Pictures!

Well, I finally managed to get a few pictures of my flat and of the campus. It's not much but I'll try and get more in the next few weeks. To take you on a tour from campus back to my flat, I present...

Our student services center

One of the older buildings on campus, which forms the Clothworker's Court

The park I walk across (Hyde Park)

The street where I live

View of flat from the outside.

My kitchen

My Room (some things never change)

Classes are beginning to get a bit more interesting. Although Research Methods continues to be a snoozer, we do have a few essays in the next few weeks, so I suppose I need to start getting prepped for that. Unfortunately, I tend to write best under pressure, so I fear what the days before the essays are due will bring. On the upside, my shipment of wine from the Naked Wines should be coming soon. 6 bottles of (hopefully) decent wine at £6 each. Sounded like a deal to me. And a coping mechanism for the coming weeks.

Next week is reading week meaning no classes and a chance to catch up on all the readings we haven't been doing. In reality I'm sure I'll spend a few days reading/writing, but I'm hoping to take a day trip somewhere. Maybe to York or Durham if the weather holds.

The weather has turned fully into fall. It's started to get a bit grey and rainy, but the leaves are changing, so it presents nice contrast, at least. Plus, it's a good excuse to eat heavier foods (storing my fat for winter).

Speaking of fat, while I've been running on a (semi) regular basis, I have yet to actually go to the school gym. This is primarily because it's terrible. Seriously, it looks like the weight room in our high school. I'm glad they're building a new one, but for now, it's still daunting to have to go, sign in, and work out on one of the 20 treadmills they have--shared between 30,000 students. Maybe I'll go tomorrow. Then again, maybe I'll just eat. I'm much better at it.

Friday I finally made it to the theater downtown to go and see The Fantastic Mr. Fox with a friend. It was comforting to know that the overcharging of concessions has made it to England. 1 student ticket, a small popcorn--which could have fed a small village--and a "small" coke (same story) set me back £12. That's about $20 for those of you counting. I think I'll skip the food next time.

I didn't mention it in my previous post, but the place where I saw The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus is one of the only gas-lit movie theaters left in the UK. It's pretty cool. A balcony, non-stadium seating, a lack of cupholders, and the soft flicker of gas-light (seriously) during the film give the whole experience a very pre-WW1 feel. I think I'll be attending there more often.

In other news, my upstairs neighbor continues to blast his subwoofer right above my head. As I'm writing this. Ugh. Sadly, I don't think reasoning with him is going to do much. So I'll just use my tried and true technique of banging on the ceiling. Fortunately, he has really good taste in music. Unfortunately, I don't want to listen to the bassline of the new(ish) Animal Collective CD five times in a row.

I did just find out that William Fitzsimmons is coming to Manchester on November 13th so I may try and go see that if I can recruit anyone to go.

Also, I have my debit card! Finally. But I got locked out with my PIN number, so I can only buy things online until my replacement PIN comes.

The subwoofer is getting to me now. Time to go punch some holes in my ceiling. You think I could just leave headphones at his doorstep? Also of note. He sounds like a bleating sheep when singing. Just sayin'.