I love Cheltenham

I love Cheltenham. 

I walked to FCH for my first creative writing (Prose Fundamentals) class of the semester, along with Aubree, Kelly, Katie and Danielle. It's another of those classes we Americans have invaded, along with Archaeology of Roman Britain, in which we consume about half the class. Our actual tutor wasn't in class because he apparently got the crap beaten out of him on High Street a few weeks ago (??) so we had a rather boring, uninformed lady fill in for him. We did, however, read the first chapter of Notes on a Scandal by Zoe Heller (I was the only one in the class to have read it previously) and talked about story vs. plot, point of view, etc. Very basic stuff, but it's taking care of my creative expression credit back home. After class I checked Zadie Smith's "White Teeth" out of the library, as it is on the booklist and our tutor wants us to spend an hour a day reading. Unfortunately I'm still trying to get through a book I brought from home, but after I'm done with that, "White Teeth" should keep me occupied for a while.

I came home, had my usual lunch: turkey, lettuce and cheddar cheese on whole wheat bread, Activia yogurt, potato chips and lemonade. Then Danielle and I had tea and biscuits...the assimilation into English ways hasn't taken long. I read for a while, then went out with Danielle and my neighbors Richard and Marc. We went to the electronics store so Richard could get a headset, then went to the bookstore in search of some required reading. Unfortunately they were out of stock of "The Odyssey," which I need for class tomorrow, probably because all of my classmates have snatched it up already. I'll check back tomorrow. After that, we ducked into another small book shop, then a music store, which felt like walking onto the set of "Once." Obviously, it was a pretty awesome place to be.

But seriously, I am so close to absolutely everything here. My dorm, Regency Hall, is in a great place in the city. We're not actually on a uni campus, so instead we're surrounded by cafes, book stores, music shops, and little bars. The Brewery, a brand new shopping center, is less than ten minutes' walk from here and houses several restaurants and bars, upscale shopping, and a movie theatre that offers student discounts. I saw two movies last week: Taken, with Liam Neeson (which is why I'm never going to Paris on my own- I don't wanna get kidnapped and drugged to Albanians and then sold to some gross old shiek!!) and The Duchess, with Keira Knightley, which I'd been dying to see. As I predicted, it was pretty fabulous. Ralph Fiennes was such an evil bastard in that movie! He gave his own Lord Voldemort a run for his money.

Aside from the Brewery, I am about a five minutes' walk from High Street, which is lined with shops of all kinds, clubs, bars and restaurants. There are usually buskers of some kind, and many hobos with dogs handing out pamphlets. It's the coolest thing to hear music as you walk along- like my own soundtrack! I do all of my grocery and convenience store shopping here, armed with my recyclable grocery bags, and lug everything home on my shoulders. The Promenade, a scenic, pedestrians-only area, is lined with high-end shops and stylish places to eat. Buskers abound, fresh flower stands pop up everywhere (Heather has promised to visit one on my birthday!) and Neptune's fountain is there, though it is currently blocked by construction crates...I wonder what they're doing to it? I can also catch the bus here to the city of Gloucester, which is just what I did on Saturday, but more on that later.

I have everything I could want within walking distance, and that's a lot of the reason why I want to stay here.

More later.

Currently listening to: Space Travel is Boring cover by Sun Kil Moon...quite possibly the most beautiful song ever.

Also: Cartwheels by The Reindeer Section is pretty amazing too.