Hey guys!
So all of you have been SO great about reading my blog and asking me questions and stuff (if you every have anything you want to know about my oh so exciting daily life then just leave a comment or e-mail me and I'll write about it!) and so many people have asked me about the food here. Now when I left for England everyone warned me about the food and how bland it is. They were right but they left out one minor things...potatoes! I believe that there are potatoes somehow hidden in every meal (even breakfast on some days!). The other day for tea (dinner) we had what looked like lasagna but instead of noodles it had dun dun dun POTATOES! Good thing I love potatoes at least! Besides the massive amounts of starchy goodness that is put on my plate daily the food isn't that bad. Monday-Friday the dining hall serves breakfast and dinner and then you have money on your university id card for lunch at little cafes all over campus so I at least know that lunch will be good! Saturdays and Sundays are brunch and dinner. I just came from brunch (It's 12:30PM here and you guys aren't even up yet!). It was my first English brunch experience and it was good!! The diet has been lacking protein but today I got bacon!! Now my grandma warned me about this bacon and good thing she did because this is not your average American bacon. It has little fat through out it and is more like a slice of ham/Canadian bacon but it sure was tasty! So now that you all know about my recent dietary habits lets move on!
Thursday night was pretty low key except for the boys in my hallway being rip roaring drunk at 9 PM and congregating outside my door to chat with each other. Now before I came here someone told me that the English love to drink and the Irish live to drink. I think these English college boys must have some Irish blood because they go out EVERY NIGHT! In England, first year students (America is the only place that has names for each year so I have stopped calling myself a sophomore and just stick with 2nd year!) at university just have to pass their classes to stay enrolled, their classes don't count towards their GPA or anything so a lot of them basically do the bare minimum to pass and hence the constant going out. Well these boys had just discovered that an American girl (that's me!) was living on this floor and so they decided to just walk on in my room and say hello. I was skyping my mom at the time and so they left and they once in the hallway decided to give me a nice rendition of Stacey's Mom. While this is not the first time that this has happened in my 20 years (in high school the boy with the locker next to mine sang this to me constantly!) it was the first time it had been done in British accent haha. After they all left for the night I went to bed and slept through the whole night for the first time, go me!
Friday I just had one class so I got up, got breakfast, went running and then got dressed. Now the boys were out in the hallway again and I don't know if they realize just how thin the walls are because they started to recount everything that had happened to them the night before (an interesting night for some) and when I walked out of my room they just stopped talking and stared at me haha. Class was good, all of the professors (tutors) are really nice and want to help you out if you go up and ask them a question. Then since it was Friday basically the whole campus was going out so I decided to test the waters of the going out scene for the first time since I got here. Our group consisted of Rae and myself, 3 Australian girls, a 2 girls from New York. Quite the diverse group! I had never met the Australian girls but they were SO nice but boy can those Aussies drink! Needless to say I will never be able to keep up with them nor do I think I will ever try for the sake of my own well being! The going out scene is really different here compared to U of I because just about everyone at university can legally drink so there are bars in all of the halls that people go to before they go out because alcohol is expensive at bars. And at bars you don't have to pay cover but you do at dance clubs and sometimes is can be around $8 US! Here you also can't walk to downtown because it is a bit of a hike so a big group jams into a cab and then just splits the fare.
While I'm glad I went out and had a good time and met some people it is still not a favorite pastime of mine. What 20 year old college girl would rather spend a Friday night curled up in her (uncomfortable but warm) bed with a book and some M&M's? Oh wait, that's me! One of the cool things that I have learned through this experience already is that people can really see if you are trying to be someone you are not and they like you more when you are being yourself. For me, this experience is not just about going to school in England and traveling (which is a definite plus!) but about growing into the person that I am meant to be and who I want to be. It's hard sometimes but last night talking to other people I realized for the first time that they are feeling all the same things that I am and this experience is so much easier knowing that you aren't alone!
Since it's Saturday I will probably take it easy today (maybe read a book?!). I think some of us may go to a store later like a Walmart for something to do! Sorry if this post was not that exciting but I think Rae and I are going to plan a weekend trip somewhere soon so you all have those adventures to look forward to! If anyone wants my address it is in my previous post and mail is always enjoyed! Miss you all at home and I'll be back before you know it!
Love from London,
Stacey
