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I'm doing fine, just coughing a little. Inkeri has a cold now, too. Yesterday night there was a small party in our kitchen again, but I didn't know many people and the place was CROWDED. I think we've had better parties here, even though the food was great. Here are some photos:

The two Nooras.

Blandine in action.

Sophie from the Netherlands, Blandine (with self-made dip on her head), a girl from Texas and Anna from Sweden.

Noora and me.

Best way to end every day. And to start every day. And in the middle, it's not bad, either.

Lontoo

Our trip to London was not as great as the last time. We decided to go in a smaller group so that we don't have to discuss every move for ages, but on the other hand it's always "The more, the merrier," isn't it? NDN couldn't come, and so it was just me and the Finnish girls from my flat. Lontoo is Finnish for London.

As planned, we first headed to The British Museum. It's quite impressive. We managed to see a little on European history and on Greek and Roman and Egyptian culture.

This trio wins TANJA'S FUNNIEST EXHIBIT AWARD. The note next to it read: 

"Three human figurines. These are of unfired clay. Although very crude, two certainly represent males. The third might either be female or has lost a small piece of clay."

Mummies, mummies, mummies. Don't know how they could sleep with all those people around.

Yum.

While searching a good place to eat, I took this shot of typical London. Taxis have turned multicoloured since my last visit four years ago.

 

Phone boxes are still red.

 

I like this photo.

We walked from the British Museum to Covent Garden, and somewhere in between we found a place called "1 Bistro" or something like that, and had 3 courses for 7.90 pounds!! Okay, starter  and dessert were kind of small, but it was delicious and we were full afterwards, so it was a great deal.

Then we went to Covent Garden and went shopping in a market hall next to it. I bought a necklace and Inkeri haggled it down from 10 to 8.50 :)

On the way back in the underground; Noora, Inkeri and me.

I'm still alive

I couldn't blog yesterday because I was really sick. Stayed in bed for the whole day, except when I had to get food. Michi cancelled his trip to Freiburg to stay (online) with me, and I have such a bad conscience because of that. Thank you so much, Schatz!!

Today, I felt much better. I went to Tesco's with Blandine and refilled my supply of cough candy. In the evening, Inkeri, Noora and me watched some episodes of The Vampire Diaries in the kitchen. We were really annoyed by the fact that you can't switch off the lights in the kitchen. There's just a motion sensor that detects when there's someone in there and then the lights are on, no matter if the sun shines outside, if you have a terrible headache or if you just want to hang out and watch a movie. The question of the day is: How did we manage to make it turn off?? I'll post the right answer tomorrow, you're welcome to make wild guesses in the comment section :)

Or on Monday, as I'll probably be busy tomorrow. We're going to London again. Probably we'll do just indoorsy stuff so that I'm not out in the cold air for too long. We were thinking about the British Museum and / or Harrods. And it'll be just me and three Finnish girls. Yey, I think I'll speak Finnish fluently by the time I come back home. That was a joke.

Who am I?

Yesterday night was fun, especially playing "Who am I?". Mine was very tricky, I was Snow White. Only Captain Hook (on the right) took longer to find out who he was. The girl in the middle was King Kong. 

I didn't go to the party with anyone else, and it was the right choice, because I feel as bad as yesterday. Coughing all the time. Still, some idiot thought he'd have to try our doorbell, which sounds like a siren, at intervals of one second. At 3 or 4, two guys shouted at each other just in front of my window. Unfortunately, they had a very limited vocabulary of swearwords. 

Today, I have a meeting with Svenja and two English guys. We have to do a presentation on "Power and the State" in one or two of Shakespeare's tragedies or histories. Tonight, the girls want to go to the cinema and after that, there's a party with the full-year Erasmus students in some pub. Don't know if I'll come; did I already mention I cough all the time?

Quiz, Shakespeare, Cough and Facebook

The quiz last night was really fun, though we were always the second to last group. Accordingly, we didn't even get the consolation prize. Topics were e.g. General Knowledge, TV Series, Star Wars, Who's Married to... and so on. Here are some photos :)

Noora, Övünc, Helena.

Svenja and me.

Jorge from Gran Canaria, Mark from Mallorca and a nice guy from Italy who doesn't look Italian at all.

Joho, Vera and Ladi.

Very busy doing the quiz.

When Chancellors closed at 11, we walked to the town centre. There we had trouble finding a bar that didn't close at 12. One moment we thought the only place left was a strip bar. But, luckily, we found a pub and partied on until that one, too, turned on the lights. Got home by taxi at about 2.

I could sleep long this morning, but when I woke up I almost couldn't breathe and had a strange cough. I lived through the Shakespeare seminar and then went to Tesco's to buy some medicine. Standing in front of quite a range of colourful pills and syrups, I had to decide whether I have a chesty, a tickling or a dry cough. I went for chesty, and BOY, is that syrup disgusting. Hope it helps. In any case I'm going to take it slow tonight. Originally, we wanted to meet everyone in our kitchen at 7 or 8 and then go to a party on campus called "Citrus", but I'll try to sell my ticket and stay at home.

BTW, I'm on facebook now because almost all the other Erasmus students are there. My name is Tanja Kn, so go ahead and add me :)

Photos from Manor Park & campus

Nothing of much interest has happened around here. Yesterday, I had the first session of my "Quality Assurance in Translation" seminar. A girl told us that the lecturer would be a hottie, but I don't think so. Too smooth. Probably gay. Anyway, I like them with broad shoulders, striking blue eyes, unruly curls and strong arms :)! After the seminar, Svenja and I went to Tesco's. She refuses to cook in her kitchen because it's absolutely dirty and crowded. Maybe my flat is really worth its rent. Then I had to finish the book I had to read for today's class, The Handmaiden's Tale. It's a really depressing book, but it's a page-turner and it really makes you realise how happy we are to have everything we have. Books. Music. Sexual partner of choice.

The seminar today, "20th Century Utopian and Dystopian Literature", consisted mainly of English ladies about 60 years old. None was younger than 40. There was always a heated debate going on, without raising your hand or such. It was unbelievable hot and sweaty in there and I was so happy to get out, even though I liked the topic. My Shakespeare lecture was just as lectures are in Germany, just that the voice and accent of the professor were not at all a pleasure to listen to.

Tonight we'll go to a quiz at Chancellor's. You go there in a group, pay 1 pound per person, and the group that wins gets all the money. We surely won't win as there are probably some pros with encyclopedias on their mobiles, but it's gonna be fun anyway. I hope.

Here are some pictures for you, as no entry is really worth looking at if there's no photo, is it?

My house. I live on the second-to-last floor. In front of the building, you can see a trolley stolen from Tesco's. 

That's the inner yard I can see from my window. You can also admire the street lamp that kept me from sleeping last night, because I just have a curtain and not a proper shutter.

I really pity the guys who live in those flats because everyone walking along the main street looks into their kitchen.

Manor Park main street. All these buildings are for student accommodation only.

Inkeri.

Me and some guy.

The English department is on the fifth floor in the building on the left. That's pretty much what half of the campus looks like.

Not all of it, though.

Guildford Cathedral, right next to the university.

I took that picture when we were looking for a Bed & Breakfast my mom was interested in. It was cold, we got lost, we never found it and I wasted my break, but the neighbourhood was sooo English.

Obituary

Today, we had to let Lucky go. I'm so sad I couldn't be with him in his last days. I just try to tell myself that he doesn't suffer now and that I should be happy for him. But it's not as easy as that.