supplies. I did attempt to make my mom's famous oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. Despite vanilla flavoring instead of extract and butter instead of Crisco, they actually turned out alright, not quite like mom's but close.
Notice, my mixing bowl was a big pot and the absence of an electric mixer.
I got a workout in mixing them by hand with a wooden spoon.
I hate my oven a little bit, but they turned out alright!
A couple of months ago, I promised to post pictures of my room once it was decorated and clean. It feels more like home, or at least my home away from home. Well, here you go...(I cleaned really well one day, in order to put off essay writing.)
It's got a little bit more personality and color than the before photos.
Some cool decals I found at a store.
The best I could do with such a large white wall I was not allowed to paint.
Next week's agenda: A trip to Greenwich!
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