Top o' the mornin' to you

Hey dudes,
While I'm here in N. Ireland I thought I'd start a blog to let friends and enemies know I'm still alive.
I hadn't planned on starting a blog. I really don't like the word blog, to start out with; it's a word that doesn't need to exist, like "GILF" or "staycation." But here we are.

My computer's being mailed to me. I didn't bring it because my exchange program told me that I wouldn't have the internet in my room (false) and that the outlet adapter might make the computer blow up (hopefully false). In two days I'll hopefully have it back in my fat, pale embrace and be able to load pictures of Belfast onto the internet for your web enjoyment as well as be able to charge my ipod.

But let's catch up, shall we?

When I left a week ago I had three connecting flights and a total of 15 travel hours ahead of me. The flight connections were so tight that I wasn't able to grab anything to eat for the entire trip. I was reliant on the pretzels they gave me once (which I devoured greedily and summarily regretted) and the most fucking awful airplane food I've ever head (which I devoured greedily and summarily told myself to stop being a baby and suck it up). Remember when airlines stopped serving food and everyone complained? Those people forgot the wisdom of the standup comics: airplane food is a soggy mush of despair and shattered expectations. It is the excretion Satan produces in the final layer of Hell having eaten history's most reviled traitors. It's very bad and I don't like it.
After dinner I fell into an uneasy sleep, only to wake up at three in the morning from hunger pains and air-sickness. The whole plane was asleep, making me feel like the last kid awake at a sleepover in a strange house. A strange, flying house. As I rocked back and forth, sweating and hoping I wouldn't throw up the only thing that kept me sane was the Wachowski bros' "Speed Racer" movie, which, can we all agree, is fucking awesome? I initially watched it because the steady action and candy-colors were soothing and there was no needless exposition or subtlety to distract me, but I ended up watching it twice and falling in love with it.

When I landed I found that the airline had lost my bags and I went to the hotel without. In two days I got my clothes back and, after a week of expensive calls to BMI and the airport, they found the guitar Hanju lovingly gave me (thanks Hanju!).

I'm living in student housing with a bunch of first year students and two other Americans. Most of the Americans that I've met here make me hate Americans.

Speaking of which, did you know that we dress like slobs? Every European male I've seen is really well put together. Even their bums dress nicer than our bums! In comparison, my aesthetic of found-clothes/no-aesthetic looks awful and makes me very self-conscious. I've been buying new clothes and actually paying attention to fashion, relying on latent instincts picked up from Matt. It's not that I'm a metrosexual yet, but if things keep going the way they are I might look quite nice when I get home.
I'm also picking up the accent, which is fucking bizarre and sounds weird coming out of my yankee mouth. Being around foreigners has also opened up some strange knee-jerk demon in my brain which is now inventing slang without my consent. Today I found myself something was "street-legal," which is fucking idiotic. I was talking to a bank clerk! What does that even mean? The strange thing is that, while Americans would question me, Europeans just assume I'm saying American things and they don't bat an eye, which has spurred this demon on. It's just not street-legal.


I'm going to go explore the gym here while it's free this week. Next week I'll have to start paying £12.50 a month, which is, like, twenty-four dollars. It's exhorbitant!
My next post'll probably be when I get my computer and it won't be as acidic. In all honesty, this place is really awesome and I'm having a great time (or a craic as people say here). It's just that writing about having a great time is boring to write and read. That's why even childrens' books have conflict in them. Did you soak up that bit of wisdom I just passed on? I'm an English major.

I'll write again soon, put some photos up and share some of my dream journal with you. Hope everyone is having a sweet time at Bennington/other and, if I ever get a microphone and camera, we can Skype. Or I'll long-distance call you.