I love technology.

Today was my first day back at uni. My only class on Mondays is Computer-Mediated Communication. It's a level 6 class, which means it's technically for undergrads, but we can take it as a special study. The class is really small -- definitely less than 10 people -- but thankfully my friend Sarah is taking it as well.

I really enjoyed our first session. It looks like it's going to be a really interesting topic. And while it's relevant to pretty much everyone these days, it's particularly relevant to me and Sarah, as we're both international students who depend on digital communication to get in touch with our families.

About halfway through the class, one of the girls expressed her dislike for computer-mediated communication, saying that we weren't meant to communicate via screens and speakers, but face-to-face. And though she's right, I couldn't agree with her denunciation of all things digital.

Because face-to-face isn't a possibility for me right now.

Sarah and I checked our phones, and between the two of us, we had 11 different apps specifically designed for communication purposes. When you're thousands of miles from home, you've got to be resourceful if you want to maintain relationships.

(Photo cred to this blog.)

So far today, I've used the following to communicate with people back in the States: E-mail, Skype, Facebook, Textfree, HeyTell, and now this blog. And this is all via my laptop, the library computer and my phone. It's incredible.

Basically, what I'm trying to say is that I am so, so thankful for technology.

Though I still really love good old fashioned letters. (Hint hint.)

Roundabouts.

Sure, we have them where I'm from. But, my goodness, they're everywhere here. It's like the entire country decided that they'd try to save money by foregoing stoplights for roundabouts...or something.

It takes about 9 minutes to drive from Hannah's house to Marks & Spencer (a retailer here). In those 9 minutes, we went through 7(!!!) roundabouts. It was outta control.

And despite experiencing them many, many times since I've been here, I just can't get used to it. I still have a slight moment of panic when we turn left instead of right. This is especially true when I'm in a car, where I'm closer to the road/other drivers than I am on the top level of a double decker bus. My life flashes before my eyes.

(Terrifying, isn't it?)

So the moral of the story is, as much as I miss driving, it's probably a really good thing I don't have a car here.

My week(ish) in Manchester.

I went home with my flatmate last week. Here's a little look at our trip to the north:

I kept wanting to get in on the wrong side...

Probably my fav resident of the Chester Zoo.

Old Trafford Stadium.

"The Trinity."

My first Sunday roast! Complete with Yorkshire pudding. Courtesy of Hannah's momma.

 Such a great time!

Wednesday randoms.

Well, life's been pretty slow lately, but here are some randoms nonetheless:

We've started watching Pride and Prejudice. I say "started watching" instead of "watched," because it's the BBC version that's like forever long. But Collin Firth makes such a perfect Mr. Darcy that it doesn't bother me a bit.

I'm not sure if it's just my imagination, but I'm fairly certain that the Pizza Hut pizzas here are smaller than in the States.

I think I've finally found a church. I went to Hillsong in central London this weekend, and loved it. It reminded me so much of ACC in Waco, so it kind of felt like home.

I'm also hoping to help out with the children's ministry there -- I used to work with kids all the time, and I seriously miss it!

On the way back from church, a woman stopped me on the street to ask how I'd done my hair. It was really funny, because as I was explaining it to her (which is really hard to do using only words!), she circled around me, trying to figure it out. It looked like this (except not as perfectly executed):

(from loveMaegan)

Anyway, it's really not as hard as it looks, but no one ever believes me when I say that. But once she left, another lady asked me about it, and we ended up chatting a while till the bus came. So yay for conversation-starting hairstyles!

I'm going to Manchester with my flatmate this weekend. We'll be there almost a whole week, so I'm pretty excited. Also, there's a Manchester United game on Sunday, and she's warned me explained that her whole fam is just as crazy for ManU as she is...so it should be quite interesting!

Remember how I said I'm getting better at understanding British accents? Well after watching some stand up comedy here, I take it back! I had to concentrate really hard to make out what the guy was saying, and half the time even if I did understand, the joke was lost on me because I'd be unfamiliar with whatever cultural reference he made. Still, the little I did get was pretty hilarious. I love British humor...super sarcastic. My kind of people.

Well, that's it for me!
 

Books.

Since I don't have any coursework to do, I'm finally getting to read for fun! Now, that might not sound like a big deal to you, but I'm one of those crazy people who actually likes to read. A lot. Last year (like 2010, not 2011...time flies) all I wanted for Christmas was books, and I read about 20 over the next seven months.

So now that I have time to read, I'm really happy.

I wanted to read this book, mostly because I love Mindy Kaling:

But they didn't have it in the bookstore. It was also kind of embarrassing to request (because of the title), and I'm pretty sure the clerk guy judged me. Whatever. They said they'd order it for me, but knowing I had less than 2 weeks of freedom, I decided I shouldn't waste any time and started on a different one.

So I borrowed this classic from Hannah:

I hadn't read it in years. Probably not since I was about thirteen. It's even more depressing now that it makes more sense to me. And I still hate the ending.

That one only took a couple of days, so then I borrowed this one:

I'd never read it, and so far it's...well it's okay. That might be blasphemous, because it's supposed to be one of the all-time greats. Oh well. It's a quick read, though. I started this afternoon, and I've only got about 70 pages left. I read fast. It's kind of a bummer sometimes.

But that's fine, because Lisa said I could borrow this one next:

I've been wanting to read it for a while now. And I haven't seen the film yet, because I feel like I've got to read it first. (Side note: I hate buying books that have covers from the movie. I don't really know why, but it feels like I'm cheating on the book or something.)

Anyway, that should last me most of the next week. And then classes will be starting up again.

Perfect.

Happiness.

Happiness is browned butter blueberry muffins with tea on a lazy Monday morning.

Now to finish that book...

  

Geographical stereotypes part 2.

Okay, so remember how I said geographical stereotypes are huge here? Well the thing that I love most that is all the different accents (and the impressions everyone tries to do for me since I'm mostly clueless). Since you're not here to sit around and listen to people to accents in my kitchen, this is the next best thing.

Disclaimer: I'm not sure how accurate all these are, but it'll give you a good enough idea.

His urban London youth accent isn't that great, but maybe that's just because I know it best. (Probly cos we always takin the piss ou ov, innit tho love?) And while there are still times when I have absolutely no idea what someone's just said, I've gotten a lot better at understanding people in general. I hardly even notice my friends' accents anymore, actually.

Still can't do a good British accent myself, but that's okay, because I've yet to hear a good American impression.

 

Geographical stereotypes.

Something I've learned about the UK is that there are major geographical stereotypes here. It's crazy that, in such a small country, there can be such a well-known and distinct personality for every region. And the accents vary widely, as well. My flatmate is from up north, and since London is in the south, people comment on it all the time - "You're so northern!" 

I mean, we have that in the States too. 

I'm mostly "Mexico-ish", with a side of "Yes sir and yes ma'am" and a pinch of "Chicago and grass."

But what's weird is that even though the Americans in our building come from very different regions of the country -- California, Michigan, Virginia, New Mexico -- none of us have very identifiable accents (okay, so maybe one does), and we all have pretty similar personalities. In fact, people comment on our similar accents all the time. To which you might reply "Oh, they just think all Americans sound the same," and while that is probably extremely true (ask any Brit to do an American accent, and they'll usually say "cwa-fee"), we really don't notice much of a difference in our accents either. 

And yet, I swear that just about every single British accent in our whole building is noticeably different from the others. It's strange. I guess you'd expect that with the thousands of miles between, say New Mexico and Virginia, Lisa and I might at least sound a little different. Especially when you consider that the entire UK is just under 95,000 square miles, while the square mileage of New Mexico alone is almost 121,500.

How'd they get so many stereotypes in such a small space? Crazy.

 

Wednesday randoms.

Preserving memories are important. Some people scrapbook. Others have diaries. 

I keep a quote book.

I've had it for almost 5 years now, and it's mostly filled with hilarious things my friends say (because my friends spend most of their time being very, very funny). Many of the entries in my quote book won't mean anything to people outside my circle of friends, but occasionally, there are some universally laughter-inducing lines. Moving to London has given me the opportunity to make quite a few new entries. I'm going to share some of them with you now.

Random sayings from my time here:

"You're different enough."

"I'm all alone in a baby onesie, and you're...just go. Get out."

-"A real live American!"

-"We finally got one!"

"If you'd have come in at that moment, you'd have found a lot of nakedness."

"Oh my gosh. Hannah's cake...I've murdered it. She's gonna open the fridge and find a massacre. Who can I say I shared it with?"

"You have great cheekbones. Have you ever considered becoming a ballerina?"

"I'm going to hug myself."

-"I don't want anyone to look at me like I'm a piece of meat."

-"Well I'm vegetarian, so I'd look at you like a piece of lettuce."

"I would love to speak Shakespearean English all the time. I say 'good morrow' every now and then."

"I realized my behavior was unacceptable, and all I had to offer was pears." 

"That's a lot of cake..." 

"His voice is like chocolate. Smooth and milky with a bit of sugar...lots of sugar." 

-"Guess who didn't get cream on her gingerbread latte..."

-"Don't tell on me!"

-"Okay, I'll make it ambiguous. Guess which American..."

"I'm kicking my chocolate habit. I haven't eaten chocolate in, oh, 24 hours."

"I'm a cheap date. I keep saying this, but I've got no offers."

"Don't take this the wrong way, but I think I miss you the most when I'm listening to songs like 'The quiet things that no one ever knows,' and I realize that only half the song is getting sung."

That last one is more sentimental than funny. Sorry. Well, that's all for now. But I'm sure there will be plenty more, and probably soon. I'm lucky. I live with really funny people. Happy Wednesday, friends!

  

Done!

Well this is a first. I've completely finished all of my coursework, and it's not due for another three days. (Not that I'll turn it in before the day it's due, but still...) I'm done. And I'm in a bit of shock. This doesn't usually happen to me. I never (ever) turn anything in late, but I'm hardly ever early. Definitely not this early. 

Plus, classes don't start back up again for me until the end of the month. So I've got like three weeks of no responsibilities to fill. The only problem is that my flatmates won't be done for another week or two.

So I don't really know what to do with myself.

Guess, for now, I'll catch up on some highlights...

(Men v. Tech)

(Women v. Iowa State)

But then, who knows?

Suggestions welcome. Encouraged, even :)
 

Till...when?

Here, cash registers are called "tills." But since I'm not used to that, I found this sign pretty funny:

...till when, exactly?

Clearly I'm easily amused. 

  

Oh Fair New Mexico.

Today is the 100th birthday of my lovely home state. So, in its honor, a little "You know you're from New Mexico if..."

Let's see if you hail from the Land of Enchantment:

You buy salsa by the gallon.

Your favorite restaurant has a chile list instead of a wine list. 

You can correctly pronounce Tesuque, Cerrillos, Pojoaque and Cuyumungue.

You have been told by at least one out-of-state vendor that they are going to charge you extra for "international" shipping.

You expect to pay more if your house is made of mud.

You can order your Big Mac with green chile.

Your Christmas decorations include a bunch of sand, candles and 200 paper bags.

You see nothing odd when, in the conversations of the people in line around you at the grocery store, every other word of each sentence alternates between Spanish and English. 

You have license plates on your walls, but not on your car. 

A package of white flour tortillas is a given. You don't need to write it on your shopping list.

Most restaurants you go to begin with "El" or "Los". 

Your other vehicle is also a pick-up truck.

You know your answer when the waitress asks, "Red or green?" and sometimes you may even want "Christmas."

You hated Texans until the Californians moved in.

You are still using the paper license tag that came with your car five years ago.

You have an extra freezer just for green chile.

You think a red light is merely a suggestion.

You believe that using a turn signal is a sign of weakness.

You don't make eye contact with other drivers because you can't tell how well armed they are just by looking.

You think six tons of crushed rock makes a beautiful front lawn.

You have used aluminum foil and duct tape to repair your air conditioner.

You can't control your car on wet pavement.

You wish you had invested in the orange barrel business.

You just got your fifth DWI and got elected to the state legislature in the same week.

Your swamp cooler got knocked off your roof by a dust devil.

You can actually hear the Taos hum.

You know Vegas is a town in the northeastern part of the state.

You are afraid to drive through Mora and Espanola.

You iron your jeans to "dress up".

You don't see anything wrong with drive-up window liquor sales.

Two of your cousins are in Santa Fe, one in the legislature and the other in the state pen.

You know the punch line to at least one Espanola joke.

Your car is missing a fender or bumper.

You have driven to an Indian Casino at 3am because you were hungry.

You're relieved when the pavement ends because the dirt road has fewer pot-holes.

You associate bridges with mud, not water.

You know you will run into at least 3 cousins whenever you shop at Wal-Mart, Sam's or Home Depot.

Tumbleweeds and various cacti in your yard are not weeds. They are your lawn.

If you travel anywhere, no matter if just to run to the gas station, you must bring along a bottle of water and some moisturizer.

Trailers are not referred to as trailers. They are houses. Double-wide trailers are "real" houses.

At any gathering, regardless of size, green chile stew, tortillas, and huge mounds of shredded cheese are mandatory.

Prosperity can be readily determined by the number of horses you own.

A tarantula on your porch is ordinary. A scorpion in your tub is ordinary. A poisonous centipede on your ceiling? Ordinary. A black widow crawling across your bed is terribly, terribly common. A rattlesnake is an occasional hiking hazard. No need to freak out.

Happy birthday, New Mexico. We love, we love you so. 

 

Wednesday randoms.

I can't believe it's been a week and a half since Christmas! Where does the time go? It's also been a while since I've done any randoms, but I'm still feeling sentimental about the new year. So today's will be photos.

Eleven lovely moments from 2011, in no particular order:

I like my whole life. My whole life is great.

(Yeah, yeah, yeah.)

Happy 2012! 

Homemade peppermint Oreos.

When I was home for Christmas, my mom got these peppermint Oreos. They were wonderful. I brought some back to London with me, and once I unpacked, they lasted about an hour. Maybe even less.

No, I didn't eat them all by myself, thank you very much.

But Lisa wanted to try to make some. So we did. And you know what? They turned out pretty tasty.

(Recipe makes way more than shown. We'd eaten a few...)

Here's the recipe:

Homemade Peppermint Oreos
(adapted from Joy the Baker and Smitten Kitchen)
 

Cookies: Ingredients

3/4 cup sugar

1 1/2 cup plus 3 tbsp flour

3/4 cup plus 1 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 tsp salt

15 tbsp unsalted butter (at room temp. and cut into small pieces)

Directions 
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175ish C). Line baking sheets with parchment paper. 

Combine sugar, flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. Add the butter a few pieces at a time, mixing with your hands (this could probably done less messily with a food processor, but I don't have one, so...) The mixture will start out very dry. Keep working with it. Once the dough starts to come together and the butter is well incorporated, separate into two blocks. (No need to chill!)

Roll the dough out, one block at a time, between two pieces of parchment paper. You want it pretty thin -- maybe like 1/8 inch? I don't know. I'm not a math person. Slightly thinner than an Oreo, since they'll puff up just a bit. 

Use a cookie cutter (or glass or lid) to cut rounds 1 1/2 to 2 inches in diameter. You can reform and roll out the scraps, but I wouldn't do it more than once -- it gets too soft to work with.  

Then place about an inch apart on the prepared baking sheets and bake for 10-12 minutes. Remove and allow to cool on the sheets for another few minutes before transferring to a rack to cool completely.

Filling: Ingredients

1/4 cup (about 55 grams) room-temperature, unsalted butter
1/4 cup vegetable shortening
2 cups powdered (icing) sugar
  1/2 tsp vanilla extract 
peppermint extract, to taste (I used about 1/2 tsp) 

Directions

Place butter and shortening in a large bowl, and at low speed, gradually beat in the powdered sugar* and vanilla. Add peppermint. Taste to make sure it's right (a little goes a loooong way). Then turn the mixer on high and beat for 2 to 3 minutes until filling is light and fluffy. Taste it a few more times. You know, to make sure it's edible. Oh, and we added a little red food coloring to make them a pretty soft pink color.

Spread filling between two cookies. Make sure it's a generous amount, because Doublestuffs are the best, and everybody knows it. 

Enjoy! 

*Tip for making icing: The powdered sugar will try to go everywhere. If you slowly mix it in with a spoon a bit before turning on the mixer, you'll have less of mess. Sure, you'll still have this fine coat of white dust all over everything, but it won't be the sugary blizzard it would otherwise have been.

  

  

Cabin fever.

We usually keep our doors open in our flat. But not right now. There's too much work to do. We've all got deadlines to meet the next few weeks. So every door stayed shut all day, as we attempted to keep focused on our essays without succumbing to cabin fever and going completely insane. It was really quiet around here.

But then I heard voices in the kitchen and couldn't take it anymore.

Once I left my room, there was no turning back. I didn't get a single thing done after 6pm today. My flatmates made sure of it. We just laughed and ate chocolate and watched Tangled.

And it was so worth it.
  

Happy New Year!

We got to the London Eye about 8 hours early so we could get a good view of the fireworks. And it worked! There was only one person between me and the rail along the Thames, and we were directly across from the Eye. I can't even begin to describe how amazing it was. They flashed a countdown of the final minute up on a building right next to the Eye, and the whole crowd was going crazy. Then the fireworks started. With every chime from Big Ben, they lit up the sky. The show kicked off with the announcement of London getting the 2012 Olympics, and from then on, all the fireworks were perfectly synched with music. They went on for almost 12 minutes and took up the entire sky. I felt like a little kid the whole time, and by the end of it all, my face hurt from smiling.

Here's the BBC video of the whole show:

They were predicting a quarter of a million people there, and I'll bet they were right. Trafalgar Square was jam-packed afterward. But we navigated our way back home like champs. I was so proud. Plus, the transport was free after midnight. What a win.

So if last night is at all indicative of what 2012 will be like, I can't even wait.

“May your coming year be filled with magic and dreams and good madness. I hope you read some fine books and kiss someone who thinks you're wonderful, and don't forget to make some art -- write or draw or build or sing or live as only you can. And I hope, somewhere in the next year, you surprise yourself.” -Neil Gaiman

Wishing you a blessed new year from London.