Oh dear...

So, here I am.

I'm still getting settled in, and this room needs some serious decorating, but everything has gone pretty well. Only one of my suite-mates has moved in so far... her name is Anjlee, she's lived in England, Vienna, and Toronto, and she's very nice.

So, it turns out that you need an ID to buy scissors, knives, etc. in England, which is something I was not aware of. Here is the conversation I had at the checkout line when I was buying necessities, including scissors.

Checkout Lady: Y'alright?
Me: Yeah, you?
Checkout Lady: Yeah... holding scissors Do you have ID for these?
Me: Hahahahaha!
Checkout Lady: Do you have an ID?
Me: Hahaha.... what?
Checkout Lady: Do you have an ID to buy these scissors?
Me: What? Um... yes... I have... um...
Checkout Lady: Hahahaha it's okay, dear, it's hot in here.
Me: Uh, yeah... hahahaha (thinking she was just joking, but not really sure)
She checks everything through, except the scissors
Checkout Lady: So you have an ID?
Me: Yes?
Checkout Lady: May I see it?
Me: Oh... Do you need like a passport? Or is my...
Checkout Lady: Whatever.

This is my life here... lots of confusion and nervous laughter. Everything just takes a little longer than it should.

This is where I live

 

 

 Oh England, you're so adorable.

I think there's a goose in the back of this hotel

Also, there are redheads EVERYWHERE and I'm halfway between loving it and being freaked out by it. England is obviously doing its part in the preservation of the ginger race... so many ginge babies.

I'm still in York... I leave tomorrow morning for Kenilworth.

New discovery: The little crackers that are served with tea are delicious, especially when dipped into the tea.

I want a basket like this on my bike.

I heard someone yell, "Bloody hell!" today... Still not tired of the accents...

Silver Train

I'm in York right now... in the hotel room... waiting for my father to pick up the laundry from the lady with one front tooth and a funny accent.

Here's a picture from Cambridge:

I was only there for half a day, but to be honest, that was good enough for me. King's College was nice to see, just because so many important people went to school there and probably stood in the same spots I stood in.

York is so wonderful...

This picture was taken from the tower in York Minster... I climbed 275 steps to get up and the picture isn't even that great, but it was still worth it. There were three other people hiking up those stairs and we had some fun joking around with them about -- you know -- dying -- and it turned out that this one woman was from California! And she just got here and is studying business in some school around York.

Wandered into an empty church yesterday where there was a fake dead baby on the ground...?? That might have been the creepiest place I have ever been in.  And I've been to some creepy places.

My favorite parts of the trip so far have been the train rides. I listen to music and watch all the greenery pass by. There are so many cute little red brick towns and sheep and horses and cows...

Sigur Ros is great train music...but I also listened to a lot of Paul Simon, Rogue Wave, and Brett Dennen...

Sing it, Brett...

I need to figure out how to put songs in my blog without relying on shitty youtube videos. Any ideas?

Some culture shock issues I'm working on:

• Walking
• Seriously, people, just choose a side! If you drive on the left, why don't you walk on the left? I mean, it's fine, I just do the awkward dance a little more frequently here than anywhere else, but it can be dangerous! I saw a bike accident the other day where the two cyclists did an awkward dance ON THEIR BIKES and then THEY CRASHED! It was so sad.
• Grass
• Please, England... let me walk on the grass. I know, you worked really hard making it look pretty, but grass is meant to be walked on and played on and sat on. I'm talking mostly to you, Cambridge.

I feel like I should take some sort of etiquette class like I saw in those old movies when I was little.

Off to do more sightseeing!

Goodbye, London

It was nice to see you again. You haven't changed much since January, and I guess I haven't either.

As You Like It is more fun when seen in The Globe.

War Horse puppets are more fun when seen in action. See how real they look?

New discovery: I don't have to take my Oyster card out of my wallet in order to scan it. Oh, laziness.... you will always prevail.

I'll miss you London. You smell better than other big cities. It might be all the perfume people wear.

Thanks for the delicious food! Indian, Chinese, and Belgian...mm mm mmmmmmmmm

Going on a train tomorrow.... oh how I love being on the ground.

Cambridge and York, here I come...

Guess Who

 Such a baller

Swollen Feet and Jet-Lag in London Town

Well, today I went on an airplane. Actually, I think that might be considered yesterday.

My dad and I touched down at about 10am and began immigrating. After passing through everything smoothly, we took the tube to our hotel. We checked in and tried to keep ourselves up and busy by walking for hours in the streets of London.  I decided that it would be a good idea to break in a new pair of boots on our walk (hence the title). New discovery: I really like the sound of my boots going 'clip-clop' on the pavement. Maybe I just like having my feet on the ground again after nine and a half hours of being in a metal tube 40,000 feet in the air.

I was feeling really good for a while and was thinking, "I'll go back tonight and write something in my first blog about how I am the master of jet-lag, a traveling champion, etc." At about 3 pm I started to feel like walking death.  So, I walked it out like my middle school gym teacher would have wanted me to do, and I'm happy to say that it's about 7pm and I feel hungry and only a little bit drowsy.

Indian food for dinner.

It's all worth it now.