Fall Flavors and Football

Two weekends ago, I ventured to a sports bar in the basement of a train station. This is the meeting spot for the Michigan Alumni in London group, to watch football games. We all watched the Michigan vs. Michigan State game, screamed in frustration, cheered with enthusiasm, and eventually filled the basement with a rolling chorus of Hail to the Victors. It was so great to watch us beat State, especially since we haven’t in so long, but it really made me miss Ann Arbor. The city hasn’t dared to have a football season without me present in 21 years. I’m a bit shocked that they had the nerve to continue in my absence. The late night Indian food and slumber party to follow, with my friend Abigail, was great. However, I know it was nothing compared to the Saturday night celebrating my friends were doing back in Ann Arbor.

Fall is my favorite season. I have always loved the crisp air, overcast sky, pumpkin carving, snuggly clothes and stunning displays of color. When I started at Michigan, Fall meant all my friends coming back into town, welcome week, tailgates, football games and Halloween parties.

Lucky me, Ann Arbor Fall has been arriving in care packages. My brilliant friend, Alex, sent me an envelope full of leaves and a drawing.

Also, my parents sent me some Afternoon Delight Muffins and pumpkin bread. I forgot that having everything pumpkin flavored in the Fall is very American, which is unfortunate, because pumpkin has always been one of my favorites. I’ve found pumpkin goulash here, but that’s about it. I’ve been overcompensating with apples, pretending that I got to go to the orchard myself and pick them. The scent of honey chili apple chips has been wafting through my flat for days now.

Necessary Nature

I’m beginning to feel more settled in New Cross now, so I have started spending a lot of my time exploring. My favorite place that I’ve found is Telegraph Hill Park, about a 10 minute walk from my flat. It has a skate park, playground, and some lovely walking paths. I found myself going back there every day last week, just to walk around, sit and take in the fall colors, and breathe. I can’t go very long without being close to nature (I’m sure the quote “I need to be close to the earth! The earth is my element!” is popping into many of my friend’s heads right now). In Ann Arbor, I would frequently go to the Arb, Argo or Gallup Park and just sit by the Huron River (or dance in it). I think that Telegraph Hill will be a nice new nature escape.

Getting down to Business

The last two weeks have been a crazy whirlwind. I don’t even know where to begin!

Sporadic thoughts:

·         I lost my passport. Then, two weeks later, I found it at the bank I’ve been consistently calling about it for 2 weeks.

·         My to-do list is huge, but today I was finally able to register with NHS. Hello free health care, checkups, procedures, and student prescriptions (read student as “free”).

·         I realized last night how to text anyone with an iphone in America (90% of my friends), for basically free.

I am now in the third week of my course, and we are beginning to work on getting our clinical placements. I know that I will be working with children, but that’s all I know. My course is fabulous so far! My classes are a good mix of lecture and movement. I think that my favorite class this term will be Movement Analysis. The first day of this class involved a fiery Brazilian instructor directing the class on different ways to move, as we made our way through the studio space. “Move loudly! Why are you speeding up? Move loudly and slowly. Good! Now move as if you had airplane trails coming out of your hands…your hips…your feet. What patterns are they making?” This went on for about an hour, and she never ran out of movement commands. My homework tonight is to read an academic article and come up with a movement response to it.

I also love the people here. My course has about 20 people, of which I am by far the youngest. About half are international students, from Greece, Cyprus, Mexico, Canada, Latvia, Thailand, etc. I am the only American. Everyone is so supportive and interesting and wonderful. Also, my flat mates are a lot of fun. We spend a lot of time together, eating in the kitchen, going to the Hobgolbin (the pub up the block), and exploring the city. On Saturday, we went into Camden Town, ate sushi, met Darth Vader, walked around the market and bought posters for my barren walls.

Then, we went for dinner with my friend from Michigan, who is working on her MA at the London School of Economics. Afterward, we walked around the beautiful Tower Bridge.

My mom was also in town last week, with her friend, Jan. They pretty much did their own London sightseeing trip, while I was in classes. On the days I did see them, we collected a necessities for my flat (like a duvet and sheets), wandered around Harrods, and went to a few pubs.