14.1.01
From now on, I will be using my weekly e-mails to relatives as the basis for my journal!
Greetings from the rainy and cold United Kingdom. Oh wait, let me amend
that. We've had two days of pure sunshine with no clouds in the sky.
I actually heard the weatherman say that for the first time ever, he's
forecasting sunshine for the entire island including both England and
Scotland! Go figure!
In the past week, I've moved into my dorm in Islington, started classes,
and travelled the countryside a bit more. THINGS IN THIS COUNTRY ARE SO
EXPENSIVE! I've decorated my room pretty well with lots of pictures and
cards from home, but it still seems barren, and I've spent an arm and a
leg buying a duvet (British comforter) as well as other essentials such as
a small radio that gets many forms of BBC and British pop. :oP My
flatmates are a strange bunch--they're from Washington D.C., Sweden,
Scotland, Germany, and Japan. The Swedish dude has a California accent
and is fluent in Japanese (which should be cool),but he is perpetually
smoking pot in our kitchen. :(
Classes are cool. People are much friendlier here than at Barnard, and
everybody has been saying "hi" to me. School is about a 20-minute walk
from the dorm, which sucks, but you can also ride those cute double-decker
buses to class. All of our classes are in one building, but the
professors are wonderful and from all over. I placed into third-year
Japanese (which is EASIER than that at Columbia!) and I'm also taking
Themes of Japanese Religions, Urban Japan, and Intro. to Religions of
Asia and Africa. My Themes...class has only 4 people in it, so I'm happy.
It's just a friendly place where people seem to want to know your name.
This weekend I went with my Japanese flatmate Yuujiro and two of his
friends to Stratford-upon-Avon, the home of Shakespeare. It was
incredible there! It cost too much for us to visit all of the Shakespeare
homes, so we only visited his birthplace before walking around the town.
We also fed ducks at the Avon River and stayed in a hostel--my first true
experience in a hostel. I was exhausted so I didn't even notice when my
eight random roommates walked in, so it was pretty entertaining! :) This
morning we took a train to Birmingham and then connected to one back to
London Marlyebone, it gave us another chance to see the beautiful British
countryside...
Sorry to be rambling so much...I just have a lot to say! You can visit
my pictures at my website, and send me letters! My address has been
modified, you need to include my flat:
Dinwiddy House flat 1CB3
Hope you'all are doing well, and talk to you soon!
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