Another week down and I believe all of my neurons that were in hibernation during the 6 week black-hole that is winter break have begun to poke their little heads back out into the world.
I've been keeping up with my loads of course work, and as I am taking mainly humanities courses, that means a whole lot of dense, complex, scholarly reading. But I'm sure you can already tell that from the length of my prior sentences. Lord help me, I'm turning into my professors.
With that being said, I've now met and taken classes from each of my four professors. I'm genuinely enthused to say that I find each course interesting. Unfortunately though, since each session is 3-4 hours long, I get quite worn out. Nonetheless, the relentless pursuit of education continues, despite my desire to spend the days wandering the streets of this culturally rich city I now call home.
I've found myself adopting some of the jargon that I mentioned previously, yikes. An apartment is now a flat, a friend is now a mate, and cilantro is now coriander? But on the bright side, my accent is coming in swimmingly. Just ask my roommates! I'm sure to practice it on them constantly, which I know they love.
I also had the pleasure of meeting my cousin Kelsey and her boyfriend to celebrate her birthday this past Friday. I wonder what the odds are that two of us ended up in London at the same time? Not only was this meeting meaningful for its serendipity, but also because they introduced me to the wonderful, delicious world of kebabs. Though my cholesterol may be much worse off, my stomach is forever grateful.
One of the benefits of my class schedule is I don't have classes on Monday. As such, I've committed myself to learning not from textbooks, but from the world around me, in a (hopefully) weekly "Museum Monday".
This Monday I visited the Victoria and Albert Museum, or V&A for short. Some of my favorite pieces included "Truth and Falsehood" by Alfred Stevens, the Townshend Gems jewelry collection, and "The Wreck" by Knud Andreassen Baade. Don't worry, I wont bother with the specific reviews that I'm highly unqualified to give, but I'll link them or attach pictures below.
I also have been in the market for a cheap tote since backpacks are about as pick-pocket proof as the Titantic was unsinkable. Luckily for me (less so the pick-pockets) the V&A had the perfect one for a measly 6 pounds. It is, of course, a David Bowie tote, which looks ominously with Ziggy Stardust's might on all those who would even dare approach my belongings (pictured in gallery below).
Next Monday I hope to head to the Science Museum. That is of course, unless the Super Bowl lands me in a depressive state. Go Chiefs!
As we have settled in, my friends and I have been looking to the future. And apparently, the future holds a lot of cheap airplane tickets and questionably clean hostels. We are doing our best to plan not only our spring breaks, but the remaining weekends we have, so that we can make the most of our time on this side of the Atlantic. All this planning has made me painfully aware that the time we do have is fleeting.
So, with my fleeting time, I vow to shy away from no good deal, eat the best food at every opportunity, and live each moment wholly, and free of guilt.
Days left in semester: 95
Sites visited: Victoria and Albert Museum, Green Park, Buckingham Palace, River Thames, Covent Gardens
"Truth and Falsehood" https://www.sartle.com/artwork/truth-and-falsehood-alfred-stevens
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