Being British

Hey all, I’m back! Yeah, lame introduction, I know, but I’m running out of exciting and original things to say. So, the interesting news of the week is that it has officially been one WHOLE month (and 3 days today) that Heather and I have been out here in the great land of Britain. Although, I’m not sure that it really feels like a whole month. Its nice, because I actually feel relatively at home in my room… Its nice and messy, I’ve got posters on the walls, I washed the sheets for my bed yesterday, and I know where (almost) everything is. Going to class feels pretty normal, and although the workload hasn’t been big at all, I’m in for it in these next two weeks.

Also, on a different note, I had no idea that I would be cooking as often as I do. I guess the idea that there was no cafeteria here on campus, and that I’d be preparing my own meals and shopping and all that fun stuff never really occurred to me in full force. And yet here I am, shopping on the weekends, trying to buy stuff I’ll actually use and then coming home and trying to remember how mom cooked all those things we used to eat! I will say this, I appreciate my mom’s cooking a whole lot more now than I ever did before. Thankfully, I’m not completely worthless when it comes to cooking, and we’ve been getting progressively more adventurous… well, some more than others. I’ve been putting things together that I’m pretty sure are going to taste alright. My flatmate Fred, on the other hand, put together all kinds of stuff and hoped that it tasted good. (If I may put in my two cents, it looked disgusting, but he ate it).

Anyway, the week hasn’t been too interesting. Tuesday Night, Lucy and I went to the CU (Christian Union) meeting, and I actually signed up to go on this retreat thing (they call it a “house party”) next weekend. So here’s hoping that I actually make some friends outside my flat! I couldn’t sleep at all Tuesday night, (Erin can attest to this. I texted her at 5:45am England time because I was wide awake) so I skipped class on Wednesday. I’ve still been trying to get over being sick, so it was probably a good thing that I stayed in bed.

Thursday was boring with pretty much just class and hanging out with people in the kitchen like we always do. Although, Thursday night Anna and I got to be the happy cleaners of the atrocious kitchen. Ok, so this is how it works: we are responsible for keeping our kitchen looking decent, so we wash our own pots and pans and tidy up after we make a mess. We have a cleaner who cleans our kitchen (like mops the floor, scrubs the counters & stove) two times a week, but she only cleans what she can. In other words, we have to make sure the kitchen is clean enough for her to clean it. Anyway, Anna and I got to clean up all the boy’s messes that night because it was a wreck. Granted, the girls had made their messes too, but we at least attempted to clean up after ourselves. Anyway, the boys got an earful in the morning when we showed them the spotless kitchen.

Friday was nice. I slept in and bummed around. We were going to go see a play that the drama dept was putting on in the drama studio but unfortunately by the time we got down there it was sold out. So instead, as a flat, we all played poker! We just played with our pocket change, but it was still a bit upsetting when on the last hand of the game, I lost all my money because I went all in with a pair of pocket jacks! Arg. I’m still mad about it. Oh well, I only lost about ₤3.30.

So Lucy and Anna went home for the weekend, and Heather went to go visit a friend in Sheffield so our flat was a bit quieter than normal this weekend. Emma, Leigh, and I ventured in to Norwich on Saturday to do some shopping. We ended up with so much stuff by the end of the trip (we bought groceries, flatware, and Emma bought some plastic drawers) that we had to call a taxi instead of taking the bus back! Oh well, I now have enough food for the next two weeks, and new dishes! (I should take pictures, they’re better than my picnic plates… they just weren’t cutting it). Anyway, Emma and I went to do some laundry before heading off to watch the RUGBY WORLD CUP!

Ok, so Fred was all excited because England actually made it into the World Cup (which apparently was a surprise this year). So we went down to this pub just outside Norwich and watched the game on this big screen surrounded by lots of English people all yelling at the screen. It was actually a lot of fun. Unfortunately, as expected, we lost, but I had fun being British and doing my fair share of yelling too!

So that was that. Not a whole lot has happened, and the rugby game last night was definitely the highlight. Alright, well I should get out of bed, take a shower, and start my day. Hope life in the States is going well, and I miss you all!

PS- Katie, I hope your wedding is amazing and I wish I could be there. Cheers!