Says I, stating the obvious. The flu then went through stages of "the cold" ultimately we are down to a) stuffy nose and sinus problems b) nasty nasty chest cough (horray for no sleep!), c) sore throat and no voice, as in whisper through the tulips or whatver you wanna call it. It's no voice. So I go to the health clinic today, the doctor examines me, says "oh we're not happy back there" in regards to my throat and smiles and says, "well your nodes are swollen" (thank you I felt that), and "you seem to have a bacterial throat infection." Well that explains why I can't talk. Which really kinda sucks except if you haven't finished your class reading (and that would be me this week), then horray! Anyway I had a visit from two dear Middlebury friends and pictures will be going up early this week once I catch up on life a bit more. But it has been too long since I've updated so I thought why not? I am waiting for my cough sleep stuff to kick in. I got a package from mom today, it had happy stuff in it, mostly stuff I'd asked her to send, but those happy little unexpected items always make the heart sing.
My room finally feels like mine from the sticky something on the carpet, to the plant that wilts when I forget to water it (apparently it's not like the fake one in my room at home that thrives every day of every year while it collects dust), and of course the empty boxes of tissues. I don't want to know how much money I've spent on that sort of stuff. Today I actually went to get the antibiotics perscribed and paid six pounds for a week's supply, not bad. I also found a black bag that zips up and I can carry binders in there too, which is good because my backpack is rather cheap, or at least it's acting cheap, and is actually rubbing all the fabric off whatever top I happen to be wearing where it meets my lower back. Grrr....we'll just put a stop to that now thank you. I also found what could be classified as hooker boots, but I prefer stylish London boots...take your pick. Lastly, a nice cheap pair of gloves that match the boots. Then all that's really left is a skirt or two when I find more good deals.
I realize being sick jades me a bit, but going home is going to be a little like heaven. It's not that London isn't fun, far from it in fact, it's a blast with billions of new things to do (when one is able to actually do them), and therefore I would stay forever. The tiny detail missing from the above sentence (and yes it runs on a bit) is that home is where the heart is and the things that are familiar are wonderful if you aren't feeling great. Anyway enough dwelling. My friend Lizzie booked a plane ticket to see me in January and as soon as I get my health back I'm booking my flight to Germany in a few weeks. Mad cool! I'm so excited about this whole Midd Kidds abroad thing. I have basically ten days to actually catch up with life, then two weeks of utter hell work wise, followed by two weeks that are more manageable before Christmas. For Thanksgiving the American embassy does do something!!! They do food in St.Paul's Cathedral, OMG, I'm excited! What an excuse to go inside for free, hehe, and eat like ya know turkey and like omg food that the gods prepared....or rather, the food I think could come from the gods. Good stuff, hopefully they go all out, apparently it's a tradition here in London...go figure.
What else what else? Well lots of fun stuff happened this week while touring the city with Jess and Sarah, however...those adventures will be posted separately complete with pictures, so all I'll say for now is that they "kidnapped me" and I missed one of my lectures (That is online on video). Well now that I'm hacking up a lung I should probably head to bed.
I've passed the halfway point for this term. I've been here six weeks! It's hard to imagine considering how fast the time has gone, but as I've started to do work work it seems like it's life now. I do have to get my act together sorting and organizing reading and as far as typing up notes goes....I think I'm going to have to bring those four notebooks home and have that be a filler project over Christmas break. Although starting this week I'm going to try and do that from here on out so I only have to catch up on three weeks worth.
My classes (not lectures) are mostly taught by TA's, and the problem with two of the TA's (I have one good one) is that they have no idea how to interact with the material in a manner that teaches anything. Of course I'm a Middlebury student and insanely spoiled by the one on one time I get with professors there, but goodness, why would anyone not want that/liberal arts! I mean it's stupid, students are being cheated when taught by people who can't get at the heart of the topic and when I get antsy in discussions, it means it's a dull as ditchwater and even I can't focus. Bad bad bad. I can and do get annoyed at myself because I wish I could be more engaged, but if you a) struggled with any concepts in the reading, (and many do), then it is also poorly presented and you lose track of the point the teacher is trying to make (easier than it sounds because most the time there isn't one), then it's just god damn annoying. Needless to say senior year is going to rock and my professors are all absolutely going to be fed up with me because I won't leave them alone. Positive side here, so long as you do all essential reading and stay caught up with the papers etc/assignments, most of the time outside of class is yours and if you show up unable to contribute a huge amount, you're not penalized for it. I have to admit on a day like today when I hadn't finished the reading and was really tired, that was nice. At Midd you sit frantically trying to find one or two intelligent comments so your participation grade doesn't suck. When a school cares about EVERY aspect of your performance, it can drive a person insane...and I think that Middlebury does that from time to time. On the other hand who can't resist high expectations?
anyway, bed now, I'm going! cheers one and all.
