Dear Shrubbery,

Hello!

In case you're confused, I know that it's October.  But 
since I'm here in England I get to be all cool and use the 
European way of writing the date.  I also get to use words 
like bollocks and shite and queue and can spell things 
funny and get away with it!  

First, let me reassure you that the two sayings about jolly 
old England are true.  The food DOES suck and it rains 
EVERY damn day.  But...bygones.  For the most part, this is 
a lovely little country.  For one thing, their chocolate 
kicks ass.  Cadbury Dairy Milk is a gift from God!  Also, 
the accents are so nice to hear.  When you come from North 
Carolina, you get tired of the 5 or so variations of the 
redneck southern hick accent, but over here the variations 
are just fun.  Especially when they're Scottish...raar!


One big adjustment has been going back to dorm life.  I 
live in the most ghetto residence hall on campus.  We don't 
even have phones!  There's one phone for every 3 or 4 
halls!  It's terrible.  The room is tiny, and the bed is 
soooo uncomfortable, but I have wonderful neighbors so I 
actually rather enjoy it.  You'll hear about my neighbors 
plenty more in the future, but here's a quick rundown:


Fran--British girl next to me, we have almost identical 
taste in music and are hosting a radio show together.

Robin--American girl who is nice when she isn't being a 
drama queen or bitching about the other people from her 
school who are here.
Rebecca--British girl across the hall who is very sweet, 
but seems to be a bit more on the reserved side than most 
of us.
William--Dutch guy next to me who plays football 4 hours a 
day, hits on every female in sight, worships The 
Godfather...but drinks peach Bacardi Breezers.
Kristine--American girl who is totally confused by the 
accents, food, and general culture of this country...she's 
definitely from Worcester, Mass.
Melissa--American girl who I've talked to maybe twice.  
She's one of the ones who Robin hates and seems to enjoy 
only hanging out with other Americans.  They take over our 
kitchen once a week and it sucks!
Silvia--Italian girl who tries her best to keep up with us, 
but doesn't speak the best English...very funny, and 
because she offered to make us lasagna one night, quite 
possibly my favorite person on the hall!  :)
Liz--another American of the Melissa variety.  I don't like 
Dickinson College just because of these people...sorry, 
Dickinson!
Alex--British girl who is totally a girl-- we gossip about 
celebrities, boys, makeup, etc.  Also my only access to a 
TV here.
Lee--British guy, the rare 3rd year who still lives on 
campus.  He is a very nice guy--he and William are 
hilarious together--but isn't around much.

So there you go--my hallmates.  Print this letter and use 
it as a reference for the future!  :)

My big adventure so far was my trip to Scotland last 
weekend.  Scotland was cold, but very beautiful.  I had 
about 15 minutes before I had to catch the train so I broke 
down and ate at the Burger King in Glasgow Central, and 
much to my surprise there was a shorter version of Jessica 
Brandt taking orders.  I felt like telling her "My Shrub 
column is coming soon, I promise!" but I think she would 
have been totally confused and simply asked "Eat here or 
take away?"  Oh well.  

All in all, life in England is good.  Now if I could just 
do something about that slipping exchange rate....

Love,
Ginger

Editor's Note: If you have any questions about England or have something you'd like to ask Ginger to do for you while in England, email her at theshrub@theshrubbery.com. All requests will be considered.