"Smile. It makes people wonder what you're up to."- Anonymous

Last week was one of those weeks where there is not one horribly, catastrophic thing that goes wrong, but rather the kind where a whole bunch of little things go wrong and they build up until you jut want to bury yourself under a heap of blankets. And after a hard day, my flatmates decided to have some loud party so now my head is throbbing.

But things are actually going well! The second term is off to a great start, and I have some great looking travel prospects for my ridiculously long break. So here are some things that are not going wrong:

I have started working as a volunteer homework tutor at a local library. The kids come from around the London area, many of their families immigrated here and the parents often do not speak or read English, and some of the kids struggle as well. But the kids are so sweet and smart, and it is so rewarding to see the smile on their face when they get the hang of improper fractions, or finally learn their spelling words. Plus, they’re really cute British kids!! They all call me “Miss” which makes me feel old, and they laugh at me when I use American terms- who knew this: “.” is called a “Full stop” here? To explain the differences to one of the 8 year-old students I asked her what she thought “pants” are, and as she thoughtfully explained, “pants are what you put on first, and you have to change your pants every day. Pants are essential” (referring, of course, to what we Americans call “underwear”). When I explained we call “pants” what they call “trousers,” she looked quite scandalized, and said “Miss, they teach you really bad English in America”

Speaking of adorable British children, I’ve been babysitting again. I always hoped to spend my nights with cute British boys, I had just hoped they would be over the age of two. Oh well, beggars cannot be choosers. But seriously, these kids are adorable, especially because they are at the age where they are learning to speak more. Last night as I was putting one of the little cuties to sleep, he said “buh bye” and “Night night!” which I had never heard him say before. It was the perfect cure to a long day.

Not that yesterday was bad, it was just long. But I did have a great lunch with my friend at Whole Foods, and then headed off to my wonderful art history class. I am taking Renaissance Art in London Collections, which means we go to a museum for each class and look at different pieces. It’s really interesting, and fun. Also, a lot of what I learned in Mr. Nici’s class in high school is coming back for this clas,s which makes me looks smart! I took some pictures yesterday at the V&A.

The V&A

Really cool chandelier

Cool Renaisannce stuff

Creepy babies on a fountain

This sculpture, besides being really great, is on all of the ads for the V&A, so I took this to kind of prove that I was actually there

Also, I have been meeting some new people, and getting close to people who I did not know as well last term, which has been great, and been keeping me busy. I have also been (somewhat) better at keeping in touch with friends from home, which is really great.

In other news, my classes are fantastic, I am at ten shows (saw Wicked from row L for 20 pounds!), I discovered the magic that is Borough Market, I have finally figured out how to get the water in the shower to do more than drizzle, the heat in my room is finally working, I am almost done with the wonderful book I am reading, I have renewed my addiction to the New York Times, and I think I may have found the perfect gift for my Mommy’s birthday. And, I’m sitting here, watching Lost on DVD, drinking really good tea and eating almond biscotti, and I have the day off tomorrow. Life is good.