I am really good at this college thing

My textbooks have finally arrived! This means I can actually do my reading assignments! Now I won’t look like the lame American who can’t get her life together in seminar!

Speaking of seminar, I’m not sure if I mentioned that I am the only American. I expected this. I did not expect a random guy to come up to me afterwards and say, “I love how you say ‘Renaissance.’” That is the first time I have ever heard anyone say anything favourable about an American accent. Some of the girls in my flat made fun of me for mispronouncing “Vanbrugh,” but that’s really all I’ve heard about it. I then proceeded to chat with random guy (his name is Jae, I believe) until I got back to my flat. So I’m making friends based on the way I pronounce things, which I guess is alright.

Oh, the Brits pronounce “Renaissance” as “Ren-aye-sance,” as opposed to the American “Ren-uh-sance.” Go figure.

Thursday night ended up being the best night ever, since I went pub hopping with some of the other foreigners. It’s entertaining how I’m pretty much making better friends with the random Europeans than with the English people in my flat. But then again, my English friends don’t really go out much, so I have to go clubbing with somebody.

I do enjoy clubbing, but unfortunately my knees are not fond of several hours of dancing. I really felt it Friday morning, and I was glad I didn’t have any class. The huge Swiss guy bought drinks for everyone, which was wonderful because things that aren’t cheap beer are, well, expensive. I limit myself to spending £20 every time I go out, though I make a valid effort at spending less than that. It depends on whether I order food, which can run up a bit.

Friday night ended up being a bit of a wash when I couldn’t find the group I was supposed to hang out with. I’m going to try again at some point, I think, but I am sort of content with my group of random Europeans.

I’m looking into joining fencing and yoga. I know a lot of people in the yoga class, and one of my Swiss friends is trying to join fencing. If it isn’t expensive, I’d love to get back into it. Of course, equipment can be expensive... which, for some reason, reminds me that I might need to buy sweat pants. Why I didn’t bring any, I’ll never know. Probably for the same reason I didn’t bring my stupid running shoes. I should have guessed I would try to do something relatively active. Sheesh.

Anyway, I stayed in on Saturday night because nobody I knew was doing anything. It was kind of nice, actually, just curling up in bed and watching movies.

Sunday I went out again to a rather expensive bar that I really don’t need to go back to. But I guess the bar is kind of popular because every other time I’ve walked past it, there’s been a queue. I thought it was too expensive for me. What kind of bar doesn’t have mixed drinks for cheaper than £5? I spent less than that for the cherry lemonade thing I bought on Thursday!

On the hilarious side, the Norwegian bought a margarita and hated it. In his defence, it was very strong.

Anyway, I was invited out on Wednesday night, and I’m sort of excited about it provided I can find everyone and I get some change. I’m utterly out of coins and small bills. It’s awful. I tried to break one of my larger bills by buying a textbook today, but the cashier said the till couldn’t handle a £50. Ugh. But I’m not bringing a £50 note on tonight’s bar adventure. That would be bad, and would break my rules about bringing a set amount of cash when I go out.

Yes, I have a bar adventure tonight. This one is sanctioned by the Erasmus organization. I go to a lot of international student events. Plus I know at least one person going to this one, since one of my American English major friends said she’d attend. It’s sort of embarrassing that I still don’t know her name... one of these days I’ll figure it out, I swear.

Also on the calendar is a foreign food night, which I won’t be bringing anything to because I am a disaster in the kitchen. Besides, what on earth constitutes American cuisine? Hamburgers? I am not cooking 40 hamburgers! And I have no cooking utensils whatsoever. My kitchenware consists of four teaspoons and a mug. I make it work for everything. Cereal? Eat it out of a mug. Sandwiches? A spoon works as a peanut butter spreader. Soup? I buy the English equivalent of Cup of Noodles. This is literally what I eat on weekends when I don’t go to the dining commons. Well, sometimes I pick up a £4 sandwich and a soda. Oh, and I drink lots of tea.

Speaking of shopping, I bought myself Digestives on Saturday, and I have eaten a lot of them already. They are not going to last the week. But they are just so delicious! They also had a deal on candy, and I bought two mint Aero bars for 80p. I was so excited! I managed not to scarf them both down at once. In fact, I still have one left! Look at me exhibiting restraint!

In other exciting news, I have almost finished the book series that I borrowed from Heather over six months ago. It certainly took me long enough... sheesh.

Oh, and for my English class, I have to memorize a sonnet. I’m definitely going to do a Shakespeare one, because I LOVE SHAKESPEARE, but I’m not sure which one. I think it would be hilarious to do one of the more explicit ones, but I’m not sure if I could recite it with a straight face. I don’t want to do the standard ones (“Shall I compare thee to a summer day?” or “My mistress’ eyes are nothing like the sun”), even though I’m fairly sure the former is about a guy. I’ll probably read over them and pick that way. At any rate, it’s only 14 lines; it shouldn’t be that hard to memorize.

Hmm, what other interesting things have happened? I found some utterly hilarious birthday cards, and I’m really excited to mail them home. Of course, that means getting myself to the post office in town, because I have to send international mail, but I can handle that. Hopefully. I vaguely know how to walk there from school, which is wonderful because I am too cheap to take the bus. I’m also not sure if I could find the bus station in York that would take me back to campus...

I really want to do tourist things, but I’m thwarted by the lack of a camera. Dad said he’d mail me my new one sometime soon, and I’m really excited to get it. SO MANY PICTURES. I WILL TAKE SO MANY PICTURES. IT WILL BE RIDICULOUS. I will try to not break this one. Argh...

I’m still writing a ton. Unfortunately, it is nothing pertinent to my novels. Or the paper I have due next week. Oops. I really need to get my brain under control.

And speaking of that paper, you know that English textbook I said arrived at the very beginning of this post? It cost me £4. That’s about $10. The exact same book on American Amazon cost at least twice that. I can’t even imagine how much it would have cost at UCSB’s bookstore. Ridiculous. Utterly ridiculous. Shipping and handling costs pending, I might just start ordering all of my books from amazon.co.uk. Of course, I’ll have to order them super early since it will take them forever to get here, but if I can save that much money it will totally be worth it.

I am cheap.