Things to Know: International Edition

[You had to know this was coming. How could I possibly not do this Wandering Sagittarius original while abroad?]

- Cheap blush wine really only tastes well when it's mixed with other cheap blush wine.

- This whole cooking thing? Gets a little easier your second week in a foreign country.

- My mother and I sat at the airport before I left and looked at all the screaming children in strollers, trying to decide which one was going to be near me.

- Never did tell her that we had a screaming baby across the aisle from us.

- Which screamed for approximately two hours.

- Don't ask me what happened after those two hours sitting on the tarmac because I fell asleep shortly after the plane actually got into the air.

- And basically woke up again as we were landing.

- I keep waiting for the moment when I get clipped by a car since I always look left instead of right first.

- I really like British cheese. Like, a lot.

- My housemates are starting to give me the fuzzy eyeball over the amount of cheese that I'm eating.

- Also giving me the slightly fuzzy eyeball over the fact that it's mild cheddar and not mature.

- I found episodes of Hornblower on YouTube and it's basically made my night.

- There will eventually be a video tour of where I live. Eventually.

- "So, eh, you don't like our singin', eh?"

- Who would have figured that High School Musical 3 would have made me homesick.

- Third song in, I might add.

- My Focus, Murfee, had a grand old time in his aviator goggles and helmet on the wing of the plane on the way over.

- Then had a wonderful four hour trip in the luggage rack on the bus.

- The only thing he's not quite happy about is that the pile of dirty clothes is in the wardrobe (that does not lead to Narnia, despite the right geographical location, roughly) and that he can't crawl from there and into bed with me as readily as he usually can.

- The wall is on the wrong side. And I can't really change it.

- I miss the Mayhem Maker. And my sister. Hell, I miss the whole damn family.

- It's been a good episode and a half and where the hell is my buddy Archie?

- Seriously, when do we bust him out of jail?

- I like the fact that I have my own bathroom, but I don't like the fact that everybody can hear when the water's running so they know when I'm in the shower.

- Same thing when everybody else takes one.

- It shouldn't be a surprise but a majority of college kids who have their own kitchens survive on ready-made, stick-me-in-the-oven meals that require not very much culinary skill.

- One of these is pizza.

- I cannot tell you the last time I had wheat crust pizza.

- And I am incredibly grateful that I can find wheat pasta on this side of the pond.

- I finally bucked up and shaved my legs yesterday. Hadn't shaved them since I left New York.

- I blew up my alarm clock the first night here: Plugged in the adapter, didn't plug in the voltage converter, and ten minutes later there was a pop and the smell of burning plastic.

- The Duchess in The Duchess and the Devil is giving Horatio a run for his money. It's absolutely hilarious.

- The British eat what might be considered a garbage plate - minus all the fried food.

- Waffles with sausage and spaghetti hoops is quite popular.

- I live with awesome people - barring one shitty incident - and couldn't be happier.

- I find that I really like it here.

- I think someone just thew up - is continuing to throw up - beneath my window.

- And the stench is wafting through the open window.

- Correction: Not under the window, but in the grassy area out front of the building in general.

- "Damn close, sir. I give them at least a minute to sink us."

- Q-Tips are a marvelous invention.