new year's resolution: don't eat a chipotle burrito for lunch, sleep all afternoon, and then eat green burrito nachos for dinner.

Hopefully this won't be too difficult.

Good morning, christmas eve!

Last night I feel asleep at about 10 and now it is 7 AM and I am wide awake. It might seem to some of you responsible adults out there that this means I have no jet lag at all, and am right on schedule. But I just did the math, and in London time, it's as if I went to bed at 5 in the morning and woke up at 3 in the afternoon--which, coincidentally, is exactly what I usually do! So, I have not adjusted at all to the new time zone, and am doomed to early morning productivity for the rest of my break. le yawn. By the way I suspect that the coffee they give you at Dennys is actually decaf... sip on that my friends.

I just got done uploading all my pictures from both brussels and berlin, so go look! I was going to write more about brussels when I got home but I am not in the mood at the moment so maybe later, or never. Speaking of home, it's soooo warm and sunny here today! It's glorious. I have been eating everything in sight. Everything is the same except more incredible. Like for instance the sky looks a lot bigger, and everyone understands me when I speak (on the first try!), and not everyone is white, and the girls wear hoodies and vans, and you get refills. London already feels like some distant alien land; like it didn't even happen. It's weird, man. But the most weird part about this is how it's not actually that weird at all.

bitte schön

Our trip is pretty much over at this point. All we have left to do is get some sleep before our early flight back to london. Berlin was pretty awesome. It is not a very picturesque city because they had to rebuild the whole thing after WWII (not to mention we are staying in what used to be east berlin) but it has a alot of amazing history and a LOT of amazing food. Charlene and I haven't really eaten anything besides potatos, sausage, and pastries for quite a few days. ok, that's not true. just now we ate fruit. but it was covered in chocolate.

these are the things we did in berlin:

alexander platz christmas market
mauerpark
postdamer platz christmas market, where we went sledding!
free walking tour, including: brandenburg gate, reichstag, holocaust memorial, berlin wall, checkpoint charlie, a bunch of other historial buildings and squares where important things happened
unter den linden christmas market
pop art exhibit
kreuzberg for dönner kebabs and chanukah market (this was already closed)
prenzlauerberg christmas market
climbed to top of reichstag
checkpoint charlie museum
modern art museum including paintings by lichtenstein, warhol, etc.
awesome local soup restaraunt
prenzlauerberg christmas market again (the other one we wanted to go to was closed)
bratwurst mit saukraut, bratkartoffeln, currywurst, glühwein, apfelpunsch, heisse schokolade, kuchen, pommes frittes, etc, etc, etc.

you might notice that clubbing is not on this list, even though we planned to go check out the hipster berlin scene. that is because (1) being a tourist takes up a lot of energy and (2) it's sooooo colddddddddd. oh well. christmas markets over clubs any day, I always say.

The only thing I am disappointed about is that we didn't really meet any locals during our trip. Germans and Belgians aren't all that outgoing, it seems, and we sure as hell weren't going to be the ones to try and stike up a conversation when it's hard enough just to order a hot chocolate. In both cities I got the impression that the locals were completely apathetic to our presence, which was actually kind of refreshing. It's nice to be able to come and go as you please in the world.

I am really really excited to come home for break and I am bringing presents! But only as many as I can fit in my backpack back to London, so prepare to be underwhelmed.

In Berlin! Es ist gut! and cold. I successfully asked for directions in german once so far. now we are going to eat some bratwurst and see the maurplatz, which supposedly is right accross the street or something. hmmm. might go down to the alexanderplatz after that. alright, peace.

yeahhhhh, not tonight.

I am leaving London in a few hours and I have very mixed feelings about it. As usual, I did not mentally prepare myself for this at all. I am not ready for my trip, I am not ready to say goodbye to friends forever, and I am not ready to start over new again. For some reason, I've been feeling kind of lonely this week, and I'm feeling kind of lonely right now despite the sleeping Charlene in my bed. But it will be a relief to get out of this city for a while and breathe. My decision-making skills have been a little disappointing lately; I think I need a break from this sensory overload. I think I need to get some real, guiltless sleep, talk things over, think things through. I think I need to stop booking flights that leave so early in the morning.

pictures: updated!

pioneer of aerodynamics

I finally figured out how to use this color accent feature that my camera has, and I think it lends itself quite nicely to cheesy postcard-type pictures of double decker buses. This cheesy picture was, in fact, taken from the upper deck of another double decker bus. (Unrelated--They have special ones for tourists where the top is open and a tour guide talks on a microphone. Sometimes I can't help smiling to myself when they drive by, all the people in Union jack beanies and snapping pictures like crazy. One time someone took a picture of the coffee shop that I was sitting in the window of... it was awesome. )

I spent about 10 minutes trying to get a good picture of this squirrel at Hyde park today. It was hard work because he moved really fast. Sam was super annoyed but I think it was totally worth it.

Harrods looks cool on the outside, but on the inside it's still depressing. Went in the Tiffany room today...oh geez. New life goal: get proposed to by man rich enough to afford Tiffany engagement ring.

Tomorrow is going to be a frenzy of laundry, libraries, and stuff, to get ready for Charlene's arrival on Friday, which will officially mark the end of me caring about school in the slightest. Until I start caring again, which will be like maybe December 28th or something. It all depends on how much I do tomorrow! During the day. Cause at night I'm going clubbing. Priorities, people. Priorities.

Where is my mind?

Today while waiting in line at Cafe Nero an English man asked me for directions to Sommerset House. I have never given directions to an English person before, and it felt great. The best part was, we were right around the corner from Sommerset House at the time. What a newb.


By the way, if you are wondering what to get me for christmas, I want warm clothing and money. And particularly some of those mittens that are also gloves.

You're only what I see sometimes

I made a deal with Jessie: I would work in the kitchen with her all night (she likes to work in the presence of other people, I do not), if she would go to Evensong at St. Paul's with me. She held up her end of the deal, and it was awesome. I got to walk on the millenium bridge for the first time, see inside St. Paul's for the first time, and hear some really pretty choir singing. But when we got home, she decided that she was feeling "ill" (as opposed to "sick," this one will come in handy) and would rather work in the comfort of her own bed. Score!

the last week in summary

Ode to Maughan Library

by Samantha Streger

Oh Maughan, you are pronounced so differently than you are spelled,
And also you are a beautiful beaulding in the middle of London.
I didn't like you at first because you were confusing,
But then you grew on me...
But we will not stand the tests of time, because I am not allowed to drink coffee within you,
And I am (ALAS!) leaving on Saturday.



Couldn't have said it better myself.

come on, it's lovely weather

Today was a much better day than yesterday, despite the fact that I accidentally slept until 3:00 PM and completely missed what little daylight there was to be seen. Sam and I, in an attempt to rid me of my stressed out/homesick/rainy weather funk, decided to walk over and see the big tree at Trafalgar Square. When we got there, there was an advent carol service going on, right there in the middle of the city, which was great. Afterwards we went inside St.-Martin-in-the-fields, which is a big old church next to Trafalgar Square. I don't know why it's called that. It was very pretty inside--I am starting to get used to these really gaudy renaissance and gothic type churches, but this one was very toned down and protestantized but still beautiful. And it has a crypt underneath with a cafe and a little shop in it. Then we watched people ice skating at sommerset house for a few minutes, and then we went and had some mulled wine at a pub called the George over by the royal courts of justice, which I don't think is related to the other George we went to, but maybe. Later, we made paper snowflakes to decorate our kitchen window. Needless to say not much work has been done today, but you're only in London at Christmas once, right? There are pictures of all this, by the way, if you click that link over there on the left. For some reason they came out really grey and grainy, but that might just be because that's what it really looked like, I'm not sure.

Some thoughts on Notting Hill

I hate spanish people and rain.

the reoccuring kind

Today I went to the British Library. It was not by choice. I did not look at any Beatles lyrics on napkins, Jane Austen manuscripts, or whatever else they have there. Instead I registered for a reader pass, checked my coat, put all my belongings in a clear plastic bag, and went to read in a room where you can't even bring a pen. You also can't take the books out. Or eat or drink, or whatever. You have to order books and they'll go get them out of strage for you, and then you have to sit there and copy down all the information you need, and then turn the book back in. I guess it's kind of cool in theory, but I am not in that kind of mood. My mood is overwhelmed, which is definitely not the kind of mood you should be in when you go to the British Library for the first time. Well, at least now I know how the place works, for next time. I was so emotionally drained from the experience that I took a nap after dinner--BAD IDEA! Oh man, I am so freaking out right now. Oh man. Freaking out.

Gonna do some shopping at Notting Hill tomorrow. Haven't been there yet.

This sentence just happened in real life, "Did you give him your URL?!"

I don't think I can handle the darkness much longer. It's so, so dark. And if it weren't dark enough during the day, by 4:30 it's actually dark, as in, night time. I can't take it!

Went on a tour of the Globe yesterday. It was pretty cool, we went backstage and onstage and ,stuff and talked about...theater. Afterwards we went to a really really cool pub called the George, and on our way there we walked by the place where the actual globe used to be. The George was like, amazing, I couldn't get over it. There was a fireplace, twinkle lights (white, not blue!), garland, and lots of coziness. I wanted to order mulled wine but they ran out...so I got a strongbow! I like to keep things as classy as possible. By the way this was all a teacher-organized field trip for Sam's class. I tagged along cause I am a huge nerd who loves to learn. But isn't that cool?! For their fieldtrip they went to the globe and then had a pint with their professor! This is exactly, exactly, exactly, the kind of thing I hoped might happen in London. Next week, I am going to see The Seagull with my modern theater class. It's gonna be really awkward, because I don't know any of them, except for one who I made it my business to introduce myself to last night at the George, for the specific purpose of having someone to talk to at The Seagull.

I miss the 15 freeway.

Oh hai just writin ma paperz

Somewhere in Rome there is a man named Giuseppe, and he is in love with me. I have obviously chosen the wrong city, and am missing my one chance to have a sordid european love affair. Woe is me.

I am about 3,200 words into a 4500 word paper that is one of three papers. thats pretty good, right?... right? heh.

As always in academically stressful situations, my roommates and I have been bonding the last few days. We have this thing where we all go in the kitchen and eat a lot of chocolate and pretend we are working really hard on our respective papers. Also sometimes we drink wine. Ummmm basically it's the most productive system ever devised. This is why we are all going to flunk out of life.

Today for dinner we had this really healthy sitr fry with chicken and vegetables and rice. Then we followed it up with a 250 gram bar of milk chocolate, each square of which was dipped in peanut butter, and an entire package of chcocolate biscuits. I am pretty sure men do not do such things. I wish they did.

I really like this part of the great gatsby:

"What part of the middle west?" I inquired casually.
"San Fransisco."
"I see."

If I wasn't almost out of Skippy, I think I could live the rest of my life on hot tortillas and peanut butter. It's like the new toast!

London is a cruel, cruel place, my friends. When the weather is so cold and rainy that you have to abandon your mission to find a coat for cold and rainy weahter, you know you're in trouble. Also, there's nothing worse than making an effort to look cute, and then discovering that your cute outfit is not appropriate for the weather. Not only because it means you are cold, but also because it makes your effort to look cute totally obvious to those who are warm. Better luck next time.