Things I'm Learning...

Some things i've learned in london thusfar:

+ it's absolutely impossible to find hangers anywhere (??!!!?)

+ the mice are tiny that run along the tracks of the underground

+ there are no outlets in bathrooms

+ bagel is spelled beigel

+ the city is surprisingly walkable

+ good coffee does exist here, you just have to search harder

+ the clouds always look ominous

Music for Falling Leaves.

Sometimes i forget how amazing bon iver is, and then it comes on, and i listen, and i remember all over again why i fell in love with bon iver in the first place. I feel like it should be reserved for listening to when the leaves are falling, or have fallen, and it's crisp out, and you can get cozy, and let the music act like the fireplace you don't have.

This makes me smile. ( The artist )

New Surroundings.

The Blur.

I can't even remember at this point how many days i've been in london so far because it all seems like such a big blur. Except not the kind of blur that happens because you're rushing around like a mad person, but the kind that happens when your mind is in a haze and the days come in and out without any gigantic happenings. I guess the big happening was coming to london itself, and now that i'm here it's been a mixture of babies, and underground tunnels with their assembly line escalators, and cabbies who chat to you the whole ride, and keeping left. Always keep left.

Hello London.

I've now been in London for a week, and my how it's been a whirlwind. I have a new school ID, a new apartment, and i'm slowly getting used to the new underground system (very slowly). In being here for a week i've already noticed so many tiny things that differ from london to the united states and i started keeping track of them. Here's what i have so far:

Eggs aren't refrigerated at the grocery store. Defense is spelled defence. Enrolment only has one l. Trash is rubbish and trash cans are waste bins. Sandwiches come in triangular boxes. Gas is called petrol. There are billboards for books and bands you've never heard of everywhere. Cell phones are mobiles, pronounced mo-BI-les. Everything seems to come in tins. There are about 15 BBC channels on my tv instead of just bbc america. Subways are underground walkways, undergrounds are subways. You're instructed on the pavement where to look when you're crossing the street. When you're walking down the street you keep to the left, not the right. Apartments are flats. Regular water is still water. ATMs are called Hole In the Walls. Zero is zed. Pound keys are hash symbols. You have to stop and ask the cabbies if they'll take you where you want to go before you get into the car. To try something is 'to have a go'. You alight from a train, you don't exit. Exits are 'way outs'. The first floor is the ground floor, floor one is the second floor. Police officers are bobbies and they don't have guns.

There will be many more i can assure you.

Bye Bye United States.

To London i go. Wine in hand, computer still on, i'm headed to the airport in 15 minutes. I'll see you in three months USA.

Life, Pt. II.

Life.

Where the Streets Aren't Straight.

Today i made a google map that has the places i know i'll be going most marked by little pushpins. Maybe when i get to london i'll get a real map and do the same. Streets in london are all curvy. Where's the grid?

Ouch, My Brain.

Sometimes i just don't have anything to say on here. A million things running through my brain, they're all stuck there bouncing around and none are ready to put on paper or into type. They all either dissolve or come to fruition. I am leaving the country in four days without knowing at all what i'm getting into. I don't know how many classes i'm taking, let alone what my schedule's like. I don't know anything about where i'm living. I don't know much about the city. I don't know what to pack or whether or not i need a warm coat. I don't know what phone company to go with, or how i'll be able to keep in touch with everyone here. I don't know how to open a bank account. I don't know anything.

There's both peace and chaos when you know nothing.