Lancaster, UK

Things I've Noticed About England (thus far):

-There are sheep everywhere (instead of cows).

-There are Southern and Northern accents (I am in the north, where people do not speak like Jude Law at all).

-Tv programmes here are hilarious, but they love day-time shows from the States like Judge Judy and The Ricki Show. Tarik says it's because Americans are better at getting their point across when they are angry, which apparently the English have trouble doing. And I saw my first English cooking show, which wasn't as good as FoodNetwork but still worthy.

-The weather is less than inviting. The wind so far today is enough to remind me of Chicago, just not as cold. It's only about 40 degrees right now, but tomorrow is supposed to be much worse and rainy.

-Old pubs are amazing. I wish we had some in Athens, but we definitely don't have anything like this. Tarik took me to Ye Old John O'Gaunt, which was filled with lots of old men sitting at the bar laughing and talking in the thickest accents I've ever heard. They could tell I wasn't from England, but were great sports about me not knowing what pint to get and just smiled. Got a soup/stew called Cullen Skink, which is basically potatoes and haddock (really good, especially on a day like this). Tarik got an ostrich burger, which was awesome.

-Riding in the passenger seats of cars was weird at first, but I got used to it pretty quick. I'm still trying to figure out the logistics of making turns, but I think I need to make charts or a drawing to help me out.

-The $ is incredibly weak compared to the £ (the £! There's a key for it on the keyboard! Haha...). So much so that I don't want to buy anything, but Tarik isn't letting me spend much money at all. Went to a market today and got a ton of fresh food-- pesto, olives, mashed tomatoes, houmous (yes, that's how they spell it...), free range game, fish, loads and loads. It was wonderful and the vendors were so nice.

That's it for now. From leaving Atlanta to getting to Lancaster I was up for over 30 hours straight, so we stayed in last night and Tarik worked on a paper while I slept. Got up at 10am and everything was fine. We're staying in for dinner tonight and eating the feast that we bought at the market and heading out to town to a club or so. It's sureal seeing Tarik again, but very fun.

I miss everyone very much and will keep everyone updated as much as I can. It still hasn't hit me that I'm here yet, that I'm starting all of this. I think it's because I'm with people I know (Tarik, Nneka), but as soon as Saturday hits I'll be in Cologne. I think by then I'll feel like I've started my last semester.