As a whole, I consider the English/British (whatever you guys are calling yourselves this week, because there's also Welsh, Scottish, and Irish to take into consideration and well ... what do you refer to the people who make up the United Kingdom? I keep hearing different things so by now I've given up and in my head I refer to them all 'those blokes who live here' for I am LAZY) to be wonderful people. All the ones that I've met so far have been extremely nice and friendly and not one has treated me differently because I'm an American.

This does not stop me from wanting to punt my two neighbors through A WALL. For those of you who have never lived in a dorm before (And I hadn't before coming here), the walls are pretty thin. So when my neighbors decide to have a dance party late at night or blare their music at extreme volumes at all hours of the day, I can hear it.

No one should have to endure Nickelback or Britney Spears when they don't want to. Even less should they have to suffer through the horrific sing-a-long that accompanies it.

Like I said, I want to punt them through a WALL. But I won't. Not only because I tend to be a bit passive and non-confrontational (unless you are my younger brother), but also that would be one sure way to get me sent home FAST. So I will endure and suffer in silence.

...Okay not total silence. I have asked them to stop before, and generally it isn't too annoying. I'm vexed because I had a migraine today and that normally sets me on the edge as anyone who has known me for longer than a month can tell you. Kinda like how cell phones going off in a library make me want to throw things (but I don't! I'm all talk, really, and very little violent action....unless you're my younger brother who I love very dearly but should win a prize for "Most Annoying Sibling to Ever Exist" and I'm sure he'd display it with pride. Like he does the "Sister for Sale" t-shirt he owns).

Normally I'd grit my teeth and wouldn't even blog about it, except this most definitely is not the first time I've been annoyed by it. Plus, as said before, migraine. Migraines tend to bring out the worst in me. After all, it's only the feeling of jackhammers in my brain.

Migraines also tend to kill whatever plans for the day that I had (such as doing homework ... can't really do that if it reading hurts your head and turning on the light hurts your eyes) so I've basically spent most of the day - when I wasn't sleeping the pain away - mindlessly surfing the web. For the most part, I'm not even sure I knew what I was looking at. Mainly I kept pressing the "Stumble!" button of the Stumble Upon! plug-in that I have for my web browser (Mozilla pwns your soul) after watching tons of clips on YouTube, most of which were about Jim and Pam from The Office (American version, of course) - a show I haven't even watched before, and now I want to.

The result of which is an updated link section on the right. Just be thankful that I didn't put up everything I bookmarked today (most of which is now under a folder entitled "I am a nerd" because I stuck mainly to the educational pages after the pain lessened enough for me to read, but not enough that I was willing to get out of bed and pick up one of my history books. Yes, I know: LAZY. But it HURT!).

Also? Sorry for not responding to comments that have been made on previous posts ... I didn't know they were there. Oops? No seriously, shouldn't I be getting an e-mail or something when a comment is made? I have no idea, and luckily for me Christina told me she commented so I could go look and discover them all for myself. This doesn't mean I'll respond to comments NOW ... it just means I can no longer use the 'I didn't know they existed' excuse. But you all knew I was lazy in the first place and yet you still love me :D :D :D. RIGHT?!

Hopefully tomorrow I will wake up in a better mood/feeling better and be able to finish another paper by the end of the weekend. Yeah, I'm not holding my breath about it either.

Still no camera. What, were you expecting miracles? I'm not Huckabee, I don't "major in miracles" (Oh but I wish I did. Can you imagine the amount of money I could make if I could turn water into wine by magic? Goodbye student loans and their painful interest rates!). If the camera doesn't arrive by Friday, I'm buying a new one. Take THAT, parental units (whom I love and adore, but I WANT MY CAMERA).

Alright, the deranged one (me) is signing off now. I would apologize for the mindless points full of drivel but... It's my blog and I'll type what I want. Nyah.

:D

Oh: and so this post won't be a total loss to you, check out this out: His Video Message Out, a Professor of Computer Science Contemplates the Last Months Ahead . The video is amazing and totally worth the hour and twenty five minutes it lasts. Trust me.

And AGAIN: Neil Gaiman, who is a FANTASTIC author and you all should read his work, wrote this amazing book called American Gods that you can read for FREE (I believe it's only good for the next month) here: Browse Inside American Gods: A Novel By Neil Gaiman . This is one of my most favorite books and I highly suggest you do this.

Now I'll leave, and stop editing this post. REALLY. I swear. Oh look, what's over there? Shiny!

Still no camera, but that's to be expected. I mean, I can't have everything, right?

*Glares in the direction of Wisconsin*

However, the week hasn't been bad. I handed in my paper that was due today, and I figured out that I AM okay when it comes to my classes after all. Instead of doing the work-based learning, like I originally planned, I changed my mind and will be taking another class entitled "Research Methods for Writers." This means I'll have to take an internship when I get back home, but I was planning on arranging an internship at the Greendale Public Library anyway. And on the upside, this means more vacation/free time for me! I'm pretty much done with my classes now after March 14th ... though I have one paper due in April (which will not be difficult at all - it's about how Roman religion influenced civic art and architecture, excluding temple art. Having taking Art History classes, I already have a fair idea of how to approach this topic). Then my next class starts the week of April 7th, and finishes the week of May 12th. I come home on May 31st, so that's another two weeks of free time/TRAVEL time.

Once again, I am eating the most delicious apple doughnuts to ever exist. And I checked the price - 58 pence! That's about a dollar, dollar and a half for five doughnuts. Really good deal, even with the bad exchange rate for the American dollar. I've been craving pizza lately, and luckily there's a Pizza Hut in town. I think I'll order it sometime this weekend ... I SHOULD be able to consume a small by myself if I'm not drinking soda.

My money has finally been transferred into my new Barclays account. Yay for having cash. I mean, I could have survived with just my debit card, except I need cash for laundry, and it's bothersome to pay for a bottle of orange juice with a debit card. Plus, you come off as a jerk.

Other awesome news is that I'm going to Amsterdam at the end of March. The student union here put together a four day trip for 109 pounds (around 220 dollars), and I think it would be very foolish of me if I didn't take advantage of it. None of my friends will be able to go, though, because I think they have exams around the time. So hopefully I'll make friends and get to know people on the trip that I can hang out with, otherwise I'll spend the entire time walking the streets alone and taking pictures .... which wouldn't be a bad thing either.

There's also a musician that I love coming to London on May 2nd: Steve Carlson. As soon as I found out, I booked two tickets and convinced a friend that I made here to go with me. I can't wait! He normally sticks to California, and he's had a few gigs in Texas. When I was vacationing in CA, I was hoping to see him but as luck would have it he was performing the same night and time as my flight home ... and that gig wasn't announced until AFTER I had booked my tickets. So I'm extremely excited to finally see him live.

Also, two nights ago there was an earthquake here. From reading the paper (as well as the newly created Facebook group about it), you'd think it had been a 8 on the Richter scale. In reality, it was a 5.3 and it didn't even last a minute. I was on the computer at the time, looked up and around when the building started to shake, and then went back to what I had been reading. I thought it simply a gust of strong wind or something ... though I wondered also if it was earthquake. And then I wondered if England even got earthquakes. Well, it seems like my questions were answered and yes, it was an earthquake. But a very TINY one! People over here were freaking out about it, and a woman was quoted in the paper saying she was so scared that she couldn't fall back asleep! Complete overreaction. But since I don't believe anyone was injured, I can be all "YAY! EARTHQUAKE! Let's do it again!" This is the first earthquake I've experienced while being awake. I kinda feel proud of it.

Also? If anyone mentions Americans' and our bad education, I'm sitting them in front of that Facebook group. The spelling of some of the commentators is absolutely atrocious. I don't know if you can view it without a Facebook account, but give it a try here: I survived the febuary 2008 earthquake! . Notice that even February was misspelled. When it comes to the internet, it appears that the British are just as bad. (Also, I know there's a deal about how a large percentage of Americans can't find Iraq on a map, which IS pathetic ... but it isn't like Europeans have a large understanding of America, either. No one knows where Wisconsin is when I tell them where I'm from. Unless you're an expert, you shouldn't be criticizing other people's geography. European countries are small, so it's likely they're going to have a better understanding of what's nearby. Whereas for Americans, we learn our states and then other countries. Though I for one can read a map, and have a pretty good idea of geography. If I don't know exactly where the country is, I know what region/what's nearby. And after taking ancient history courses, I'm also tempted to refer to Iraq as the Fertile Crescent or Mesopotamia. But that would just get me odd looks.)

Well, I have two more papers to work on. One is due on March 11th and I have NO idea about my topic, and one is due on March 13th. That one I'm writing about the influence of the Enlightenment on the French Revolution. I'm hoping I can finish that one this weekend, and then figure out what to do for the March 11th one. Wish me luck!

What's that? No camera? Gee, what a surprise.

Okay, I have been assured by my parents that my camera would be sent out ASAP. I have no idea if that actually happened yet, though. If it isn't here within a week, I might just buy a new one because dammit, THERE ARE THINGS OF WHICH I NEED TO TAKE PICTURES.

So here's the news .... there isn't much of it. I've been hanging out with friends and doing homework. Today I finished a paper that's due on Thursday, a 2,000 word essay on "How, and with what impact, did Renaissance ideas spread through Europe during the 16th century?"

Somehow, and I'm still not sure HOW, I managed to fit 24 typed pages of notes into 7.5 pages double spaced. I still have two more papers due in the second week of March, and then one in April.

And of course, it wouldn't be week for Monica if SOMETHING didn't go wrong. I was told when I first got here that I needed 60 credits to be a full-time student (the credit system is different here, whereas at home 12 credits is full time). Basically, each of my classes is worth 20 credits if I were taking the whole year. Since I'm only here for half-term, its 10 credits each. I have four classes, and was told that my work-based learning (like an internship) would be 20, or if I decided to do one of the writing modules as well, that would also be 20. So ... it would come out to sixty, yes? Well, maybe not. I turned in my class list this week (very late, I know. which was stupid of me but I kept forgetting to bring it to have it signed and I was told that the module (class) leaders had to sign it, and two of my classes have guest lecturers this term ... in the end I was finally told that I could have department head sign off on all them), and one of the lovely ladies said that I might be missing a course. Which I still don't understand!

I have forty credits so far. I don't have the sheet of paper that tells me how much the work-based learning would be, the each of the writing ones (Varieties of Writing or Research Methods for Writers) are 20 credits each. So I SHOULD be fine. I don't know why one of the international tutors is telling me I might be missing a course, and thus, I am freaking out a bit. I have to go in on Thursday to talk to my main tutor (which is really like an adviser, I think), and figure this all out.

As for the work-based learning, I'm not sure if I can get into something that I'll like. Which again is my fault, but I also didn't know I had to schedule a meeting with someone to talk about it/plan for it. I'm willing to accept the responsibility because I know I should have been on top of these things, but it would have been nice to be told that "hey, this is what you have to do for this, so you really should be doing it."

Now that I'm looking at it, I kind of want to do the "Research Methods for Writers". In order to pass it I need to have a 1,000 word Research Writing Diary and a 3,000 word Portfolio ... not sure exactly what it would entail but I'm sure I would find out.

Now I'm off to clean and eat food because well, I kind of forget to do those things when I'm writing papers. I'm quite famished.

Still no camera! Woe. I find it odd that my place of employment sent me a package before my parents did. Yay Library! Shame on the parents, feel the shaaaaaaaaaaaame. Camera now? Plsthxbye.

I finally got my accommodation bill sorted, and how to transfer money from my bank in America to Barclay's. I also reported my credit card as lost, so hopefully a new one will be sent to my American address and MY PARENTS CAN SEND THAT ALONG WITH MY CAMERA. HINT HINT. COULD THE HINT GET ANY BIGGER?

I went out to lunch with a friend on Friday, and I'm going out with a group of friends on Wednesday. I have three papers due within the next three weeks so I REALLY need to stop procrastinating and start working on those.

Weekends are less busy for me, because it seems that all the friends I've made work or go home during the weekend. I received an invitation to visit someone's home for a day or two during break. I rarely leave my room on the weekend - mainly because I'm utterly lazy and like to sleep in (plus, I don't get to sleep until late due to the drunks). I tend not to leave it even for going to the canteen (what they call the cafeteria) because on the weekend I have to go to a different one that is much worse than the one during the week. So I try to stop by the grocery store and pick up some grub.

Today I made the discovery of the most delicious apple-filled doughnuts. Also, got some apples from France that are called "Pink Lady" but are basically MacIntosh apples, which are my favorite. Got a thing of Tropicana orange juice - one of the little grab-and-go bottles, and to my surprise it had pulp in it. The ones at home don't and I love pulp in my OJ. I know others hate it, but the pulps has the vitamins and minerals! The junk food is trial and error - I've found some things that have been tasty, but for the most part it's been 'eew.' They have a version of Hostess ho-hos, but made with Cadbury chocolate so it's similar but a bit different. Those are tasty, whereas the BBQ Walker chips were gross. It was interesting to try the ones that tasted like Roast Chicken, though. And my years of curiosity after reading The Chronicles of Narnia were satisfied - I know what a Turkish Delight tastes like: EW, and not delightful at all. Edmund was a strange child. It's strange how the chocolate selection is larger than at home, but the cookie aisle is dismal. I'm kind of afraid to try the Jaffa Cakes, which do not look like cakes at all.

I felt like McDonald's the other day, but gave up when I saw the giant line and realized how much it was going to cost. Fast food is not worth the price of a regular meal, especially when there aren't McChicken's on the menu. I'm also upset with the Starbucks over here - they had no idea what a Mocha Frappuchino w/ Rasberry was and that's my favorite drink. I hereby boycott the British Starbucks!

I explored more of the city, which really is a giant shopping mall outside. And then there's an indoor mall. There is also a little market, which is like the smaller version of the State Fair Exposition with all the little booths. Except this market had a butcher, a barber, and a fresh fruit stand. It was adorable and I want to take it home with me, but I don't think it would go over well with Customs. And there's always the hardship of getting it to fit in my suitcase. Woe.

I bought postcards and as soon as I figure out where the post office is, I'll send them out. I also picked up some maps and guides to Chester so I can learn more about the place I'm at. I'm wary of traveling around on my own, but a few more weeks and I might just go 'screw it' and hop on a train. Of course, I first have to know where the train station is.

I think I might be coming down with a cold, but the symptoms really only show up when I'm outdoors so perhaps it is just the weather. Luckily I brought Nyquil and Dayquil with me - I found out they don't have it over here, though they have something called "Night Nurse" which I'm told has the same "green death" taste.

Well, I need to do homework. Ew, but necessary in order to pass my classes and be able to justify my being here. My classes are still fine, and on Thursday a Holocaust survivor spoke in one of the lectures. It was an extremely sad story (of course), but she was one of the lucky ones. At first I didn't want to go because I wasn't feeling well and not exactly feeling up to hearing a story that would most likely make me cry, but in the end I sucked it up and thought (thanks to a conversation with my Mom) "How many chances do I get to hear this?" I've heard another story before when I was in Israel - another lucky one who didn't get sent to the camps but I was curious about what this woman went through. The story wasn't so much about her though, as it was about her parents - she was a very young child when it all happened but her parents obviously had to go through a lot. The worst is that none of their extended family survived except the father's sister.

Well, on that depressing note I think this is post is done. Hope all is well at home, ; the primaries look exciting and I will be glued to my computer on the 19th to see the results as they come in.

Good Day!

I've been a bit busy this week, between trying to get my accommodation paid and getting my phone to work. Had a bit of a fright when I realized that when I went shopping on Friday, I left my coin purse with my Wisconsin State ID and a credit card in the cab. Didn't realize it until Monday evening, and freaked out because my phone wasn't working yet and I didn't know what to do. The next day I set up my phone and called the cab company - the purse wasn't turned it, but luckily no charges have been made. The card can be canceled and a new one sent to my house. Wish I hadn't lost the I.D., though. Means that if I want to go out to a place and I might get carded, I have to bring my passport. I'm more worried about losing that than any credit card.

I've been trying to pay my accommodation but there was a limit on how much money I can charge to my debit card per day. I was able to call my bank to have it raised, but maybe it didn't go through yet - I tried paying again the next day and it still said "not authorized." Looks like another phone call to the bank is in order. The good news, though, is that my accommodation is half of what I thought it would be. Awesome.

Last night I went out with some friends after one of my lectures. We went to a restuarant called "The Red Lion" where I got to try the English version of American BBQ Chicken ... totally not same thing. While not bad, it's more like ... baked chicken with BBQ sauce on top. And generic BBQ sauce at that, not the really good stuff like Ray's or Jack Daniels'. After eating, we went to a pub to play the English version of pool - not too much different than American, except American is what they call Billards. Anyway, I've never really played before, and I'm quite horrible at geometry and physics and can never predict where the ball is going to go when I hit it. Imagine my shock and surprise when I won the first game I played. I think my bad shots were making it difficult for my opponent to get good shots, turning my bad shots into good shots after all. If that makes sense. Then we played doubles, and my team won again. The third time? Not so lucky, but I'm happy if I hit what I'm aiming for, regardless of whether or not the ball goes in the pocket. I'll take what I can get.

The lectures have been fine - interesting and boring at the same time. I have papers coming up, so I have to get a move on. I did laundry again, this time on a Wednesday. It was totally dead until the last 15 minutes I was there. I'll have to remember to do laundry then and not on weekends.

Next weekend I'm hoping to go to Liverpool with a friend in one of my classes. We'll see if it works out. I've also been invited to a birthday party that will take place in April. It's a "Ladies and Gents" theme, which means I'll have to find a really nice dress to wear. On Feb 20th, I have an invitation to a dinner with the other history majors at some place called the "Slug and Lettuce," I kid you not. I don't know where it is; hopefully I'll be able to find it before then. Interesting name, though.

Still no camera :o(

Hope you all are doing well, Shabbat Shalom!