First is the worst, second is the best

It's BLOG TIMEEEE! Good thing too, because I have like a million things to update y'all on.
First thing's first. I went to London with the program on Saturday, the highlight of this trip being that I got to eat at the only Chipotle in the UK. No, seriously, it was really fun and included:

• Getting to take my picture with the royal guard

• Climbing up the Monument to the Great Fire London, which has about a million steps (and/or 311), but that's not as many as St. Paul's, so it was basically a breeze. I even got a  free certificate to prove that I am tough/awesome!

The ascent: 

Jen and I with our certificat, joyous that we made it:

• Speaking of St. Paul's, we got to go to the Evensong service there. We got to sit right next to the choir and it was absolutely amazing.

• Went to Trafalgar Square, so of course a lion picture was required

 

• Visited the National Gallery to become cultured
• Walked a lot.  Our tour guide was an Australian man who works for SCIO, and his goal seemed to be to lure as many students to their death as possible. He mainly did this by crossing streets when there was a clear "no walk" sign, leading countless students to follow him blindly, and almost get hit by buses from the wrong direction. 

 In other news:

My English Complaint: 

These English buildings are old and great, but they don't have the best central heating systems. Case study #1: The bathroom in Crick. As far as I can tell, the only source of heat in the freezing bathroom is the heated towel rack, which, don't get me wrong, is a great idea in iteself, but does not exactly generate enough heat to fill a bathroom.
UPDATE: I have just confirmed that the heated towel rack IS the only source of heat in the bathroom. Awesome.

New English Words:

Plonker = clumsy
Wazzock = a slow, dumb friend 
I feel so much smarter already.
Also, I kind of suspect that Sam (British RA) is making this up to fool me into thinking I know cool British slang.

My Assimilation into English Culture:

Some foreign student asked me for directions yesterday! I obviously looked like I knew what I was doing. Then I proceeded to take the longest possible way to the English Faculty Library, adding like a mile and half to my route. I'm getting there.

My Exciting Day:

Today was basically the best day ever. Let me give you some reasons:

1. Sunshine. Believe me, this is a big deal.
2. I went to my first lectures today: "God, Christ, and Salvation," "Doctrines of Salvation," and a general literature one. Brilliant. You know you are in an Oxford lecture when there is a glass bottle of sparkling water for the lecturer at the front of the room. 
3. We had America night for my food group tonight. Let me be more specific: we had AMURICA night for my food group. Burgers and fries, of course. And ice cream. Since Sam is in our food group, we made him talk in an "American" accent the whole time. He made a good attempt, but it was more Irish/Southern, and at like an octive up from his normal voice. Of course, we talked only about America and how great it was. Some things we listed:  Freedom, processed cheese, good water pressure, going to the moon, Taco Bell, snow, superheros, and guns. In exchange, we told Sam we would have British night where we all talk in English accents and he tells us how great England is. There is no way it can compare.

This post is now insanely long, but one more thing: only YOU can help come up with a better name for this blog. So please, come up with a better name.

First tutorial is on Friday!