I've Just Been; and It's Frozen Over!

Good evening, dear readers!

Apologies for going so long between updates (’cause I just know you’ve been waiting with baited breath for the next titillating entry)! But, unfortunately, there just hasn’t been much to say. It’s all been pretty quiet, with me spending most of my time finishing up the massive amount of reading I had for classes last week.

Speaking of my room, I promised I’d post a couple of images this go-round, and I’m a man of my word, so here goes:

What's that on the laptop? Why--it's this very blog! How meta!

The studying couch--which, apparently, the evil cat got to at some point...

Not much to it, really. There’s the bed, a couch (on which I do my studying), a wardrobe, an extra chair, a bookcase that serves as a dressing table of sorts, and a coffee table that acts as a catch-all for everything else. 

I will, however, say that I absolutely ADORE the key—

Finally I can pretend to be Nicole Kidman in "The Others"

—and wish that keys in the states were still cut like this. It makes me feel all Victorian.

Speaking of differences in tools, I discovered something today that I hadn’t noticed before—something that (from my perspective) we do better in the States: laundry. Now, I’ve done laundry a couple of times since I’ve been here already, but I’ve always been busy doing other things, and never noticed the passage of time.

Today was different. I started a tub of laundry around 1:30 PM, assuming it would take about 30-60 minutes to complete, at which point I could hang it up and have it more-or-less dried by tomorrow morning—

(NB: houses that I’ve visited here do not have dryers—you just hang your stuff over radiator vents and whatnot. I don’t know if this is specific to UK homes in general, or if it’s all just been a coincidence.)

—Well, I waited for the washer to complete its job. 

 

And then I waited some more. 

And some more. 

And some more (again).

It didn’t finish until almost 5:00 PM—that’s right, 3 ½ hours to run one tub of laundry through the washing machine. Is that normal, or am I just living in a house with a terribly slow machine?

 

Moving on… There’s another big reason why I haven’t gone out and about much this week: IT’S FREAKIN’ FREEZING!!!! The UK press has been all over this story, reminding me somewhat of all the ‘snowpocalypse’ stuff from last year.

 We did, however, get some of the white stuff (that, strangely, Chicago has avoided this winter) last night. It was really pretty!

The view from my window.

 Now, I have to say that the press has hyped the weather stuff here similar to last year’s events back home. However, they have not exaggerated (much) with the cold—it’s been downright Siberian! It’s probably for that reason that I’m sick now. Yup, I’ve caught my first UK cold, and feel positively crummy as a result. But, I don’t want to dwell on that too much—just acknowledging the fact.

Shuffling on again… Two things of note occurred this week:

First, I procured tickets to and lodging in Paris, with the logistical help of Nic and the financial support of my parents. I leave Saturday, February 18, and return on Tuesday, February 21. Now, I’m not taking a plane or train but, rather, a bus. Partly this was decided upon out of monetary considerations, but the other rationale is that I wanted to see as much of the surrounding area as I can, and thought that 8 hours on a bus might be just the way to do so. Since I haven’t been yet, of course, there’s not too much more to say about it—more to come after the trip.

For some reason, this strikes me as an appropriate image to accompany the above story.

Nic says the cat above reminds him of his arch-nemesis, Estelle Parsons. What do you think?

The other event from this week I want to talk about is a trip I took yesterday alongside the other international students at UEL: we went to Cambridge. A town in its own right, Cambridge is about 50 miles north of London, and is most well-known for its university system, which dates back to the early 1200s.

King's College and Chapel as seen from across 'The Backs.'

Basically, it’s a two-tier system. On the first level, there are independent colleges (e.g., King’s College, Trinity College, St. John’s, & 28 others), which are designed to provide students a place to eat, sleep, and study. However, each of those independent colleges are then linked to a singular, overarching university system, which provides instruction in areas of math, science, and so forth.

To be accepted, one must be accepted at both the college and university levels, possess (the equivalent of) an A- or B-level GPA, and then interview with someone at the university level who will ask in-depth questions in one’s area of expertise (at which point one must demonstrate that they actually know what they’re talking about). Not surprisingly, two-thirds of applicants do not make it through this process.

But, amongst those who HAVE succeeded at getting their foot in the door are:

• Isaac Newton
• Charles Darwin
• Oliver Cromwell
• Jane Goodall
• David Attenborough
• Ian McKellen
• and nigh-countless others.

Trinity College Chapel

Two other quick tidbits about things I saw during my trip to Cambridge:

Rosalind

 This is “Rosalind” (a.k.a. “Hopsy”). Or, at least those are the names some of the students have given the beast seen here. In reality, this piece is called the Corpus Clock (a.k.a. the Grasshopper Clock). It sits outside of the Taylor Library at Corpus Christi College, and was officially unveiled to the public by Cambridge physicist Stephen Hawking. And despite the fact that it looks like a grasshopper, it’s not—it’s actually a Chronophage (literally "time eater"), and it moves its mouth—appearing to “eat” the seconds as they pass—and occasionally it "blinks" in seeming satisfaction.

Hopsy's Clock

 The other thing is this:

Darwin's Slides

These are actual slides collected by Charles Darwin while he was aboard the HMS Beagle. The insights Darwin gathered on this journey helped shape his landmark work, On the Origin of Species.

There’s a lot more to say about Cambridge—in fact, there’s almost too much to say about it, so I won’t even try here. If you’re my friend on Facebook, then I encourage you to check out the photos I’ve uploaded, where I write a little bit more about my trip with each of the photos.

For now, however, I think it’s time I close up. In honor of the cold, I think I’ll watch an episode of “Are You Being Served?” that perfectly suits the present situation:

 

Until next time, dear readers, pray that I won't have to update you that I've "just been, and it's frozen over"—and I am unanimous in this!