12 things I bet you don't know about Florence, SC

yay for the city of Florence, land of mundane "fun" facts.

Note that they didn't tell you about the old Civil War prisoner of war camp, the cool National Cemetery or that Florence was named for the daughter of the city's founder. But it will list the ways to get city information by phone.

For a better list, check out the BBC's list of cool facts of 2005. Did you know that WD-40 dissolves cocaine?!

the elite University of South Carolina Graduate School of Fun Park Buracracy

Look. I have nothing against the University of South Carolina. It's a good school. But right now, I really want to go knock on the office of admissions and tell them to go screw themselves and their ridiculous buracracy.

It took me a good while to figure out how to apply to their grad school in education.

It took me even longer to find the general graduate school application.

Somewhere, somehow, it says educations apps are due Jan. 5.

I tell my profs that SC letters need to be in by Jan. 5.

I now cannot find where I saw that it is due Jan. 5.

Because it is now telling me -- in no specific terms, just on the supplemental application -- that it is due March 1 for the summer term.

Because on the general grad school application, they're due April 1 for the summer term.

I want to apply to the Secondary Education -- Master's in Teaching program.

I have the supplemental form for it -- now. It took me until AFTER I submitted the general app
for the wrong term to find it.

When I went back to reapply for the general application, Secondary MAT is not a degree option in the scroll down menu.

But Secondary in MT is, but apparently it is for USC-Columbia students, of which I am not.

Problem No. 2 with my original application.

They also ask for immunization proof before they will process your application. Who does that?! What, afraid that measles will spread via paper?

So I will need to somehow make this work because believe it or not, if nobody else wants me for grad school, which is a high possibility and I am not being modest here, then I will seriously consider SC.

It shouldn't be a riddle to figure out how to even APPLY to the school. You want competition? Make it easier for people to join the pool.

If you know people at USC grad school admissions, please kindly tell them to go screw themselves.

Oh, and please get me out of this house before I kill myself. Being in this town is bad enough; having to live in this house is worse than death by strangulation.

Sorry. Too much Law & Order: SVU marathon.

bleh

Well, the one time in the past three months that I was without my umbrella, it rained. Hard. And thundered. And lightninged.

back

Well, the repatriation process has begun. If you ask the Overseas Office, it's the counter-culture shock process, but whatever. I'm back in the good ole United States, and I will now regale you with the requisite airport/travel stories.

I planned to start getting my luggage out of my room in Beaumont at 7 a.m., and got a head start at 6:50 a.m. I had to turn the suitcases on their sides and slide them down the three flights of stairs. That took 30 minutes. I attached my rolling carry-on bag to one of my larger suitcases and roll the 200+ pounds of stuff down to the main dorm road, Westfield Way.

Let me just say that I have several planned routes via Tube and the Heathrow Express/Heathrow Connect to get to Heathrow by 9-ish. The one I went with was to take the District line to the Piccadilly line, which goes all the way to Heathrow.

By the time I got to Westfield Way, however, I was considering my last option -- calling a cab. I am no hulking giant of a girl, nor am I a waif, but 200+ pounds of rolling luggage plus a bookbag of laptop, binder full of notes and other fun accessories was already getting to me. I get the number of two licensed cab companies and call them. The first one is booked, and the second would cost me 45 pounds. No, thanks.

I turn in my keys and access card and make my way toward Mile End Road. By the time I got to Maynard, I decided to give the cab another try. This time, however, the second one was booked, too. So I have to continue to the Tube. There is no other way.

Getting to Mile End station was OK; I rolled the luggage down the stairs -- clop, clop, clop. I was the spectacle of the day. I buy a one-way ticket to Heathrow and go through the gates for Westbound District. I see on the board that District is severely delayed and immediately switch to Plan B: take Hammersmith & City to Paddington for Heathrow Express/Connect. But when I rolled down the stairs again -- clop, clop, clop -- there were two trains going to Richmond, so there was apparently no delay. I get on the first train, and a guy helped me with my second bag when the doors threaten to close on me.

I chose to get off at South Kensington because I knew I didn't need to go UP stairs to get to the Piccadilly, so I haul my luggage (by myself!) out of the train at South Kensington. I proceed to roll the whole disaster down the stairs, but my foot slipped, and I fall. People see this, and a guy helped carry one of the bags down, and another carried the other while I tried to help.

The second guy was also going to Heathrow, so the two of us carried my stuff down the escalators, another set of stairs and into the train. He was going to Thailand (some town, then Phuket) and Cambodia. He looked like Eric McCormack from "Will and Grace" with a skinnier face. I swear. Thankfully, at Heathrow, they have lifts, so we take that, making small talk about university, London/UK and Edinburgh, where apparently, he visits his ex, with whom he remains friends. We found a trolley, and we say good-byes and Merry Christmases. So, THANK YOU to the guy who helped me out "because that's what gentlemen should do" when I really, really needed it. I don't know how long it would've taken it me to get everything to Heathrow. Thank you again and again.

Heathrow went as well as can be expected. They didn't require you to take out your laptop at the security point, so that was cool. Apparently, at London airports, they don't tell you the gate until about 30 minutes before boarding, so you sit there and wait and shop at the Duty Free shops until your gate is listed. It's ingenius, really, and it also makes sure that the only people at that gate were the people who are on the same flight. Less hassle. Remember when I said they didn't require you to take out your laptop at the security check point? Well, they have a second check point at the gate, where they do a body search, an in-depth bag search, which included the laptop.

The light was OK, there were no really annoying people, but I really wish people wouldn't recline their seats. I know that it makes it more comfortable, but it's really hard to sleep on the tray when the reclining seat-back is in the way. The flight attendants were kinda negligent, too. The first time the beverage cart came, I was parched, so I was really excited. My neighbor got his orange juice, but the flight attendant got distracted by someone else and forgot to come back to me. So no apple juice.

When the lunch came, they also asked what I wanted to drink; I said apple juice. Well, the flight attendant who asked me was out of apple juice, so she asked someone else to pass her a can. She gave me a heaping cup of ice and said it'll be a minute. A minute turned into never. So no apple juice.

The snack cart came while I was in the lavatory, I think, so I also missed out on the snack box. Somehow, so did my seat neighbor. We both searched for a flight attendant. A nice one gave us each a snack box. Yay! A flight attendant service success.

Chicago O'Hare's immigration process was surprisingly fast and painless, but it was hassle to get from the international terminal to the domestic one. There were no clear directions for rechecking our bags, and after that, there were no clear directions for the trains to the domestic terminals. It was a mess. People weren't in line, just big jumbled mass of bags and trolleys .... ugh.

My flight gate got moved at O'Hare. A really pissed-off mother of three boys who's been waiting for 2 1/2 hours for a delayed flight was yelling loudly in the waiting lounge with her husband trying to calm her down. Annoying people making stupid small talk. Someone who thinks she knows about South Carolina blue laws but clearly not as well as she thinks. A cute Navy guy who was also going to Columbia. :)

But I am now repatriated. Both my arms hurt. A lot. I'm pretty sure my legs will follow. The wines in my carry-on survived the clopping down the stairs and all the abuse I've given it. My feet made it OK. I now know why I always wore flip-flops to airports, but London was way too cold for flip-flops this morning. Has it been this morning? It's been 24 hours since I left Beaumont; it's about 7:20 a.m. in London right now.

I miss London.

I will miss London

Well, since I am actively wasting time, I might as well actively write something here. I am going to write about what I WILL miss about London/UK/Europe and what I WILL NOT miss. After I get back to Florence/LA, I will write about what I ACTUALLY miss and what I ACTUALLY don't. Oui? Let's get started.

I will miss London because
1. they have an awesome public transportation system. One does not need a car.
2. I have my own room at "university"
3. this city/country/continent actually have history more than 300 years old
4. they have castles!!!!
5. and old stuff
6. they have great shopping
7. they have online grocery shopping and deliver the food to your door
8. they have a monarchy!!!
9. this city must have about 5 real newspapers
10. people in this city have impeccable grammar, as far as I can tell.
11. for the lack of "rubbish bin," see below, they have pretty clean streets
12. they have the A to Z, a handy-dandy pocket-sized street map
13. I have a massive desk that can actually take the abuse
14. and a massive bookshelf that can hold more than 3 books
15. the cleaning lady who takes out my trash because I hate doing that
16. the cleaning lady who also vaccums my carpet because I also hate doing that
17. they have the amazingly efficient Argos. I love Argos.
18. I have a cool shower/bathroom combo that is very convenient. :)


I will not miss London because
1. there seems to be a lack of "rubbish bins" on the street
2. it is cold
3. its higher-education system drives me insane
4. it is expensive
5. everything closes earlier
6. I think 24-hour Kinko's (I think there is only one) is the only thing that actually opens 24 hours
7. their university libraries don't open 24 hours
8. people read the tabloids as if it's news.
9. their shots are so small, it's not even worth getting a shot. You have to get two, so you're really paying four times as much for your shot of whatever.
10. there are way too many tourists
11. the crazy cleaning lady who yells at us while alone in the kitche, except that we can all hear her from our respective rooms. Sometimes, I wake up from deep slumber because I can hear her yelling in the kitchen
12. Royal Mail is not good. Royal Mail loses mail. That is bad.
13. I like knowing that water will always come out of the faucet when I need it.
14. and that when I need hot water, I will not get a constant stream of cold water in its stead.

a geographically accurate Tube map

I found this geographically accurate Tube map (it's HUGE, just so you know before downloading) on the Internet; somebody named Simon Clarke has the copyright. So, thanks, Simon! Go to Simon's Web site for more Tube map fun.

finally ...

After weeks of "let's go ice skating," we go ice skating at the Tower of London Ice Rink. "We" being Sara, Erika, Matt, Chris, Jim and Aaron. It was great, considering that I haven't gone ice skating since either the fourth or sixth grade. I was never good. Well, I was never able to move with most proficiency. This time was no different. Except that Sara taught me the way it's supposed to be done, so I know the technique, if not the ability. Yay! Before, I also didn't know how to stop. I didn't really learn how to stop in roller skating either, and having never learned to rollerblade, you can see my troubles. But anyway, I only fell once! So that is good. My bum is going to hurt a lot tomorrow, but overall, it was an excellent time.

Later, we had dinner at Wagamama across the ice rink and then went back to Mile End.

Apart from the ice skating, however, I began my rampage across London and the UK to get everything I want to accomplish in London done. So today, I ventured beyond the Great Court and the reading room of the British Museum, which is across the way from Russell Square all this time, where Senate House Library is. All this time I've been hiking from Tottenham Court Road. Sigh. Anyway, I saw the Rosetta Stone, one of the Easter Island sculptures, a lot of Chinese jade (the largest collectio in the world outside of the China) and other fun things.

So it's a productive day, I would say. Not a bad start for the 22nd year. :)

oh, god.

Being productive is getting harder and harder. Senioritis is kicking in even overseas. This is no good. No good at all.

I'm trying to write a 3,000-word paper on the importance of education in the Paston family, who kept extensive letters for about 50 years. The problem is, I really don't care. It counts for 80% of the course grade, and I need the grades to go to grad school in case admissions people want to look at the actual overseas transcripts, but I really just wish it'll all go away. Why did I keep this class? Why couldn't I take something incredibly easy? Or something with a more interesting professor? Or less annoying classmates? Or something that doesn't involve reading 15th century primary sources?

Tomorrow -- well, today -- I have to research, compile and write a paper on the use of intensifiers, details and community/contest in gender narratives for my linguistics class. It's actually due Jan. 9, but since I won't be in London, it needs to be done tomorrow, the last day of classes.

Then, I'm going to try and cram everything I still haven't done but meant to do in London and then pack, clean and go home. I'm going to miss London; I already know it. It's my kind of town, and not just because some quiz told me so. I feel like I belong. And that's gotta mean something, right?

When I get home, I have to write a statement of purpose for grad school, some essays for other grad schools and do other grad school application stuff. And then I have to revise the DT stylesheet so it would resemble something workable and comprehensible.

Doheny Memorial Library was misspelled in the old stylesheet.

I should go back to writing the enormous paper now. I wish I have the ability to write on the fly ... just type, and magic flows out. And type fast. My rate for paper-writing is about a page per hour, which means that I have six more hours to go, and that doesn't include revision/proofreading/printing.

So I am going to go back to writing now, and hope magic somehow happens. Soon, in 2 days, I will be free of classwork and can enjoy London for what might be the last time in a long time, stress-free. It's going to be a great feeling.

I belong in LONDON!!!!!

awwww... :*(

You Belong in London

A little old fashioned, and a little modern. A little traditional, and a little bit punk rock. A unique woman like you needs a city that offers everything. No wonder you and London will get along so well.

What City Do You Belong In?

my house.

not entirely true.

I actually like being alone sometimes.

but here's my house.

procrastination = bad

I am beginning to realize the grim realities of this phenomenon. I had a hard time spelling that. phew. Sound. it. out.

As predicted, the novelty of learning and writing about witchcraft wore off quite fast, as in, "I think I chose the wrong topic to write about" fast. I should've chosen something conventional. Like whether Elizabeth I and Mary of Scots used their female gender to an advantage during their reigns. Well, not so much Mary since she got deposed and executed. But Elizabeth. Sigh. It's too late.

At I have a thesis. Of sorts. I'm rambling again. Going to nap before U.S. history class. The last ever of my undergraduate (because HOPEFULLY there will be a graduate career coming up) career.

If you're happy and you know it clap your hands ... (clap....)

blah.

yes. it looks different.

I've decided to change the template because even though the other one was pretty, this one has a space for links. And I have forgotten most of what Annenberg taught me about HTML, so I can't add it. And besides, they didn't teach us enough to know how to add stuff from scratch. So we know the codes, just not what to do with them. Oh, convergence, you have to love it.

WHOA. check out this ad firm's Web site

this is awesome!

Imagine

My flatmate is currently playing John Lennon's "Imagine" through the wall. I think this is the only time in three months I've actually appreciated the incredibly loud music-playing. But if it goes beyond Lennon, I'm gonna have a cow.

chivalry CAN coexist with feminism

Hello, everyone.

My friend James and I are currently having this discussion. He argues this point:

Chivalry and Feminism stand in contradiction to one another.

I disagree. I say it is possible to have both. Thoughts?

UCLA SUCKS!!!!!

HELLS YEAH, USC. 66-19! Do YOU smell the roses?

The USC London alumni association puts together game viewing when the North American Sports Network broadcasts our games, usually at Bodean's, this BBQ place on Poland Street, off Oxford Street. We've been wanting to go to one since the season started, but the first time it was canceled, other times we were busy or out of the country, and the last time (Fresno St.) we got there just as the game ended. So this time -- the most important one -- we made sure we got there.

Jeff Blattner from the association sent me an e-mail that said we should get there early so we MIGHT be able to get seats, so Aaron, Erika and I went at 8 p.m. to claim seats for the 9:30 p.m. GMT game. Kate and Brian joined us around 8:30, and Matt got there at 9:30, and Jim, Sara, Greg, Dave and Heather (British friends of theirs) got there some time during the first quarter. We first only got 3 seats, but as the Texas people left (their game was just before ours -- they beat Colorado something like 70-3), we gradually claimed their seats.

It was awesome, although I think we scared Dave a little bit with our enthusiasm. HOWEVER, he was also the one who let it slip ... something about we couldn't find the Sports Cafe because we're "dumb Americans." haha. :) He also corrected us when we said "restroom," which we all knew was wrong, but we're at an American football game! At a BBQ place!

Anyway, it was a great game; we never trailed. But hey. I'm not here to give you the play-by-play (besides, it's 3:43 a.m., and I am tired). If you really want to read about it, though, here's the LA Times' gamer.

Bodean's only open till 11 because it's a pub/restaurant, so we USC people headed over to the Sports Cafe at Piccadilly Circus to join the UCLA crowd. There was a 5-pound cover, though, but it was totally worth it.

We stayed at the Sports Cafe until about 2 a.m., when they started showing the Florida St. and Va. Tech game. The bar also started playing dance music halfway through the fourth quarter because even they knew the game was over at that point. I mean, Pete Carroll put in John David Booty and we STILL scored. And plus, UCLA people started to leave anyway.

So Dave (really cute, btw.) played some people, other people danced, I sat and watched the game because I don't really dance/like dancing/bad at dancing. And so Erika, Aaron, Matt and I left at the Sports Cafe after Sara, Jim and Greg and after some random guy started to want pictures with us/of us/etc. We're all gonna be nameless in his photos. Dave stayed to play some more pool.

We walked to Leicester Square for some late-night food, then to Trafalgar Square to catch a bus to Tottenham Court Road to take No. 25. BAD IDEA. No. 25 is ALWAYS crowded. I can't remember the last time I actually SAT DOWN on the 25. See, other people's great idea was to take it in the direction we need to go in the first place because it'll take less time. BUT if we had gotten on the OTHER direction -- aka the end of the line -- we would've gotten SEATS. Because the bus was SOOOO crowded, people were swearing, squished like sardines and literally one on top the others in some cases. At one point, I was literally standing on one foot. I also bumped into Shari from U.S. history and some girl from Society and the State on it too. I think they got on around Holborn. What's in Holborn this late at night, I don't know.

My clothes smell like cigarettes and bar, but anyway, USC is going to the Rose Bowl to face University of Texas on Jan. 4. And that is all that matters.

On a different note, I have officially accepted -- although not yet signed the contract -- to be an RA at Parkside Apartments next semester -- taking over for Rebekah Sanders, who is going abroad. Training for RAs start Jan. 4, so I will be home for about 10 days before I have to take off again. Feels like Tampa/Florence/London.

It is late now, so I will crash. Tomorrow we're going ice skating, part 2, and tomorrow night is the Midori concert!!!!

Next week is going to be HELL.

Good night!

one more thing

I forgot. In my haste, my shoes slipped, and I subsequently fell, shin first, on the edge of the steps down to the bottom floor Barbican Hall. Shin first. edge of steps. down. I can currently see a the faint outline of a giant bruise that is forming on my left shin that will probably reach its peak development some time during the night/early tomorrow morning.

Handel's Messiah

Well, I've been anticipating this performance of Handel's Messiah since August, when my friend gave me his ticket that he couldn't use. I've planned today down to the hour (people who know me -- not surprising) .... BUT by a major miscalculation, thought I would be able to take an hour-and-half nap. In fact, I only had 30 minutes. So when I woke up at 5:35 p.m. for the 7 p.m. concert, I was like, HOOOOOOLY SH*T. I planned to be out the door by 6 p.m. to catch the Tube on Hammersmith and City because other than District (stupid District), it takes the longest. And it tends to stop in the middle of the tracks for no apparent reason. Guess what happened on the way to Barbican Hall. Yeah. Anyway, I literally got ready in 35 minutes, about half the time it usually takes for me to properly get ready, and was out the door at 6:10 and got to the Mile End station at 6:16.

I run in my 3 1/2-inch stilettos, up the stairs, across the longest highwalk in the world (seems like), down the stairs, through the door, just in time to get a bottle of water and to get to wait for the change, and to hear the announcer say the show is starting in 5 minutes. Wow.

The concert was AWESOME. They had to replace the alto with a male alto (counter-tenor, the program said, but his bio said he was a male alto .... don't know) because of an illness, but apparently the replacement Michael Chase (???) is the best in his voice group (but how many male altos can there be?). Anyway, he wasn't very good. First, it was strange hearing a guy sing what you KNOW is the female alto part, even though it doesn't matter in the context of the lyrics. Plus, his voice didn't carry well; I could barely hear him over the orchestra, and I was sitting in the stalls (orchestra seats in the U.S.), so I don't know how people in the dress circle and circle can hear at all.

The soprano Sally Matthews was pretty good, but not earth-shatteringly good. The tenor was also good, but his gesturing was a little annoying and overdone. I liked the baritone the best. He sang the bass part, but the program said he was a baritone. Anyway, his voice was amazing. Wow.

When the chorus sang the Hallelujah chorus, I got chills. I loved it. I've never heard the Messiah in its entirety, so this concert was just wonderful. Some people, though, either didn't know or didn't care, didn't stand for the Hallelujah chorus like Messiah tradition dictates they do. The story goes that when the Messiah debuted, the king was so moved by the end of the second part that he jumped up in his state of excitement, and because he was the king, the crowd had to do what he did, so they also stood. And people have been standing for the Hallelujah chorus ever since. But these people, again, either didn't know or didn't care. If the latter, they should've done it anyway. Sheesh. It's like clapping in between movements of a piece. You just don't do it.

We gave the orchestra, the chorus and the soloists four curtain calls, but it really wasn't good enough for the standing ovation, though some people did stand. I don't know. I've heard better orchestra concerts, but this one wasn't too shabby! :)

beat ... the Bruins!!!!!

UCLA sucks!

But they should definitely let me in their grad school. Thanks, UCLA. You're awesome.