My apartment is on the lower (basement) level. To allow for sunlight, the basement apartments all have these awesome, massive old windows, and there is essentially a moat around the building to allow for sunlight. In my case, that moat is covered by a grate that serves as the disabled-access ramp to the building. It was a bit loud on move-in day, but has been quite since.

Unfortunately, my apartment is directly below the front door / reception. What this means is that everyone who smokes convenes essentially in front of my apartment (albeit about eight feet above) at all hours. If they’re making their way back from the pubs, they stop and hang out in front first. And these windows, while old and stately, do nothing to keep out the cold, let alone the high-pitched slightly-drunken squeals of over-stimulated graduate students living in a foreign country for the first time.

I’m exhausted. I’d love to sleep in (it’s pretty calm in the mornings), but I have to be up at 7 for a 9 AM class. It’s quiet now, but generally these moments of silence last just long enough for me to *almost* fall asleep, only to be awakened from that odd pre-dream state where one’s heart starts racing and it takes a minute to figure out what just happened. I have one of those noise block Brookstone toys, but like an idiot I plugged it into an adaptor without a converter, and  blew out the plug. Tomorrow I will track down batteries or a British voltage plug, but for now –

Oh goodie. They’re back. Arg.