Planning

I sat in bed the other night thinking about sending texts from my old phone and handling American money. I've only been here for a few weeks and these everyday occurrences already sound foreign to my mind. I can't immediately recall what button shifts on my Sprint phone and using $1 bills seems like a joke (even though I hate the 1 and 2 pound coin business). It's odd to think that the transition when I get back home will be much like the transition here. I apologize in advance if I get grumpy.

This has been a week of planning. Nearly everyone sat around with calendars laid out for the next three months filling in project due dates, mid-terms, and finals. Finding weekends to travel can be exceedingly difficult and part of me isn't nearly ambitious as everyone else. Yes I would like to see Ireland, Scotland, Paris, Prague, Rome, Venice etc, but I feel there are other things to focus on here. I think people forget to include "England" as one of the many great places they spent their time and get too wrapped up in traveling. Regardless, I am trying to figure out what I would like to do. Seeing Jordan in Prague (mid-November) is really the only trip I have definite in my mind. Other than that, I am going to Ieper, Belgium at the end of October with IES and would like to go see Paris in late November when it might snow. I'm thinking of putting a trip to Ireland or Scotland sometime in mid-October, but I can't decide. Any help on that decision would be great.

Classes are still going well. Interesting, engaging, though not terribly difficult. I have every Friday off and it is easy to forget that this does not happen back home.

Last night, I saw Mother Courage and her Children by Brecht. It was terribly long and more exciting than I figured it would be. Brecht has an interesting style that forces the audience to remember that it is a performance and not actually happening. He felt that if people became too emotionally invested, they could not consider the piece intellectually and would therefore miss the point entirely. There should be a lot to talk about in class.

This weekend is going to be a relaxing one. I am doing laundry now (about 4 pounds for one load, which is nearly $7). Tomorrow there is going to be a trip to the Science Museum, and Sunday we are going to the East End Market. At this point, low-key is what I am looking for.