Things

Things I miss about the US (or from the US):

• Particular friends of mine I have living there
• The word 'arugula' (it's way cooler than 'rocket')
• Occupy Wall Street, though we certainly have our own (awesome) version here
• Option for legit roadtrips
• 12-hour time
• Professors caring about their students--in fact, prioritising them (WHOA, THAT'S A SHOCKER)
• (My) Knowing its political system
• Earth Balance (soya margarine is not as good!!!)
• Applesauce!!!!!  :(  It's hard to find all the many varieties, including sugar-less, and in the giant containers that I miss...
• Creative manners of vegan cooking--I'm talking about you, seitan and soy protein
• Good-tasting cheap Chinese takeaway (fer realz)
• How the dollar is cheaper to afford than the pound (thank you, strong £, for my ballooning loans & debts!)
• My collection of things I have been building up that is waiting to cross-country-trek with me and move into a terrible little artsy apartment (so far away!).  O my creature comforts!  My lamps, my rugs, my collection of books....
• Cheaper care packages (ie that don't cost $40 to cross an ocean)
• 'Bad fashion'.  Seriously.  Don't judge my layers and sneakers.  Or my bed-hair
• Manners?  Nah!  Casual teenage existence
• Driving on the right side of the road... right, as in 'CORRECT'!  :P  You read that ... correctly.

Things I will miss about Europe/the UK when in the US:

• Free incoming calls/texts
• Awesome cheap mobile pay-as-you-go packages/bundles/plans
• sim cards
• Celsius
• People thinking I'm Canadian--in fact, being certain about it
• The word 'aubergine'
• Public transportation, cycle lanes
• The word 'cycle'
• Also the word 'torch'
• Other words, like 'fancy', 'keen', 'do' ('Do remember to turn out the lights...' &c)
• Inverted commas; 's'es and other variants of British spelling; formatting the date as: dd.mm.yyyy (or, alternately, dd/mm)
• Travelling
• Living in the middle of an international web/nexus
• Being an international person
• Feeling so free!
• London
• Intelligent communication / just, Communication.  Communicating.  Talking.  Saying what you mean!

Things about which I feel ambiguously:

• Formal / polite culture (even their sexual health pamphlets are so proper!)
• Cold weather

In other news, I've become a birthday cake-making monster!  Here's an example of a recent (two-layer chocolate, jam-lined-middle, buttercream-frosted) one for one of my best friends here:

Also, just for fun, here are some pictures of Cambridge in the snow:

 The Leckhampton House

Snowperson in front of Queens' College

The Mathematical Bridge, Queens' College