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notajar...
- 18 September, 2006
I lost my exploration log somewhere in the Underside when I ran from home; it's only now occurred to me that this is...something of an exploration on its own, if an unexpected one.
I've been at this school for close to three weeks now, and it's not grown any less strange, though I'm getting used to the fact that people notice me. I suppose it's not something you can avoid getting used to.
I wish my father could see the library here; it's got everything I could imagine wanting to read in it. Angela said that in the Special Collections section, they might have every book ever written, period. Between that and an actual class in literature, I can't think of much that could make this place better, except not being here for the reasons I'm here.
I think Daddy would love the internet as well (though perhaps not America Online) if we could ever have reliable enough connections in the house to make it work. If phones even worked for us, back home. I suppose I could be writing this on the computer they've lent me, in fact, but I'd rather have something I can use everywhere, and I don't know if I can trust that to even work for me if I leave this school.
There's television as well, in the Common Rooms here; it seems to be where the students gather most often when they're not in classes. I'm making friends with Upworlders; it's...I mentioned strange, didn't I. Though most of them seem to be from other worlds entirely; perhaps I can't really call them Upworlders. Many of them know about magic, and at least one's from another planet, so at the very least, they're not the typical sort of people you'd find in London Above.
I'm learning more animal languages; last week it was Dog and today it's to be Dolphin. Yes, not so useful on the Underside, but you never know; perhaps I'll go sailing someday. I'm on an island now, after all, a much smaller one than England.
The class called Constant Vigilance is confusing. It seems to be about dealing with threats and invaders, but also meeting new people who aren't one's enemies. I thought that if I'm ever to even begin trying to finish what my father started on the Underside, it might be helpful. I don't think I was wrong about that, but it's a bit... disturbing, perhaps. This time we had to try to get someone evil to reveal their plans, though my instinct with evil people leans a bit towards the 'run like hell' side. Luckily we weren't talking to actual evil people, just our classmates pretending, so I didn't have to call the dice on that one.
I've signed up for both self-defence and fencing; these aren't classes, but groups put together by the students themselves, to learn and practice such things on their own. One of the boys who's running the fencing club offered his sword should I ever need help, and I think he meant it. He's not the only one who's offered to help, and they all seemed sincere. This is a strange place, but it's a good one, I think.
