Well, it's just after midnight here and I really should be reading the hundreds of pages I have due this week, but let's face it - I'm in Europe, and frankly homework just doesn't compare. I've also finally gotten around to taking some pictures of Royal Holloway and Egham, as today provided some rare moments of sunshine, and so I thought I'd post them so you all can gain a somewhat clearer sense of just where exactly I am (why, in the land of scones and tea, of course!)

I'm now in my second week of classes here at Royal Holloway, and the British system of teaching (one lecture, one seminar, and altogether too many hours of independent study per course) is starting to feel more comfortable, with just one minor glitch: my mind finds views such as the one on the left considerably more attractive to study than the Labour party's rise to power in 1924 or medieval French literature. I mean, really. Stuffy old knights who have nothing better to do than run around stabbing other knights and making long-winded, puffed-up speeches about said exploits don't hold a candle to the regal Victorian towers I have the privilege of walking past each day. This is the Founder's Building, and it occupies the main center of campus. I wish I could take pictures of the library inside, which reminds me of Hogwarts and, consequently, results in my peeking around musty old bookshelf corners with the expectation of meeting a certain bespectacled boy with messy black hair and green eyes. Ahh, if only they offered classes in Transfiguration or the Dark Arts - I'd never lose focus again!

All right, where were we ... I've done so much the last few days that I'm having trouble synthesizing it into a cohesive blog entry. I suppose I'll just start with today and work my way backwards. Two of my American friends and I decided we've eaten way too little Mexican food since coming here (um, okay, make that no Mexican food), so in honor of the inauguration we planned the ultimate feast, complete with rice and fajitas (and completely dysfunctional chocolate chip cookies, but that's besides the point). Since I'm the only one without any Tuesday afternoon classes, I was elected to walk into Egham and pick up groceries at Tesco's, the local grocery store here. Just to give you some background: Royal Holloway sits on a hill, of sorts, about a mile (more or less) from the small village of Egham. As I walked down the main road I tried to take a few pictures which I'll post here - you should really thank me because I suffered through plenty of awkward stares from the locals, who probably aren't used to cameras as the town is rather ordinary and not a tourist hot spot in the least.

You're looking on the main driving thoroughfare into Egham - it's not ususally this crowded, but we had some construction going on today that caused a bit of a pile-up. It's a nice walk, past old English cottages and modern new complexes lined up next to one another.

Unfortunately for me, I come from the land of "wrong" driving (so say the British friends I've met), so crossing the street continues to present the most substantial danger here in Egham. It's not fair - from the time you're three, your mother drills into you the correct way of approaching an intersection on foot, and then you land in a foreign country only to find that they've completely changed it up on you. My ingrained sense of direction is now utterly ruined and will probably never recover. Besides that, it'll be a miracle if I make it through this study abroad experience without being flattened by a truck coming from the right when I was, in fact, expecting it from the left. Gahhh.

Thankfully, this time I managed to get lucky and make it across with limbs intact (picture on the left taken just after the moment of reckoning. That truck driver really hates me). This, as well as the photo below, shows High Street, Egham's main shopping road from which a few smaller lanes branch out. Halfway down the street
narrows to only pedestrian traffic, which makes for a very quaint shopping experience (one point of interest to note about stores in Egham: for some reason, there seems to be an unexpectedly large market for greeting cards in this area, because I passed at least three card stores along the way. I have no idea what this means - should I plan to increase my holiday mail-outs? Or are the ladies of Egham just so bored that they can't help but spend their days browsing through sappy card messages? Who knows.)

At any rate, I made it to Tesco's and proceeded to finish a successful shopping trip. British grocery stores provide considerable food for thought (ahahaha ... you know you want to laugh) on account of the interesting range of brands. Most are local, but a few familiar names have found their way onto the shelves as well, although in slightly altered forms. For example, I can't seem to find a single can of sour cream and onion Pringles, but prawn cocktail-flavored ones reside in abundance. Also: an entire shelf of Old El Paso products. How random can you get??

The rest of tonight can only be considered a success: our fajitas turned out beautifully and I enjoyed watching Obama's historic inauguration, although hearing our national anthem play gave me an unexpected twinge of homesickness. England has proven to be beautiful and charming and exciting and every other positive adjective the dictionary has to offer, but I've found I really do take pride in my country and could never call any other place home. (Of course, I've only spent one day in London, and I haven't even been up to Bronte country yet - I may just get lost in the moors and decide not to come back!)

A brief update on my previous days here: after settling in and recovering from the respiratory infection I had since arrival, the general state of things has improved tenfold. I love my room and the fact that it has a wardrobe and a radiator - I have a feeling we aren't in Texas anymore, Todo. (Oh, and another reason I'm obviously far from home: the other day I stepped outside and cried, "Oh, it feels so nice out here!" only to find that the temperature was, in fact, in the low forties. Unfortunately, this was downright balmy compared to the biting cold of several weeks ago, when I first stepped off the plane.) I include the obligatory room picture for all who are curious and continue to pester me for it:

I'm on the second floor and also have my own bathroom (hooray!) as well as share the kitchen down the hall with my five other flatmates. Cooking has proven to be unexpectedly enjoyable, especially since the Students' Union brings in a produce market each Tuesday that sells fruit and vegetables at amazingly cheap prices. Those of you who know my eating habits will be delighted to learn that I'm branching out from my pasta fix into more interesting dishes. However, I don't know many so I now take this opportunity to put forth an official plea: Help the cause! Donate recipes! Otherwise I may turn into a spaghetti noodle - and as good as Italian food is, I just don't think that would be enjoyable, in the long run.

What else? My first Saturday here, I took a day trip with the rest of the international students into Windsor, where we toured the castle and had fun poking around the old city. You have no idea how thrilling it was for me to walk into St. George's Chapel, which lies on the castle grounds, and stand by Henry VIII's tomb. Absolutely surreal!!! Knowing that I passed through rooms inhabited over the centuries by England's royalty felt like a dream, and even now I can hardly believe it. Yes, I'm a hopeless history nerd who revels in such mundane connections with the past as this, but I think anyone who finds themselves standing before a 600 year old set of chain mail or the doll once belonging to a real princess can't help but feel, if just a hint, some of the same excitement and sense of wonder.

And now I bring this blog to a close, friends, since you're probably bored out of your minds and I'm close to falling asleep. Check back soon for the next installment - I went into London this past weekend and experienced my first legitimate political protest, among other things (such as Big Ben and the East End, Jack-the-Ripper-style). So don't miss it. You're committed now, anyway, since it's my third blog and you know that secretly these entries represent the highest culmination of human experience and culture ... or something like that :) As always, thanks for reading, and hope everyone's having a wonderful week, wherever you may be. Cheers from the lovely land of the Queen!!