Curry, Clothes, and that abominable four letter C-word: Cold

Up until around last week London had been unseasonably warm.  So much so that it was actually colder back home in North Carolina.  Not saying that it was hot out by any means, but it was warmer than England usually is in November.  Then shit took a turn for the normal and the temperature dropped.  It hasn't really gotten below freezing here yet, but the wind and giant lack of central heating makes it seem a bit worse to my whiny Southern self.  Thankfully, my dorm has pretty good insulation and a happy little radiator in my own room.

So this was me for most of last week and this week. Curled up underneath my fuzzy blanket from Primark (more on Primark later, a store of this magnitude deserves its own post), I switched directions on the bed so that my head was beside the radiator. This was due to the fact that our radiators have a pre-programmed timer to turn them off after about 45 minutes.  After talking to my dorm mates, Giulia and Saloni, we figure out that there is no way to take the timer off the radiator so that it just stays on. Stupid London fire hazard protections and stuff, guess they get kinda paranoid after about half your city burns down. I don't know if it is an American thing or just an East Coast thing, but I have actually never encountered a radiator before moving here. Are these common in all of England or just at my university? Not only do my dorms have the radiators rather than central heating (and no air conditioning at all!), but the primary buildings I have classes in on campus also have large scale radiators.

In an effort to get some work done and get motivated, I promised myself my most favourite London dish if I made it out of bed, showered and dried my hair and put on makeup, and made it out to my department building on Kingsway to get some work done.  So today, after braving the Saturday tourists at Borough Market, I grabbed myself some green Thai seafood and chicken curry from Furness Fish and Game and am now updating my blog while eating my treasures on campus.

It doesn't look like much compared to the artfully arranged dishes at most fancy Thai restaurants, but the taste is pretty much on target, especially given the price. This container, packed full to the point I have to wipe down the sides with napkins, fills up a very hungry me or works as two servings for a normal hungry me.  The cost is £6, which comes to about $9.70 American, but I've learned a lot about the cost of things after living in London for some time.  Primarily, London is expensive. Far more expensive when compared to back home in NC, especially considering that the exchange rate is not in America's favor. This being said, the best advice I ever got was to get used to "normal" here and not do the exchange calculations in my head too much to determine if it is a "good" price. This isn't saying to not be vaguely aware of it, or to not be careful of being overcharged, but to realize that what you are paying for goods isn't insane by local standards.  Outside of London, the cost of living is much better, especially in regards to booze and rent, but the exchange rate still sucks.  That rant aside, this curry is very filling because they do put a nice portion of rice in there for some carbs and to absorb the curry sauce, but the dish is made up of very large chunks of dark meat chicken and heaping amounts of seafood.  Since Furness is actually primarily a high quality seller of fish, poultry, and game, all of their seafood that they use in their food is fresh and large.  I have always loved shrimp, but their Thai curry introduced me to mussels and non-fried calamari (and their calamari rings are big!).

The other half of my curry is currently in the TRS (Theology & Religious Studies) fridge. Yep, you heard me: refrigerator. Our department was one of the lucky few that got moved from a dingy hallway on the Strand Campus down the road to the new and renovated Virginia Woolf building on Kingsway this semester.  Since the building is open to postgraduates with keycard access 24/7, I like coming here to study. I have no idea what this building was before our university took over it, but they were still putting the finishing touches on remodeling it when we had orientation, and they are still having issues replacing the elevators (thankfully our department is only on the third floor, rather than the 7th, so I just walk up the stairs) Here are a few pictures I took during orientation when we first got to see the building.

A picture of our happy little kitchen, complete with microwave and fridge. 

One of my classmates, Em, also excited about the building.

The postgraduate study area. Mostly (unofficially) claimed by Postgraduate Taught and PhD students, but there is usually space for us too.

My preferred study area: the lounge. I like curling up in that sofa beside the corner and the window since there is an outlet at that wall and a nice view of Kingsway. It is usually empty, but apparently the Coptic class meets in there sometimes, as I accidentally walked in on them once. Ooops. There is another connected area with more study carrels beside this room, and the kitchen on the other side.

 And here I am, because my dad complained that I don't have enough pictures of me! Okay, it is really hard to take pictures of yourself, especially without looking like a weirdo in public. Or in my case, looking like more of a weirdo than I already do. The cooler temperatures caught me by surprise and I was completely unprepared.  I knew it would get cold, I just didn't know exactly what cold was like!  It is easy to be like "okay, I'll layer and be fine. I have my wool coat" and then you realize you don't want to trudge around in a wool coat when it isn't quite that cold yet, or that your layers just don't quite cut it. There was also the simple fact that I didn't own enough heavier layers, like sweaters, because I didn't need them in the States and cold weather clothing wasn't really out in force yet when I left at the beginning of October.

I bought a coat while my mother was here (Okay, she bought me a coat), and recently I hopped down to Oxford Street to get some more warm weather clothing.  London has some pro's and con's when it comes to shopping.  On the positive side: there are a lot of different places to shop.  There are expensive designer stores down to cheap fast-fashion places, and there are a lot of them.  There are thrift stores, vintage stores, charity shops, markets, and everything in between. On the down side: It can be insanely busy.  Okay, it is usually insanely busy.  Your best bet is actually to avoid Oxford Street like the plague (Is 350 years too soon for an off-colour joke?), because all the tourists flock there.  It is a an epicenter of shopping insanity, there are multiple iterations of stores on the same street because the crowd supplies enough business for them.  The clustering of stores is why I sucked it up and went to Oxford Street to do some winter clothes shopping, so I could hop from one shop to the next without having to walk too far.  The sweater, or jumper as it is called in England, I'm wearing above I bought at H&M for about £15. The picture makes it look purple, but it is actually burgundy.

So now I am going to be productive and work on my readings. I have a presentation on Tuesday on Iain R. Edgar's "The 'true dream' in contemporary Islamic/Jihadist dreamwork: a case study on the dreams of Taliban leader Mullah Omar"

Gardens and Pies

I think my current favorite thing about London is its green space.  It seems like anywhere they can, and even some places they probably shouldn't, the people of London plant trees and grass.  Trees are planted crammed in sidewalks and buildings attempt to incorporate the foliage in any way possible.  You'll be walking past high rises and pass the open gate to a small public garden wedged between a shop and an apartment complex.  These aren't half-assed green spaces either; the parks are well maintained, if not intentionally overgrown.

I have walked past St. John the Evangelist church and it's attached mosaic garden in Waterloo regularly to get to the Strand campus. I ducked inside the gate today to check out exactly what was going on back there in the little garden across the street from Britain's largest IMAX cinema.

In the back corner of the mosaic garden I ran into a man and his son sitting on a large mosaic bench.  They explained to me that this garden, and the bench they were sitting on, is dedicated to the homeless who live and die in the area.  The names of the local homeless who have died are written on the tiles of the bench by anonymous people. I couldn't get a full shot of the bench, because the man was sitting on it and I felt awkward taking a picture of him.  The following statue, with the owl, is a dedication to the pets (of the homeless, I believe) who have passed away.

After this I wandered down onto the Southbank to sniff out a small restaurant/food stand I had read about online.  Unsure of exactly where it was, I just started wandering through the crowds, figuring that I would happen upon it eventually.

I finally turned a corner and landed in Gabriel's Wharf. To my surprise, there it was! Pieminister!

I had been craving filling and meaty food, along with mashed potatoes. This is no surprise for all who know me, I pretty much could live off mashed potatoes and be satisfied.  I ordered their Shamrock Pie with mash and gravy, with a bottle of Victorian Lemonade to try.  The Shamrock Pie contained beef and Guinness gravy and could of easily been a meal by itself.  Add in the large quantity of mash and a good helping of gravy and I was stuffed.  The pictures don't look that glamorous, but I think anything covered in gravy isn't that photogenic.  I'm pretty sure even Angelina Jolie covered in gravy would be unappealing to the camera.

It was very hard to decide on which pie to get. They all sound so amazing.  The pie was huge and tasty, and the mash was very creamy with the wonderful gravy.  The Victorian Lemonade was a mildly sweet lemon-ginger soda, complete with pieces of ginger and lemon floating inside of it.  Actually really refreshing, I was pleasantly surprised considering that I am usually iffy about ginger in my drinks.  But oh, I will be back.  With their prices set pretty damn low for what you're getting, Pieminister will be seeing much more of me.

The Little Things

When I decided to move to another country for graduate school, I figured I would stick with one that spoke English, considering it is the only language I am fluent in.  I have taken Latin, French, German, and Japanese courses during my educational process, but all those fall somewhere behind Lumalier, Klingon, Quenya, and other fictional languages in comprehension.  I knew there would be some terms and phrases that would be unfamiliar to me on this side of the pond, but every now and then something new pops up that I was not expecting to be different.

Then I went to buy cleaning products.

Gearing up for Me vs. Tesco, round 1

I have to go easy with the shopping, considering that I'm not very big and I have to carry all my purchases on the bus back to my dorm.  Nothing like swinging a shopping bag and clockin' an old lady in the head.  Stay classy, Americans.

I, in my brilliance, decided to start my adventure during shopping rush hour.  Note to those who have never shopped in another country: you have no idea how much you stand and stare at shit you're unfamiliar with until you get in other people's way while doing so.  I, and probably most people, are so accustomed to seeing certain brands and branding that the differences in it spiral you pretty firmly into the 'culture shock' category.  In most places, the off-brand or store-brand items are styled similarly to the brand name, so you just have to glance for a common marketing theme.  Ain't no Windex here, guys.

This is not a diss at the UK and their cleaning products, this is making fun of me for being pretty incompetent and confused.

This is laundry detergent.  I know because I posted a picture of it on Instagram and received confirmation from my friend in Wales that it is the kind she uses. Before I picked this up I spent ten minutes staring at the "fabric conditioner" before I Googled it on my phone and realized that it was fabric softener.  Also, couldn't find dryer sheets.

You probably can't read that bottle due to the awesome mirror effect, but it reads "Washing up liquid". This, my friends, is dish soap.  Thankfully the cheap Tesco brand has pictures of glasses and plates on it to help me figure this out.  Other things I noticed about UK cleaning products: Awesome scents. I haven't actually opened any to see if they smell like what they advertise, but lime and lemongrass, blueberry, pomegranate and honey, cucumber and aloe.  Seriously!? Why don't we get these cool scents in cleaning products in the States?

As I was walking down the isle of Booze (Liquor in the grocery store? Be still my heart!), I came across this little bit of hilarity.  Is that a little kiddy milk carton? Nope! Mini-boxed wine.

I will be back to the Tesco this weekend to actually get food products, but I rewarded myself for my diligence (and stress) with a mint Aero bar. This is officially my favourite UK candy bar.

Where They Charge for Water

When I was in the States I used to drink a lot. No silly, not booze (okay yeah, that too), just in general. When I ate dinner I would go through three or four glasses of water.  After one week in London, I've realized that that shit has got to stop.  Free refills are a thing of the past. Oh, and they charge for water. Tap water included, at most places.  I'm used to going out to eat like a poor college student, but there is a learning curve on what qualifies as "poor college student eating" in different counties.

After the Master's student meet-and-greet today (more free wine, woohooo!) I went with the only other person I've found from the entire Theology department to dinner.  Carefully examining the Thai menu, I realized that the only water offered, the tap water, was priced at £2.  This, along with the high price of alcohol, is why the vast majority of college students frequent BYOB restaurants that advertise "no corkage fee".  So my classmate, Em, and I bucked the trend and got mango juice instead for only 50p more.

So when in London, do as the locals do. Save some quid and skip the water: bring a bottle of booze instead.

PS- I swear I'm going to eat my weight in crunchie bars while I'm here.