I value sleep way too much. I'm good at making bad jokes, you know, those that make you cringe inside but you end up laughing anyway, mostly at me but perhaps also at the joke, just a little bit? I would love to learn skateboarding and improvising on the saxophone. I don't have a pet but I would love one, any canine that would not mind my fawning and obsessive compulsive petting would do. For now though, to comply with the harsh dormitory decrees against furry friends, I am willing to settle with a giant plush Nemo doll.

Watched:
- Bruce Springsteen in concert (so many beer bottles, so trashed... oh the Brits and their drinking)
- King Lear at Shakespeare Globe Theatre (mad props, literally, especially the scene where they plucked the eyes out of the Earl of Gloucester, gooy eww.)
- Avenue Q! (they were totally Americans, there's no way Brits can all fake an American accent that good)

Seen:
- London Eye
- British Museum (how much did the Brits plunder for loot?? Pretty much the entire Acropolis, and the biggest mummy collection ever)
- Tate Modern (the big question: is that really art?)

Ate:
- Fish and chips, from where the locals get them--so unhealthy, SabZ, no wonder you like it!
- not much else to English food =/

Drank:
- Thursday night, Friday afternoon, all weekend, and now Monday night, no shortage of drunk people, ever. Especially since the mayor of London decreed that there be no drinking on the Tube (subway), people organized a huge party and trashed the stations and carriages such that they had to be closed down, oy.

am exhausted. but happily content =). promise a more entertaining post soon. on a side note, mum's food is going to run out in a few days, will actually have to cook, uh oh.

so much to do... SO LITTLE TIME.


let's bullet things to save time, shall we?


I. Mr. Darcy Sighting (gchat, with doee):
12:50 AM me: zomg.
i was lugging around a really heavy suitcase
12:51 AM and a middle aged man walked up from behind me
and in mr darcy style
stood straight
without smiling and with minimal movement of the lips
said "do you need a hand with that?"
he also looked kind of, kind of, like mr. darcy
and my heart melted
12:52 AM and i imagined for the next 15 seconds that he was carrying my luggage down the stairs that he was, indeed, mr. darcy.
it was fantastic.
May: LOL
and then?
12:53 AM me: then i couldnt figure out how the oyster card (like a charliecard) paying thing worked...and so lost him
May: -.-
useless
12:54 AM come back when u have a steamy rainy kiss with a hot british man
me: haha
12:55 AM will try my best
except currently all the british men i know are above 30 years of age
however
May: whatever
me: they did all offer to take me to their fav pubs and bars
they = um, 2 british men?
2 is good enough for plural

II. Living in Antiquity
a. Yes, I live on the fifth floor of a five story house, in a (tiny) bedroom owned by this guy overlooking a (tiny) back yard. Have my own (tiny) "loo".
b. No, have yet to meet my landlords, can be wiki'ed here and here. They will be back from their "cottage in Wales" (Wikipedia) late Sunday.
c. Yes, do have to use matches to light the stove. Have not attempted to do so yet.
d. Yes, took a shower in a tub with one of those old-fashioned handheld showerhead things.

III. GOT WIRELESS!!!
a. password is f433482ab1e8acafc59ed8fe67*. who'd have thunk. friggin' YES.
*Do not ever let your computer choose a random password, it's impossible to guess...**
**Thanks to robomason, WEP is always like that. don't even bother to guess.

IV. Dufflebag Lost and Found
a. No thanks to Aer Lingus, I wore my sweatpants to first day at work.


b. Thanks to Aer Lingus, did not have to lug a 37kg bag through a train and then in the subway, up and down multiple, torturous, flights of stairs. Still has marks on right shoulder from lugging a 17kg suitcase plus a 10kg carry-on bag.

V. I'm Legal to Drink!
a. 18+. boo(ze)yah.
b. Have been offered by 30+-year-old men to be taken out to their favorite bars. To accept or not to accept? What's proper behavior? With 30+-year-old men?? ASIAN GLOW???

VI. Housemate: Iraqi Archeologist
a. A 40+-year-old Archeologist from Iraq is living in my basement. Really nice man, took me on a stroll around the area tonight. Wants to accompany me on my weekend excursions. Also mentioned that I smelled good...like my multivitamin-enriched fruit juice. Unsure of what to do??

VII. <3 Spanish Tapas
a. Meals out on company's tab is fab. Esp. when tapas are in the game.

VIII. London-isms
a. On escalators, walk on the left side, stand on the right side, or you'll be shoved.
b. Say "loo" (vs. "bathroom"), "rucksack" (vs. "backpack").
c. Repeat after me: Central Hall = "Centr-al", Tottenham = "Tot-nam"

IX. It's 3:01am. Need to get up by 8am. Why am I still up?!

X. GOOD NIGHT!

elephantkangaroo: i just want to travel like a secretly rich gypsy





TIMELINE
wake up: more packing
1pm: lunch
2:30pm: say goodbye to the house
4:00pm: say hello to Logan airport, trade for Pounds
6:40pm: say goodbye to Boston for four months!
12:30am: hello, Dublin
1:40am: 'til later, Ireland
3:30am (or 8:30am local time): ALO LONDON!
10:30am: somehow get to 9 Pitt St by that time (Gatwick Express + London Underground?)
2pm: meet lady from Budd for walkaround of London. Mission accomplished.

though not a gypsy, nor rich, nor secretive...still, I'M SO PUMPED.

Here is what some random dude commented on my profile picture in Xiaonei, the Chinese ripped off version of facebook:

"我就喜欢这样的怎么办你说你女的就女的吧还这么有才还留学你说有才就有才吧还这么漂亮，你说漂亮就漂亮吧还哪么漂亮让人忘不了哎。
怎么办啊追你我又怕你不愿意不追我有难受。给我个答案吧"

A rough translation is:
"I just like you what to do about it? You are a girl but not just a girl since you're smart and went abroad; you are smart but not just smart since you're also pretty; you are pretty but not just pretty that one can't forget you. What to do? If I pursue you, I'm afraid you will not be willing but if I don't pursue you, I'm suffering. Give me an answer."

ridic. but still hilarious

...in the Worcester Public Library, and was thwarted all but the last time.

Looking for sofas, I finally found them in the corners of the children's area. I sat down to read but slowly fell to my side and drifted off to sleep...

"Excuse me! Pardon me!" a nasally voice that did not belong in the dreamscape startled me out of the pleasantness, "You can't sleep in these sofas. Please sit up straight."

Grumpy, I packed up the book I was reading in my bag, and with one longing look at the forbidden sofas, I went on a hunt for a more appropriate, less conspicuous spot to finish my nap. Ah-hah! Having chosen my place in a semi-conscious state of mind, I sat down at an empty table by a wall, took out my book bag to set up semblances of doing research, pulled my hood over my head, and continued my beauty sleep.

"A-hem! There is no sleeping in the library. Please keep your head up."

Foiled again! Grumbling, I obliged, glaring at the library man as he proceeded to walk up the stairs, all the while returning my challenge of a staring match. What was I to do? After all, I was just a poor student just having finished her finals and overcame by the basic but essential need of napping.

Sighing, I resigned, both to the library man's demands and my sleepy head, and went back to sleep sitting straight up. What was he to say this time? "This library requires you to keep your eyes open at all times"? Psh. We're not 1984. Not completely.

I <3 Cabot.

I'm well! I'm not sick any more!

*jumps up and down*

The healing power of brownies, cheetos, fritos, Nevin, Eugene, and May.

=)

For my internship this summer in Chicago, I'm going to live with a family in Hyde Park whose daughter is going to intern in London and therefore will have a vacant bedroom.

Now, everything is perfect. Puurrr-fect. Except for one thing:

They're lacto-ovo vegetarians. Now. I'm Chinese, for whom the concept of "vegetarianism" is practically nonexistent.

Ty: "How do you say 'vegetarian' in Chinese?"
Me: *thinking*
*thinking*
*thinking*
*thinking*
"um... the closest word I can think of is 'herbivore'... Not eating meat is unthinkable in China, and vegetarians just don't exist as a human subspecies."

The internship is twelve weeks. I'm going to have a healthy, healthy, and disgustingly healthy summer.

Moral Hazard- "the tendency of a person who is imperfectly monitored to engage in dishonest or otherwise undesirable behavior" (ec10)

Those who wear rainboots are likely to look for puddles to walk, skip, and splatter through in the rain, while those who don't are likely to avoid them. Just like those who have car insurance are more likely to be riskier drivers, while those who don't are more cautious. ta-da! real life and econ. I'm learning something useful in class =D.

ok. this analogy was much more exciting at the wee hours of the morning when I first thought it up... *ahem*

"Why don't Harvard students date?"

"We're too selfish."

--

Dear C.G.,

You have no idea how true that is.

Sincerely,
Me.