Avoiding Monotony

 Avoiding Monotony

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I'm scared of falling into too much of a rigid routine because I believe it will hamper my ability to take in all the experiences that studying abroad has to offer. Regardless I must still devote a large chunk of my time to my schooling to ensure that I get in-state tuition for next fall. This week I had a lot of fun exploring London, trying and seeing new things and farthing my expertise in becoming an independent student. I hope you enjoy reading.

September 16- I got up for class today around 7:30. This was a long day, both classes felt much longer than three hours each, but I survived. Directly after class I went on a pretty large grocery run that would feed me for most of the week. I got yogurt and granola for breakfast, sandwich ingredients for lunch and bags of chips, for dinner I got some burgers and rice. Around 5:45 pm, I went to the Y to play basketball with my friends until about 7:30. Afterwards we met at the frat to try and figure out a fall break plan, the time is running out and we have made no progress. The discussions about where we were going eventually changed into us laughing our asses off playing Cards Against Humanity. I went back to my flat to sleep around 11:30

September 17- I spent the entire morning prepping and rehearsing my movie speech for public speaking later today. I talked about Ferris Bueller's Day Off's themes of youthful spontaneity and going against authority. Despite the load of groceries I got at Sainsbury's yesterday, I had to go back to Lidl to get some more things that I had forgotten about. I did some work for 19th century history with Nate and after we went to Lidl again with Hayden because they have really good and cheap pastries. We went back to the frat and played Geoguessr with Marco, and when Brandon came back from the theater he jumped in too. I went to sleep again around 11:30.

September 18- I slept in a little bit and got up at 8:30, because today the whole study center was taking an excursion to Greenwich and I didn't have class. As I was eating my breakfast around 10, The fire alarms go off. Out on the street in front of the building Cole and I got out there pretty quickly, so we were watching people who had obviously still been sleeping begrudgingly walk down the stairs. Some people hadn't been so lucky because a few of them were in the shower and had to evacuate sopping wet. At 11 we all left the study center together to take the trains over to Greenwich. We stuck close to the P.A.'s as to not get lost on the train, but I can only imagine at least 1 person of the ~150 of us didn't make it to Greenwich with the group. Greenwich Market was a smaller market and I got some blueberry lemonade from a stall there. It was good, but the people over here don't like ice in their drinks so it didn't stay cold long. Inside the old Naval College at Greenwich we toured the painted hall which had an elaborate design on the ceiling of the grand room. In the Naval College basement, there was this miniature predecessor to the modern day bowling alley called 'skittles'. I played skittles for a short while, but it gets quite annoying having to walk down the lane every time to set up the pins. From there we walked atop a hill where it would be perfect for sledding in winter time up to the observatory. I was able to stand on the Prime Meridian which meant I was in the Western and Eastern hemispheres simultaneously. Instead of having class for 19th century history, we explored an exhibit featuring Horatio Nelson's coat that he was shot in as  G.B. won the battle of Trafalgar and defeated Napoleon. Instead of taking the train back Hayden, Brandon, Nate, and I took the ferry back to the study center which was a lovely ride. At the frat we ate takeout from this Korean restaurant Eatopia. After staying there for several hours I went back to my place to knock out some macroeconomics before bed.

September 19- I had to get up around six because most of the washers are still busted and 100+ people have to compete for three of the working ones. While the clothes were washing I got my daily Pret coffee and did even more economics work. I went to Lidl to get some cheap pastries to hold me off until lunch and began to write my song speech, I chose Vienna by Billy Joel. I forgot to write any notes down for the rest of the afternoon, but I know when night came we began to get ready to go out to The Roxy. The Roxy was a lot of fun and we got back around 2 and I ate chicken tenders from McDonald's.

September 20- I slept a whole lot today and didn't get out of bed until early afternoon. I did more schoolwork until it was time again to go out. Cole, Brandon, and I went walking around SoHo to a cool bar that Cole and Brandon had visited before. Waxy O'Connors is an Irish pub with live music and tonight it was bumping. It wasn't really our scene and was dominated by people at least 5-10 years removed from college so I downed my Guinness and we went walking again. My flatmates loved this bar called Simmons and we stumbled upon it and almost immediately upon entering we left. The bar was packed and tiny because of the outdoor area being closed off tonight, so we decided to go someplace else. This Wetherspoon's pub called the Montagu Pyke had three pound pints of cider and was also packed. after a round of cider we decided to head back to the flats and hung out more before I went to bed.

September 21- I wanted to walked today, so I did. Around noon I left for what ended up being a five mile walk to Battersea Park. It wouldn't have been so long if there wasn't a half marathon on my route blocking all the roads, but I did not mind because It led me to interesting buildings I otherwise would not have seen.  At Battersea Park I walked through a miniature Oktoberfest celebration and enjoyed the scenery for a while. I was not in the mood to walk the five miles back so I went to the nearest Tube station, Battersea Power Station, and took the train back to Tottenham Court Road. Later that night while waiting for the FSU game to come on, we went back to that cheap Wetherspoons and had a few more pints. I put a 1 pound coin into a slot machine and won back an additional 3 pounds! I will end my slots career there as an all time winner, something only 5% of gamblers can claim, and waltzed up to the bar to receive another pint of cider with my winnings. At my place for the midnight kick-off we watched FSU struggle to a win which led to immense celebration and waking at least one person up. I went to bed around 4. 

September 22- Nothing really of note happened today, sorry to disappoint. I took a macroeconomics exam.

Misc. Thoughts: 

• The broken washers are actually getting on my nerves, one has been busted since the second day here.
• Still miss my dog
• I really want to watch my high school's football games in person.
• I'm surprised at my lack of craving of American foods yet.
• I have been averaging 7.6 miles of walking a day in September, and climb 42 stories a day because of the layout of the study center, and my legs are feeling it.
• Me three months ago would hate having roommates, but now I really do not care.
• The lack of ventilation in the flats make them, regardless of temperature outside, never colder than 68.
• Possible Paris trip next weekend so I have that to look forward to.