If only I could stay forever...

I can't believe that February's almost over. I wish time would slow down a bit. May 8th is going to come too soon, and I just am not ready for all of this to end.

I secured a regular babysitting job while I'm in London! This is great news, as I've been trying to find ways to make extra cash for a while now. Four or five days a week I'm helping a really great woman named Natalia watch her absolutely adorable 1 year old twins for a few hours in the evening until her husband gets home. Her daughters are such happy babies, which make it so much better. (Well, minus the colds... but who can blame them??) They just started moving about, however, which makes watching them a bit difficult if you don't have four arms. That's where I come in, and I am happy to help! They're fantastic people. I simply put an ad up on craigslist.com offering child care to people around London. You never know what you're going to get with a random online website, but I was really lucky to have been contacted by such an awesome family!

Jessica's birthday was last Tuesday and it was a blast! She turned 21, and not letting our foreign location inhibit the excitement of this particular year, we partied as if we were in America. How could we not?

The Absolute Ice Bar London was very cool. It was like nothing I had experienced before, at least. It's a bit hard to rationalize paying £12.50 to drink in a freezer, but I finally had a chance to chew on some ice (my glass!), so I was happy.

We then headed off to The Sports Cafe. It's notorious for being filled with Americans which is less than ideal, but it's also the only club we could think of that was open as late as 2am. Jessica accomplished her appropriate amount of tally marks and I made sure we got home alive. A good team, all in all.

On Saturday, our small dorm room was filled with students from Spain, Chile, Switzerland, and Russia. I love being able to meet so many people from other countries. I've never felt like such a "stupid American", but at the same time, I love it. Culture is great. I'm jealous of their ability to speak all different languages but still communicate with me in English. The best I can do is introduce them to the art of the American "Power Hour". Who doesn't appreciate a person who reminds them to drink every 60 seconds or so?

My drawing class has been meeting in the British Museum, which is very very cool. A must see for any visitor to London. Next week we will meet at the VNA, which will be fun as well. I love the opportunity to spend time in all of these museums while earning class credit!

My roomate Sarah and I are currently in the process of attempting to book a trip to Amsterdam next month. I'm very much looking forward to this trip. It's not looking like I'm going to have the option to travel outside of London very much, but Amsterdam seems feasible and it's definitely pretty high on my list. People who have gone run out of words describing it. I can not wait, to say the least.

Next weekend is the Dave Matthews Concert, which Sarah's father so graciously bought us tickets to attend. I'm very excited. Though my love of Dave Matthews does not even come close to comparing with my roomate, Jessica's, I still hear that the show is fantastic and a "must-see". I'm always down for a good live performance and I have no doubt that the show will be absolutely amazing.

I also get a "free" makeover and photo shoot at Sapphire Studios next week. It's free but of course they're going to try with all their might ("bully" as I've read other people's experiences include) to get me to buy these photos. Unfortunately, however, I don't even have enough money to take the tube there and back, so I'm not sure how they can possibly sell me anything. I made a deposit (stupidly), but when it comes down to my options of food and shelter vs. photographs of myself, I'm not sure how they can not sympathize with my situation. No scams for me, thank you. Just complimentary wine, please.

I'm getting so comfortable here. Even the constant rain doesn't get me down. My friends talk about what they miss from home, but I can honestly say there's nothing I really miss. Of course I miss my friends and my family, but I'm having a blast here. I would love for them to visit me. I don't need jars of peanut butter, necessarily. I certainly don't need Jimmy John's sub sandwiches. I'm happy here. I honestly could stay here for far longer, and am definitely considering finding a way to come back. This city is great. There's no other way to explain the upcoming semester in Springfield than as, simply, a drag. Nothing against Springfield. But, let's be honest, how can you compare to London? It's an unmatchable experience.

Wine for my Valentine

I hope everyone had a very special Valentines Day (or un-Valentines Day).

In an attempt to avoid unnecessary drama (as my apathetic self tends to do) I took an "Ellen Day" on Valentine's Day. I spent the day loitering in cafe's, doing reading for school, and wandering the city. There is so much going on in this city every hour of every day. You look down the street and just see an unbelievable mass of people. All kinds of people, really. My roomate, Sarah, has commented more than once that though she knows she's a tourist, she's still sick of all the tourists around here. Being a local for only three weeks now, that's a strong statement. Though, I can't say I disagree entirely, the eclectic selection of visitors and locals of London makes for some fantastic people watching.

I browsed the neighborhoods of London for the perfect coffee shop, but never really found it. If there's one thing I know it's that i absolutely refuse to visit a Starbucks while I'm in Europe. (Yet, without explanation, I have a strange urge stop in a McDonald's... just once.)

I ended up stopping for an early dinner at Strada, an Italian chain restaurant. I should have known better than to stop at a chain, but alas I did. The food wasn't bad by any means, but it didn't exactly change my life. Regardless, having a nice relaxing dinner alone was refreshing. And on a side note, I can't tell you how much I enjoy being able to order a simple glass of wine at dinner.

Before I left the restaurant, a smiling Moroccan man stopped me to ask if I'd like to join him and his friends/colleagues for dessert. Though I respectfully declined, we exchanged numbers and met up later for drinks. The conversation was lovely and I had a chance to practice my absolutely awful French, (for this charming Moroccan speaks seven different languages. Oh la la.). Being treated to a few glasses of wine on Valentines Day was a lovely way to end my evening.

Today was spent at The British Museum for my Intro to Drawing class. I just love that class. I love drawing. Though I never have time for it on my own time, forcing my self to sit down and draw at least once a week is therapeutic. It also gives me a good excuse to see the museums of London. While I was drawing in the refectory, Lucas proposed that I draw up a tattoo idea and he'd give me 5 or 20 pounds. Hey, I'm broke... I'll do anything.

I also played pool tonight and, not that i'm trying to toot my own horn or anything, but I'm not half bad. I won three out of five games. I feel pretty accomplished for that. Won my lost earring back from Sebastian and even got a couple beers out of the deal. I think I'm going to start playing pool more often (Even though 2 pounds a game is ridiculous).

Another day in London has ended and it's time to sleep. Heavy schedule tomorrow: two whole classes. How do I keep up with it all. :-P Goodnight!

Cheers&Hiccups, LNNS

MIND THE GAP

Three weeks in one of the greatest cities in the world and no blog post? That's quite a gap of events that my loyal readers (not that there are any) have missed out on. I officially am a failed blogger. But, better late than never, right?

Cheers from London!

For probably (okay, definitely) the only time in my life, I'm having the luxury of living in the middle of Regents Park right in Central London. Regents College isn't such a bad place and has one great location. Hop on the Baker Street tube stop, and you can go anywhere in this city.

Classes are going well, for the most part. Some are pretty unimpressive, but some are fabulous. Though my studies are important, in all honesty, I'm not in London for class, I'm in London for adventures and experiences. My favorite class is my Intro to Drawing class. Who wouldn't like a class that consists of traveling to London's famous museums and sitting on the floor drawing faces for a few hours. My kind of museum visit. Besides, class that doesn't take place in a classroom can't be beat.

The students at school here, particularly the European Business School students, are ridiculous. I don't mean to be offensive in my assessment, but they all just come from a world that is surreal to me. Not all of them of course, but more than I could have ever imagined. I've never seen so many fur coats and designer jeans in my life. Plenty of them, from what I can tell, have been sent here on their outrageously affluent parents' dimes and don't really care weather they pass or fail. How strange to live such a life.

I'm probably looked at more strangely than them, of course. This city is incredibly expensive. I'm not sure how much longer I can last here. Money gets spent so fast, and I have so little of it. I would kill for a job of any sort. Of course any sort is actually limited to something relatively illegitimate seeing as that I am without a work permit because, ha, I couldn't afford it. I'm beginning to think that was foolish. I don't know what I was thinking trying to live a semester in the most expensive city in the world without any sort of income. What a stupid American, I am.

The men here are lovely. Terribly charming. Though, this is probably due to the fact that they all have adorably foreign accents that an untraveled American girl like myself is easily drawn to. Irish, Austrian, Turkish, Australian, Scottish, British, Albanian, Nigerian. From what I can tell most of the people I seem to meet in this city aren't English at all. They're from all corners of the world and I'm (almost) always eager to talk to them. Many of them offer to buy me drinks, since I'm a student and obviously "skint". The feminist inside me wants to refuse, but the beer loving girl without a pound in her pocket always seems to accept. What can I say?

Though I've been here only 3 and a half weeks, I feel that I have a pretty decent grasp on the city. I've been to most of the major tourist spots. I've taken the pictures. I've done the foreign thing. I absolutely hate looking like a tourist, but it's inevitable. The minute I open my American mouth, they know. "You have a bit of a twang," the friendly hobo with the missing teeth told me. Me? A twang? I'm from D.C.! I don't have a twang! I almost want to stay in this city for the sole purpose of loosing my American accent. I'm jealous of the proper British accent and their nice rounded vowels, I can't lie. I could try to fake it, but would most likely just make a fool of myself. I'll just keep attempting to meet locals and cross my fingers that it might come naturally.

I traveled to Bath today. Though we spent more time on the bus ride there and back, the town was pretty lovely. The architecture was cool and the shops and boutiques were endless. I love the street performers as well. Any time I can hear some Stevie Ray in England, I'm happy. The Roman Bath's themselves were pretty cool. Weird the things that Mother Nature can pull off. Must've been cool to live back them and cleanse yourself in the hot water (physically and spiritually, mind you). Sure beats a chlorine swimming pool. However, in all honesty, there's a good chance I might have just been a peasant lugging around water rather than bathing in it. Therefore, I can't really make that statement for sure.

I'm off to one of the many markets tomorrow. Maybe I'll find someone who wants to hire me. I feel like if I can barter for a Sherlock Holmes pipe, I can barter for a job.

Oh, and it's Valentines Day! Happy Valentines Day to all of you valentine-less loners like myself. To all of you happy couples, well, you can wish each other you're own darn Happy Valentines Day. Most of my special day will be spent in my room doing homework with my roommates who's valentines are thousands of miles away. At least they have an excuse...

Cheers&Hiccups, LNNS