London Is Calling And I Liiiiiiiiiiiiiiive By The River!

Heya!

I chose this title because I do live by the river!!! See, that's my window! Right there. 

Hahaha. 

Obviously, this isn't my picture below but I'll get some soon. I went out for one and went to Bushy Park instead.

Okay so, shockingly enough, the weather had been amazing here. The last few days we've gotten a lot of sun and it hasn't really rained for about a week. Sprinkles a bit on Saturday but that doesn't count. I do feel like this winter is going to be freezing though since the weather has been so not-London.

I had my first course yesterday! Critical Challenges, which is just a super polite way of saying Literary Theory, is geared more towards using the models and principles of theory to discover more about our own work. Of course we have to analyze other peoples work first. Super boo.

I've taken the course before and I struggled. Like really struggled. But to be honest it was during a horrible period in my life. So I'm not too worried about this go around. I keep saying it's going to be really hard but to be honest I remember a lot from the last time so I think I can survive, and maybe thrive this time around.

My seminar leader for the course is, dun dun duhhhhhhn, the course director. He seems super helpful and really nice so I'm sure I'll be fine.

I have my first workshop class tomorrow and that means I'm going to be writing and getting down to business. So, I made sure I got some sightseeing out of the way before I have to get down with the get down.

This weekend, even though I was battling a cold, I wanted to be sure that I went out and enjoyed the town because the weather was so great and I had no idea when it was going to go bad again.

I traveled around on the Tube a bit and went to a couple of different stations and attractions. Here's a few photos, more can be found to the right under the PHOTOS link. Or HERE for the lazy.

Jubilee Gardens

A beautiful photo bought from a vendor on the Westminister Bridge

Badass Collection of items lost in London spanning hundreds of years.

I also did a ton of exploring today of Hampton Park Palace and Bushy Park (which is the area around, or really leading up to the Palace).

The park is literally across the street from my place and is massive. I took a lot of photos, seeing deer and geese and lots of green everywhere.

For those who love history -> WIKI.

Here's a quick list of a few people who lived in this MASSIVE palace:
-Cardinal Woolsey
-Anne Boleyn
-King Henry VIII
-Catherine Howard
-Jane Seymour (died there after giving birth to Edward VI, the younger brother of Bloody Mary I and only male heir to Henry VIII)
-James I (he commissioned the King James version of the bible within the palace)

I had a ton of fun wandering around and seeing all of this stuff. I still can't believe that I walked across the same grounds as a lot of really popular figures in history.

And to add to that, the size of this place is unreal. The diameter of the park, which is what I walked among wiggling in and around is seven miles. Wow!

Now it's time for my fun facts!!!

Fun Fact #1

• Did you know that UK spiders are fucking GIANT. I was walking along my merry way to school following the river and BAM huge spider right in front of my face. Natrually, I freaked out and almost lost my shit in front of women walking their babies. But I kept my cool and siddled towards the road. I could feel the cars zooming past me but I kept seeing spider after spider, bigger and bigger until I saw a MASSIVE three inch one outside of school. I'm definitely never leaving my window open at night

Fun Fact #2

• No jaywalking rules here! Which means there's a whole different type of pedestrian here in the UK. They walk when the coast seems clear and are oblivious to the horns of cars that had to stop on a dime so these fools didn't become a part of the pavement. They cross horizontally, vertically, and diagonally. It's a mess. 

Fun Fact #3

• And speaking of horns, I don't think I have ever met a group of people who use their horns more than Brits. And I've spent an exorbitant amount of time in Los Angeles traffic. These driver have LA beat by miles. Even though the lanes here are REALLY narrow (one on each side) they have no problem swerving into the opposite lane to get around a stopped car or a bicycle. It makes me cringe, it really does. Overall, it's definitely going to take some getting used to but I haven't seen anybody having an accident so i guess it may be crazy but it works.

Shopping!!

I've been shopping a few times now and I still have to get used to the way that Brits shop. They get things as they need them, weekly or sometimes daily. I'm so used to living in the boonies and barely going to the store that I still find myself going for canned or dry food versus fresh. I'm getting used to it since I literally pass like ten supermarkets on the way home every day.

A List of Things I Can't Find:

I'll probably add this to the right side as well when it gets bigger but here's a list of the scarcities here:

Oreos

Skippy Peanut Butter

Rubbing Alcohol

Capn Crunch

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Garnier Fructis Leave In

Tapatio

Ranch Dressing

Most American Chips (minus Nacho Cheese Doritos)

They do eat some pretty weird things but something that I thoroughly disapprove of? Vinegar.

Vinegar on fish and chips and not just that put EVERYTHING is pickled here (which means everything is soaked in vinegar). Blech. Double blech. I can't even. No. Hahaha. I don't even put vinegar on my collard greens haha.

None of this has stopped me from making delicious food for me and Urbain. I throw down in the kitchen regardless of strange ingredients and Oreo withdrawals.

But besides all of this I've settled in very well and I'm excited to see what the term holds for me. I hope you all are doing well. As you can see on my wall I have photos of lots of you on my wall as a reminder of all the great times I've had. I know lots of you would love to be here with me but you're here in spirit.

Until Next Time.
ciao.