Countdown

Exactly in line with popular belief, it rains a lot in England. Two days ago I had to run 15 minutes through a total downpour. The strange thing, though, is how long things take to dry in England. My shoes are still wet. Does water have a higher boiling point in England? Is that why it rains so much?

My hall, or "flat," has six rooms on it that share a kitchen. So far, four of the rooms have been taken by Americans, and we were hoping British people would move into the other two. No such luck. Yesterday a girl from Ohio suddenly appeared in one of the rooms.

Why would they quarantine the Americans like this? It's not like we're Burmese or Estonian, some rare people who don't speak English and desperately need a home base of ethnic homogeneity. We are freaking Americans. Can we not live abroad unless we have someone within ten feet who knows about college football? I'm kind of annoyed. Getting invited to parties is going to be harder.