Happy Thanksgiving, eh!

So, since my flatmate Tracy should never have to go without a Thanksgiving celebration, the Irish/Scot trio, Tracy herself, and me all teamed up this Monday to celebrate her Canadian day of good food and general appreciation. I learned that "Yorkshire pudding" has nothing to do with pudding- it (they??) in fact is/are simply light, flaky biscuits, curved up in the shape of a small bowl. Though they(it??) is/are delicious, I don't know quite what those crazy Scots were thinking when they named the things... We also had a mashed turnip/carrot dish that is apparently an Irish staple, stuffing, all kinds of potatoes, pasta, and a lovely chicken ;) And no worries- I adequately represented Team America with a spectacular apple pie (yes, it had homemade crust).

In other news, yesterday was my first class, and it was glorious. Just a room packed full of Literature nuts and one brilliant older dude with a PhD all debating about how to edit (and generally agreeing what a pain in the arse Wordsworth is when it comes to that). Seriously though, I enjoyed myself so much. It's like, after years of studying a subject, suddenly realizing you have the ability to fluently speak the language. If I don't say it enough, I LOVE studying this stuff.

Last night for dinner all the flatmates dragged themselves home one by one. The poor kids in the science departments... whereas Jessica (Korea), Tracy and I only have a few classes but a ton of independent work, it seems the professors want to be constantly breathing down the neck of the others. Daily, I believe they're each in class about 7 hours a day, and then they have assignments on top of that. Respect. At least we're all buckling down together though-- this group knows when to get shit done. 

So, for now, I'm thankful for my awesome flatmates, all the reading/writing my undergrad profs assigned, and having a family to support me while I kick literary ass in freakin' Bristol. I'll have some photos up soon, but for now, on that note: Let the reading marathon of a life time commence! Huzzah!

Highlights:

Apparently "fanny pack" does not mean fanny pack when you're in Europe... Based on what I gathered from the delighted laughter of Lorraine and Nadia (both from Ireland), it is actually, shall we say, a highly offensive term for a woman. The appropriate term for the sack worn on your bootie over here is: (brace yourself) "bum bag." Also: Seran wrap = cling film, and Byros/Bics = pens.

I was curious about a friend's Facebook status which was in Spanish, but I didn't recognize one of the words... pull up translator, type it in, aaaaand- oh, my. Lawl, Dr. Marin definitely never taught us that word!

I had left my door propped open so Thanksgiving guests could use my bathroom, and apparently Jessica had walked by. Haha, her thoughts were basically two-fold: 1. She expressed her alarm over the apparent explosion that had happened and 2. She loves Cowboy Bebop too (I have signs hanging up). For the record! I was drying my clothes, so I have an excuse for at least 1/3 of the stuff that was hanging all over...