The Ancient Commonsense of Things

Me with a giant scarab beetle in the British Museum.

This entry is dedicated to Joe-seph because he has put up with dating me for 7 months (as of today.)

So this week hasn't been too exciting--I had three tests over Wednesday and Thursday, so I didn't have too much time for fun on those days.

My Management test on Wednesday was a fiasco. They accidentally (or correctly?) gave us the same exam already posted to the class Web site, so we knew all the answers already. I told the proctor, and I guess they contacted UF, but I have no idea what we're going to have to do about it or when we're going to take the test again.

Thursday night I went out to a very American-like sports bar with most of the UF group; it was kinda fun, but I was tired (as were most of the people there, I think) and we came back to the dorm by midnight.

Friday my BLC class took a field trip to the East End of London. It was cold and rainy, which is what everyone says London's usually like, but we'd had such good weather over the past two weeks that I sort of got used to the sunshine.

Anyway, the East End was kind of neat. We saw where the Jewish immigrants used to live during and after WWII; it's where a large Bangladeshi population lives now. It's really interesting to see the area with all the old buildings butting up to modern ones, with Skyscrapers in the background.

We also went to the Women's Library, which I loved; it's where they keep all the documentation of important things in women's history, like the suffragist movement. Some people from the program were being kind of... well, ass-ish, I guess, but that's not unexpected.

Then, we had lunch! Which was pretty much the best part! FIE used our tuition to pay for a giant group lunch at Tayyabs, a really well-known and respected Indian and Pakistani restaurant. SOOO MUCH FOOOOOOOD. I had only had Indian food (or Asian food, as they'd say here--China, Japan, etc. are known as the "far East") a few times, but I really liked it. Plus naan is like the best thing ever.

The best lunch of all time.

So I ate a veggie Smosa, basically a whole loaf (??) of naan, chickpea curry, eggplant/potato/veggie curry, rice, and tons and tons of mango lassi. I think it's the best food I've had (and the most I've eaten since it was already paid for) since I've been here.

After lunch we went to Bloomberg, which is in this very unassuming-looking building from the front, but inside it's all glass and neon and funny-shaped cushions to sit on and load of windows everywhere. The whole operation was kind of over my head, at first, and I started having a mini-mental panic when the guide was talking about what it takes to work for Bloomberg. But, then she started talking about their news channel and all the journalists they employ, and she said, "We want people with journalism backgrounds for that; you can teach someone about the market and about finance, but you can't make them a good writer." So that gave me some hope that my college degree wouldn't be a waste were I to work for a place like Bloomberg.

Not only was the building awesome, but there was also a free canteen that we could eat whatever we wanted from. But I was so stuffed so I just took some candy and Nutella packets for later.

My roommates are all gone until Tuesday night; they're in Paris. I'm excited for them, a little bummed they're gone, wondering what I'm going to do with hardly anyone here, and also kind of excited to explore by myself and have some alone-time. Meaning I can go to bed at 8 p.m. and no one will judge me.

Outside the British Museum. I had to ask strangers to take my picture all day.

Today I went to the British Museum. Or, I did for a little bit. It was so crappy outside this morning, my shoes got all soaked and my stockings were falling down the whole time I was walking from the tube to the Museum. Then, I got sort of lost so I just wandered around and looked at all the neat shops. I found a nice little area I'll probably never find again, but that's the fun of getting lost. But, I pulled out my trusty map and figured out where I was and found the museum.

Statue of Venus, one of my favorite things I saw in the museum.

A word of advice: when looking for a Museum or some other giant location, don't just look up above the buildings and go, "Oh, that big one looks like it could be the top of a museum; I guess I'll walk in that direction." You will end up at a lot of banks and hotels. Trust me; I know.

Also interesting, to get there I walked up Drury Lane, where the muffin man lives! I didn't find him, though.

The museum was HUGE. I was overwhelmed. And already exhausted by the time I got there. But, I spent about two and a half hours looking at the exhibits on the first floor, then told myself it was alright to come back another day, so I left.

Rosetta Stone!

Highlights of what I saw: loads of sarcophagi, Greek and Roman statues, Native American jewelry and weapons, and the Rosetta Stone. I wanted to get a photo of myself in front of the stone, but people were crowding all around it (as if they could read any of the languages... yeah, right.) and I didn't want to get an elbow to the face.

Wandered about SoHo for a little; tons of bookstores, I found, but that was pretty much it. Then I went down Oxford Street (which is the street Primark is on). Because it's the weekend everyone was out shopping so it was a madhouse.

I walked through a couple stores, didn't buy anything. Then, I found myself in Topshop.

For those of you who don't know, Topshop is fashion megacenter. Not designer-expensive, but definitely too much for my price range. But it's full of the trendiest, hippest, up-to-the-second clothing and accessories. And this Topshop was four stories high and includes a hair salon, nail place, fashion advisor, and candy store, among other things. And don't get confused; it's not a mall. It's ONE STORE.

I think it would have been nice had I just been able to browse and enjoy myself, but if was so full of people, and so loud, and I was starving, that really it just frightened me. And everything was too expensive.

So, yeah, hopped on the tube, came home, had someone ask me for directions (FINALLY. Someone thinks I'm LOCAL. Couldn't help them, though.) Just ate dinner, and I'm considering going to watch Angels and Demons tonight at the movies.

I might go back to the museum tomorrow and see the rest of it since I think it's going to rain again and it's a nice, indoorsy activity. Maybe then I can get a photo in front of the Rosetta stone.

That's it for now; hope everyone is having a nice weekend.

Love,
AMY