The Flat

My flat is located on South Clerk Street and it is a 6 person flat on the fourth floor, Flat 21. The location is perfect. It is on a main street, so just outside the door there are tons of shops. Right across the street is a chocolate shop, which I have not been into yet as I am afraid that if I go once I am going to end up going every day. I browsed in the window the other day and they had these massive chocolate cupcakes with Mars Bars in them. They looked fantastic. There is another shop on the corner of the street called Peckham's. Peckham's is a bakery/deli which also has a variety of biscuits, drinks, and snacks. They are somewhat expensive, but it is such a lovely shop I couldn't help popping in.

There are also a lot of fish and chip places in the area. So far I have discovered there are two kinds of fish and chip shops: Indian fish and chip shops and Mediterranean fish and chip shops. The Indian fish and chip shops serve fish and chips alongside Indian snacks while the Mediterranean shops serve fish and chips alongside pizza, kebabs, and felafel. Mostly, the places tend to be Mediterranean. My first fish and chips experience was at The Meadows Fish Bar. They covered my fish and chips in "brown sauce" which seemed a little dodgy at first, but was a nice addition to the fish. The chips had a good flavor, but they were a little too soggy (due mostly to the sauce). All in all it was really good, and now I want to stop writing, walk the 5 minutes over there, and get me some fish and chips. It was also at The Meadows Fish Bar that I tried a fried Mars Bar. It was so delicious. Frying makes the Mars Bar just the perfect amount of gooey and the batter on the outside keeps the chocolate from getting everywhere and going where it belongs, into your stomach. The only thing keeping me from eating a meal of fish and chips everyday followed by a fried Mars Bar is the memory of how greasy my hands were when I had finished. I can't even imagine how much oil was used. Sends a bit of a shiver down my spin.

So more about my flat. It is actually more of a 6 person hallway with a lounge/kitchen then a flat. You walk in and you can either take a left or a right. If you take a left you find the door to the kitchen and four other doors to single rooms. If you take a right you find two doors to two single rooms, one of which is mine. In the middle are the bathrooms, one for each side of the hallway. For those of you at Hampshire, it is sort of configured like Merrill. My room is really nice, and not too loud because it is on the side of the flat that isn't facing the street. I don't have an amazing view of the city, but it is nice and in the distance I can see the spire of a church. Also right below me and to the left is some other buildings courtyard. I have my bed against the window and sometimes when I look out I see chickens. My room came with a bed, a nightstand with a reading lamp, a small shelf, an armoire, and a desk. I will take a picture when it is cleaner.

So my flat mates are all girls and there names are Wenqian, Keilani, Su, Phoebe, and Aby. Wenqian is Chinese and she stays in her room mostly. She barely even comes into the kitchen to cook as she keeps a rice cooker and lots of food in her room. I tried to get her to warm up to me by telling her I could speak Chinese, but she didn't seem to care and just went back to her room. She doesn't even say, "Hi" when we do run into each other in the kitchen. Keilani is American and goes to Brown. She is majoring in international studies and is part of the Parliament Program, which means she is taking classes for 5 weeks and the rest of her time here will be spent interning at Parliament. She goes out a lot with friends she has made in her program so I don't see her too much. Su is Malaysian and she is studying medicine. She is really sweet and a hard, hard worker. Phoebe is American and she goes to UChicago. She studies law and politics and is really fun, but she also works really hard. Aby is from London and is a first year medical student. She is tall and lovely and is another hard worker.

Mostly I have been hanging out with Phoebe and Aby. I really like them. On the Friday after the first week of classes the three of us went out to a club called City. However, due to the fact that they are such hard workers most of our hanging out occurs in the flat talking in the lounge area, watching shows and movies, eating dinner together, and sometimes baking. Phoebe and I made peanut butter cookies the other day that were really delicious. I really want to make pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, but I haven't been able to find canned pumpkin here. That brings me to the subject of grocery stores, which are ridiculous here, but I will save that for another entry.