Taking the Mickey
No, taking the Mickey does NOT mean stealing Mickey Mouse from Disneyworld. It actually means to mock someone lightheartedly, and it’s the title of this weeks blog because it’s been a pretty funny week😂 So as I drive to Bath via the second coach bc we missed the first one, let me tell you all about it.
Starting with last Friday, we decided to do a bus & boat tour of london. It was raining the entire time, so taking a boat to Greenwich was truly extra special (especially when the three of us found out that the trip there would take an hour longer than we thought). Later that night, we went to the London cocktail club. If you haven’t tried taking a shot without your hands or from a syringe then I 10/10 recommend it! The drinks were delicious.
Saturday morning we headed to Broadway market, though we may have gotten there at 4 pm to find out it closed at 5. Oh well…after Katie helped me differentiate between cilantro and parsley, I got some stuff for our dysfunctional family taco night. We sat around playing the hat game, which if you’re friends with me, requires no further explanation. I don’t know if it’s just that acting out “mind the gap” is hilarious or if we just have the humor of 5 year olds but that was a great time. We then went out to The Loop, a bar with a huge dance floor. And may I just say that who ever thought it was smart to build a stage for drunk people to act stupid and others to people watch….was a GENIUS. It was certainly a night to remember (or not).
Sunday was recovery day and I spent most of the day reviving myself with Starbucks’ lemon muffins and writing essays about marketing principles. Monday was much of the same, though I did watch The Weekend Away starring Leighton Meester, which took me by surprise as a pretty decent movie for Leighton Meester to be in it. Oh and in the movie she’s from London, so therefore I guess it’s kind of relevant.
Tuesday we had planned to study at Foyles, a 5 story bookstore with a pretty cool cafe. LOL I guess you could say that there’s a lot of stories. Ha ha ha…ok carrying on—
I saw a man charging his computer in the only outlet by our table, so I begrudgingly tried to find another one. When I couldn’t I waited until the man unplugged his charged computer and plugged mine in. The charger had seemed to be working for him, so imagine my delight when it didn’t work for my computer. And sure enough, two inches from the outlet was a small disclaimer that said “outlet not for public use”. Like I’m sorry whose use would this outlet be for then? My wifi also failed to connect so we ended up leaving and going home to do work. Please respect my privacy and don’t ask if that essay has been finished yet😂
Me and my friends Ellen and Katie also had an intriguing conversation about the British and American education system, which me and my friend Elizabeth talked about on Wednesday too. We were wondering which was easier, and my viewpoint is that they are just really different. I think the assumption is that the British education system is much easier than Americas, but while there is way less homework, the British system also definitely requires a lot more self guidedness (as if that’s a word) and limits the freedom one has. Here, you’re in the same module path after 10th grade, which basically means that you are constantly surrounded by the same teachers and students every year. Given that I’ve probably given negative teacher ratings to 1/4 the teachers I’ve had since 10th grade, it’s probs a good thing I never have to encounter them again lol. But the US system does have their work much more spread out, which I think is something we should be grateful for. I can’t even fathom writing 10000 words at the end of the semester.
Tuesday night, we also went to see Batman in cinema, which was extremely confusing...given that I've seen approximetely zero batman movies in my life. And the creepy smile the man does WILL haunt me for the rest of my life. On Wednesday, me and Elizabeth got afternoon tea (such a cute thing to do I’m gonna miss it) and ate some finger sandwiches while talking about how many times british people make inaccurate comments about Americans. There’s a whole british thread of tiktok calling out he food Americans eat— like we’re not the ones whose specialties are fried fish and chips and butties (sandwiches of just bread and crisps that seriously wonder how bad they taste.
I also went on a really cool shoreditch street art tour that I’ve saved some pictures from. We walked around with our program looking at some really cool designs that light up the area. I got home just in time to bake a cake for the fake gender reveal/ murder mystery themed party we had Thursday night. And of course Thursday was the party, and I don’t think I’ve ever laughed harder. Between me screaming bloody murder (literally because I was the host of the murder mystery party) and us cutting the shitty cake I made, we all had a really fun time. I know piece of piss is meant to mean something really easy in British slang, but I think the new definition is the cake I made last night😂
With all that being said, I’m off to bath! I’ll keep this as an ongoing entry since I need my computer to publish and add in my adventures in bath on the way back home. Chao for now!
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I forgot to update this on the coach back from bath but here I am two days later making amends. Bath was FANTASTIC! I mean it showered quite a bit but it’s BATH so what else would we expect? I have to say it was a really CLEAN getaway though…get it? Bc it’s bath? Ok I’m all out of puns for now.
But during our trip we had so many relaxing moments and made amazing memories:) there were some not so relaxing things, like waking up late and missing the coach we had originally booked, but everything worked out wonderfully overall. We went to the spa, and from swimming in a mineral rooftop pool overlooking the most beautiful views of Bath to doing ice massages in the infrared sauna in the wellness suite, it’s fair to say we really needed it.
We also got sushi, walked around Bath’s markets and heard amazing street artists (including watching one guy miraculously squat in place without flinching for HOURS…how?), checked out the Jane Austen center (SO cool), and went on a tour of the Greek and Roman baths with our program.
Most importantly, I got to sleep in a comfortable bed for the first time in two months, which has me very excited for my April travel plans:) And now that I’m back, I can look forward to my parents coming to visit and many more fun things to come! Oh and the fact that the fire alarm only went off 6 times so far this month instead of 10.
Bye for now (& can you believe we’re almost halfway to the end?),
Sharon