I am now the Tube Master! At first I was completely intimidated by the tube (what Londoners call the subway), but I discovered it is much simpler than I originally thought, mostly thanks to the abundance of signs telling you where to go. But now I am virtually completely comfortable, and that is a good thing.
We have started real classes now. This morning we discussed Ben Jonson's The Alchemist, a play that we saw Monday night at the National Theatre. Unfortunately it wasn't as exciting as we'd hoped, and more confusing due to the characters' shifting dialects. Not the best, but certainly not the worst production I could imagine.
So I am really starting to miss home now. I absolutely love being here, but there are times when I wish I could transport Star Trek-style home to spend the night. Here are ten of the things I miss the most, in some not completely random order:
10. Furman (you like it more when you're not there)
9. the American economy (the exchange rate means everything costs nearly double here)
8. My car
7. American television (all the programmes here are pretty much ridiculously bad)
6. Silence (London is abominably loud, particularly when your window is just above a busy street)
5. Friendly smiling people
4. Air-conditioning (basically unheard of in England)
3. Mr. Bingley, Punk, Ricky, and the rest of the Pitts Animal Farm
2. Southern food!!!!!!!!!!! (No seriously, I would kill for some fried chicken right about now)
1. My family and friends, naturally.
I suppose I should now stop wasting time and go work on that pile of novels I am supposed to be reading. But what I'm actually going to do is eat more houmus (hummus? which I didn't like until yesterday, when I also conveniently discovered how marvelously cheap it is) and work on some more Su Doku, which I find I am surprisingly not horrible at.
Cheers!
P.S. The title of this entry is a reference to the tube, where a little voice reminds you to "Mind the gap" between the train and the platform when you're exiting the train.
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4 comments:
I'm so excited to see your spelling of "programmes". :)
oh british sitcoms!
if you get a chance to watch gaelic football, do it--it's like a rip off of aussie rules footy which is fabulous.
and they don't have fried chicken there??? they even have that in australia...didn't have american biscuits though til i discovered scones like my last week there, haha.
<3
Kristen, two of your problems are easily remedied! KFC is everywhere in London! :) (I know, I know...totally not the same as the real thing) And if your hotel has SkyTV they carry a ton of American shows; you can download 'em off your laptop; and ITV has 'em occasionally, too!
Glad to hear you're getting used to the tube and having fun!
Megan
P.S. HAve you had Yorkshire puddings? they're my favorite!
I definitely know the feeling of wanting to be at home sometimes, because I'm definitely going through the same thing here - I do like being here, but at the same time there are definitely things that I miss (the most predominant being Furman, being able to cook for myself on a regular basis, decent working showers, and cranberry juice).
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