happy fall y'all.

happy halloween from across the pond!!! (or the same side of the pond, depending where my readers are.) halloween here definitely isn't celebrated to the same level as it is at home, sweet home. with that being said, last night D and i manage to round up a group of north americans to celebrate one of the great fall holidays. i was surprised that there were quite a large number of people dressed up and out and about last night to celebrate. we found a bar that had a 'fancy dress' night. (yes, over here it isn't called a costume party, it's referred to as a fancy dress party.) the whole pumpkin carving, pumpkin flavored treats, halloween decorations, insane amounts of halloween candy, and trick-or-treating haven't quite caught on over here, but the dressing up has. while in the states, many people try to come up with more clever costumes, over here most of the costumes tend to be along the more traditional blood and gore, zombie, witches costumes, etc. i also watched hocus pocus to get into the holiday spirit. halloween wouldn't have been complete without listening to a few cult classics including 'the monster mash', 'i put a spell on you', and of course 'thriller'. sadly, this year i didn't have a pumpkin to carve. but, thank you to all of the wonderful people who sent me cards and candy to put me in the halloween spirit! my window sill has been quite festive the past week or two. see?

my window sill and the view from my room.

along with halloween came the annual 'fall back'. gaining an hour is always a nice feeling, but i'm not sure that i'm ready for everything that goes along with it. rumor has it that it gets dark here around 4 pm...so that should be interesting. in honor of apple season, and to satiate my cravings, i baked an apple pie. and i've been talking about this for weeks! last week i bought some fresh fall apples at the borough market. i bought a prepared crust from the store. it's not the best though. i'll have to do some shopping around next time. homemade crust is always the best. i don't think i'm brave enough to attempt it here though. i am definitely missing the kitchen aid mixer at home! i baked cookies a few weeks back. i forgot how long it takes to mix cookies by hand. ah, the luxuries of home!

before.

after. happy halloween!!!

oh yes, i finally got a replacement battery for my camera. there will be more pictures coming soon!

oxford.

today, i escaped from london for the day with C and C, two new canadian friends! we took a bus to oxford and spent the day touring the old universities and the small little college town. the bus took about 45- 1 hour to get there. it was nice to see rolling hills covered in the yellow, orange, and red leaves of fall. after the bus ride, our first stop was christ church college and cathedral. the harry potter dining hall was modeled after the dining hall of this school. and hogwarts in took some inspiration from the place as well. it was very pretty, but we didn't see very many students, which i was somewhat surprised by. we wandered around the town. saw lots of pretty old, gothic inspired buildings and churches. for lunch, we found an old, typical english tavern, tucked away in a little alley. after lunch, we briefly visited the natural history museum. after a quick lap around the city again, we caught the bus back to london. the bus ride home was less than enjoyable. it took forever (over 2 hours), and it was packed. i also suffer from motion sickness and sitting on the top of a stop-n-go double decker probably wasn't a good choice. i'll spare you the details, but suffice to say i've never been so happy to get off a bus!

anyways, here's a few pictures for your viewing pleasure!

inside christ church

stairwell up to the dining hall, so harry potter.

inside the dining hall. the enchanted ceiling is way better.

the alley to the tavern.

fall in oxford!

british-isms

so tonight i had my first major american-british language mishap. K and i (both greenville natives) set off in search of mexican food, which is hard to come by here. not only is it hard to come by, but it's not corona's prices either. in a moment of not thinking, we ordered a side of chips. obviously, we have to take it in stride that an endless basket of chips and salsa isn't immediately brought to our table upon our arrival. that aside, you can only imagine the disappointment that spread across our faces when a basket of fries was brought to our table. rather than fill up on chips and salsa before my enchilada, we downed some ketchup and fries. not the same effect. next time i know to specify for tortilla chips. don't try this at home kids, stick with the usual chips and salsa. and eat a few extra for me!

...but if i get a real hankering for tex-mex there's a (drumroll, please) CHIPOTLE in london!!! you have no idea how excited that makes me!

uni.

last week was my first week of uni(versity). tuesdays, i have class at the design museum. the design museum is just up the tube line from where i live. it takes me about 20 minutes by tube to get there, plus about 20 minutes walking from the station. the design museum is located along the thames, close to the tower bridge. (in case you needed a visual.) along my walk i get to pass the infamous london bridge, city hall (design by norman foster), peer across the river at the tower of london, pass by the tower bridge, and then i reach the museum. it's a pleasant walk, but the wind gave me a small taste of what's to come when i gets cold. i got to meet our adjunct professor (or tutor as they seem to call it), who is the head of the curatorial team at the design museum. we also got to meet all the members of the curatorial team. they described their work and took us through two of the current exhibitions that they curated. both are very interesting. one exhibit is the brit insurance designs of the year and the other is the architect's john pawson's works.

wednesdays, i have class in kingston. i have to take a bus from where i live to the train station. the train takes about 25 minutes. the big if in getting to kingston is the bus. the bus should only take about 10-15 minutes to get to the station. that's only if i don't have to go during rush hour. however, the rain on top of rush hour makes for a long journey. ie on wednesday, i left around 8:10, and it was raining. so i didn't arrive to the station until after 9. good thing i left super early! wednesday we went to the kingston gallery and met the director there. we got an introduction to what the gallery does and how students are involved. then, we got a slight introduction to an upcoming exhibit the gallery is putting on. apparently there will be some student involvement...as to how much i'm not quite sure yet. we got a little vip tour to the stanley picker house in kingston as well. stanley picker was a wealthy american, living in london, who was an art enthusiast and collector. he has quite a range of art pieces all displayed in his house, yard, and a small detached gallery on the property. we got to tour it because a-he left the house as a trust for the university and left the money to build the gallery at kingston and b-the project we will be involved with is based off of the house. the upcoming project/exhibition will actually be put on by ab rogers--richard rogers' son. he is practicing in london and we have the opportunity to meet with him in a week or two. i'm excited!

hmm, on another note....i had my first official high tea. yes it was as british as it sounds, complete with delicious scones. i actually had a greenville native, K, who is a friend of friends, take me to tea. she just completed her masters in london and is currently looking for a job. so yay for new friends, and one from home! there's also been some patches of nice weather here and there. when it has been sunny, or pleasant, i've been taking advantage of my close proximity to clapham common. it takes me about 5-10 minutes to run there. and it's quite nice to be back on a workout routine, albeit a slightly half-assed one. believe it or not, friday was sunny for most of the day and was about 70. sunday was quite nice as well. i ventured out to hyde park and the serpentine gallery. the gallery was ok, but the park was very nice. due to the nice weather and the half-marathon finish line in hyde park (who knew?) there were tons of people out and about. but, there were some crisp fall leaves, lots of green, and sunny weather, so i spent the better part of my day reading in the grass. also, i have decided i have the worst bus timing ever. every time i walk to the bus station, i can see my bus approaching, but there is no possible way for me to make it in time. while this may not seem terrible, it literally happens to me every-single-time. and then i have to wait for about 10 minutes (usually a few more) for the next one. 10 minutes isn't that long, but i'm not looking forward to that when it is pouring down rain or in the middle of winter. otherwise, i've been missing pumpkin spice lattes, football games, and other fall luxuries those of you in the states are fortunate enough to have. i think that about sums up my daily happenings over the past week or so. until next time!

look right.

after 23 years of looking left before crossing the street, it completely goes against my natural instincts to look right. while this statement seems so elementary, you try remembering to looking right instead of left when you get to a cross walk. it's harder than you think. the first week i was here, i felt like my head was constantly spinning back and forth and right and left every time i approached a crosswalk. i am eternally indebted to the geniuses who wrote 'look right' or 'look left' on the crosswalks at large intersections. however, i took my life into my own hands every time i crossed smaller streets. simply because i couldn't read what to do before i crossed. i know this may sound funny, but i am finally comfortable crossing the street here. (i know this because i don't have to wait for the little green man anymore. i have also become quite the daredevil and don't always cross at the crosswalks.)

the cars are not the only thing that move opposite the rest of the world. this also goes for all escalators, trains, tubes, and sidewalk etiquette. the escalators, trains, and tubes don't bother me as much. however, i am still getting used to the 'keep left' of sidewalk etiquette. several times a day, i get caught up in the awkward sidewalk dance with a stranger. (you know, where you each try getting around each other, but always end up trying to go the same direction.)

on another note, i have managed to get sufficiently lost several times now...in my own 'neighborhood.' i use the term neighborhood loosely, in that yes, relatively speaking it is my corner of london, but in that finding my way back home takes at least 45 minutes walking. (and i walk fast!) i find this troubling for several reasons. first, i pride myself on my internal compass. it usually doesn't fail me. second, i usually don't have my comprehensive london map with me when these situations arise (which is a book, not map, therefore i hate lugging it around all the time). third, i like to think i map out my course before i leave, so i can avoid the getting lost. and fourth, i really hate using a map in my own neighborhood. with that being said, i've never really been terribly lost, just more in the wrong place at the wrong time. i also really hate the bus system. i have no problems navigating the tube. the bus is a whole different story. you would think it would be easier since you are above ground and can see where you are going, but for some reason the bus system and i don't really get along. a lot of my hatred towards the bus system arises because i always grossly misjudge how long it should take me to get from point a to point b. while the journey isn't terribly far, the traffic is always terrible. however uncomplicated it should seem, i have almost mastered one bus route in my area that i need to take to the train station. this did come at the price of two or three (eh, who's counting?) failed journeys to get where i needed to be in a timely manner. i will say the bus gets bonus points because it runs 24 hours, while the tube does not. but, bus routes change at night and be warned that they don't always go where you anticipate. (i did have one late night mishap, but i now know which bus not to take!) also, bus routes are not subject to transportation strikes. which the tube and tfl workers did today. thankfully, i wasn't really affected by this.

ok i think that's enough of my current thoughts and grievances on transportation do's and don't's in london. there will probably be more to come. until then, keep looking right.