Ethan Knox

(2-21)– Didn’t do much today, other than chores and homework. Like we thought, the long weekend with no plans was really needed. I finished most of my assignments and read The Winter’s Tale, a Shakespeare play I actually really liked but that seemed almost Greek compared to his normal works. I think in general I could say its one of my favorites, based purely on a first read.

I really enjoyed hanging out with some people at home, though. It’s nice to be around some people when I’m used to living alone and commuting to classes. I hope we get up to more later on this week.

(2-22)– Today was basically the same as yesterday. I think that because the first month has passed, the honeymoon stage is over and we’re pretty used to each other, but we also know our neighborhood pretty well and are trying to save money. There’s a bit of a balance that we are trying to strike because I don’t want to stop doing interesting things when we’re in a cool city like London.

Mia, who wants to be an epidemiologist, also convinced me to come out for a little walk to go see the Broad Street Pump, which is where the cholera epidemic was first traced by John Snow. There’s a memorial on the site now, and Mia has wanted to see it since day one. She was pretty amazed, and as a lover of morbid things, I was too.

Some of the other kids went to a Cage The Elephant concert but had trouble getting there because of the tube workers’ strike. Some other people stayed in, but the rest of the group decided tonight would be a good night to go out. We partied a little at home and got everyone hyped up to dance, and then went back down to The Roxy. I was a lot more careful with my ID this time and got inside, and even though it was super crowded, there were a lot of people our age. I felt pretty good and was even able to dance more than I normally do! Although we didn’t stay out long enough for the others to meet up with us, I would still consider it a pretty good night. I ended up staying up most of the night and talking with Nicole, who made me homemade french fries (delicious!) and then went to bed right before the sun came up.

(2-23)– A couple of us (Jacob, Brian, Nicole and I) went to the Hackney Flea Market today. To get there, we had to take the double-decker red bus, which was exciting since none of us have used them so far. When you sit on the top level and look out the front windows, it doesn’t look like you’re going to make any of the turns–and maybe even smack into some of the cars for good measure.

Once we got there, though, the Market was pretty cool. For a pound, we went in and saw all kinds of old things, from clothes to furniture to art. It was a little too much actually since it was also really crowded in the building, but to see everything was a cool experience. London markets are a little different from American ones; there’s a greater sense of camaraderie, and a lot of bustling as people hunt for deals. I love it, but maybe in small installments.

Out of all the cool things I found, I ended up spending 15 pounds on something that always catches my eye, photographs. In this case, it was actually a whole photo album of a Dutch family on holiday in the 1950s, and I really just got obsessed. The shopkeeper was so nice when I smiled her way, and we talked a bit about how weird and cool it was that someone prized the experience so much to create a beautiful book of memories (a little morbid, I guess– I told you that was my jam). Anyway, I brought it home with me, and whether haunted or not, I’ll keep it close during this trip.

The rest of the day was a bit of a blur. I napped for a bit and watched some Netflix, which was definitely nice (I can’t imagine doing that during a regular semester). I’m sure we’ll wrap up this weekend quietly tomorrow since Tuesday is busy with Westminster, a group meeting, and a West End show. Cheers!