that's what i'll do

i don't think i ever wrote an entry about my living arrangements!
according to Wikipedia, the dorm i live in--Ramsay Hall--is where Coldplay got started. the band lived in this dorm while attending UCL, and they've been making mellow music ever since. i've been listening to a lot of Coldplay lately. i'm particularly obsessed with this achingly beautiful song.

and here's a view outside my window. it's the British Telecom Tower. according to my London guidebook, it was "built for the Post Office in 1961-5." Now, it's a "television, radio, and telecommunications tower. At the height of terrorist activity in the 1970s, the revolving restaurant at the top was closed and has never re-opened." when i first arrived, i didn't realize what it was. i was flipping through my guidebook, saw a picture of it, and thought "hmm...that looks awfully familiar..." it took me a while to finally recognize it. a few weeks ago, the tower was being flashy and colorful, to mark the 500th day till the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.

 

this is what the BTT normally

looks like at night

this is what the BTT normally

looks like at dusk 

and this is what the BTT looks like

when it is celebrating the 500th day

till the summer Olympics

i've developed a new habit of living, which is to sleep early (12am), get up early (8am), have breakfast and read/study/browse blogs/write/pray. make lunch. then do whatever my heart is set on doing for the rest of the afternoon before working on final papers in the evening.

today that goal was to finalize my backpacking trip to Austria and Switzerland. i booked a plane ticket to Salzburg, a train ticket to Vienna, and an overnight train ticket to Lucerne. i'm so excited for the overnight train--i reserved the highest bunk in a train cabin with three levels of bunks. it's going to be an adventure! i'll be in Salzburg the first two days (pretending i'm one of the Vonn Trapp kids), then i'm spending one day in Vienna (paying homage to all the gods of classical music) before i get on the overnight train to Lucerne, where i will be hiking/mountain viewing/riding ski lifts during the last two days of my trip.

i am going alone. i am very nervous. but SO EXCITED!!