Most people call this paranoia.
Some people call this karma.
Others call it being singled out by God.
This past week, if I was being pointed at by God, I have to wonder what finger it was that he was using. However, all is well that ends well, I suppose.
I’m not the kind of person to crack heads, but that’s apparently how things get done at King’s College. So, I went in Thursday and requested something be done on my behalf since they had, after all, cancelled by course.
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| A pretty part of my new room. |
After all, I’m kind of already here.
In the end I was able to create a course that seems like it will work. After all that stress though, I’m literally finding grey hairs.
Luckily, the weekend has turned out a bit better and included my first epic night out on the town with my roomies to see a wonderful band, Lux Lisbon. (Incidentally, this is a v. v. good name for a band, The Virgin Suicides being one of my favorite books).
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| The London Eye |
During this week, I have learned a thing or two about how to communicate over here. Here are five things every American must know when traveling in the UK for your own health and survival:
1) “Hob” does not mean a homeless man, as I would assume it would. It simply means stovetop.
2) “Grim” is another word for grimy. OK, doesn’t take a genius to figure it out, but it took me a moment or two.
3) Just like in France, here you have Ground Floor and then a first floor, which would be rather redundant in the States. Remember this when seeking directions in large department stores.
4) “Shag” is not only the South Carolina State dance- so beware if someone asks you if you “fancy” a shag, as it’s probably not the type of dance you would like to partake in with a stranger.
5) If you’re hard up on a place to stay, the UK has very, very lenient squatting laws. You can essentially enter a house with a broken window and live there while the owner pays for gas and water. I wish I’d thought of that when looking for housing here in London.
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| Lovely Roomies |
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| Big Ben! |
So, in summary, this week I:
- got and lost a job at Harrods
- had my course cancelled
- discovered that our shady estate agents have terrible listening and customer service skills and
- had numerous other small incidents.
However, I also learned numerous extremely helpful and life-saving cultural norms that will give me the ability to navigate through the UK educational/business system in the future. (As well as the streets, as I hope that I’ll never be asked to shag in a business or educational situation.)