[September 16] London: Shopping & Studying

And so it begins: the 'study' part of 'study abroad'. I'm excited because all 5 of my classes sound truly interesting, but it is a bit daunting at the same time. By this Monday I have to read 'The Wasteland', by Tuesday I have to read 150 pages of 'A History of London', and by Wednesday I have to read 'Romeo & Juliet', Virginia Woolf's 'A Room of One's Own', and Austen's 'Northanger Abbey'. The week after I have to read 'Mrs. Dalloway', 'Frankenstein', and Shakespeare's 'Richard II'. Luckily, I will be able to borrow most of these required books from the small but useful IES library!

As you can see in the picture above, a few of the books aren't required. I found the copy of 'Alice in Wonderland' at a used bookstore today on King's Road for a few pounds and I found 'The Glass Palace' in a thriftshop on King's Road for 1 pound. Jette recommended the latter; it's about Burma. Then there's my planner, or 'diary', as all of the British seem to refer to it as, that I bought from Paperchase today. Yes, an entire Paperchase store! You know all of that cute stuff they have in Borders? Yes! The same brand and I love it. I bought a really cute water bottle there also.

On the left is a picture of 'The Chrysanthemum and the Sword' which I saw in the used book shop but didn't purchase... I just had to take a picture of it because of Mad Men, and you will only understand this if you saw the episode it's in. Random, but anyway.

Another random picture is the one shown below... Just reminded me of the song 'Rococo' off of the Arcade Fire's new album. Not related, I'm sure.

I found 2 dress/shirt things and a jacket at a thrift shop today that I'm excited about!

The rest of the day has been spent attempting to read for my classes.

Virginia Woolf is tough reading, in my opinion. I've only read 'To the Lighthouse' and 'Mrs. Dalloway', and both were hard for me to get through but at the same time, I loved each, especially 'To the Lighthouse'. Now, as I already mentioned, I'm reading 'A Room of One's Own' and I'm only on page 31 and there are a few passages which I adore.

"London was like a workshop. London was like a machine. We were all being shot backwards and forwards on this plain foundation to make some pattern... Here [to the British Museum in London] had I come with a notebook and a pencil proposing to spend a morning reading, supposing that at the end of the morning I should have transferred the truth to my notebook. But I should need to be a herd of elephants, I thought, and a wilderness of spiders, desperately referring to the animals that are reputed longest lived and most multitudinously eyed, to cope with all this" ('A Room of One's Own' by Virginia Woolf, Chapter 2).