Anirudh in London: Schizophrenia and Reading Week
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    Schizophrenia, or what happens when your friends visit you in London

    Since I’ve been in London I’ve had a few friends visit me, either because they’re visiting from somewhere on the continent or just taking a pit-stop on their way to somewhere infinitely more exciting (India, Uganda). To say the least, having them around was awesome, refreshing, a nice reminder of home. Plus, after living in London for so long, you tend forget about the things that charmed you in the first place. So when new peeps come into town you get to re-experience all the goodies overlooked as of late.

    Anirudh’s abroad in London for the 2010-2011 school year.

    Although, having never seen these people outside the United States, I get a weird shock upon their arrival. A good shock, a fantastic shock, but a weird one nonetheless. My brain struggles as it toggles between Northwestern-me and London-me. Trust me, those “me’s” are very different. And when my friends ship off, it takes me a few days to get back to staying London-me. It’s in those days that I can really see the difference between the two Ani’s. Some examples:

  • Northwestern-Ani actually studies, does work and is diligent about both. Seeing Northwestern friends reminds me of a Northwestern mentality that emulates Adderall for me. So when these friends leave, a little bit of that Adderall is still running around my veins. In short and in contrast to London-Ani, I did enough work today to cover me for the next three weeks.
  • London-Ani really does rage almost too much. Northwestern-Ani considers staying in on a Monday night (I emphasize considers). London-Ani has no such cognitive mechanism.
  • London-Ani sleeps on average four-to-six more hours a night more than Northwestern-Ani. No surprise there.
  • London-Ani intentionally flirts with women over the age of 28. Northwestern-Ani doesn’t (save for this one time downtown…).
  • Northwestern-Ani uses reading week to get some work done (here I emphasize some). London-Ani…well read on to hear about reading week in London…
  • Reading Week (yeah, bitches)

    Back on campus (and during the day) you’ll find me at Norbucks. A lot. Maybe I’ll switch it up and go to Kafein or (on a really, really bad day) the library. In stark contrast, however, I spend the days and nights of my London reading weeks not in a coffee shop or library, hell not even a pub or bar! Nope, I spend them in places like Italy, or in the case of this term, Prague, Berlin and Amsterdam (note: this will be my second trip to Amsterdam in three months…for the Van Gogh museum, duh?). Needless to say, the only thing I’ll probably be reading is Sky Mall. What can I say? It’s gonna be a pretty fantastic reading week, again.

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