dnekeeW gnoL

For the long weekend Thursday to now, most of the students left the house for vacations to various places including the Cotswolds, Paris, and Leeds. The latter was a strange idea, I thought, given that Leeds is an industrial area. Apparently the students had an industrial time there. Things were pretty boring except for a house they visited that was on the National Trust as well as an extensive armory museum. And it was quite dangerous at night. And there was lots of teen pregnancy. And there were lots of pregnant teens who were drinking alcohol. Strangely enough, they said that the shopping was fantastic and that there is a Louis Vuitton store in the pedestrian mall.

I have spent a good chunk of my mornings working out- cycling class, running, swimming, and lifting weights. I'm improving in my stamina, building muscle and strength, and I feel great.

I have found myself quite distracted this past week and would like to focus more on the most important things of my time here: the MCAT, volunteering, the triathlon, my book. It's difficult being in London and doing that.

I mentioned before that I met up with an alumna from my uni this past week who is living in London. We had drinks one night after dinner with Dr. P and had a grand time talking about life now and and in the past. I met up again last night with her, her boyfriend, and a coworker of her's for drinks and thoroughly enjoyed their company. I hope to hang out with them again. We visited a few of "The Crown" pub establishments, a "chain" in central London. Very good beer for a good price.

I'm not cooking as much this week as it takes too much time- Marks and Spencers' meals will be my fare this week.

In my class, we will be talking about language in the UK this week- I hope to introduce the students to a bit of cockney slang and some of the regional dialects around the UK. I'm looking forward to the lists they will make of phrases and words that they find different and amusing.

Studying tonight, hopefully, with little interruption.