Jan 31: First Month Finale

Before baking

Tomorrow is February 1st. I can't believe that I'm about to complete my first calendar month here (full month by the 4th). It has been quite an adjustment so far, but I think I'm starting to get the hang of living here.

I'm also excited for the upcoming month and a few events/trips that are already planned: Greenwich (Feb.1), Windsor Castle (Feb. 2), The Super Bowl at Carlsberg Sports Bar (Feb. 3), a walking tour of East London and Indian food dinner (Feb. 5), an 8 day trip to Florence and Venice (Feb. 8-16), a weekend trip to Brighton (Feb. 23-24), and I'm sure much more!

After baking

Today was pretty busy, as I had 6 hours of class (9-12 and 2-5). By the end of it, I was pretty exhausted. I spent the rest of the night relaxing with Katie, watching TV, and helping her prepare an awesome baked chicken/vegetable dish that turned out great.

We decided to cook tonight since we will probably be spending a decent amount of money this weekend. We have a trip to Greenwich lined up for tomorrow, Windsor Castle on Saturday, and an all-day/all-night Super Bowl party for Sunday. Needless to say, I'm thrilled for the weekend to get here, especially since I spent this week and last week writing papers. To top it all off, this time next week, I will be packing to go to Italy for 8 days with Katie! I'm really lucky to be able to have experiences like this - thanks Mom and Dad!

Tomorrow will be and early class and then a trip to Greenwich for the day - I'll be sure to take a lot of pictures.

Til then - Cheers!

Jan 30: Doing Work, Getting Groceries

My grocery cart. Nutritious, I know.

I'll keep it short today. Today was my day off. I spent most of it writing a draft to a paper and was able to make decent progress. It's important to stay on top of this stuff, since everything is due on the same two days. Assignments at Boston College are like this too, but usually in shorter intervals. I feel that at SOAS, since I am assessed entirely though my papers and/or final exam, which there are usually only one or two of (instead of three to five), there is much less day-to-day work. A schedule like this is quite easy to procrastinate, as you can imagine, so I am trying my best to fight that.

I also went grocery shopping, which was nice. I picked up a few things I needed and maybe a thing or two I didn't need. Every time I go, I have to be smart about what I buy since I have to carry it all back.

Tomorrow I have 6 hours of class, so I will be quite busy. Hopefully they all go well and things aren't too hectic. Hopefully I will do something enjoyable in the evening, as I was able to get ahead on work today and should have some extra time available.

Til then - Cheers!

Jan 29: Typical Tuesday

Today will be a short post, since there wasn't too much going on today. I woke up fairly late, went to class from 1pm to 3pm and then spent the rest of the evening reading, planning, and typing out the beginning to a paper that I need to write.

A fun thing that Katie and I did was order pizza from Domino's which has very different options here in the UK. They are having a 50% off promotion this week and there is no delivery charge - how could I possibly resist? It ended up tasting pretty good too, which was great considering how different everything was than in the United States when I was looking at the menu.

Also, it looks like Katie, Allegra, Dave and I finally decided on our location for the Super Bowl: The Carlsberg Sports Bar in Leicester Square, which is in downtown London. Our names are on the list and the festivities start at 2pm...but kickoff isn't until 11:30pm. Not sure if we will be getting there that early, but since it is first come first serve and there is plenty of inexpensive food around, it may be worth making a day out of. Eitherway, I'm excited to have found a place that looks like a good location to watch the game.

Tomorrow will be a mostly working day off for me - I'll be doing laundry and writing some more of my paper (this looks to be a weekly routine, since I have a total of 8 papers to write while I'm here). Anyway, it should be relaxing.

Til then - Cheers!

Jan 28: Mundane Monday

ICEBAR looks pretty cool (get it?)

Today was fairly boring - just had class and have been doing reading/taking TV breaks for most of the day. I will keep this post short for that reason since, well, there really isn't too much to say. One interesting thing Katie and I found though when we were studying together was a bar made completely out of ice in Piccadilly, called ICEBAR. They give you a funny cape upon entry so you don't get too cold. I think we will have to check it out at some point. There are some pretty cool pictures on Google of it.

The Harbaugh Bowl  kicks off 11:28pm Feb. 3 London time!

On another note, I'm very excited for the Super Bowl coming up this Sunday, however, I am having a hard time finding a place to watch it. There are numerous locations that unfortunately appear to be booked full. Who knew the Super Bowl would be so popular where football is "soccer" and football is "American football"? I'm sure I will find a place, and I hope it can happen soon, since I definitely don't want to miss the Harbaugh Bowl. I've said this before, but, personally, I'd be happy with either team winning, even if I slightly favor the Niners mainly because of Randy Moss's presence on the team. Oh well, enough rambling for now. Hopefully tomorrow will be a little more eventful!

Til then - Cheers!

Jan 27: Zero Dark Thirty

Tacos are the best...probably my favorite food to make.

It was a pretty good movie.

I didn't do too much today - woke up late, finished up a rough draft of a paper, did some class reading, made some tacos with Katie for dinner. It was a nice day after a busy (and expensive) last few days.

The only really interesting thing I did was go see Zero Dark Thirty with Katie tonight. It was a pretty good movie. A more interesting note though, is how we had to go about getting the tickets. Here in the UK, if you want to go to the movies, you must reserve your specific seats in the theatre ahead of time, online, and then get your tickets once you arrive, with your assigned seat printed on them. It is an interesting idea that I would probably like if more if the theatres were bigger, set up in a more logical way, had more than 3 showtimes per movie per day, or were properly staffed. Anyways, I ended up in my seat with ice-cream in hand by the time the movie started, so I can't really complain. And again, the movie itself was very good. I'm not sure if I like it better than or enjoyed it as much as Argo or Django Unchained, but it is definitely up there in terms of quality and deserves a spot for best picture at the Oscars. So there's my two cents on movies - everyone is a critic.

I have class tomorrow, so I will be reading and sleeping the rest of the night. Hopefully I can be as productive this week as I was last week, since I want to have a clear schedule by the time Feb. 8 rolls around for my 8 day trip to Florence and Venice with Katie. Wish me luck!

Til then - Cheers!

Jan 26: Tate Modern

Today I went to the Tate Modern (London's premiere Modern Art museum) with Katie and Allegra. It was a lot of fun. I will tell today mostly through pictures and captions. Enjoy!:

We took the Bus to get there. Only took about 20 min AND I got to sit on the top of it on the way there

The Tate Modern: It used to be a Power Plant! How...modern of it.

I really like this building...much more than some of the exhibits!

So this Italian guy killed and stuffed two birds, drew on a wall, and made some paper dirty...ART!

This actually looks like art. Not sure what its called. I'll call it "Organized Confusion"

"Violence Silence and Violins". I don't get it either.

One man's trash? Another museums' ART!

I really liked this one. Not sure why.

Why have shelves when you can have...ART?!

Just brilliant. Really captures the world we live in today, don't you think?

I couldn't stop thinking about this when looking at this piece.

One of the many disturbing images here. Modern Art!

Is it a rope trap...or is it...ART?!

Art, man, ART!

Katie looking into these blocks we had to wait in line for. What was in them you ask? ART!

In line for those blocks. Each was a tunnel with a different color at the end of them. If your reaction is "that's it?", then yes, you too understand MODERN ART!

"No, that can't be art!", you're thinking. Yes. Yes it is. MODERN ART!

You can't make this stuff up.

Seems like a copy of the other non-paintings. But if you look closely, you'll realize just how silly Modern Art can be sometimes.

"Photograph of a Photograph"...I call my picture of it "A Photograph of Photograph of a Photograph". How meta.

Those are people in animal suits dancing. I don't know why either.

Awesome. Can't wait to not sleep tonight.

Pretty cool, huh?

A little less cool, huh?

Why throw out your metal when you can make it...ART!

Disturbing and hilarious at the same time. Not really sure what I'm looking at. Could be the Devil.

Vents or art? ART!

I should have gotten a closer picture. It's a little woman pushing dirt into a pile. I thought it was pretty funny, until I found out it was called "Forced Labor". A nice piece though.

Hey someone stole that art! Nope, that IS the art! ART!

Is that trash left on a table or art? Ha its trash, but you thought about it, didn't you?

Art for cows.

Some rocks in a circle or art? ART!

Two chairs. Two balls. One piece of...ART!

Don't touch those bricks! They're ART!

Katie is not impressed.

A view of London from the Tate Modern. You can see St. Paul's Cathedral on the left and the Millenium Bridge over the water.

We spent the rest of the day walking around London and walked to Piccadilly circus to eat at Bella Italia, which was exactly what I needed at the end of a long day of walking. Pretty busy day! I'm not sure what I will be doing tomorrow. I might go see Zero Dark Thirty with Katie, but we haven't decided yet.

Til then - Cheers!

Jan 25: Camden Markets

 I'll keep it brief today. I went to the Camden Markets with Katie and Allegra. It was an incredible place that I definitely will have to explore further while I am here. It is surprisingly a lot like South Street back home in Philly, but an endless size with much more food. Can't lose. We spent all day there, just browsing through crazy amounts of clothes/tourist attractions/general nonsense. It was pretty fun and I don't even think I saw half of what was there. Again, I can't wait to go back. Here are some pictures from my day:

The Camden Markets!

Camden Market or South Street Philly?

Good coffee...

Nice view from the bridge

Seriously, this place is South Street on steroids

Another nice bridge view

My lone purchase today - I haggled down the price for a light up t-shirt (lights up with music)

I'm not too sure what I'll be up to for the rest of the night, but it's nice that the weekend is finally here! Not sure what I'll do tomorrow, but I'll be sure to blog about it.

Til then - Cheers!