-English people do not rinse their dishes after washing them. OK, probably not all English people, but three I've met so far just put the wet dishes on the rack to dry...and they're still covered in suds. I asked if that left a soapy film on stuff that they could taste (I mean, really, you'd assume you could still taste some soap on a glass or something), and they looked at me like I was crazy. This lack of rinsing dishes is not a UK phenomenon that I will ever participate in.

-It's getting cold here, to the point where it can almost be considered "proper cold," but then I remember I don't think it's ever gone below freezing, and I don't think we've had a single frost. I think I'm acclimating, sadly, because I'm cold when I walk to and from campus every day, but then I remember what it's like in CT around this time of year, and I laugh and miss it. My room is freezing, but I like it like that. My only complaint about my room is the ventilation: moisture just remains trapped in here, and it makes it smell moldy. No one else seems to have this problem. There is actually mold growing on the wall around the window, and also in the bathroom, but since the entire bathroom is made of plastic, it can mostly be wiped off.

-I think English lightbulbs are different: last night, the wind blew my window open and knocked my lamp over, shattering the bulb. Today I bought a new bulb, identical to the shattered one, and...I can't figure out how to put it in the stupid lamp. I swear it doesn't fit, and it definitely doesn't screw in like our lightbulbs. How many Americans does it take to screw in a lightbulb?

-I have two papers, a presentation and a (stupid) paper proposal to write in the next two weeks. I think someone should just put me out of my misery now. It's actually the paper proposal that's putting me over the edge: I don't want to have to write this paper, I don't really care about it, and...I honestly didn't think I'd have to worry about it, since I thought Dickinson wouldn't care if I continued taking Humanities 310 or not, since I'm still paying them absurd amounts of tuition for another semester.

-I have a little Christmas tree, and it makes me happy.

-I've decided I want a tuxedo jacket. I have to keep in mind that I have nowhere to wear lots of these things I admire these days, but I've seen people wear tuxedo jackets with hoodies and jeans here, and I love the look. My mission now is to find a tuxedo jacket that looks like this one from J. Crew that isn't over $200:

I credit Gwyneth Paltrow with the style, even though it probably came from a bunch of sources, since she wore one with a sequined dress to the Iron Man premiere in 2007, two years before either thing was in mainstream style.
Gah, let's not remind me how much I'd kill to be Gwyneth Paltrow.