I bought groceries yesterday. I got a lot of pasta, some apples, bananas, cereal, whole grain bread, strawberry jam, eggs, peppers, carrots, and some cleaning supplies, toiletries, and toilet paper. Later I was sitting in my room with nothing particularly to do when some girls from my hall knocked on my door and invited me to his party happening in the kitchen of the flat next to mine, which I ended up going to. It was a little awkward, because after the amusement that stems from me being from the United States I didn't really have anyone to talk to, and it was really loud and I already have trouble working through people's accents so I really couldn't say much. But after I while I began talking with these two guys who were pretty nice. I was also given a membership pass to the Tate Modern by another kid.
Today I went to the Tate Modern and was amused by my ability to navigate around London alone on the tube. It's really easy. Except I ran into a problem coming back because the train I was on (the Metropolitan line) bypassed my stop because it is a very small stop. The stop is basically right outside my door and functions mainly for the University from what I can gather. Some people from the town use it, but there is a bigger stop in town that I think is more convenient for most people. So basically my stop is the Jersey Ave of the Metropolitan Line. Anyways, the tube I was on bypassed my stop for Harrow on the Hill, so I figured I could easily just take the other train south and get off in one stop. However, I hopped on the wrong train and ended up going even farther north into Zone 5, which my ticket didn't cover. So I had to persuade the station operator to let me get back onto a train going the opposite direction for free, which ended up happening. I also got to listen to this delightful elderly British couple.
So the Tate Modern was pretty cool. They had a good collection of Abstract Expressionist paintings, a really really cool painting by Francis Bacon that I loved, a Monet, and a bunch of the other stuff. I illegally snapped some pictures, but forgot to bring my camera cord to London, so I will only be able to upload all of my pictures from the trip when I get back to the States. After that, being in Bankside, I walked over to Shakespeare's Globe Theatre which ended up being situated in a really cool area. In April they are going to be performing Hamlet, and as I reckon that is the place to see Shakespeare I'm going to attempt to go. They tickets go on sale on like February 12th or something, and to stand only costs like 5 pounds so I'm going to work on getting those. That'd be a lot of fun, and I think it would be fun to watch Shakespeare standing in the front of the Globe Theatre. Then I got some sushi and came back here and took a nap. When I woke up I made myself some pasta, ate an apple, and drank a glass of milk. I then did a little reading and watched some videos of Jon Stewart on YouTube. The worst part about London is that I can't watch the Daily Show, and ComedyCentral doesn't allow you to watch the episodes they upload to the website when you're in the UK. Also, Netflix doesn't do InstantWatch here, and I only brought one season of the Simpsons (and not even all four discs of it), so I have nothing to watch. So I've been watching Wizard People, Dear Reader a lot.
Tomorrow I have to go into central London to meet with my adviser. I'm glad I have to get up at a certain time because I will be able to get into London before like, 3 o'clock like I did today. And the sun sets around four or something here so I was kind-of pressed to get back as the sun went down. Although I did make it to the Globe at the perfect time, because the sun was down and it was lit by the streetlights and I think I got some nice pictures of it. There was this really nice building that a bridge connected the Tate to over the river which I didn't know. Turns out it was St. Paul's Cathedral, something I would like to see, but didn't head over to. It was too dark anyways.
So I might do this scavenger hunt thing tomorrow in London with this group I was assigned to yesterday. I kinda hope that works out, I don't really have anyone to hang out with as I haven't really spoken to too many people yet. There's also this like boat ride down the Thames Thursday night for the international students where I would be able to like hang out with some people so it's whatever.
But I guess I will read now or watch some Simpsons. Cool.
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