Presentation Time

July 31, 2007

London, England

This morning I went to school at 9 to print my Power Point and make any final revisions to my paper. I was shocked to find out that “the Frenchies” were in the computer lab—they do go to the University of Westminster afterall.

Now some background on the Frenchies. The day we checked in to Wigram House, I met a couple of people in the kitchen. I asked them where they were from, and they said France. They didn’t ask me where I was from or say anything else. I smiled at them and left. The next day, somebody left their dishes in the sink without washing them. That night, there was a not on the door that said something about washing the dishes. Well, these two girls (there were three, but one seems to have disappeared), assumed it was me who did not wash my dishes and started giving me dirty looks. Things escalated, and there has been a silent war of sorts between the five or so of us that always eat our meals together and the two Frenchies. They have done many more rude things and written other notes since, and we always just laugh about it. We have speculated about what they have been doing here, certain that they were not in our program, and we have constantly been wondering when they are going back to France. Anyway, seeing them at the computer lab this morning was a shock to say the least, and had I been with Freya or Allie or Lindsay, we probably would have cracked up.

My presentation was this morning, and I think that it went quite well. The one right before ours was on prostitution in England in the mid-nineteenth century, and it far outshined the rest of the presentations. So it was not fun going after that one. I am glad to have the project over with, but kind of disappointed that it is only 20% of our grade, because of how much time it took up.

After school, the other scholars and I (sans Rebecca) went to lunch with Martin, the head of the program, and his many assistants. They mainly wanted to know if we had any suggestions for improving the program. The lunch lasted two and a half hours, and was complete with a sticky toffee pudding for dessert, which was my first and one of the best desserts I have ever had. One of Martin’s assistants, Rachel, reminded me of Kate Beckinsale. She was exactly the type of Brit I had hoped to meet on this trip.

After lunch, Julia and I went to the post office to get more stamps, and the line was ridiculously long. It was an experience entirely in itself. Then a great wave of exhaustion came over me, so strong in fact that I thought I might be able to actually take a nap. I went back to the dorm, got into bed, and tried to nap for almost two hours. It was a failed attempt, and I really should stop trying to nap altogether. It was a good rest nonetheless. I got out of bed, showered, then went for a run with Freya and Lindsay. We just ran through Green Park and St. James Park.

After the run, which was really good, the girls made some delicious sauce with turkey for our pasta. I added a bunch of crushed chili peppers, and it was probably the best pasta I have had here yet. After dinner, we all went to Sainsbury’s to get a Kopparberg. Then everyone came to my room, and I kicked them out promptly at eleven, only to lie restless in bed for a good few hours before falling asleep.