A SPAmazing day.

Bath is home of the Thermae Spa, which uses the natural hot spring waters of Bath, which I can only describe as liquid heaven. I don't know why I didn't go sooner. Kelly and I headed over there today to enjoy 4 hours basking in the relaxing waters of what I like to call an "adult waterpark." The spa had 2 pools [with NOODLES!], one of which was on the roof overlooking the city landscape, AND an array of scented steam rooms. The steam rooms, however, took some getting used to. When we went into the first one, it was lavendar scented, and I could barely breathe. The oxygen level felt like it was nonexistent with all the steam and the hot air in there, not to mention sitting down on the benches burned your but right off! As I sweated my way from one scented room to the next, I started to enjoy the challenge of seeing how long I could last in each. I found the key to success was not moving at all and to maintain shallow breathing at regular intervals. It almost felt like survivor training. All in all, I've never been so relaxed in my entire life (well minus a few amazing naps). I think I might have to go back for a massage before I leave as a little going away present to myself :)

The Secret Library.

Today Kelly came to visit from London, and thus I left the sheltered safety of my room to go out and take another stab at enjoying Bath. I have to say that this day turned monumental in the blink of an eye. I finally discovered the Bath Public Libary. The funny part of it is, the building that the library is in, was the first building I went into upon arriving in Bath. Unfortunately, the library is tucked into its own corner on the second floor, hidden from outsiders [ a quality that is both amazing and horrible at the same time, since I myself am an outsider, but love the idea of having my very own "secret" library]. Anyway, so today I received my very own Bath library card, so far my most treasured souvenir. Don't you wish you had my life?

"One of the advantages of being disorderly is that one is constantly making exciting discoveries."

I always C myself into A and B conversations.

I was on the good ole bright oranage bus today, where I seem to spend the majority of my time in Bath, and I couldn't help but overhear the conversation of the girls standing next to me. What first peaked my interest was that one of the girls had an accent that was ALMOST American, but there was something that just wasn't quite right. So there I was trying for the life of me to figure out where she could be from, looking at the brand of her clothes, and any other hints that might be lurking around. You could call me Nancy Drew. Anyway, she was describing a date she had gone on recently and I had to laugh and put a hold on my investigation. Here's a recap of the best first date conversation ever:

Girl: So do you have any dogs?
Guy: No
Girl: Well, would you consider yourself a dog or a cat person?
Guy: I guess a dog person.
Girl: Why is that?
Guy: Because you can actually say that you like other people's dogs, but you can't ever say that you like someone else's cat. I mean nobody even understands why cat owners like their cats let alone other people.

Think of the most ridiculous things you can. Welcome to my reality.

Right now I am so angry. I mean I am seriously mad, annoyed, crossed, vexed, irritated, indignant, irked; furious, enraged, infuriated, incensed, raging, fuming, seething, beside myself, choleric, outraged; livid, up in arms, foaming at the mouth ANGRY. There are not even enough words to describe how aggravated I am.

I realize that 99.9% of my frustration is derived from my 4,000 word group report that I can't even begin to account for. Instead, I'm going to take my frustration out on the newly posted rules on internet use in the dorms.

My favorite part about the whole situation is that the new banned items were revealed to us today in an email that starts out by innocently stating: "We have updated the Frequently Asked Questions area relating to use of ResNet," as if the university did some minor tweaking of the website.

I then read further down and I find that we are no longer allowed to:

1. Listen to shared music on itunes because it is considered breaking copyright laws. (I personally am a little confused as to why this is infact a feature on itunes if it is illegal?)
2. Set up our own radio station, including podcasts, because it is illegal without the correct license. (How I miss my podcasts...)
3. Use Skype (not new news, but still ludacris.)
4. Watch dowloaded or streaming television shows. (goodbye grey's, lost, and ugly betty)
5. Watch any type of video, including those on YouTube (taking away YouTube is like taking away drugs in the 70s)

Then there is of course my favorite line of the whole email:

"Remember we will suspend the connection of anyone whose computer breaks our rules."

To be honest, YOU MIGHT AS WELL SUSPEND MY CONNECTION. I'm actually surprised they didn't suspend facebook and instant messenger while they were at it! I feel like a five year old. I bet my mom is in cahoots with the university trying to get me away from my computer and out into the fresh air.

"You become what you think about all day long."

I was actually just thinking about how I am probably the most pessimistic person alive. My Dad's goodbye gift to me when I came to study abroad was a book entitled "The Little Gold Book of YES! Attitude: How to find, build, and keep a YES! Attitude for a lifetime of success" Unfortunately I never made it past the first chapter, which is mostly endorsing copyright of the phrase "YES! attitude.” Which probably means I could get in trouble for even blogging about it. You would think, however, that the author would applaud the fact that I have made it to the first step of the recovery process: admitting I have a problem. Well, I'm assuming that the book probably outlines some sort of cycle like the stages of grief or the 12 steps to recovering from alcohol abuse. I might have to glance over it on the plane home in case my Dad asks. In my defense, however, I find that when you have a pessimistic attitude, you don't expect anything, and when you don't expect anything you are pleasantly surprised by what you get.

Ok this is hilarious. I just opened the book, now that I've actually been talking about it, I peaked my own interest. This is the page I blindly opened to:

"FUNNY SELF-TEST: What are your first thoughts? What are your first responses? How do you react to ordinary situations? What do you say? Can you think funny? Can you create a smile? Can you elicit one? What about your eight hours at work? Where's your sense of humor there? How does work impact your sense of humor and your sense of funny?

CAUTION ONE: Funny is not to be confused with cynical.
CAUTION TWO: Funny is not to be confused with biting humor."

...so now I'm a pessimist and I'm not funny. great.

No turning back now.

So this morning I my alarm went off at 8:15AM, and of course I rolled out of bed at exactly 10:15AM. I realized that today was the day I decided I would finally go to church. It has been looming over my head ever since I've been here, and TODAY was the day I was actually going to take action. This late start didn't really help my motivation, but even I was starting to grow tired of all my excuses. So I put on pretty much the only pair of pants I own here that aren't jeans and a suitable shirt, and headed out the door. I decided it would be interesting to experience Bath Abbey, which isn't Catholic, but rather is the Church of England, which I don't really fully understand, but I figured I am in England, so why not? So I get to the church, which is exremely beautiful, large doors, stained glass, organ, the works. I made my way through the tourists, and peeked through the doors and suddenly fear crept in. As I looked in the pews, I realized that I would be the youngest person in the room. I turned to go and then was visibly having an internal conflict as I paced back towards and away from the church about five times before deciding to go in the side doors so as not be as noticible. I picked a seat in the middle, and sat down. My first victory, I had actually made it inside! A few minutes later the man next to me, who looked to be in his middle 30s (probably the second youngest person to me), turned to me and said "Hi, my name is James." I was a little thrown off because A) we were in a church where no one else was talking and B) his voice was quite booming. I returned his hello introducing myself.
Five minutes of silence, and then the conversation went something like this:

James: "So Katie, where are you from?"
Me: "Virginia"
James: "Oh! I've sold areial photos of Virginia."
Me: " Really? So what exactly do you do?"
James: "Right now, nothing."
Me: "Oh..."
2 minutes of silence...I didn't have a quick recovery for that one.

Me: Do you live in Bath?"
James: "Yes."
Me: "Well, I'm just here studying for the semester."
James: "At the university or at Bath Spa."
Me: "Bath University, I mean the University of Bath, wait is that right?"
James: "Interesting."

This is why I should never be left alone in churches, no make that should never be left alone anywhere. But I did enjoy the mass, and James turned out to be quite the singer... I was going to suggest that he join the choir after the mass ended, but he left before the sermon... apparently I scare people off? in church?