Two pictures from my first venture out. These are both of a campus building. So maybe not everything is super ugly.
Hello hello! I think I got all/most of my tears and dreadfulness out yesterday, becuase today I felt ready to be a real person and not sleep all day. (mostly). P.S. if you are thinking "is that the entire Twilight movie as a stamp?" You would be correct.
I woke up at around 1 am today, which I know is egregious, but sleeping all day long will do that to you and I figured it would be better if I just stayed awake and went to bed early in order to fight the jet lag...I sorta succeeded. Soooooo I stayed awake and worked on my website totally remodeled it and I watched half of "All About Lily Chou Chou" a Japanese movie from 2001 that I've been meaning to watch since high school. Maybe I'll finish it tonight. I played some video games and made myself some noodles. Honestly I don't know how I filled those 10 hours awake before I left the house. Who knows. But eventually it was around 10am which meant that the Bethnal Green Public Library was open!!!! I had decided during those 10 hours that what I needed was a trip out and what I extra needed was a good book. I've been trying to read a lot more, always have a book to read. I've decided that reading is the only real way to become a smarter person and heaven knows we do not read as much as we should these days.
I first set off at around 10:30 and started to walk....the wrong way. Seriously why is gps so hard for walking directions, I would so mcuh rather have a giant map....maybe I should aquire a giant map. OR MAYBE I SHOULD STOP BEING A WIMP AND ASK PEOPLE FOR DIRECTIONS. But I hadn't geniuenly interacted with another human in days so I was afraid. I forgive myself :)..........I should really exercize some courage though. I have found I am much more courageous in the company of others.
Two pictures from my first venture out. These are both of a campus building. So maybe not everything is super ugly.
So I was getting pretty confused on where I was going and then I realized I forgot my passport and proof of address, which I needed for the library card. oops! So I walked allllll the way back to my dorm to get it. By this time I was so very sleepy but I knew I could not go to bed, that would defeat the purpose of this whole project so I left my dorm once again and set out.
What really is the wrong way when you get there eventually and the journey is half the fun in London? Mmmmhmm. So I walked through the streets of London looking for the library.
A blurry picture of a magpie and a picture of the wet street. I still have yet to charge any of my cameras grrrr so I am just using my phone right now.
I walked through the neighborhoods of East London and by the Regent's Canal. There are people living on the canal in house boats. Very cool. Everything is covered in moss. I was going the opposite way, but I eventually circled back around after walking through many different neighborhoods. There are these apartment houses which are called things like "Whitmore House" and "Moore House" like they are dorm buildings. They look like dorm buildings too. I wonder how old they are. At one point I turned a corner and there was a huge line of boys in traditional blue and white Muslim school uniforms and they were all going into a madrasa. There were so so many of them the line went on for a while. I slid past them and finally I was at the front of the Bethnal Green Library.
A picture of the residential areas I saw. The canal. All the trash in the canal. A blurry picture of a woman standing outside her house becuase the hallway was really cool (you can't really tell). A strange street sign which I saw multiple times.
The library really blends in with all the residential houses near it, and while it looks big on the outside the actual area with books was very small. However, further exploration is needed because I'm certain I was missing some areas. The math did not add up. I went to the library with the mission of finding the book Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides, which I have heard is quite good. After wandering for a bit I finally worked up the courage to talk to the librarian at the desk and ask for a library card. She was very nice lady, she would kind of mumble to herself while talking to me, which was difficult to understand with the accent and all, but we had a grand ole time. I gave her my documents and she asked what I was studying, I gave her my birthdate the American way 03/14/2004 which made her pause and have to think. I laughed and said oh right I forgot you guys do it differently here. Which I understand the logic behind day/month/year; it's all in acending order. However! There is something nice about sandwiching the day inbetween the month and year like cushions. But obviously I am biased. She then helped me find Middlesex and I sat in the library to read for a bit and drink the powdered vegtable soup they had on a table for the taking. Yum, that was breakfast. Reminder to myself to get soup packets when out.
I left after a bit to go grocery shopping. dun dun dun. To get to the grocery store I was walking in a very city part of the city which was cool. I didn't realize just how much I am in the center of London. Wowsers. First I went to a Tesco. Oh the Tesco, a hallmark of British culture. Well the Tesco was okay but this Tesco had NO PEANUT BUTTER AND JELLY. Turns out that people overseas don't eat peanut butter which is absurd because peanut butter is so good. Do these people even know what they are missing out on? I am sure if they all tried peanut butter they would be like "Oh dear, this is quite delicious if I do say so myself hurm hurm hurm pish posh pish posh nom nom nom." Other observations is that it really is true we have os much more sugar in the US like shoot their cereal section was depressing! No lucky charms or apple jacks or fruit loops...or normal Cheerios? That was weird I kinda figured they would love Cheerios given pip pip cheerio. Their chips were also sad. The Dorito flavors were strange and upsetting...cool original...what even is that?! But I got most of what I needed and I kept walking. As I was walking I realized I did not get butter or fruit like my mom requested and also i wanted to try pb&J one more time.
A sad sad excuse for Doritos at the Tesco.
I was successful at the Asda. Got some jam and peanut butter. The PB section was pitiful. I decided not to get the generic brand because I wasn't sure if I trusted non-peanut butter enjoyers to make good peanut butter so I had to get a tiny jar of skippy extra crunchy. Why they only had extra crunchy and not crunchy I dunno. Anywho, got my items and left. I still forgot salt and pepper and I need to get utensils. Currently I only have a fork. I also want soup....soupppppp. But now I will no longer starve.
After putting my groceries away, I went back to my room and kinda instantly fell asleep at 3pm. The tiredness hit me hard. However, fear not because the orientation thing I thought was today (and would have accidentally slept through) is tomorrow!! hooray. So then I woke up at around 10pm and here I am writing this now. I need to go down and make a pb&J and think about other groceries I need...I will be going back to Ikea when my friend Irene gets here. I don't think I can go back there alone....*shudder*
So today was quite pleasant. I haven't met anyone yet but all in due time. I'm not so worried anymore and after going out in the city I feel much love and affection for London Town. What a beautiful city. Sometimes all it takes is a walk out and about to clear your head :) Also I got into my Jane Austen class, I am soooo excited.