The peace sign backwards

Yesterday in class, I did something really stupid. Get ready.

So, in my British history class, there are only about 12 people in the recitation and it is quite the intimate setup. I have already embarrassed myself greatly in front of my professor (a young, intelligent, and energetic guy - I may or may not have a crush on him - that's besides the point though) TWICE. The first was when I didn't exactly realize that the Dominions fought in WWI and WWII (it's not that I denied it per se... I just didn't really ever think about it. I mean - did YOU know that? Do you even KNOW what the Dominions are? Right.) and the professor called me out on it - on the first day of recitation. The second time, I was in the hallway telling Brandon about my paper that I had handed in that morning, and explaining (quite loudly on our way out of the building) that I didn't exactly stick to the structural guidelines that the professor had suggested, because I liked my way better for the question I chose. Of course, the professor was right behind us and I said, "great timing," and proceeded to talk to him for about five minutes to try to cover my arse and mend the situation (which I think I did a pretty good job of).

As if those two events weren't enough to make him annoyed at the stupid American exchange student in his class, I think I really pissed him off yesterday. I gave a presentation which I was kind of nervous about, considering the past events, but it turned out fine and I was over it. Throughout the class, I participated a lot (you're expected to on the day you present because you know more about the material than everyone else). I was sitting in the professor's line of vision, pretty close to him. All in all, class was going fine. He didn't have his watch on, and usually when he forgets it, he asks us to let him know when we only have a few minutes left in class so that he doesn't go over. So, when there were just a couple of minutes left, I looked down at my watch. It wasn't obvious, but I thought he saw me out of the corner of his eye. I looked up, and he looked up too, but he was still speaking. I thought his gaze meant: how much time do we have left, Rachel? There were two minutes left, so I held up two fingers, with my palm facing me. That's just the way my hand was at the time. He stopped talking and gave me a puzzled look. I said, two minutes left -- and as soon as the words left my mouth, I realized what I had just done. You see, instead of the middle finger, the British use their first two fingers to insult someone. It even has a historical source: During the Hundred Years War, if the French captured any British archers they would cut off their first two fingers out of spite. If a British archer still had his, he would give the two-finger salute during a battle, taunting the French by saying, hey, screw you, I have mine!

So, as you can guess, I was absolutely humiliated. I immediately buried my head in my hands, nervously giggling and babbling, oh my GOD I'm so sorry I didn't mean it that way at all It means nothing when you do that in the US I was just telling you there were two minutes left in class You aren't wearing a watch I thought you saw me I'm so sorry oy oy oy OY. Brandon was sitting next to me cracking up - the rest of the class was either confused because they didn't see what happened, or probably thinking, what an idiot. My professor sort of gave a smile but seemed a little bit annoyed and continued with his point. At the end of the class I apologized profusely again and he seemed to understand, so that's good. I think it will be okay and he probably already forgot about it. I have to meet with him next week to get a paper back and am convinced I'm going to do something equally if not more stupid - it seems to be quite the trend with this guy. Anyway, that's what NOT to do in your class when you study abroad in England, ok? Keep that in mind.

Other notable events and activities of the last couple of weeks:

Don't eat breakfast before going to Borough Market. I made that major mistake on Friday and was extremely disappointed. Michael came to visit the London crew all the way from Madrid so we did our best to show him the best sights in London....Borough Market obviously being a major one. We had somewhat of an English breakfast and then made our way down to more food... and I just couldn't do it. There were so many samples and by the time Brandon and Michael got their sandwiches, I couldn't even get my own. It was a low point in my life, for sure. I managed to buy 7 pounds worth of dried fruit, though, and some serious dinner ingredients. We bought wild boar sausage and Cumberland sausage, potatoes, green beans, and some strawberry beer for Sami, and then cooked a delicious dinner for everyone that night. Don't worry - I redeemed myself at Portobello Road the next day (my other favorite place in London...) and ate a "hog sandwich" - basically it was a little mini-restaurant with one picnic table, a counter, a big sign that says HOG SANDWICH 4.50, and a huge grill with a pig rotating. It was seasoned with so much rosemary and fennel and served on a nice roll with arugula and applesauce. DEElish. I'm going to start to refer to pork and pig as hog from now on, too. Michael got a schnitzel sandwich - one look at those bratwurst and schnitzels and he was all sentimental about our days in Deutschland.

Vinopolis. Saturday night a huge group of Penn kids went to this great wine tasting at "Vinopolis" down near London Bridge. We even got to taste some rum, champagne, and Bombay Sapphire along with so much wine that I had to give my extra tickets to the boys. There was a little 15-minute session where they taught you about wine and wine tasting, but I couldn't even get anything out it because the speaker had such a thick Spanish (?) accent - it wasn't even worth trying after a while. I just held my glass up to a piece of white paper and looked at its beauty.

Whoever said the British don't drink to get drunk was lying. Sure, their drinking age is 18. Sure, they're used to the pub culture and just have a few drinks and enjoy themselves. Sure, Americans are known for binge drinking. But on our very long tube ride from the wine tour to our next destination (see below), a few of the guys befriended these two Brits across from us. One was relatively friendly and asking us where we were from, and his friend was leaning over with his head buried in his hands. He was swaying back and forth and didn't look so good. Sure enough, the friend pukes all over the floor of the tube and I of course flip out and grab my stuff and walk through the door to the other car as soon as it stops (only 5 seconds later). Everyone's like, Rachel, where are you going? What's the big deal? The train starts moving again and within 10 seconds, everyone gets up and joins me in the new car because - YEAH - it smells like vom.

I'm still a klepto - or at least people try to make me appear as one. On Saturday night, we went to this great pub very far from where we live - nothing like the dark, packed, and early-closing pubs that all look alike near us. Both Brandon and Michael asked me if I had my big purse with me (which obvy I did) and wanted me to take these really interesting pint glasses. I didn't put them in my purse, but I successfully handed over two pint glasses to the boys when we got home. Don't know how that happened (in case I didn't mention this before, I took a stein from our beer tent in Munich at Oktoberfest -- it's kind of the thing you HAVE to do when you go. I took it for Brandon, not me).

I finally went to Topshop - just worth noting because it's the most incredible women's clothing store in London.... ridiculously trendy things to the point of being very weird, a humongous shoe department that keeps going and going, an entire clothing line by (or for?) Kate Moss, and the best purse department ever. I went on a Tuesday morning so the crowds were minimal - very wise. Topshop is coming to New York, so don't you worry.

And yes, I even managed to go to class. Just three papers and two presentations left - 3 weeks is plenty of time, right? Sorry I don't have any pictures this time...

Cheers!

Where did October go?

Well, let's see... It went to Dublin, Paris, Edinburgh, and managed to spend a little time in London, too.

I can't believe it's been almost a month since I last wrote -- nothing monumental has happened, things are starting to seem more normal here as we adjust a little more each week, and now we only have five weeks of class left! And I have four essays and three presentations to hand in before we leave. How did that happen?

My camera broke in Munich so I haven't had a camera in while... therefore no photos to post on the blog, so I didn't want to bore you with just words. Un petit summary of the past few weeks, with highlights of course:

October 17-19 - DUBZ

I met Uncle Danny in Dublin on Friday morning, where we were greeted by cold weather, rain, and lots of beer. Really, we decided that the entire culture of Dublin, and perhaps Ireland as a whole, revolves around the pub. They drink, and they drink, and they drink. The most popular tourist attraction in Dublin, we learned, is the Guinness Storehouse. We went, of course! It is a 9 story building with displays and stories and videos about the history of Guinness and how the stout is actually made. It smells like hops inside! Of course, there is a huge souvenir store filled with all things Guinness, and a bar at the top floor where you can pull your own draft and get a free (well, "free" with the price of the ticket to the factory) pint of Guinness. The best part about it is the floor to ceiling windows around the entire circular room, with amazing views of Dublin, and James Joyce quotes stenciled on the windows. I didn't have my free pint because I was starting to get a cold, but Uncle Danny got the full effect:


We did some other touristy things - took tours of Dublin Castle and Trinity College, and then mostly walked and ate! What else could you want, anyway? There was a lot of shopping on one of the main drags, and we even went into the Irish "Primark" called Penneys. It's operated by the same company and looks just the same - well, a little more crappy, if possible. It was still very exciting, though. We had dinner with Travis and then I met up with Sean and Sam, two guys from Penn who are studying in Dublin, on Saturday night. Temple Bar is a very happening area of Dublin - it's lined with pubs on either side, which are filled to the max nightly. It seemed a little touristy though - I could hear a lot of American/non-Irish accents around. It was still fun though, and nice to stay in a pub past midnight or so (when they tend to close in London....).

Dublin verdict: Like many European cities. Glad I went. Don't need to go again. Thanks Unc!

Oct. 22-27: La visite de la famille! et Paris!

Shop, walk, eat, shop, walk, eat, buy Longchamps and Herve Chepelier bags, eat, get fat.

Went to Portobello Road market yet again, and also to Borough Market -- this incredibly large and delicious food market with tons of samples and fresh vegetables, fish, meat, olives, pasta, sandwiches, sausage, brownies, cheese.... everything. I can't wait to go back every week - it's right near the London Bridge Tube station so it's nice and convenient. We walked around to every possible shopping area in London, tried on countless pairs of boots, and ate the traditional British food that Alison missed from her time in London (I don't know how you can miss English food, but perhaps I will someday). We went for tea and scones and little sandwiches at Harvey Nichols, a nice department store right near Harrods. (FYI, all the cool kids call it Harvey Nicks.)

Paris - what can I say? It's still beautiful, I remember the city and the neighborhoods pretty well from my month there before senior year of high school, and the food is the best I've had since I've been in Europe. Really - even better than the German food. Every meal was delicious - so many moules, steak au poivres, soupe l'oignon, frites, CREPES (obvy), falafel... need I say more? We also shopped our hearts out in Paris and bought plenty of gifts, and walked a ridiculous amount, which made us feel slightly better about all of the food we ate (but not really). We spent an afternoon with Josette walking in Ile de Saint-Louis and having tea in the Marais, where our hotel was. Le Marais is the Jewish neighborhood/gayborhood of Paris -- this means great little boutique shopping, beaucoup des patisseries, falafel, and amazing Jewish bakeries. It was the perfect place to stay. Laura is studying in Paris and hung out with us pretty much the whole weekend -- not only was it great to see her but her French really helped... although I must say I impressed myself with my own! I can't believe I remember how to speak French. Then again, when things got complicated we all looked at Laura to fix whatever situation we were in.

Paris Verdict: Better food than London, better shopping, better exchange rate, and more beautiful people. However, not quite as advanced as London, in a lot of ways. Still glad I made the decision to come to London (not just because I can take classes in English)!

Nov. 1-8: David!

I have the BEST boyfriend, seriously. David flew all the way out here from California, made plans for us to go to Edinburgh, and spoiled me the entire week. We had a really relaxing time (I had the week off from class for reading week) just walking around, eating, sleeping in, and doing a little sightseeing. Edinburgh was nice -- the train ride up was very long but we entertained ourselves with the first season of Entourage (SO good, but bad for my whole movie star desire complex), and the city was really cute. We stayed in "old town," where the castle and the Queen's Palace are. We had some good meals, and even tried haggis and black pudding. And by try, I mean the tiniest bite ever. It was salty, that's all I can say. David's aunt has a Scottish friend who showed us around one day -- he took us out to lunch and then drove us around the outskirts of Edinburgh to see some cool bridges and little fishing towns along the coast. He even brought us to his little house for tea. A little odd, but a very nice and smart man.

On a hill with a nice view of Edinburgh and the coast

In front of Edinburgh castle with a bunch of tourists behind me.

By some cool bridge on our car trip...

Edinburgh verdict: Nice old and cold city with weird food and funny accents. Glad I went, don't need to go back.

David and I returned to London on Tuesday AKA OBAMA DAY!!!!! OBAMA OBAMA OBAMA! So exciting. I am SOOO jealous that I was not in the US for election night -- the rallies and parties in the streets looked amazing and I get goosebumps when I watch. We went to a bar that had BBC news broadcasting the election from about midnight to 2:30, and were there when the PA results came in. BBC sucked, though, since they didn't really even know the names of the states and what was going on, and their panel was terrible too. We came back home and watched the rest of it on MSNBC.com's live streaming on my laptop. Not as exciting to be on your own as opposed to a big room cheering at every announcement, but I still got choked up as the results came in and he gave his speech. The newspapers the next day were ALL filled with election coverage, and really great photos of Obama on the cover... and headlines like, "Change has come," or, "America just got a little bit cooler." It's interesting to be here while all of this is happening - people are excited but very skeptical too. I wish I could feel the energy back home, though.

Anyway, the rest of the week we did Portobello Road, Chinatown, The Tate Modern, the Design Museum (really cool), Parliament and Westminster Abbey, and walked along Southbank. We had a few really good meals and by very early Sunday morning it was back to normal, and by normal, I mean a ton of schoolwork.

In Chinatown pointing to a lot of drying meat.

So, that brings me to today, Wednesday, November 12th. David loaned me his camera so I can stop boring you with words and just show you the good stuff from now on -- then again, we won't be doing too many exciting things within the next few weeks because now it's time to crack down on those essays. I knew this would happen. Oh well. We are here to study, after all....