No Food For You!

“Last term there was also a boy from New Jersey, he was an Italian-American, and talked about the Shore a lot, too. He was so loud.” – British Natalie, on how I can never, ever escape from the Bennys of North Jersey, even while hiding in London for the winter.


So it has recently been pointed out by some that I might be focusing a bit too heavily on the culinary life of my London adventure. That all I ever talk about is how great the food is. It’s funny, too, because that’s what I absolutely miss most about home- the food. Well, that and the beach, but to me they go hand in hand. Alright, fine, you’ve got me, food goes hand in hand with everything. I’m sorry! It’s the best part of life!!

For serious, though, thanks to everyone for their comments. I had no idea you all were reading this and it’s really nice to have the support & feedback from the homefront. I know all the stories I put up are way out-there, and that is definitely how I would categorize my experience here. But there are definitely a lot of normal things I’ve found to love, too. So here’s an entire post of absolutely normal things and almost nothing about food….fascinating stuff, I promise.

My So-Called Normal Life
Each weekday I get up around 10 (I know, I know) and get ready to meet friends for lunch on campus. Sometimes I have class after that, and those are the days I most look forward to. I like the whole British school system better than ours (though when I tell the Brits, they have no idea why). It’s both more laid back and more educational, which I don’t think US teachers could ever fathom going hand-in-hand. I only have each class once a week, and kids show up 10-15 minutes late all the time. We call our professors by their first names, and while my lectures are all taught by PhD’s, my seminars are led by grad students. At Villanova this would never fly. But here, I absolutely love it.

You have to do the reading because you’re stuck in a class face-to-face with the teacher for two straight hours. The awkwardness of sitting there without having done the work is more painful than just doing the reading, especially with all the free time to do it. Then you really just sit and talk about them and the teacher tells you his/her ideas on it, and then after a few weeks you write a paper about your own ideas. Its so much less nitty-gritty than the 3X-a-week + homework routine at home. It keeps it from becoming a chore, so you actually enjoy literature instead of hating having to read so much of it overnight.

At around 4 everyday, lectures end and all of the first-years return back to their flats. Almost everyone proceeds to have afternoon tea, no joke. I’ll sometimes pop over to any of the British kids’ flats to have a cup and chat for anywhere up to an hour. These are some of the times I like best, as they discuss everything from politics to religion to Amy Winehouse, and you really get a sense for what goes on in the head of a British 19-year-old. At 5 everyone heads off to activities or to do homework, though no one would tell you the schedule like that. It’s just the lifestyle. They would never realize that they have tea everyday at 4 and then depart at 5, no way. It’s just the normal course of a day.

If I happen to run into someone or make plans with an American, we’ll often grab a cheap bite to eat for dinner near campus or at a cool spot in central. A good bite of curry for 5 pounds is really the perfect anytime dinner, and you can get it at any pub or take out place in England. Sometimes we’ll grab a burger or fish n’ chips, but we basically live for curry.

Because everything’s a bit more laid back, plans for that evening never get made until at least 7. I never know whether it will be a crazy night out or a quiet night in until it actually starts happening. They don’t use AIM like we do, so all communication and plan-making is done via text messages or Facebook, which is incredibly frustrating to fast-paced Americans who like to have a plan four days before its set to unfold.

Most weekdays I don’t have lectures, so I do lunch on campus with friends, then go off into the city for a few hours before returning back around dusk. Usually I’ll go do work in a coffeeshop in central, go shopping (or returning), or go to some touristy thing I still haven’t done. Sometimes I’m lazy and do none of these things, and then feel extremely guilty about wasting my time in London. I think everyone probably goes through this; you can’t possibly do something great every single day, but I always feel bad taking a day off.

Weekends are glorious, and though they aren’t much different pace-wise from my weekdays, a lot more happens. My favorite weekend routine is to sleep until 11ish and go meet friends for brunch. Afterwards, go to a market or shopping on Oxford Street, and then part ways. When they go home, I like to grab the big ol’ Sunday paper and duck into a Pret coffeeshop, grab an almond croissant and a cup of tea, and read as much as I can before I feel awkward for taking up their tables. I finally truck home in the dark and have a few hours before going out. Sunday night is always a going out night, so weekends always end on a good note.

So you see there is quite a bit of normalcy to my life right now. But I find it boring to write about and even more boring to read about. This post was supposed to talk about a club in a cave underneath London Bridge with a rock band in tutus covering Britney Spears songs. Well, that and a delicious Mexican dinner I had, a cheap curry buffet we found, and my adventures speaking Spanish to kids from Valencia that promised to make us paella. But again, that’s all food and craziness, and we’ve all had enough of that. : )

Tomorrow I’m off to Cologne, Germany for a five-day stay with 200 year old German folks. They speak no English and I speak no German. Cassandra will act as sole translator. The highlight of our weekend will be the 65th anniversary party of her great aunt and great uncle. Again, all German, no English, 65th Anniversary, 200 years old. If anyone thinks their study-abroad experience is cooler than mine…

And if you think the post immediately following that trip won’t be COMPLETELY AND ENTIRELY ABOUT GERMAN FOOD, well ha! Shows how much you know!

Haha I love you all dearly and hope you keep the comments coming. Miss you too!