Random Complaints, Musings, Etc.

Just clearing my head since I've got some free time for a change.

1. We're staying in dorm rooms. I thought it wouldn't be too bad and actually, other than the lack of air conditioning and the appallingly horrendous carpet, it's not nearly as bad as it could have been EXCEPT for the incredibly loud people that live in this little "apartment" with me. The nimrods who organized the housing here (not part of The Globe staff whatsoever) didn't put the whole group of 21 into three apartments of 7...oh, nooooo. We're scattered across five different flats and so we're interspersed with colleged-aged people who are either here for summer term or worse, looking for cheap summer digs. My room, 5C7, is right next to the kitchen so when any combination of little dolls from 5C1, 5C4, 5C5, and 5C6 decide that they are hungry, I get to hear pots and pans clattering about right next to my bed. This is generally around 1 a.m. because that's when college people get hungry. And everything they eat has this weird smell that I cannot identify, but it permeates the place.

2. The shower curtain stops a good four inches short of the actual length that it should be so I have a puddle every day, too. That's fun. Thankfully I wrangled an extra towel from them to use a bath mat or I'd have flooded the place out of business by now.

3. English showers amuse me. In the last place the shower was controlled by an entirely separate set of fixtures than the tub. Here we have no tub, thank God, but the shower is still unique. On the right, you have the water control. This turns the water on and off. Rather like a hot or cold faucet at home--it turns front to back, though, not side to side--the knob is perpendicular to you when you're in the shower, you see. Then on the left is the tricky part. There is another knob and this one also has both a series of numbers, a tiny red dot and a small red button. In order to turn the knob you must first press the red button and that can be quite difficult to do. In fact, I didn't even realize it WAS a button until after the first tragic shower which I'll explain shortly. The numbers range from 30-45. Are you with me? If not, read it again or just nod and pretend.

So, you go to the shower for the first time and you expect to be able to turn both knobs because, well, that's what we do back home. TRICK! Nope. Can't do it. Only the plain knob will turn. It controls the flow of the water. After careful consideration it becomes clear that this other knob controls the temperature. Those stupid numbers correspond to that cursed Celcius scale that the British insist on forcing down my throat. I, being totally clueless, have no idea which level between 30-45 I would want. I do assume that 30 would be a bit chilly, though, from what I can remember about mathy things. The shower is set on about 42 (it's actually a big gap from 38-45 for whatever reason). That, my friends is hot. Especially when you've been sweating all day in 80 degrees with no a/c. Miserably hot. So I try to turn the knob. It won't move. Stuck. I turned off the water and tried again. Won't budge. I had to take this shower in painfully hot water, cursing the previous tenant and thinking that this was going to be the longest three weeks of my life. Then, as I was finishing, it hit me. The red button. When I pushed it, nothing had happened--it was stuck due to lime buildup or something, so I turned off the water once more and worked on that stupid button until I finally was able to depress it. Then, with the button down, voila! The knob turned and cold water was suddenly available. Crisis averted.

4. I love the British one pound coin. It is so convenient. Why don't we use our cute gold dollars more? Is it because they aren't the same size as the Brits' version or what?

5. Taxi cabs are the most brilliant creation ever. I love public transportaion.

6. While I think cobblestones are very quaint and rather attractive to look at, I think that I am thoroughly and completely tired of walking on them. I've spent most of this trip looking at my feet trying not to trip. I can give you a lovely commentary on the streets of Southwark should you need one.

7. It dawned on me today that I don't miss television a bit. I've not watched it a week and I couldn't care less. I don't know if I could carry on like that back home, but here it's much easier just to pick up a book.

8. For a country that thinks we know everything about everything, we are woefully behind the British on the art of sandwich making and desserting. It's fun just to read the names of the sandwiches they have here. And they are everywhere on the most incredible breads imagineable. I wouldn't eat 90% of them due to ickey ingredients, but they just sound so posh and gourmet. I don't, however, understand the English obsession with free range egg. They put it on everything. Oh, and butter. Mayo? No, we haven't got any, but we've got some butter.