blame toy story/ i donated my clothes today

It was sunny all of today. I finally got to utilize my sunglasses. Everyone laughed when I packed them to go to England. Now who's laughing?

So there's going to be a series of boring, everyday posts coming up. If you read this blog for exciting travel details and the accompanying video, please accept my sincerest apologies. My wallet is not deep enough to afford a different location every week. I would have to choose between eating and traveling (but more on that later, I guess).

general geekery and alcoholism

Well, this was a late video. My reading is piling up, so I've had less and less time to edit and sort. Sorry! Not that anyone really cares. You know what really surprised me is that in 70% of the videos I had to edit, someone is always surprised that I am filming. "Oh you're taking a video?!" and "I thought this was a picture" are some of my favorite phrases.

The opening bit of this video is from a walk going home from wine night. The walk is supposed to be 30 minutes long tops. We took an hour and a half to get home. I stumbled into my apartment around 4 AM and got up at 7:30 AM to get on the bus to Cardiff. Nothing was going to keep me from seeing replicas upon replicas of David Tennant's Doctor Who suit. And I even saw the real deal. So many feels. Cardiff was pleasantly sunny and bright and warm contrary to what we were all expecting. It was a nice day trip even if we all ended up bumming it at a pub for the better part of 4 hours.

So, everyday stuff: School is so strange. I don't think I'm overly stupid, but attending school here definitely makes me feel that way. At home, no one is so engaged in seminar (discussion). Here, the class sizes for seminars are 10 people tops and pretty much everyone wants to comment on the philosophies of Marshall McLuhan. What. I have a psych presentation coming up, and I thought it'd be pretty straight forward. My group members are so much better prepared and have it all together. I don't even understand. But altogether, I still really love it here so much so that I actually googled how I can gain UK citizenship. Apparently, I'd either have to go to school here for longer or marry someone. Balls.

Then again, every time I need groceries or if I just need to spend money in general, I want to cry because everything is so much cheaper at home. Why is everything so cheap in the US? Is it because all our stuff is made by sweatshop children in different countries who have no workers' rights? I don't know. It's 3 AM, and I can't read anymore pdfs.

I need to get on top of my stuff. sigh.

i'm feeling 21

I turned 21 this week. I thought I was going to have "cool" and/or "adult" figured out by the time I was this old. I also thought I was going to grow 5 or 7 more inches, but whatever.

So here is a video I made. There are clips from Monday's Jazz Walk, my usual walk to campus/class, the BBC Bristol studio tour, my very special birthday drink, some pre-/post- wine tasting circle, and general Saturday-walking-through-Bristol shenanigans. If you're paying attention, maybe you'll catch my super sexy surprise ;D

I better have the most toned butt cheeks after doing all this uphill walking.

The BBC tour was really interesting. Elvyn, the guy who took us to that cozy Jazz pub, also led us partially through this tour before handing us over to these two adorable older women. It was a great way to spend my birthday, but I was still kind of irked. What I was upset about was that I had gotten my hopes up of seeing David Attenborough, professional bad ass, up close and personal. All I got was a picture of me with his poster. Poop. We did get to make a fake radio broadcast and had some fun in front of the green screen. After which, Mattie and I got lunch with more of our growing Canadian horde plus the two New Yorkers and Ruth from Australia haha. But really, there are a lot of Canadians here.

the first "proper" weekend

"Proper" is a word I've heard more times than I can remember this week. I've learned that you can't say it with an American accent and not sound awkward. If you are unfamiliar with this lovely term, it means "actual" or  "genuine." At least from what I can gather. I've heard it used to say things like "proper tea time" or "you need a proper set of cutlery, not your Winnie the Pooh children's set". 

I've become a cesspool of disease and misery. I haven't really been sleeping because I've been spiraling into a more and more severe cough every night. As soon as I lie down, it's cough city. Despite that, I tried really hard to not let that ruin my weekend. Do I get points for effort? I spent Sunday having a "proper" lazy Sunday. I did nothing but be sick and buy groceries and drink soup and warm tea. But here's the weekend rundown via pictures:

Mattie, Anna, Jessica, and I went to the Bristol Museum and Gallery. Free admission is always fun. This is where we spent an hour or so escaping the downpour. I hope you can see Mattie's face. Miss Grumpykins.

Everything was so cute. This tea room was so cute. Look at the color of that table. Like really look at it. And all of our teacups and teapots were different from each other. The mismatched and quirky cutlery and the little fireplace and the little buntings tied up around the room. I had to unleash my inner photowhore - I have no shame.

3 o' clock was decidely too early to start schmoozing, but these were tempting.

Yes, this was all mine. I ate it all. 4 kinds of cake, salad, clotted cream, jam, and cheese and chutney finger sandwiches. #fattylife

I had one finger sandwich left, so I took home in this bag.

brb dying from the cuteness of this print.

they had a record player.

That night a bunch of us girls went to Syndicate. Syndicate is a club that is less than a five minute walk from my flat. I can see it from my window as I'm typing this, and for the past weekend, have heard its clients walking to and from it. We had mixed feelings about going. A lot of people had warned us of its shittiness, but a couple people were more ambiguous saying it could be good or really awful depending on the night you go. Iliana's flatmates each had differing opinions about it, but all agreed that despite it all, droves of people always showed up. Throwing caution to the wind, we dressed up and went out. I froze to death. What you see in the picture is all I wore. In 30 F weather. That's what I wore. While sick. I deserve everything I'm feeling right now. The verdict for the night: go to this club once, and then never again unless super desperate or super wasted.

That is a fishbowl. Presumably, it was supposed to be filled with an alcoholic beverage. It did not taste that way and while I was appreciative of that fact, I suspect there was also no alcohol in said beverage because Mattie and I were still wildly sober after. Worst money spent on a drink ever.

My Saturday was so tame. I did nothing all day but read the copious amounts of reading I already have. I'm still supposed to be reading, but whatever. I'm going to blog about having to read instead and cry about it sometime in the middle of this week. I did, however, have proper fish and chips. The English are the kings of fried food. Truly. Too bad they don't have Sriracha sauce anywhere.

the other catch up post (bristol)

Of course I get here and Zoella from YouTube goes and moves to Brighton. I was having a fangirl moment.


It's been twelve days since arriving here. Wish I could say class registration was a breeze, but I should have known better than to have expectations. BUT I have it a lot better than a whole ton of other people who are still dealing with wait lists and strange schedules with none of the classes they planned to take. We all had to register in person instead of online. Finding all the buildings was an adventure in itself. Really, it's still an adventure finding the classes. I leave my flat 40 minutes beforehand out of fear and am usually the first one to sit down. Like a square. People probably think I'm this huge square or nob as they say. I'm living in a flat with three other flatmates. They're all really nice. I had to change flats because of the five people living there, I was the only one without a penis and for whatever reason that weirded me out. Seeing as how I lived with only boys at school, I really didn't think it'd bother me until it was two days later, and I still felt weird. Plus, their bathroom was nasty - the type of nasty that comes from living in a space where most or all inhabitants have given up. So yeah, I moved. I don't even think they know I moved out. Awkward.

This cat followed me around for a while during registration, so I bent down to pet her and she jumped up into my lap and cuddled me. I wanted to take her home. Animals love me here. It's amazing.

I have to walk through here everyday to get home. They're called Christmas Steps? It's a really cute alley during the day and a bit sketchy looking during the night.

I still need to buy an umbrella because this is all I was wearing during an unexpected downpour.

My classes are interesting and all make me feel hopelessly inadequate. After spending the better part of the last two years taking upper division psych courses, I still haven't written any real essays for any of said psychology courses let alone any essays ever in the history of my academic career in APA format. All my essays this semester are in APA format. Hopefully this is not some foreshadowing as to what the rest of my life is going to be like. People take discussion here seriously. As in, they actually have things to say and do not stare lifelessly at the discussion leader with their mouths hanging open. It is simultaneously very refreshing and very intimidating. I like hearing what people have to say, but I don't like speaking in class. I always end up sounding dumber than I mean to. Also, it is just now occurring to me that Cambridge was really really upscale. For whatever reason, I imagined all universities operating like that one and was relieved to find out that other universities are less bougie and more typical to American universities appearance-wise. Everyone still dresses better though, so I always feel surrounded by an ocean of very well-dressed people.

hot cocoa to make me feel better.

So the rundown of the less mundane happenings I've had thus far:

Last weekend, after having plans fall through on Friday night, Shawn, Christine, Mattie, Maria, and I headed to The Apple, this floating boat pub thing that serves a cider called "The Bristolian" which you're only allowed to buy half pints of at a time because it's strong. It sounded promising, so we went there and met up with Katrina, her housemate (Stan?), and Maxine. Then our token German friend, Manuel, showed up. I still think it's funny there's a German guy named Manuel. Is that bad? It's probably bad if I have to ask if it's bad. Oh well. We ended up going to a smaller bar somewhere on St. Augustine's Parade and there was a live band and dancing. Someone said konichiwa to Maxine and I, being the only Asian girls. How original. But really, if you're going to say something offensive, creativity is appreciated.

I didn't take pictures, but I promise stuff is coming up.

more photos from london

Everyone was waiting for their turn to touch the horse. I wonder if anyone talks to the guy on the horse. Are they even allowed to talk? The horse let me hug his face. I've never felt so loved.

Obligatory Big Ben photo. This was seriously the quickest walking tour. We walked right past it. Not that I didn't mind. It was 3:30 in the afternoon or something and it was already getting dark and increasingly cold. For whatever reason, I was just constantly hungry that day and was looking forward to the Italian food they had promised us.

Moar obligatory photos of Westminster Abbey.

Um. I forgot what this was, but it was mildly important.

Seriously, the name of the cathedral is escaping me right now. But it was adjacent to Westminster Abbey and this is where the Prince and Kate Middleton got married. If you look at the empty pedestal things near the door, apparently this is where statues used to be but were smashed by angry Puritans. Why were they angry...

This little guy came straight up to our tour group as we walked across the park. All the animals did because they're all used to getting scraps of food. Needless to say, all of us were fascinated by this chubby lil guy.

More park photo. At this point, I was ready to drop from the cold AND I was so so so so so hungry. 

I don't know how to rearrange these photos on Blogger, but this was the first sight we saw. Trafalgar Square. This was where we met up with our tour guide who was this pleasant older woman who told me the horsemen from above are all trained in the arts of killing people. Maybe that's why people don't really talk to them.

the catch up post (london)

These are some photos from the first couple of days in London. I didn't really take many photos because my hands were so cold they barely left my pockets, and I figured it wouldn't be the only time I would be in the city. I think the next post I do will also be a catch up post but exclusively things from Bristol. Once I figure out how to efficiently space out readings and whatevers, I hope I can get on top of this blog posting. Especially since I have no idea how to format pictures on Blogger. Enjoy.

Enjoying the Thames near the Millenium (Millenial?) Bridge.

LOL. Joyee, if you're reading this, it must run in the family to magically find all the Chinese food places.

From when I first got off the plane and before Danielle came and picked up my lost self.

This is not Zach. It is a stranger whose body looks like Zach's. I am not creepy for taking this photo. You know what? Never mind. This is an artsy photo of a guy in a bookshop.

One of the exhibits inside the Tate Modern. Didn't get the title or artist, but it's a neon wire light sign painted over with black. If you looked at it up close, you could see the neon lights shining through.

#selfieception

Outside one of the gates nearby Buckingham Palace. So. Cold.