So today I promised myself (and my Mom) that I'd write a new blog post, mostly because it's been over a week since my last one and also because it means I can momentarily ignore the homework that I need to do. Procrastination, thy name is Jessy.
Unfortunately for all of you back home, I haven't really got anything too exciting to report. My classes were good, the food was sub-par, and the weather was chilly- all as usual. There were a few parties that I declined to attend, which probably turned out to be a good thing because everyone else seemed to have hangovers the day after. On Tuesday though, there was a football match between Sweden and Holland that a bunch of us wanted to see. We had planned on watching it at the Phoenix, a pub that we've been frequenting, but the owners wouldn't put on the game. So everyone piled into Dean's room to watch it as a live-stream on his massive TV. Seriously, I think the TV in his room is bigger than the one I have at home in my living room! I'm very jealous. Anyway, the game was a big upset because Sweden won, 3-2. Peter, David and Frida were just about the happiest Swedish people in Coventry that night.
I felt the need to celebrate afterward (even though I wasn't in any way Swedish or Dutch) and went to Quids with Krys, Alessandro, Jill and Mariano for drinks. We ended up talking for a really long time, and eventually I got hungry so we went to this place called Benny's for a late-night snack before heading back to Priory. The food was exactly the kind that you'd want late at night after a drink: hot and greasy and artery-clogging.
On Wednesday, I went ahead and booked my ticket for the Manchester day trip that the school was sponsoring. The university actually offers some really cheap day trips throughout the term to different cities, and we're all trying to take advantage of it. Unfortunately, when Krys, Alessandro and Inge tried to book their tickets the next day, they were sold out. I was pretty bummed at first 'cause I didn't want to go and spend the day there by myself so I was all ready to just call it off and try for the next trip. But then Krys did some super-sleuthing and found really cheap bus tickets to Manchester for the three of them to go and meet me there. I can't tell you how nice it was to know that they were willing to catch a bus at 6 in the morning on a Saturday so we could spend the day together in Manchester. I gotta say, Dutch people are awesome!
As a matter of fact, all of the people here are awesome. You're probably going to get tired of hearing me say this, but its honestly the people who have made this whole experience so amazing. Being able to sit down with them and share stories and ideas and jokes makes me feel like Eliza Doolittle at the end of "My Fair Lady" when she's finally refined and cultured and classy, minus the accent. I mean, I have international friends-- I've never been able to say that before! (With the exception of the brilliant Laura Rorato, who is in fact an international friend, but who I technically met through Madde.)
When I was filling out my application to come here, I had to include an essay explaining why I wanted to study at Coventry and what I thought I would gain from it. I was mostly honest in my answer, saying that I had always wanted to travel to England and that I hoped to gain from it's rich literary history (all that stuff that college administrators like to hear). What I didn't write though, and what I hadn't expected, was that it would give me the opportunity to meet so many new and wonderful people. They've even given me the confidence to think about traveling to other countries where English isn't the national language, which is something that I've always been a little leery of. Four weeks ago, I would've never thought of going to Holland, or Sweden, or Belgium, or Spain, but now I've been invited to all those countries and I'd go in a heartbeat!
Or at least, I'd go as soon as I had the money.
Cheers, my American friends!
P.S. Manchester was awesome! We went to all the free tourist attractions and took a bunch of pictures. There was also a food festival going on and I got to have paella for the first time in my life. Plus, they were handing out free samples of chocolate ice cream, so bonus!
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