of snow and sushi. (and still backtracking.)

this is the third time it's snowed in bristol and the third time classes HAVEN'T been canceled because of it. everywhere else in england is shut down because they can't deal. of course i chose the one city that battles on despite the weather. shame. but i didn't let it bother me, really, i just rolled over and took my own snow day. i can almost guaranteee barely anyone showed up to the lecture anyway. including the lecturer.

i suppose i should pick up where i left off last night. (these trips are all out of order, sorry.)

the first excursion with other rutgers students studying in the UK and ireland was to battle abbey, site of the battle of hastings in 1066. i don't usually like history but i found it interesting.
we also visted the cliffs at beachy head, where we had planned to do a long hike. we quickly realized this was impossible, lest we blow away to a sharp, watery death.


in early december my study abroad advisor invited some of us to london to visit the british library and platform 9 3/4 (the latter of which i'd already been to, but unfortunately failed in passing through to hop onto the hogwarts express). surprisingly, i was the only one who showed up, but i had a good time anyway, seeing original manuscripts of some of my favorite books and even the magna carta. afterwards we went to a wine bar in st. pancras station, right where the eurostar terminates from france, so the majority of the restaurants and waiters were french. the food was excellent, but the portion size was not in any way proportionate to my hunger. too bad the prices were.

i'm going to save my second trip to ireland for a separate post, because there's a lot i want to say about it. so sit tight.

and don't worry, once i get caught up on what's happened already, i'll report my trips and what not with regularity and some sense of chronology, i promise.

back to the present. today is some sort of centennial celebration at bristol uni so all afternoon classes were canceled. (so of course my class would be at 10 am... yes, the one i skipped.) they're going to have free cake and cheap drinks at the student union - which sounds divine, although not so much the drinks; i fail to see how cake and alcohol go together - so i think roommate and i will head over there in a bit to meet up with some other friends. although the thought of that long walk through the cold and slush just makes me want to get back underneath my warm covers.

later on we're all heading to cabot circus (the mall, it's fairly new and ridiculously big) to eat at yo!sushi, arguably the best sushi restaurant on the planet. i have absolutely no credentials as a sushi connoisseur, nor have i visited many sushi restaurants, let alone enough to make that kind of statement, so basically all i'm saying is this place is incredible. there's a conveyor belt that runs throughout the entire restaurant carrying small colored plates of many varied types of sushi and desserts that you can collect at your leisure, and when you've eaten to your heart's content the waiter simply counts how many of which colored plates you've accrued to determine your bill. best part? their website has student discount coupons that we print off everytime we know we're going to go. excellent.

well, my homework beckons with a disapproving finger. i planned on getting more done last night, but i made this blog instead. okay, homer, bronte, and yes, you too voltaire, i'm coming, i'm coming. sheesh.