So, I've said a lot of what I've been doing in my free time in this blog: National Gallery, Kew Gardens, getting lost, British Museum, British Library, getting lost. However, I have yet to fully brief you on my host family, my classes, activities, and other day to day stuffs. What follows is a rough depiction of a semi-average day plus several observations of cultural differences.
So, my days usually begin around 7ish when my alarm goes off. I use my new mobile and it has a rooster for the alarm sound. I find it ironic as London is possibly the last place on earth to find a live animal that is not a Tube rat, a pigeon, a fox or a zoo animal- roosters probably least of all.
I get up, go through the normal hygiene procedures, with some variances. In England (Possibly Europe as a whole) energy and water prices are rather high. Because of this, things like daily, 10 minute showers are a luxury that I really can't indulge in. So, I've gotten used to the every other day 6 minute shower. You probably didn't want to know about my bathing habits but, hey, these are my experiences in a foreign place and how a nation views their energy resources is an important part of how their culture.
I make a sack lunch. London is expensive, in case you hadn't heard. The dollar's favor-ability varies daily, but even so food prices in a restaurant aren't cheap. So, tight-wad-Hannah has a PB&J (Yes, there's peanut butter here in Canaan) sandwich, usually with some sort of fruit and whatever else Sainsburys has on sale. Sainsburys is the local grocery store. They've got decent prices and 1 pound sausage rolls which, believe me, is a good thing.
Breakfast is toast, tea and usually a banana. I'll discuss tea later. My breakfast habits seem to terrify my host parents. I'm not sure why, but English people seem to have larger portioned meals, which baffles me.
Anyway, at around 8:30 I walk the 15 minutes to the local tube station. I go through a small, residential area which could be mistaken for the Dursley's neighborhood in Harry Potter. I also go a bit through the town. It has a significant Muslim/ Sikh/ Indian population so I generally walk past two kebab stands, three fresh beg/ fruit venders, a vegetarian deli, at least two halal butchers (that's like kosher for Muslims), and various other shops. Oh, English people call stores shops. it's not a huge change but I like saying it. Pubs are surprisingly few and far beaten in the area around my house. I expected a bunch but I guess it's sort of a dying art now.
I actually enjoy my tube experience, all-in-all. During peak-times (7-9am, 4-8 pm) It's a bit of a, well, a bad word. However, its fast, generally reliable for the area it covers, clean and safe. Yes, there can be delays and the odd person will throw-up and cause the whole system to get shut down, but really, its not too bad. Usually there's a newspaper lying around, and the views are nice when the tube runs above ground. I suppose it suits my introverted personality. There are people around, but I don't have to, nor, indeed, am I expected to talk or interact with anyone. I can day dream, listen to music, read, or people watch to my heart's content. The people watching is probably the bets you'll get anywhere, anyway. I've got material for probably five different characters by now.
My schol ,which is in fact not really a school but a building with classrooms where we hear lecture, is about an 8 minute walk from the station. Its in a Georgian (early 18th century) building with "new" Victorian (late 19th century) editions. Sometimes I really love living in London.
I may have already given my class list, but here it is again. I'm taking Shakespeare "The Dramatist"(literature), 19th and 20th Century English novel(literature), Empire: the British Experience(History) , and Britain today (political science). I'm really enjoying my classes. In shakespeare, we're studying the Scripts (not texts) in the context of them being plays. That's it. As my professor would say "I don't give a #@$% about a Marxist-Feminist-post modernist- perspective. We're going to get our hands dirty with the verse." It's real meat and bones analysis which i think is my strength. I do better in literary analysis with things like meter, sound, rhythmic devices and so on to limit me. Anyway, right now we're studying jane Eyre in my 19th and 20th c class. If you know me , you should already be smiling and winking and making whatever sorts of visual recognition that shows that you understand how INDESCRIBABLY HAPPY studying this book, HERE, makes me. AH! I LOVE IT! Today, we spent a good 4 minutes discussing whether we like the Rochester/ Jane romance. I KILLED. ok, sorry. My pride is getting in the way. I just get so gosh darn excited about this book. But you don't want to here my defence for Rochester....
History has been fascinating. We did a bit of the American Revolution from the British perspective. Did you know that we lost? Yup, we sure did. If we had stayed with the empire we would have been much better off. Oh well. I'll be doing a study on the Gallipoli campaign in WWI and the role of the Australians in securing "victory". great stuff.
Britain Today is also great. We're going through nationality and politics and pretty soon we'll do some history. As its "Britain" today, we also get some scots, Wales, and Irish stuff. Hence our class trip to Edinburgh next week. I'll let you know ho my own personal adventures in Scotland go next time.
So, on average I have two classes a day: 1 in the morning, 1 in the afternoon. in between, I east lunch. If its thursday, I have a six hour break between classes. Today I filled that time by buying a youth railcard and getting lost somewhere around Holborn. I ended up going through Covent Garden, Trafalgar Square and leicester Square. To be honest, all of the tourist stuff is kind of grouped together. It was fun, though because I got to go t=down a few sketch alley ways that, probably 1 hundred years ago, had laundry lines between windows instead of trendy bar signs and Pizza Express shop fronts. I get all misty-minded when I think about it. Someday I don't get lost, and I have another agenda. I've also used the time to catch up on class reading and visit the British Museum, which if it was less crowded would easily be my favorite hang out spot. Curse you crowds!
After my last class I usually get to the tube station around 5:45. It takes about 1 1/2 hours to get home so I usually get dinner around 7:30-8. Dinner. Well, as I said earlier, proportions just aren't the same here, at least for me. For myself, I usually like a fist sized portion of my main and double that of vegg. Well, on average I get a plate full of main (like, a platter) which may or may not involve something green. Not to say that what Mary cooks is not delicious. I'm usually really excited to get home and eat as her food is pure comfort. I think I've had potato-something for dinner every night. Its always hot, and as I get home late Mary always cooks mine specially for me. With four busy kids plus myself my host mom serves dinner in shifts. Myself and my host dad usually eat together later at night. Sometimes the oldest boy, Ritchie, eats later, sometimes not. Whether Mary herself eats I have no idea. All in all, everything is quite tasty, but super-dee-duper filling. Like, my head swims with how much food she feeds me. And then it's time for desert! I don't think I have ever in my life eaten desert EVERY night, right after dinner.
Well, after such a filling dinner I try and get whatever homework I have done before falling asleep. And that's my day.
Now, tea. From what I understand, its not as widespread a love in England as we Americans think. I know several fellow students have host families who do not drink or even like tea. However, with the Butlers, tings are probably as stereotypically English as far as tea is concerned. First of all, I'm always offered it. If I look thirsty, "would you like a cuppa?", if I'm studying "would you like some tea, Hannah?", if I'm watching tele, "tea, Hannah?", if I've just gotten home, "Have some tea to warm you.", if I'm going out, "Have a quikk cup before you go," if I make the mistake of staying in one place for too long, "want some tea, Hannah?" Seriously. I kid you not. I like tea, as most should know. Ok, that's not true. I LOVE tea. So, I enjoy not having to ask. I can help myself, of course but generally I don't have to. All I have to do is look like I'm going to the kitchen and bam. Kettle boiling, tetley out and ready to go. Another thing is that i have apparently committed a mortal offense by not taking my tea with milk and sugar. My hot parents are tolerant but Granny (mary's mom) I think may be seriously offended. Now, I'm not syaing this a s a critique. I'm actually in love with the proliferation of tea in this household. I just was not expecting something so stereotypically english to be so prolific in this otherwise very Irish household. It's GREAT!
Well, that's all for now. Tomorrow I'm testing myself by making a trip to Bredfield. I'm trying to find the house my parents lived in in the 80's. Its a test as when i got to Scotland I'll be on a similar quest to find a castle for a friend. We'll see how my directional skills go. Oh, and I'll be going it alone. Hurray for personal growth!
Cheers!
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