The best part about today was probably the 99 Pence store. Everything in the store is 99p. So I picked up hangers that I had sorely been lacking for the last week, basically. Now, everything is organized, which is most excellent.
Class registration is a peculiar beast here in the UK, as registration for classes opened, well, three days ago and closes basically in four days. So it's a bit of a hassle and a major inconvenience to organize the schedule, but luckily for me it's gone rather swimmingly. My class today was ECON3004, which is regarding International Trade. It doesn't seem to be a terribly difficult class in the least, which is quite a relief.
But given that school has now started, fun things must be curtailed a bit as school takes over. The difference here is that given minimal lecturing (1-2hrs a week), the student is burdened with keeping up with the reading, unlike the US where most of it is simply taught in lectures (i.e. the UK courses merely fill holes or expand on core material). So, falling behind in the UK is suicide, basically...which must be avoided. Given my natural tendency to procrastinate a whole bunch, this will be a particularly interesting challenge.
My apartment-style living is probably most comparable to the Worthington apartment complex on OSU campus. I've got a bedroom to myself, though, and the kitchen is a separate room unlike at OSU. The spaces are not as large, which was expected given that space is scarce in London (and likely overall in Britain). It's been a gift since I have my own room, and I can finally cook since I have time on my hands, which saves me money, which will also be a scarcity here in London (EXPENSIVE!!!!!). The proof is in the pudding: my first set of groceries costed £50 about, which amounts to about $80. Yeah. But I don't think it will be that much down the road, as the first set is always the most expensive.
Rewind a bit, and go to yesterday. Yesterday I went to Camden Market with some friends and visited the open-air markets there. They're loaded with stuff. The one I spent the most time at had a bunch of vinyl which I thumbed through. Stocked there were ORIGINAL BEATLES VINYLS, which totally geeked me out, and I wanted to get one really bad. They all started from £25 and went up to £40 for an original pressing of Revolver, which made it not really worth it (I don't think original pressings of Revolver go for over $60). I did, however, settle quite nicely with what looks to be an original pressing of David Bowie's Low record which I love to death (and waxed eloquent on in my sister blog), and it was only £10, which is a deal I can go for.
Back to other stuff, I do wish that all the doors in our apartment complex thing didn't slam shut all the time. Apparently (and it's fair, I suppose) fires are a major hazard around here, so all the doors swing shut to obviously prevent fires from spreading. But it prevents people from going around and meeting each other, which was one of the things I expected from living in this manner. I have resorted to propping my door open with a chair (it used to be my luggage until I organized everything today). But obviously this only really applies to my flat-mates, as no one can get in the flat to begin with. It would have been really nice had a sense of awesome friendliness. Alas, I can't have everything...
See you all soon.
NP: Ringo Starr - Ringo
Very interesting.
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