The Study Part of Study Abroad...But Don't Worry- We Can Still Party

I knew there was a catch...and here it is: classes. Granted, they are not as difficult as back at GW, but still, I did not anticipate, or rather I had hoped that it was be a complete joke. Alas, this is not to be. Still, I have to say that I think I'm going to enjoy the courses. Luckily, I managed to consolidate my schedule, so I only have classes 2 days a week (plus a film screening some Monday nights) which is a pretty sweet deal. On those two days, however, it's going to be difficult to keep my attention span alert. Here is my schedule:
Tuesday
10:00-12:30 London Women's Social History
1:30-4:00 History of London
4:30-7:00 Intro to Current Moral Philosophy

Wednesday
10:00-12:30 Women Writing in English
1:30-4:00 Government and Politics in Britain

Overall, great, but those two days are tough. Nevertheless, I'm sure I'll make it.

After class today, Lauren, Ashley, Sarah, and I went to STA and officially booked two of our trips! Ashely, Sarah, and I are going to Paris February 2-5, and the four of us are going to Amsterdam the following weekend (February 9-11)! I'm so unbelievably excited: never having traveled anywhere before, this is going to be incredible!

Later that evening, Sarah, Jordie, and I went out to Walkabout. In search of one pound pints, we made the unfortunate mistake of going to the incorrect location. However, I feel that this was indeed fate, as our evening was pretty entertaining regardless. Planning on just having one drink then leaving, Jordie got distracted by some movie on the tv, and was staring at it. A very drunk man, thinking she was staring at him, wanted to know why and came over. Upon discovering that we were from America, he launched into a diatribe against our nation and the wrongs inflicted upon his that day by the LA airport. Apparently, he had been attempting to fly home to New Zealand from London for his mom's birthday, and had a layover in LA. However, since his grandfather was Scottish his passport didn't have a certain bar code (since Scotland sucks) and they wouldn't let him into the country. After spending 6 hours in the airport bar he had to buy another ticket back to London and decided to just keep drinking. It is here that we entered the story. Soon his roommate and female friend came over to chat as well. His roommate, being a great friend, decided that one more drink would probably put him over the edge, so we should have a chugging contest with cider. He bought us each a pint and then we chugged. Actually we just drank, apparently chugged means to boot, so you don't want to confuse the two. I am pleased to report that my years on the ultimate team have served me well, and I finished 2nd. Our friend told me that I was "really quite good for a girl" which according to his friend was actually a high compliment. I then alluded to a friend from back at school who could kick his ass, so Maggie, Mark would like to meet you. It was then that our New Zealand friend indeed became over the edge and while he left to 'chug' in the 'toilets' Mark began inquiring how we knew his friend. Only then did he realize that he had just bought 3 pints for complete strangers and that we had met his friend about 10 minutes before. Awkward turtle definitely was swimming.
We then met a group of boys on the way to the tube (actually they informed up that it's pronounced "chube") who were taking a year off in between high school and university. We were, in fact, the first Americans they had ever met, and after figuring out that Sarah was drunk because she quickly imbibed alcohol rather than vomited, they just wanted to know if all Americans drove pick-up trucks and had guns. They were also curious if all the girls were really plastics and all the boys were jocks. Sadly, we had to burst their bubble, and their shocked response was, "but that's what we see in the movies!" We had an entertaining ride back full of conversations about American Hollywood and Family Guy- some things really are universal.
Went back to Sarah and Jordie's room and we had some great conversations for the next few hours.
It's really just shocking that so much of what people outside of American perceive about us is just wrong, yet we still perpetuate these stereotypes all the same. I have never, before this trip thought of myself, let alone introduce myself, as an American, and I really dislike doing it. I always this of myself as a Bostonian or a New Englander- never and American. But here, I'm stuck w. the stereotype of having people immediately associate me with our President and his policies or the picture Hollywood paints, and I'm really not a fan. Just some food for thought- I'm sure I'll come back to these musings again. But for now, I'm off to sleep.