Happy almost December, loyal fans. It's hard to believe that November has actually come to an end and I will be back in NY in less than three weeks. As most of you may have read on my facebook wall, I'm excited that it this abroad experience is ending. It's not that I'm not having a great time- I really am- it's just that with the weather, and drama in my house, and everyone running the academic program here being a total dumb asshole, I'm at wits end and need to return to the familiar.
I've had a great past couple of days but the issues with FIE (my program) have been especially trying. I have three papers due over the next two weeks which is normal for this time of year, except that no matter how hard I work my professors have all informed me that it is literally impossible to get an A in their classes. Apparently, since British students hold themselves to MUCH higher standards than Americans, they don't receive A's because that would mean that they are perfect in every single way. If I work my ass off, and do an assignment exceptionally well, I deserve a good grade. I get that things are different here, but at the end of the day these grades are transferring back to an AMERICAN school, where C's are NOT the norm and certainly unacceptable (especially for someone on scholarship). So thanks a heap Britain for all of your ego, but I'm over your bullshit. And, while we're on the subject, forgive me if I don't pity the fact that your universities are soon going to cost 6000 pounds a year. The dollar equivalent of that is about $9500, AKA what I pay for HALF a semester WITH a decent scholarship. So if your students are so smart why don't you tell them to get a job and stop bitching?
In happier news, these past four days have been a lot of fun. Saturday night I went with Miriam and her friend Silvana to Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park, which is basically a giant Christmas carnival with booze, rides, shops and singing reindeer. Sunday, my flat hosted a Thankgiving, complete with a Turkey-based feast and Christmas music to get us in the holiday spirit. There were 17 people, tons of food and fun, and about 100 pies. SOOOO many pies. After we ate ourselves into a coma, Ruth and I took a walk around the town to alleviate our food babies and ended up at a casino where I lost about 15 quid on a slot machine. Sad day- at least I was considerably drunk.
Yesterday was a boring stay at home day- the only thing that ended up making it fun was that Emily and Alyssia's internet broke so they came over to do their gazillion papers. Alyssia slept over because we had plans for today and she didn't want to have to come all the way back, so we had a super awesome sleepover and bonded and got pumped about living together next semester.
This morning, I woke up to one of my flatmates FLIPPING out because it was snowing. I almost committed murder because it was an hour before I actually had to be awake for class and I was up late the night before. At around 9:30am Joe and I met our BLC class down by Brick Lane for a field trip, where we learned about the history of one of the most cultural areas in London. It would have been 100 times more awesome if it wasn't an outdoor walking tour, since it was snowing a lot and probably about 25 degrees.
When I got home from Brick Lane, Alyssia and I ate some lunch and then I took her to part 1 of her birthday date (both parts were surprises!). We went down to the Natural History museum and went ice skating! (Side note about ice skating- going today reminded me how innately spastic human beings are. QUITE entertaining.) I thought I was going to fall on my ass and make a fool of myself for the hour we were on the rink, but I ended up taking to it really quickly. I was surprised at how good I was and how much fun I had! I haven't been ice skating in probably 5 years at least. Alyssia and I had the BEST time, and especially enjoyed watching this one guy fall every five seconds. I would like to note his determination though- it was inspiring. He spent most of the hour on the ground.
After ice skating, we took the bus to Harrods where I introduced Alyssia to the Chocolate Bar. We shared an order of triple chocolate fondue and ate until our veins were flowing with chocolate. I could have poked myself and bled chocolate. Mmmm...chocolate.
And tonight will be an early night, since I have my internship tomorrow and got a mere five hours of sleep last night. Trust me, I will be making the most of my last few days here but when I wake up on the 19th with my bags packed, I will be happy to head home. I love London so much, but it's at the point where it's becoming almost too stressfull to enjoy. The good news is, my friend Alex B is coming to visit this weekend so there will definitely be some alcohol to ease my mind.
Cheers!
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