Sleep? What's that?

I'm not sure how scientifically accurate this statement is, but I think my summer has indefinitely ruined my sleeping schedule, at least till I get back to Irvine.

This was the first summer in 5 or so years where I didn't have a summer job. Yes, I took summer school, but it was for an hour each morning so that never got me tired enough. I can't go asleep unless I'm absolutely exhausted. So at UCI, having school and work from 9am to 7pm got me adequately tired enough where I would fall asleep pretty quickly after doing some homework and studying. But because I came from a restless, easy summer to England, my sleep patterns haven't been getting any better. There's probably a few reasons for this.

1) I'm not tired when I come home from school. I spend 8 hours out of the week in the classroom, as opposed to 16. And I don't even have a job, which usually takes up 15 hours of my week. So I sometimes quite literally sit on my ass doing (almost) nothing. I mean, it's productive work. But it's not the same kind of work.

2) I don't have homework to worry about. The only things I have to turn in are:

Week 7:
2,000 word essay for Medicine, Identity and Technology
Week 9:
4500 word essay for Stuart England
2000 word essay for MIT
Week 10:
2500 word essay for Politics of the USA
2500 word essay for Political Theory from Hobbes

I'm going to spend next week getting started on these essays, and I'm halfway done with my first essay. But without constant midterms and exams and other things to worry about, I find myself being too idle for my own good. The reading for two of my classes overlap, and I don't need to read for USA, because I've already studied everything. Blahhh. Medicine is the only thing I need to worry about.

3) My flatmates don't go to bed till 3, 4am. And they're not exactly the quietest people haha. But they're sweet. It's just hard to fall asleep when there's a ruckus outside, and I don't want to feel like an old maid and yell at them.

4) All my friends are online late at night! The 8 hour time difference is killer, because if I'm considering getting to bed around 1am, it's about 4 in the afternoon and people are always online talking. And then we spend hours catching up and by the time I realize I should be in bed, I've reached the point where I'm awake again.

5) I'm already a natural night-owl, so everything just aggregates into ridiculousness.

I need more sleep!!