Why do today what you can put off unti

It's happening again. The part of my brain that wants procrastination is taking over and forcing me to do nothing but watch endless hours of Youtube videos before I realize the day has passed without work.

I had one goal for the day: To write one essay on The Intended, which I would proceed to study all week so that on Monday, June 6, I would write the most glorious of essays into a blue booklet to be given a grade of 100%. Or 75. Which is also an A. Whatever those Brits think is best.

You know what I have accomplished? Waking up. Showering. Eating. Placing The Intended on my desk. Taking an article on The Intended out of my binder and placing it next to the book on my desk. Typing the two questions on The Intended from previous years' exams onto a Word document. Watching 2590987452 Youtube videos. And chilling with the sheep that followed me home from Wales.

Our friendly neighborhood barista: "Nerita"

Rocking out to country music today. Not sure why I felt the need to do this. Then again, "country music" on my itunes is essentially just Carrie Underwood, Taylor Swift, and Rascal Flatts. With the occasional Blake Shelton or Kenny Chesney. I really don't have much. So to be more accurate, I'm rocking out to very pop-like country. Anyway.

I told you to expect a picture with the Caffe Nero staff. Looks like your anxious waiting and sleepless nights have paid off:

Me and Lauren with an unnamed Caffe Nero staff member. Let's call her Nerita. (See what I did there? Only Nerita means sea snail in Spanish. Oh well.) Yes, it is a little sad that we did not learn her name, but now parting will be less personal and sad. Plus we get to call her Nerita. The magic would be ruined if her name was actually Jane or something.

After Lauren got on the bus and Emma, Veronique, and I waved goodbye from a rainy bus stop, life got slightly more boring. Emma is sadly awaiting the day I too leave, for as she often points out, at least Lauren and I are going back to the same country.

After a few hours of watching Youtube videos, I returned Lauren's library books. She may be going home, but she still has to write and send in a final paper. Unfortunately for me, it was quite a rainy day, and I was saving coins for laundry. So I bypassed the bus and walked. You know in movies, when people are having rough days and a large vehicle drives by and a huge puddle wave drenches the poor sap on the sidewalk? Welcome to my life. Okay it wasn't that bad. But it did happen thanks to a speedy bus, a large puddle, and a narrow sidewalk. Really only my calves were wet. But that's beside the point.

Here is the entrance to the library. I am waiting to return the books. There are the gate things where you must swipe both in and out. One of my more interesting pictures, yes. Just look at those fluorescent lights. And the blue queueing rope thing. (It took me about ten minutes to find the correct spelling of "queueing".)

In other news, I went over to Caffe Nero earlier for a drink, and Nerita was there. She served me and gave me the saddest, most sympathetic look before saying, "You're on your own now?" Aw man. I then told her I only had a week left and she exclaimed, "You guys! You guys are all leaving me." Aw again.

British houses: in which people put washing machines in the kitchen

I had a non-boring day today! And I even spent a good chunk of it on a couch watching TV. Or should I say, the telly. Because said TV was in a British house!

So after Lauren finished her final exam this morning, we met Emma and took a short train ride over to Urmston, where we walked around the little town center with Emma. We almost met her mum, who was working in a bank, but she was busy, so we settled with a wave. Then we walked to her house, which was about ten minutes away. It was a lovely day and a lovely little neighborhood, and Lauren and I gushed about all of it while Emma remained slightly baffled and amused by our fascination.

Here is one of the streets. It's not Emma's street, but that really doesn't matter, because they all look the same. As you can see, each and every house (which is actually a duplex) is red brick. I was waiting for Hermione to emerge from one and start walking down the street carrying nothing but a beaded bag.

We were given the grand tour, and though the house was quite small, it was very clean and modern. Every room is literally a room with its own door, which was interesting. And there is a sun room attached to the living room which was quite lovely. Emma called it a "conservatry." I thought of the Dursley's house. Although their conservatory is not all glass. It's not sad I know this, right? I didn't think so.

There you go, living room and conservatory. There was also a doggy named Barney, who reminded me of a smaller version of Trevor, but was actually, I believe, some sort of terrier.

So after the tour came the telly watching, and since it was the middle of the day, just like in the US, there was nothing on. Or as Emma put it, everything was rubbish. So we watched Jeremy Kyle, which was essentially Maury with British accents and more of Jeremy yelling at his guests.

And though this will have no impact on anyone else's life, I'd just like you to know that someone just scared someone else in the kitchen across the hall by screaming, and I practically had a heart attack. I'd also like you to know that I am now watching a low quality version of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 online, because a) I like it, and b) I am a nerdy perfectionist and needed to make sure that Hermione does indeed emerge from a red brick duplex carrying nothing but a beaded bag. She does, in case you were wondering, which you probably weren't.

She may not be Emma Watson, but here is my own version of an Emma walking out of a red brick home. If you look closely, you can also spot Barney gazing longingly out the second story window.

After we returned and ate dinner, I depressingly watched Lauren pack up her room, as she is leaving tomorrow morning, and this time, for good. [HEDWIG JUST DIED! Why am I still watching this?] It's so strange to think that the next time I leave here, I will never come back. I'm also not looking forward to the next couple weeks without Lauren.

As a side note, Lauren stopped at Caffe Nero this morning and one of the girls automatically started making a latte, before discovering that Lauren was leaving tomorrow, to which she replied, "Forever???" And made sure Lauren would stop for a coffee before leaving. Expect some parting pictures with the Caffe Nero staff soon. We're going to miss them. And as we now know, they will miss us. As they should. We gave them some good, consistent business.

Our evening closed with McDonald's Oreo McFlurries, the only ice cream option available to us. Yum, yum, yum.

Oh yeah, and I suppose the title is self explanatory, but I learned that Brits keep their washing machines in their kitchens, like they are dishwashers or ovens. SO WEIRD! Right? Right.

blah blah title blah

I'm so bored I don't even want to write anything. Got my second final out of the way this morning. Now I don't have another one until June 6. I have almost two weeks to prepare, so I have not started. And now I'm bored. I don't even have enough laundry to do. Or things to clean. Or new shows to watch. And Scabbers wins all our staring contests. So what is one to do?

One hour and thirty six minutes until dinner.

Here's a story: yesterday as I was paying for that chai latte, the one that took eternity to cool, a young man came up to me and said, "Excuse me, but is your name Lisa?" And I shook my head. He apologized. And left. I then saw him down the street talking to another girl who looked nothing like me.

One hour and thirty three minutes.

This blog is putting me to sleep, so I'm going to go before I make anything worse.

(One hour and twenty four minutes! No, I haven't been staring at the screen for 9 minutes. Stop judging me!)

Still waiting for it to be June...

So many things to say, and yet so much studying left to do. At the moment I'm waiting for a chai latte to cool, so that I may drink without fear of a scorched tongue. I'm also waiting for essays to materialize so that I can study them, but my notebook remains blank. I know I'll at least do fine on half of this American studies final, because half of it is a general essay on a general question, like the conditions of women in the 60s. The second half, however, is writing an essay on the significance of a document, like MLK's "I Have a Dream" speech. Only we have a book of 50+ documents, and only 6 will be on the exam. So I'm freaking out over here, man. FREAKING OUT!

On the bright side, I got my last paper back, the one I wrote after Easter break for my religion class, and got an A-! I was not expecting a good grade on that paper. So go me!

(The latte is now one step below boiling, but still hovering around uncomfortably hot.)

Speaking of lattes, several of the girls who work at Caffe Nero now know Lauren and me very well, to the point where they see us and start whipping out cups for Lauren's "usual," a regular latte no foam, and my semi-usual, a regular tea with milk. What I will do without this cafe, I do not know.

I do know, however, that I will not miss filling my sink to create warm water. It literally takes 15 seconds for the hot water faucet to reach its boiling point and burn my hands. Not nice. Do you think Brits go on holiday to the US and realize that there are such things as one faucet for hot, cold, AND warm water?

Well, I'd better drink this latte before it goes cold, and study for my exam before I'm sitting in the lecture theater having a panic attack because I don't know anything. If only the US History classes we took every year of our lives actually made it past WWII.

(almost) time to party!

First final: Done.

First celebratory McFlurry: Eaten.

I have accomplished the first of three finals. Written the first two of six exam essays. (My poor, aching hand.) I have said my first official goodbye to a class friend. And my not-as-emotional goodbye to my religion course as I clicked my heels together outside the building. Feels good to get one out of the way. Except in my hand. That doesn't feel so good. Shut up, hand.

And finally, FINALLY, after about a straight week of clouds and rain and wind and ugh, the sun is back. Well, it made its reappearance yesterday, when Lauren and I walked over a mile to the pharmacy and saw the cool Google maps camera car. But I hope it knows we are happy to see it.

Now to rest and prepare myself for more studying, as my next exam is Tuesday. Saturday Lauren and I are taking an International Society day trip to Anglesey, Wales. I'm excited, although I have no idea where we're actually going. I didn't realize how large of an island Anglesey is, and the description tells me nothing of what we'll actually see. Maybe I'll go to lunch and bump into Princess Kate. I'll keep you posted.

I'm gonna be famous!

I'm 95% positive I saw a car today with the cameras they must use for the Google maps street view.

And this is what it would look like, according to Google, which should be the most accurate source of confirmation.

So in a few weeks or months or however long it may take for them to update the street view, I will anxiously view Oxford Road in search of Lauren and myself, who were walking innocently to Boots pharmacy. In case you are looking, and they blur our faces, I am wearing my Wellesley sweatshirt. Representin, yo.