Unfortunately, since I was sick, there's not much to tell. I did have my first clubbing experience in London this Wednesday which was great! We went to a club called DSTRKT and it made me realize how great it is to be a girl. The ladies all got to go to the front of the line, got to sit on the raised couches and got free drinks all night. The club was amazing and I had a great time and it only made me more excited that when I go home I will be 21 and able to go out to bars and clubs.
Yesterday was also Valentine's Day as I'm sure anyone could figure out after looking at their Twitter feed for even a second. Since CJ and I decided to celebrate on the night I went to see Les Mis (see last blog post) but because I wanted to do something special for him I decided to make a dinner of all our favorites. We had shrimp for an appetizer, steak, potatoes and broccoli for the main course and a pint of Ben and Jerry's ice cream for dessert.
Valentine's Day Presents: CJ surprised me with a little care package of all my favorite treats! I also got a wonderful gift from my mom who sent me a bottle of my favorite champagne, champagne flutes and a cute little beanie baby who's my new favorite companion!
Other than that the last few weeks have been pretty uneventful. Therefore, I decided to compensate by making this my second installment of observations I've made since I've been here. Enjoy!
- Group projects in the UK just like group projects in the US are horrible!
- The kettle is the best invention ever. I don't know why more people don't use them in the states. It heats your water so fast!
- Even though the semester is only 10 weeks long here they still have a reading week where people don't have class. However, only one of my classes actually gave me the week off but still.
- People are much more interested in face-to-face communication than email here. It's actually a little annoying.
- Everything closes really early here. Like by 6 or 7pm most shops close.
- The train is your best friend here. If you learn how to use it and get it for the cheapest price it will help you so much.
- Guys are not allowed to sit on the couches at night clubs here. I don't know if this is the same as back home though.
- Eventually you will start to think of pounds as dollars instead of pounds. Meaning, instead of doing the conversion in your head every time you buy something you'll just think that pounds are dollars. Ex. The Chinese food is 8 pounds...that's just like 8 dollars. Wrong, wrong, wrong!!!
- Anything American is a hundred times more expensive...Maybe this would be obvious for most but when you start craving something you get at home you'll realize just how much more expensive those things are.
- The fast food portions here are much smaller than in the US. For example, at Subway it is common for people to get 6 inches all the time, not footlongs. Also, the McDonald's menus are completely different and their sizes of drinks and fries are smaller as well. And they're more expensive (see previous observation).
- Everyone wears Uggs! This was something everyone I talked to told me they did not do, yet almost every girl I see has a pair of Uggs on...it makes me long for my pair which I left behind.
- They don't have NyQuil or DayQuil here. However, luckily Amazon has everything!
- Never eat at a 24 hour food stand in London. I guess this might be a universal truth everywhere though. Excluding diners of course.
