Tomorrow marks exactly three weeks until I return home. Yes, the ex-patriot will soon will be back meandering the avenues and streets of her home country. Can’t wait to engage in some Christmasing :) Although London has already decked itself out with tons of Christmas decorations on all the big commercial streets, it still doesn’t beat elaborate house light displays – classy or otherwise.
Last weekend Elizabeth travelled on up to Manchester, England for the weekend. Manchester is very different from London – central Manchester is so small… and quiet. And clean, very clean. Our hotel was pretty amazing. As you probably all know, our current dwelling in London isn’t exactly the Ritz, so our junior executive suite (upgraded!) was quite the gift. We got to watch TV! I haven’t watched TV in over two months! They’re obsessed with X-Factor here (the British American Idol) so I got to enjoy some Simon Cowell insults. And then I watched terrible British pop music videos, yeah! Robbie Williams is big here again. Our hotel was serving afternoon tea, so we ate lots of tea sandwiches, scones, and pastries – I like afternoon tea. We then basically stayed in our hotel room the entire night because it was so nice. We ordered room service and everything because we decided to live it up.
The next day we went to Manchester’s Christmas fair, where everybody was eating huge German sausages because apparently meat is what Christmas is all about. I didn’t like the smell. We tried mull wine (read: hot Sangria) and ate pastries. An American fellow selling Dutch cookies gave us free chocolate-covered marshmallows. Americans know how to band together in foreign lands. We then went to this crazy museum-type place called Urbis, which specializes in observing urban development and its effect on society – a sociologist’s dream. The exhibit on China was pretty interesting stuff – a lot of black-market wheeling and dealing goes on in those parts, all in an effort to climb the corporate ladder.
We got in late on Sunday night, so both Elizabeth and I took Monday off – nice! We had the best Indian food EVER (I can’t wait to experience more of India’s tales) and then wandered around London all afternoon. I’m going to miss a lot of things about London, but especially theatre. Elizabeth and I decided that we wanted to go see a play, so we went to a theatre and bough same-day best-available student tickets for Summer in Smoke, a Tenn Williams play that featured one of the lads from the OC. He was actually quite a good actor, which blew us away. It was pretty fantastic. Last week we saw Bent, a Holocaust play with Alan Cumming that was INTENSE. We sat in the second row, and wow. One of the best play I’ve seen here.
Having Monday off was also really great for another reason – what was called Black Monday on the tube occurred the morning I didn’t go on the tube. 4 lines were down, including the line I take to work, Central, so it was a madhouse. It’s already a madhouse down in the tube stations during morning rush hour, so I can just imagine how it was like in the underground Monday morning. Crazy. Also, the bus drivers here went on strike yesterday morning, so the buses were few and far between. In a city that relies on public transport, this is a huge deal. I feel very lucky and grateful that I got to avoid all that mess.
Now I’m back at work, filing proofs away. Exciting stuff. I’ll be doing just that while everybody back home is having Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday. :( <--That’s what I think about the whole situation. Some of us Americans are going to have Thanksgiving dinner at a restaurant, but believe you me, it won’t be as good as mama’s home cooking. No pumpkin pie! No candied sweet potato casserole! No four day weekend! How am I going to function?
It’s pay day today so I just blew some money on a knit hat and some tights. London fashion is pretty amazing. If I wasn’t so worried about going over the airport’s weight requirements for luggage, I would be coming back home with some fine hipster clothes. But alas.
This weekend I’m finally going to be heading to Stonehenge, and then to Bath to visit the Jane Austen museum and ancient Roman baths -- I am obviously very excited. Anything related to Jane Austen pretty much rocks my world. I still have so much to see in London! I want to tour Westminster Abbey, the Tower of London, St. Paul’s Cathedral, etc, and I haven’t had time to do it all yet! I believe my last day of work is December 8th, so that gives me a weekend plus two days to do everything in London. How quickly all this has gone by. Yet, when I think about the first day I arrived, it seems like ages ago. So odd.
Have a happy Thanksgiving everybody! Eat some cranberry sauce for me! :)
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
Tuesday, November 07, 2006
The Motherland, Baby Britain, and Garden Mazes!
I know, I know -- it's been a long time since I posted on this here blog, but I blame it fully on my very tempermental internet connection here at East India Dock Road. Not on my laziness -- me, lazy? Not at all!
So I have tons to write about -- namely, Portugal, a.k.a. the Motherland. First, we flew on TAP, or, as I like to call it, Air Portugal, and experienced arguing flight attendants, extreme turbulence, and the "light snack" of horrible chicken and kale sandwiches. But... Portugal, man. Portugal is the greatest place ever. As you can see from hundreds of pictures, it is truly beautiful, and so much better in person! We went to Gaia, Oporto, Braga, and Guimaeres -- 4 amazing cities with loads of history. Portugal is old! Everything is from the 16th century, and nearly every block has a huge church where bishops are buried or relics are hidden. It truly is a very Catholic country and very traditional. And so beautiful, with such good food (can you say bacalhau con natas? -- I can! And you haven't lived until you've tried a Magnum ice cream bar). Also, staying in a Portuguese home reminded me of home, which was nice. It made me miss home a lot, but nice nonetheless. Everybody should go to Portugal! Ride the bus, it's hilarious! Some of the roads are really narrow and should only be one-way streets, but nobody cares and drives any which way. So the bus driver has to rapidly beep everytime he's making a turn in these crazy, windy, narrow streets just in case another car drives head-on into him. You haven't lived until you're on a bus that has to drive in reverse for awhile so that a semi can pass somehow, somewhere. Classic. One of my favorite moments.
But there was wine tasting, lots of eating, tons of sightseeing, some forbidden treks into construction zones (thanks to our fearless Portuguese leader, Zeka), and an awesome climb up to the top of an ancient castle. Marvelous. Simply marvelous.
And then on the way home we got stuck on the Heathrow Express (a train that's supposed to take you from Heathrow airport to Central London in a guaranteed 15 minutes; hence the term express), for about an hour, missed the tube because it was after midnight and the tube stations close at around 11:30, and had to pay some big bucks to ride an infamous black cab. We already wrote to Heathrow Express and complained, so we're expecting a refund for both the express train and cab -- they shouldn't mess with Americans at all.
Tuesday was Halloween, which you all know but the British don't. It was kind of depressing not seeing kids dressed up in Halloween costumes, and the lack of fun-size candy shocked me. Some of us ex-patriots refused to let the British indifference to a fun holiday stop us from celebrating, so we went on a ghost walk. London is so old and has so much history -- and also a lot of public hangings and murder intrigue. For example, the guide took us to an old pub that was transformed into a clandestine Catholic church during Elizabeth I's reign (a very good time for Protestants) -- the authorities found out about it and MURDERED all those celebrating mass. So it's apparently haunted. Saw no ghosts anywhere, though -- probably because it was so bloody cold. And yes, it has been cold! And when I say cold, I mean cold! Bitter cold! 4-layer cold! I can't deal.
Work overall that week? Busy, busy, busy. Deadline = lots of work, so I was working overtime, not taking my full hour of lunch, etc, just so I could get all those proofs keyed! Now I'm busy again, making calls to judge's chambers and verifying address and contact information. Fun stuff. I bet you never thought London could be this exciting.
This weekend was also very cool. On Saturday we got up early to go to Hampton Court, which is about a half hour away from central London on train. Hampton Court is this insanely large Tudor Palace -- kings such as Henry VIII housed themselves there. The gardens are absolutely stunning -- and they have a garden maze! Exciting! It was like Harry Potter, except without bad guys with magical powers trying to hurt you. Another highlight? Watching guys dressed up cook a traditional dinner back in ye olde days. We walked into the Tudor kitchen, and stopped to watch in horror a man scoop the marrow out of meat bones -- gross! The marrow was going to somehow be made into liquid and used for soup or something like that. You got to watch them eat the food, which was interesting and bizarre at the same time. The visitors couldn't try it for fear of lawsuits, but the workers seemed to enjoy it.
Before I move on, let me briefly list all the events that truly made this weekend the "weekend of woe" (in a good way... if that makes sense) :
-one lost glove (later found)
-one lost scarf (apologies to mother)
-one lost earring
-one pair of broken sunglasses
-one pair of broken sunglasses at the bottom of the toilet
-one ruined purse
-one DLR (Dockland's Light Rail) open-door malfunction mishap
-one bicycle mauling
-one bangle bracelet at the bottom of the toilet
-one bag with a bottle of leaky super-glue stuck inside a pocket
And there you have the unfortante events.
Guy Fawkes Day was on Sunday, but we really didn't do anything. Too wiped out from Hampton Court. But let me tell you, when they say America is obsessed with explosives, they obviously forgot London, especially East London. Fireworks have been going off for weeks and weeks. Many people like to shoot off fireworks from their backyards. Or in the park -- even when people are in the park minding their own business. And when I mean fireworks, I mean big, flashy fireworks. It's insane. And yeah, I don't much like fireworks anymore, after weeks and weeks of hearing loud booming noises reminiscent of lightning wars. But it's winding down. Just like I'm winding down. Sleep time! Goodnight and godspeed.
So I have tons to write about -- namely, Portugal, a.k.a. the Motherland. First, we flew on TAP, or, as I like to call it, Air Portugal, and experienced arguing flight attendants, extreme turbulence, and the "light snack" of horrible chicken and kale sandwiches. But... Portugal, man. Portugal is the greatest place ever. As you can see from hundreds of pictures, it is truly beautiful, and so much better in person! We went to Gaia, Oporto, Braga, and Guimaeres -- 4 amazing cities with loads of history. Portugal is old! Everything is from the 16th century, and nearly every block has a huge church where bishops are buried or relics are hidden. It truly is a very Catholic country and very traditional. And so beautiful, with such good food (can you say bacalhau con natas? -- I can! And you haven't lived until you've tried a Magnum ice cream bar). Also, staying in a Portuguese home reminded me of home, which was nice. It made me miss home a lot, but nice nonetheless. Everybody should go to Portugal! Ride the bus, it's hilarious! Some of the roads are really narrow and should only be one-way streets, but nobody cares and drives any which way. So the bus driver has to rapidly beep everytime he's making a turn in these crazy, windy, narrow streets just in case another car drives head-on into him. You haven't lived until you're on a bus that has to drive in reverse for awhile so that a semi can pass somehow, somewhere. Classic. One of my favorite moments.
But there was wine tasting, lots of eating, tons of sightseeing, some forbidden treks into construction zones (thanks to our fearless Portuguese leader, Zeka), and an awesome climb up to the top of an ancient castle. Marvelous. Simply marvelous.
And then on the way home we got stuck on the Heathrow Express (a train that's supposed to take you from Heathrow airport to Central London in a guaranteed 15 minutes; hence the term express), for about an hour, missed the tube because it was after midnight and the tube stations close at around 11:30, and had to pay some big bucks to ride an infamous black cab. We already wrote to Heathrow Express and complained, so we're expecting a refund for both the express train and cab -- they shouldn't mess with Americans at all.
Tuesday was Halloween, which you all know but the British don't. It was kind of depressing not seeing kids dressed up in Halloween costumes, and the lack of fun-size candy shocked me. Some of us ex-patriots refused to let the British indifference to a fun holiday stop us from celebrating, so we went on a ghost walk. London is so old and has so much history -- and also a lot of public hangings and murder intrigue. For example, the guide took us to an old pub that was transformed into a clandestine Catholic church during Elizabeth I's reign (a very good time for Protestants) -- the authorities found out about it and MURDERED all those celebrating mass. So it's apparently haunted. Saw no ghosts anywhere, though -- probably because it was so bloody cold. And yes, it has been cold! And when I say cold, I mean cold! Bitter cold! 4-layer cold! I can't deal.
Work overall that week? Busy, busy, busy. Deadline = lots of work, so I was working overtime, not taking my full hour of lunch, etc, just so I could get all those proofs keyed! Now I'm busy again, making calls to judge's chambers and verifying address and contact information. Fun stuff. I bet you never thought London could be this exciting.
This weekend was also very cool. On Saturday we got up early to go to Hampton Court, which is about a half hour away from central London on train. Hampton Court is this insanely large Tudor Palace -- kings such as Henry VIII housed themselves there. The gardens are absolutely stunning -- and they have a garden maze! Exciting! It was like Harry Potter, except without bad guys with magical powers trying to hurt you. Another highlight? Watching guys dressed up cook a traditional dinner back in ye olde days. We walked into the Tudor kitchen, and stopped to watch in horror a man scoop the marrow out of meat bones -- gross! The marrow was going to somehow be made into liquid and used for soup or something like that. You got to watch them eat the food, which was interesting and bizarre at the same time. The visitors couldn't try it for fear of lawsuits, but the workers seemed to enjoy it.
Before I move on, let me briefly list all the events that truly made this weekend the "weekend of woe" (in a good way... if that makes sense) :
-one lost glove (later found)
-one lost scarf (apologies to mother)
-one lost earring
-one pair of broken sunglasses
-one pair of broken sunglasses at the bottom of the toilet
-one ruined purse
-one DLR (Dockland's Light Rail) open-door malfunction mishap
-one bicycle mauling
-one bangle bracelet at the bottom of the toilet
-one bag with a bottle of leaky super-glue stuck inside a pocket
And there you have the unfortante events.
Guy Fawkes Day was on Sunday, but we really didn't do anything. Too wiped out from Hampton Court. But let me tell you, when they say America is obsessed with explosives, they obviously forgot London, especially East London. Fireworks have been going off for weeks and weeks. Many people like to shoot off fireworks from their backyards. Or in the park -- even when people are in the park minding their own business. And when I mean fireworks, I mean big, flashy fireworks. It's insane. And yeah, I don't much like fireworks anymore, after weeks and weeks of hearing loud booming noises reminiscent of lightning wars. But it's winding down. Just like I'm winding down. Sleep time! Goodnight and godspeed.
Sunday, October 22, 2006
Everybody Cares, Everybody Understands
a link to some new and exciting pictures:
http://picasaweb.google.com/srosesilva/LondonWanderings25
Busy busy week. My job may be a bit tedious, but I always have something to do. Watch for it: Butterworth's Law Directory 2007 will be available in December, and the deadline for all the keying is November 3rd. That's in two weeks. You should see the size of my pile of proofs -- it's enormous! And the fax machine on Friday was basically going at it the entire day. So I've been busy. And I guess I should stop writing long emails to people while I'm at work. Nah.
On Thursday I saw the Cryptogram starring Kim Cattrell. It's always weird to see famous people in small theatre productions. It was a very interesting play, but I'm still on the fence about it. We mocked it considerably afterwards, but that's because the kid wasn't very good. But he was a cutie.
Friday I got paid! Needless to say, I was quite excited. I finally have British pounds to spend and don't have to keep worrying about how much American dollars something costs. That led me to purchase a new coat today -- it's my new love and there is a picture of it in my photo album. And no I can buy postcards so get ready!
Over here at East India Dock there has been quite a lot of mishaps -- no electricty one morning, no internet for two days, showers broken and then magically mended... it's always a surprise here at East India Dock. Always a surprise. And outside, East London is getting ready for Guy Fawkes Day (November 5th), which means kids with explosives, basically. I watched a group of kids set off dozens of fireworks and aim it at a tree in hopes of setting it aflame. Nice. I will be spending Guy Fawkes day in Central London, thank you very much.
Saturday I boarded a coach for Brighton -- a seaside town about two hours from London. It was a beautiful day, the ocean reminded me of home, and the Brighton Pier reminded me of the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk but much less dodgy. And, some wonderful fish 'n chips. Yum, deep-fried goodnes. And don't forget the mashed peas, my favorite part. When we got home, Elizabeth and I went to pub and engaged in a mean game of Scrabble, with help from the locals, of course. Yep, I had that game in the bag. I slice and dice my opponents. I show no mercy. More Scrabble tourney details to follow in the future, I guarantee you. It's going to become our new obsession. That and Batman Uno, but we're saving that for a really rainy day.
Today it rained. A lot. There's a lot of puddles in Oxford Circus. Huge puddles. My old and flimsy Converse shoes can't take that. Basically a chill day. Did some shopping, went over to Tesco and got some food for the week, complained about the bland bananas, etc.
Tomorrow it's back to work, but then Thursday... flying to Portugal! That's right, I'll be flying to Portugal via Air Portugal (that's not the real name of the airline) and will be gallavanting in Porto for three days. I'm so excited to go! As the pop said in a statement from an email that I found particularly amusing, "enjoy the motherland." Oh, I will.
And a special thanks to my mommy for sending me a care package filled with tasty treats -- Sun Chips rock my world. And Dole fruit cups. And ramen, baby -- ramen!
Off to bed -- godspeed.
http://picasaweb.google.com/srosesilva/LondonWanderings25
Busy busy week. My job may be a bit tedious, but I always have something to do. Watch for it: Butterworth's Law Directory 2007 will be available in December, and the deadline for all the keying is November 3rd. That's in two weeks. You should see the size of my pile of proofs -- it's enormous! And the fax machine on Friday was basically going at it the entire day. So I've been busy. And I guess I should stop writing long emails to people while I'm at work. Nah.
On Thursday I saw the Cryptogram starring Kim Cattrell. It's always weird to see famous people in small theatre productions. It was a very interesting play, but I'm still on the fence about it. We mocked it considerably afterwards, but that's because the kid wasn't very good. But he was a cutie.
Friday I got paid! Needless to say, I was quite excited. I finally have British pounds to spend and don't have to keep worrying about how much American dollars something costs. That led me to purchase a new coat today -- it's my new love and there is a picture of it in my photo album. And no I can buy postcards so get ready!
Over here at East India Dock there has been quite a lot of mishaps -- no electricty one morning, no internet for two days, showers broken and then magically mended... it's always a surprise here at East India Dock. Always a surprise. And outside, East London is getting ready for Guy Fawkes Day (November 5th), which means kids with explosives, basically. I watched a group of kids set off dozens of fireworks and aim it at a tree in hopes of setting it aflame. Nice. I will be spending Guy Fawkes day in Central London, thank you very much.
Saturday I boarded a coach for Brighton -- a seaside town about two hours from London. It was a beautiful day, the ocean reminded me of home, and the Brighton Pier reminded me of the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk but much less dodgy. And, some wonderful fish 'n chips. Yum, deep-fried goodnes. And don't forget the mashed peas, my favorite part. When we got home, Elizabeth and I went to pub and engaged in a mean game of Scrabble, with help from the locals, of course. Yep, I had that game in the bag. I slice and dice my opponents. I show no mercy. More Scrabble tourney details to follow in the future, I guarantee you. It's going to become our new obsession. That and Batman Uno, but we're saving that for a really rainy day.
Today it rained. A lot. There's a lot of puddles in Oxford Circus. Huge puddles. My old and flimsy Converse shoes can't take that. Basically a chill day. Did some shopping, went over to Tesco and got some food for the week, complained about the bland bananas, etc.
Tomorrow it's back to work, but then Thursday... flying to Portugal! That's right, I'll be flying to Portugal via Air Portugal (that's not the real name of the airline) and will be gallavanting in Porto for three days. I'm so excited to go! As the pop said in a statement from an email that I found particularly amusing, "enjoy the motherland." Oh, I will.
And a special thanks to my mommy for sending me a care package filled with tasty treats -- Sun Chips rock my world. And Dole fruit cups. And ramen, baby -- ramen!
Off to bed -- godspeed.
Sunday, October 15, 2006
Bottle Up and Explode!
Every time I go on a trip or go off to a new place for a time, I always have a new soundtrack featuring one artist for that time. At Stanford it was Neutral Milk Hotel (In the Aeroplane over the Sea is a fine album), another trip featured Arcade Fire and A Silver Mt. Zion, another one Against Me! -- all of them, in some way, lend me some perspective on the current state (pun intended) that I'm in. In London, I have officially found my one artist that will take me through the next two months -- Elliott Smith. If you've never heard of Elliott Smith, you're missing out. He's the epitome of forlorn, soft-edged, mellow rock. I've had his albums forever and appreciated them, but I never listened to them as much as I listen to it now. I cannot enter the tube in the mornings without Elliott Smith's "Baby Britain," "Pictures of Me" or "Junk Bond Trader" on my Ipod. I find it interesting, though, because he tackles a myriad of subjects, some that I'm familar with, others not at all. And even though you can call his music "depressive," "moody," and "sad," he doesn't leave me that way at all. I just get it. And it leaves me strangely contemplative and content. Anyway, the reason I posted this is that I'm not going to be able to think about London without associating it with Elliott Smith, just like all the other places where I have listened to a certain artist or a certain CD excessively. It helps you understand things, you know? I don't even know. Maybe I'm just too much of a hipster for my own good. But you love it. ;)
So this weekend was pretty chill for me. Elizabeth went to Paris (yes, be jealous), so I was left to meander around London (yes, be jealous also). And that's basically what I did. I wandered. I walked for hours upon hours. I went into about 20 H&Ms. I sat in Kensington Gardens and found the Peter Pan statue again. I walked around Leischter Square and Picadilly Circus. I went to the National Gallery and looked at paintings by Degas, Van Gogh, Picasso, Monet, etc. On Saturday, I met up with yet another Elizabeth (who will be forever referred to as ER), and we ate at McDonalds and watched the theatrical version of Mary Poppins. I'll tackle McDonalds first: everybody says it different here, but, you know what? It's not. The chicken sandwich and french fries that I ate tasted exactly the same. Granted, I haven't eaten McDonalds in the states in about three years, but I feel that I have enough McDonalds experience from my heyday of fast food eating to determine that it's not different at all. So there. After that, ER and I had our Disney fix with Mary Poppins, which was charming, to say the least. Your standard Disney fare -- very nicely executed, with a set design appealing to the eye. Of course, I was a big fan. The area that they plopped that play was interesting though... more of an area where Cabaret should be playing, or Chicago. But that's just another London contradiction.
Elizabeth just came back from Paris with croissants and chocolate yum yums, so I'm currently in a chocolate coma. And apparently, I have sprained my ankle, according to Elizabeth's expert opinion (it's pretty expertly), but it's a light sprain. I must have done it yesterday somehow, but I don't know how. It's swollen and it's going to get all bruisey in a couple of days, so fun! It doesn't hurt that much, though, which is weird. Only when I do things like, I don't know, miss a step walking down the stairs because our house is so dark. Then it hurts.
Back to the drudgery of work tomorrow, woohoo! It's not that bad, I'm just being dramatic. But weekends are just so much more fun...
So this weekend was pretty chill for me. Elizabeth went to Paris (yes, be jealous), so I was left to meander around London (yes, be jealous also). And that's basically what I did. I wandered. I walked for hours upon hours. I went into about 20 H&Ms. I sat in Kensington Gardens and found the Peter Pan statue again. I walked around Leischter Square and Picadilly Circus. I went to the National Gallery and looked at paintings by Degas, Van Gogh, Picasso, Monet, etc. On Saturday, I met up with yet another Elizabeth (who will be forever referred to as ER), and we ate at McDonalds and watched the theatrical version of Mary Poppins. I'll tackle McDonalds first: everybody says it different here, but, you know what? It's not. The chicken sandwich and french fries that I ate tasted exactly the same. Granted, I haven't eaten McDonalds in the states in about three years, but I feel that I have enough McDonalds experience from my heyday of fast food eating to determine that it's not different at all. So there. After that, ER and I had our Disney fix with Mary Poppins, which was charming, to say the least. Your standard Disney fare -- very nicely executed, with a set design appealing to the eye. Of course, I was a big fan. The area that they plopped that play was interesting though... more of an area where Cabaret should be playing, or Chicago. But that's just another London contradiction.
Elizabeth just came back from Paris with croissants and chocolate yum yums, so I'm currently in a chocolate coma. And apparently, I have sprained my ankle, according to Elizabeth's expert opinion (it's pretty expertly), but it's a light sprain. I must have done it yesterday somehow, but I don't know how. It's swollen and it's going to get all bruisey in a couple of days, so fun! It doesn't hurt that much, though, which is weird. Only when I do things like, I don't know, miss a step walking down the stairs because our house is so dark. Then it hurts.
Back to the drudgery of work tomorrow, woohoo! It's not that bad, I'm just being dramatic. But weekends are just so much more fun...
Thursday, October 12, 2006
Pictures!
in case I missed anyone in my mass email, here's the link to some pictures that will knock your socks off:
http://picasaweb.google.com/srosesilva/LondonWanderings
http://picasaweb.google.com/srosesilva/LondonWanderings
Monday, October 09, 2006
Scrum!
First off, Tesco sells delicious apple-filled donuts for 12 pence.
This weekend was filled with time zones and mash and men smashing into each other without proper padding. We started the weekend off right with Friday night cleaning/laundry, yeah! We vacuumed our pants off -- I know, crazy, right? The next day Elizabeth, Allison, and I went to Greenwich, which is quite possibly my favorite place I've visited so far. We walked up to the Royal Observatory, which allows you a great view of London. Greenwich is also where the prime meridian line is, so you can be in two different time zones at one time! And take pictures! We also walked Greenwich Park, a beautiful place with loads of dogs (I will get to English people and their dogs, later -- oh, believe me, I will), and anicent Roman ruins! Actually, there was no ancient Roman ruins, the signs just lied to us so that we would walk this weird path. It took us to an ancient Roman fence leading to ye olde highway. After that we took a boat ride on the Thames from Greenwich to Westminster, which was beautiful. All in all, good times on Saturday.
The next day we got up early to make breakfast before going to a rugby match. First, though, we needed to get those Portuguese custard things for our roomates, who were making traditional Sunday dinner English roast. After a mad 25 minute trek, we finally got to a Portuguese bakery, selling lots of yummies. Oh man, can those Polish people bake some mean Portuguese baked goods! It felt like I was in the Azores as Elizabeth spoke Portuguese to a Polish woman who knew no Portuguese whatsoever! The custard things were good, though. Don't think I didn't greedily dig in after that 25 minute walk.
Important fact #2: Tesco doesn't open until noon on Sundays. Silly Europeans. That meant we couldn't cook breakfast, so it was to our safe haven of Cafe Diana. Cafe Diana is this crazy little restaurant in Notting Hill across the street from Kensington Palace, and is a mecca for Princess Di fans. The walls are covered with Princess Di pictures, and there's even one with her posing with the owners of the cafe, wow! I don't envision Princess Di as a big falaffel fan (it's basically Mediterranean food), but you never know. Falaffels are quite tasty. After that we hopped on the charter bus with a bunch of study abroad kids to go to a rugby match. As I switched on my Ipod and leaned back for some relaxing bus sleeping, I was hit with memories of EPGY and taking the kids to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. These kids were much quieter than my lot, though But still good times. :0) <---- Look at the nose on that happy face! That was completely unintentional. I like it.
So rugby is boring. They hit each other real hard. They don't have any protective gear on whatsoever, so they get hurt a lot. They get into massive huddles, which is like mass cat-fights, called scrums. That's about it. The best part was sitting behind the goal posts where the balls would come flying at the crowd (no net!) During their pre-game practice, we almost got hit on multiple occasions. It was pretty hilarious.
After that Elizabeth and I went home to a nice dinner prepared by our flatmates. Our flatmates are good people -- most of us get along great. We had roat chicken and vegetables and potatoes and salad, yum, yum! We were a very happy group of people after that.
But back to work today and back to lawyers and data entry. As Bob Geldof sang, "tell me why, I don't like Mondays, I'm going to shoot, ooooh ooooh ooooh oooh ooohh, the wholeeee dayyyy downnnn." That song will forever remind me of Monday mornings car rides to St. Lawrence with mom. Yeah, you know what I'm talking about. Bob Geldof and Bon Jovi got me through senior year. :)
Here's some british slang for you all to wow your friends:
real stroppy cow -- someone who is in a bad mood; a moody or tempermental person: "He's acting like a real stroppy cow." (You can also just use strop: "she was in a strop")
bullocks -- ridiculous: "what a load of bullocks"
bloke -- guy: "Look at that bloke over there."
gutted -- disappointed: "Did you see X-factor (their version of American Idol) last night? I was gutted!"
And that's all the British slang I have for you right now. Tune in for more. I spell like a British person now: recognise, programme, behaviour, etc. And now I write the date with day, month, year -- my birthday is 04/09/1984, not 09/04/1984. Oh, changes.
And now, for my rant: British people and their dogs in parks. They don't use leashes when they enter a park with their dogs. They just let their dogs run mad, which inevitably means you'll have some giant beast of a creature running at you. And then the owner will shrug their shoulders and laugh while this unfamiliar animal runs toward you. There has been two instances where massive dogs have run at me while the owners remained unfazed by their dogs running wildly at people. It's not the dogs' fault at all, it's the owners. It's driving me crazy! I don't like unfamiliar creatures with teeth and a large amount of body strength running wild while I'm walking in a park!
Rant complete.
I'm currently uploading a massive amount of photos, so in about 10 years I will be able to share them. No, I'll try to do it tomorrow. It's time for me to sign out, because Christmas music begins at 6:45 am! (Elizabeth...) Goodnight and godspeed.
This weekend was filled with time zones and mash and men smashing into each other without proper padding. We started the weekend off right with Friday night cleaning/laundry, yeah! We vacuumed our pants off -- I know, crazy, right? The next day Elizabeth, Allison, and I went to Greenwich, which is quite possibly my favorite place I've visited so far. We walked up to the Royal Observatory, which allows you a great view of London. Greenwich is also where the prime meridian line is, so you can be in two different time zones at one time! And take pictures! We also walked Greenwich Park, a beautiful place with loads of dogs (I will get to English people and their dogs, later -- oh, believe me, I will), and anicent Roman ruins! Actually, there was no ancient Roman ruins, the signs just lied to us so that we would walk this weird path. It took us to an ancient Roman fence leading to ye olde highway. After that we took a boat ride on the Thames from Greenwich to Westminster, which was beautiful. All in all, good times on Saturday.
The next day we got up early to make breakfast before going to a rugby match. First, though, we needed to get those Portuguese custard things for our roomates, who were making traditional Sunday dinner English roast. After a mad 25 minute trek, we finally got to a Portuguese bakery, selling lots of yummies. Oh man, can those Polish people bake some mean Portuguese baked goods! It felt like I was in the Azores as Elizabeth spoke Portuguese to a Polish woman who knew no Portuguese whatsoever! The custard things were good, though. Don't think I didn't greedily dig in after that 25 minute walk.
Important fact #2: Tesco doesn't open until noon on Sundays. Silly Europeans. That meant we couldn't cook breakfast, so it was to our safe haven of Cafe Diana. Cafe Diana is this crazy little restaurant in Notting Hill across the street from Kensington Palace, and is a mecca for Princess Di fans. The walls are covered with Princess Di pictures, and there's even one with her posing with the owners of the cafe, wow! I don't envision Princess Di as a big falaffel fan (it's basically Mediterranean food), but you never know. Falaffels are quite tasty. After that we hopped on the charter bus with a bunch of study abroad kids to go to a rugby match. As I switched on my Ipod and leaned back for some relaxing bus sleeping, I was hit with memories of EPGY and taking the kids to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. These kids were much quieter than my lot, though But still good times. :0) <---- Look at the nose on that happy face! That was completely unintentional. I like it.
So rugby is boring. They hit each other real hard. They don't have any protective gear on whatsoever, so they get hurt a lot. They get into massive huddles, which is like mass cat-fights, called scrums. That's about it. The best part was sitting behind the goal posts where the balls would come flying at the crowd (no net!) During their pre-game practice, we almost got hit on multiple occasions. It was pretty hilarious.
After that Elizabeth and I went home to a nice dinner prepared by our flatmates. Our flatmates are good people -- most of us get along great. We had roat chicken and vegetables and potatoes and salad, yum, yum! We were a very happy group of people after that.
But back to work today and back to lawyers and data entry. As Bob Geldof sang, "tell me why, I don't like Mondays, I'm going to shoot, ooooh ooooh ooooh oooh ooohh, the wholeeee dayyyy downnnn." That song will forever remind me of Monday mornings car rides to St. Lawrence with mom. Yeah, you know what I'm talking about. Bob Geldof and Bon Jovi got me through senior year. :)
Here's some british slang for you all to wow your friends:
real stroppy cow -- someone who is in a bad mood; a moody or tempermental person: "He's acting like a real stroppy cow." (You can also just use strop: "she was in a strop")
bullocks -- ridiculous: "what a load of bullocks"
bloke -- guy: "Look at that bloke over there."
gutted -- disappointed: "Did you see X-factor (their version of American Idol) last night? I was gutted!"
And that's all the British slang I have for you right now. Tune in for more. I spell like a British person now: recognise, programme, behaviour, etc. And now I write the date with day, month, year -- my birthday is 04/09/1984, not 09/04/1984. Oh, changes.
And now, for my rant: British people and their dogs in parks. They don't use leashes when they enter a park with their dogs. They just let their dogs run mad, which inevitably means you'll have some giant beast of a creature running at you. And then the owner will shrug their shoulders and laugh while this unfamiliar animal runs toward you. There has been two instances where massive dogs have run at me while the owners remained unfazed by their dogs running wildly at people. It's not the dogs' fault at all, it's the owners. It's driving me crazy! I don't like unfamiliar creatures with teeth and a large amount of body strength running wild while I'm walking in a park!
Rant complete.
I'm currently uploading a massive amount of photos, so in about 10 years I will be able to share them. No, I'll try to do it tomorrow. It's time for me to sign out, because Christmas music begins at 6:45 am! (Elizabeth...) Goodnight and godspeed.
Thursday, October 05, 2006
Broken chords can sing a little
It be cold over here. It's like winter came early. Today was windy, rainy, and frigid. I couldn't seem to get warm all day. This is also because the Butterworth's LexisNexis office decides they want the air conditioner on all day, despite the wintery weather outside. So I basically wear layers of clothes to try to keep warm.
I opened up a bank account yesterday and yelled at some snooty lady in HR about tax forms today -- I'm a big girl now! What did I learn? The banking system in London is inefficient and slow, and people in HR want to make everything harder than it has to be. Love it!
Today I had a gourmet microwaveable vegetable lasagna meal from London's top market chain: ASDA. Yum yum. It had runny cheese and everything! Actually, I liked it, but that's mainly because I miss mommy's spinach lasagna. Cheese...yummy. Today I also missed fruity cheerios, tortilla chips, and Armadillo Willy's BBQ.
After my fine meal (it conveniently came with it's own tray and everything!) Elizabeth, our friend Jose, one of our flatmates and I went to see a play called Pump Girl. It was in a very small theatre, and it actually wasn't that bad. Elizabeth and I were exhausted and anticipated some napping time, but I actually stayed awake throughout the whole thing! Now all I need to do is get me a copy of Manos: the Hands of Fate hosted by MST3K and see if I can watch it all without falling asleep (this is the last movie I watched where I actually stayed up for the whole thing). If I succeed, then I know I have mastered these narcoleptic fits that have been plaguing me.
Tomorrow is Friday! End of the work week! Greenwich on Saturday and then a rugby match on Sunday, weee! And next weekend there's a possibility of going to Paris...
Must sleep now.
I opened up a bank account yesterday and yelled at some snooty lady in HR about tax forms today -- I'm a big girl now! What did I learn? The banking system in London is inefficient and slow, and people in HR want to make everything harder than it has to be. Love it!
Today I had a gourmet microwaveable vegetable lasagna meal from London's top market chain: ASDA. Yum yum. It had runny cheese and everything! Actually, I liked it, but that's mainly because I miss mommy's spinach lasagna. Cheese...yummy. Today I also missed fruity cheerios, tortilla chips, and Armadillo Willy's BBQ.
After my fine meal (it conveniently came with it's own tray and everything!) Elizabeth, our friend Jose, one of our flatmates and I went to see a play called Pump Girl. It was in a very small theatre, and it actually wasn't that bad. Elizabeth and I were exhausted and anticipated some napping time, but I actually stayed awake throughout the whole thing! Now all I need to do is get me a copy of Manos: the Hands of Fate hosted by MST3K and see if I can watch it all without falling asleep (this is the last movie I watched where I actually stayed up for the whole thing). If I succeed, then I know I have mastered these narcoleptic fits that have been plaguing me.
Tomorrow is Friday! End of the work week! Greenwich on Saturday and then a rugby match on Sunday, weee! And next weekend there's a possibility of going to Paris...
Must sleep now.
Tuesday, October 03, 2006
Aluminum on the hardpan
What's been going on at East India Dock Road? Ceiling leaks! Shower leaks! Arguments! Pumpin' electro-pop! Smashed-up aluminum being ran over by cars right outside our window in the middle of the night! Yes!
So we spent another fun evening at ASDA, this fine nation's version of Walmart. It takes a lot of time to get through ASDA, and a lot of debating goes on. This is where debate teams should hang out. Plus, there's begging -- yes, begging! They're not supposed to give clothing hangers away for free, you know, but after some begging, they'll take pity on you. ASDA trips are always bittersweet -- you get good munchies for later, but all your money goes away. :( Not good. Just waiting for that care package...
Another day of data entry work. Lawyers. Receptionists. Fax machines. Writing an email that take the whole day to write. Getting my way around blocked websites (they block gmail! but not myspace! It's like EPGY, but in reverse!). That whole jazz. The highlight of the week is sure to be our next play on Thursday! Can't wait.
Nothing much else to report. The working world drains a person. And it be cold outside. Like really, really cold. At least, super-cold for me.
The most exciting part of my day tomorrow: opening a bank account! I can't wait to haggle with bank employees -- lawyers and bank employees, what more do I need in life! Disneyworld, that's what I need. Some Disneyworld. :)
Shower and sleep time!
So we spent another fun evening at ASDA, this fine nation's version of Walmart. It takes a lot of time to get through ASDA, and a lot of debating goes on. This is where debate teams should hang out. Plus, there's begging -- yes, begging! They're not supposed to give clothing hangers away for free, you know, but after some begging, they'll take pity on you. ASDA trips are always bittersweet -- you get good munchies for later, but all your money goes away. :( Not good. Just waiting for that care package...
Another day of data entry work. Lawyers. Receptionists. Fax machines. Writing an email that take the whole day to write. Getting my way around blocked websites (they block gmail! but not myspace! It's like EPGY, but in reverse!). That whole jazz. The highlight of the week is sure to be our next play on Thursday! Can't wait.
Nothing much else to report. The working world drains a person. And it be cold outside. Like really, really cold. At least, super-cold for me.
The most exciting part of my day tomorrow: opening a bank account! I can't wait to haggle with bank employees -- lawyers and bank employees, what more do I need in life! Disneyworld, that's what I need. Some Disneyworld. :)
Shower and sleep time!
Sunday, October 01, 2006
Junk bond trader
The imitation picks you up like a habit
Riding in the glow of the TV static
Taking out the trash to the man
Give the people something they understand
-Elliott Smith
Good weekend, made better by the fact that a certain flatmate has moved out. Let's just say he was from the foreign country that precedes "toast" and "fries" and pretty much encompassed every single stereotype of people from that country. I just found out he left. I'm beaming. Rays of light exude from my cheeks.
I don't know what I'm saying.
Today was a beautiful Sunday. First, though, the weather here is insane. We woke up this morning to beautiful weather -- sunny and warm. Within 20 minutes, though, there was this crazy deluge that lasted for about an hour. We're talking black clouds, thunder and lightning, high winds -- the whole deal. But after the hour ended, it was nice and sunny again. So weird.
Elizabeth and I went to Notting Hill to make a home-cooked meal with our new biffer Allison. It felt so good to cook a meal with other people and enjoy it together in a nice, clean kitchen. We went all out, too -- pasta with tomatoes and bell peppers, garlic bread, salad, and strawberry trifle for dessert. Nice. Afterwards we watched a movie, in which I promptly fell asleep. I cannot seem to stay awake during movies anymore. It's impossible for me now. I don't know if narcolepsy is contagious, but I think I may have caught it from someone.
In other news, I just heard that a girl I knew from SCU died in a car accident a couple of days ago. We were in Writing for Children and Young Adults together and exchanged stories all the time. She was quite talented, and I wish I kept in touch with her. She will be missed.
Monday, September 25, 2006
"Who put earmuffs on my cookie?"
Here are a few pictures: unfortunately, it takes forever and a day to upload pictures on this here blog. I'll try to get some more 
to everybody soon.
to everybody soon.
On top: Me with the founders of Royal Holloway school.
On bottom: Acting goofy in Kensington Gardens.
So this has been quite a long week. I started work on Monday -- basically what I do is look over proofs for a law directory and correct the mistakes on the online database. It can get quite tedious, but it's still something that pertains to my major, which is good. Plus, I get to write memos! The first couple of days were kind of weird because they weren't exactly the friendliest batch of people, but that's just the way British people conduct themselves in the workplace -- where there's someone new, they go into British reserve mode. It wasn't like they were mean to me or anything, it's just that I had to make more of the effort to talk to them and fit in. But what made me really love these people (and love my job) was going out with them on Friday: basically, they only work until about 12:30 every Friday, and then they take an "extended lunch," which means pubs until about 8:00. Now that's what should happen on Fridays all around the world! It's so great because everybody is all business Monday thru Thursday for the Friday reward. I ended up really getting to know my co-workers and my boss -- they're such awesome, laid-back people. I also love the American stereotype: they really do think that all we do in California is surf and hang out at the beach. One of my co-workers didn't know that LA was in California (she thought it was its own state), and couldn't believe it when I told her it takes about 6 hours to go across country -- she was so surprised that I haven't been to New York, and that was part of my explanation as to why. It's far. America is big.
So basically I'm loving my job. It's pretty sweet.
During the week I saw two plays: Avenue Q and Moon for the Misbegotten. Avenue Q was this great, subversive musical that parodies Sesame Street. It also hit close to home: the narrative revolves around a puppet who just graduated from college with a BA in English and has no idea what to do with his life. So he moves to Avenue Q (where the fallen child star Gary Coleman resides -- yes, he's a character in the play -- love it) to search for his purpose. Sounds vaguely familiar...
The next night we saw Moon for the Misbegotten, starring Kevin Spacey! Kevin Spacey is art director or some title like that for the theatre that the play was being shown in (the Old Vic), which is fine little fact for you all to cherish. It was good, though rather long, and there was one distraction that kept us from paying close attention to the play during the second half: Australian-born actress Nicole Kidman was sitting right behind us. We first noticed her during intermission -- we were seated up in the balcony, and she was off to the side in the next row behind us. Elizabeth noticed her first, and then we just started staring at her and whispering, "dude, it's Nicole Kidman!" When the 2nd act began, she moved over and sat directly behind us for the rest of the show -- she was ushered out during the applause at the end. Very cool. Maybe not as cool as having dinner with Tobias Wolff, but still very cool. ;)
What's also cool is that The Hoff himself (David Hasselhoff, for anyone who's not savvy with his many nicknames) has been spotted around London recently. He's such a big deal in Europe, especially Germany -- but of course he is, since he contributed in the collapse of the Berlin wall, duh! (This is The Hoff's claim -- what a silly Knight Rider)
This weekend is sure to be nice and relaxing -- the weather looks very nice, which is awesome. We're going to go for a walk around the city in a little while, and then tomorrow we're going to make dinner in Allison's kitchen (she's our new bff) -- finally, a home-cooked meal! I can't wait.
I'm growing fond of the city -- it feels like I've been here forever, but, then again, each day goes by so quickly. What I really, really dislike is the tube in the morning -- it is extremely hot, and you are basically packed in with hundreds of other people. No personal space whatsoever, and no way you're going to get a seat. Very claustrophobic. A couple of days ago, a man standing next to me almost passed out. This happens quite often. I know everybody has to get to work somehow, but ick. Luckily it's a short ride to work.
It's a beautiful, sunny day outside and London is calling my name! Love it!
Sunday, September 24, 2006
"I have four left wheels"
My first experience with London rain on Friday. I started my afternoon off by taking the tube to Harrod's -- it's interesting to go there and explore by yourself. What I found most fascinating was the food area -- they have an oyster bar, they serve crab and lobster, and they also must have a slaughterhouse or something somewhere because I have never seen so much different types of meat conveniently found in a grocer's freezer. After that, I started wandering the city, and I somehow ended up in Hyde Park, which is huge. I walked along the Serpentine, which is a long, windy river running through Hyde and Kensington Gardens, and saw a few types of birds that I have never seen before. I have pictures -- they will be up soon. It was fun walking through Hyde Park while it was raining because nobody else was around, which is strange since it's such a tourist attraction. But because of the rain, very few people were out and about, and I felt like I had the whole park to myself.
When I entered Kensington Gardens, I got lost. The place is vast, and I couldn't find my way out. And I wanted to get out, considering that it started pouring rain and I had no shelter aside from my umbrella. But, I couldn't find the street, and the street is where to find tube stations: no tube stations = lost Stefanie. However, I ended up finding the Peter Pan statue, which is really awesome. I stared at it for awhile, and then decided that I really did need to get out because everything else would be anticlimactic. The Peter Pan statue reminded me of Disney, which reminded me of home. And Disneyland. Which is a pseudo-home for me anyway.
Since I was in Kensington Gardens for longer than I expected, I ended up staying in that area to wait for Elizabeth to get off work. We came home to eat a meal we've been anticipating -- a can of ravioli and frozen vegetables, yum! But, much to my horror, when I took a bite of a ravioli, I realized it was beef raviolis! Yuck! We quickly passed off our ravioli dinner to Ben the Frenchmen, and settled for cereal and tuna fish once again. We were so excited for our ravioli.
Through Elizabeth's work, we get to see about 10 theatre plays for free. We have the tickets and everything! I'm so excited. Stefanie loves theatre. These three months will entail a theatre extravaganza of epic proportions. Love it! On Thursday we're seeing a "A Moon for the Misbegotten," written by Eugene O'Neal and starring Kevin Spacey! So awesome.
Yesterday Elizabeth and I did nothing. We got up, did some laundry, ate some food, and then slept for the entire afternoon. I don't think we knew how tired we were -- it has been non-stop action from the time we first got to London, and I don't think our bodies could take it anymore. We got up in the evening to go to a hipster night club called the Old Skool Klub, but it was too hipster, even for me. It was basically a bunch of 19 year olds wearing tight jeans and long tunic tops. Black and red. And short, spiky hair. After about a half hour, we had enough. It took about an hour to get home since the tube was closed and the N15 - our night bus - took years to pick us up.
I start work on Monday -- I'm pretty excited to start something new in a new place. But I better enjoy today because tomorrow I'll be a working woman -- working from 9 to 5, as Dolly Parton sang. I think I'm going to be needing some good old fashioned pub quiz tonight to get my competitive juices flowing. That's what you need for the working world, right? Flowing juices of competition? Even in data entry work? Oh, I don't know what I'm saying. I'll stop now.
When I entered Kensington Gardens, I got lost. The place is vast, and I couldn't find my way out. And I wanted to get out, considering that it started pouring rain and I had no shelter aside from my umbrella. But, I couldn't find the street, and the street is where to find tube stations: no tube stations = lost Stefanie. However, I ended up finding the Peter Pan statue, which is really awesome. I stared at it for awhile, and then decided that I really did need to get out because everything else would be anticlimactic. The Peter Pan statue reminded me of Disney, which reminded me of home. And Disneyland. Which is a pseudo-home for me anyway.
Since I was in Kensington Gardens for longer than I expected, I ended up staying in that area to wait for Elizabeth to get off work. We came home to eat a meal we've been anticipating -- a can of ravioli and frozen vegetables, yum! But, much to my horror, when I took a bite of a ravioli, I realized it was beef raviolis! Yuck! We quickly passed off our ravioli dinner to Ben the Frenchmen, and settled for cereal and tuna fish once again. We were so excited for our ravioli.
Through Elizabeth's work, we get to see about 10 theatre plays for free. We have the tickets and everything! I'm so excited. Stefanie loves theatre. These three months will entail a theatre extravaganza of epic proportions. Love it! On Thursday we're seeing a "A Moon for the Misbegotten," written by Eugene O'Neal and starring Kevin Spacey! So awesome.
Yesterday Elizabeth and I did nothing. We got up, did some laundry, ate some food, and then slept for the entire afternoon. I don't think we knew how tired we were -- it has been non-stop action from the time we first got to London, and I don't think our bodies could take it anymore. We got up in the evening to go to a hipster night club called the Old Skool Klub, but it was too hipster, even for me. It was basically a bunch of 19 year olds wearing tight jeans and long tunic tops. Black and red. And short, spiky hair. After about a half hour, we had enough. It took about an hour to get home since the tube was closed and the N15 - our night bus - took years to pick us up.
I start work on Monday -- I'm pretty excited to start something new in a new place. But I better enjoy today because tomorrow I'll be a working woman -- working from 9 to 5, as Dolly Parton sang. I think I'm going to be needing some good old fashioned pub quiz tonight to get my competitive juices flowing. That's what you need for the working world, right? Flowing juices of competition? Even in data entry work? Oh, I don't know what I'm saying. I'll stop now.
Thursday, September 21, 2006
Overload, museum style
Yesterday was a positive day. First, I interviewed for a data entry position with LexisNexis -- the guy who interviewed me (Eric) was really cool and made me feel very comfortable. I find myself intimidated by the British accent, mainly because sometimes I don't understand what comes out of their mouths, but he didn't intimidate me at all. He has a ponytail -- maybe I somehow can relate to him because of that. I also sport a ponytail at times. Anyway, after what I felt was a successful interview, he said he was going to call me back, so I headed over to Westminster Abbey for my next interview. I actually made the decision to walk to Westminster Abbey, and that took about two hours. Especially since I got lost a bunch of times. But it's good because now I know my way around that part of the city pretty well.
Right before I was going to go to my interview, I got a phone call from Eric. He wanted to offer me the position! I immediately said yes and then made a call to the lady at Westminster Abbey and canceled my interview -- no way was I going to go through that! The lady seemed kind of stodgy when I talked to her on the phone. So now I start work on Monday and I will finally be making British pounds! I'm pretty relieved that my job search ended fairly quickly and successfully.
I then met Elizabeth at Notting Hill and we had falaffels to celebrate. After that, I walked over to Kensington High Street, which is one of the many posh streets found in Notting Hill, and went to H&M, my favorite store in the world. There, I almost openly weeped at the mere sight of all the fabulous clothes that I can't afford. I then walked to Kensington Gardens to read and wait for Elizabeth to get off work. There, some ambassador son or some distant cousin of the royal family came out into the Kensington Gardens (the part fenced in so tourists can't go in) and played the rich man's sport, archery. It was kind of interesting seeing it -- I've only seen it on TV. The bow and arrow is quite large and appears weighty, and the target is very far away. I would fail miserably at that game.
After that I went to meet Elizabeth, and we went out to dinner with her coworkers (free!) before going to the theatre house to see The Producers (also free!). At dinner, Elizabeth and I had our first real dinner since coming here, and we ate it all. And then we paid. It's like Survivor when one of the contestants wins the hearty dinner, eats it all, and then gets sick. We sure felt sick after that. We must pace ourselves in the future.
But on to The Producers -- that has got to be one of the best musicals I have ever seen. It was funny, it was catchy, it had a moral center -- perfect. And any musical that does a song and dance number called "Springtime for Hitler" is okay by me. A sharp satire. Loved it.
Today I went to a few museums and got museum overload (an actual affliction), so now I need to take a nap. I saw the coolest thing at the National Portrait Gallery, though -- a sketch of Ted Hughes done by Sylvia Plath. It blew my mind. Sylvia Plath actually touched that piece of notebook paper from her journal, those were her pencil-marks -- I stared at that thing for a good 15 minutes. I wanted to touch it, but of course that is a big no-no. But that just about made my day. I decided that I wasn't going to see nothing as exciting as that, so I went home to eat some soup and surf the net. And now I'm going to take a nap before Elizabeth comes home from work. Good night.
Right before I was going to go to my interview, I got a phone call from Eric. He wanted to offer me the position! I immediately said yes and then made a call to the lady at Westminster Abbey and canceled my interview -- no way was I going to go through that! The lady seemed kind of stodgy when I talked to her on the phone. So now I start work on Monday and I will finally be making British pounds! I'm pretty relieved that my job search ended fairly quickly and successfully.
I then met Elizabeth at Notting Hill and we had falaffels to celebrate. After that, I walked over to Kensington High Street, which is one of the many posh streets found in Notting Hill, and went to H&M, my favorite store in the world. There, I almost openly weeped at the mere sight of all the fabulous clothes that I can't afford. I then walked to Kensington Gardens to read and wait for Elizabeth to get off work. There, some ambassador son or some distant cousin of the royal family came out into the Kensington Gardens (the part fenced in so tourists can't go in) and played the rich man's sport, archery. It was kind of interesting seeing it -- I've only seen it on TV. The bow and arrow is quite large and appears weighty, and the target is very far away. I would fail miserably at that game.
After that I went to meet Elizabeth, and we went out to dinner with her coworkers (free!) before going to the theatre house to see The Producers (also free!). At dinner, Elizabeth and I had our first real dinner since coming here, and we ate it all. And then we paid. It's like Survivor when one of the contestants wins the hearty dinner, eats it all, and then gets sick. We sure felt sick after that. We must pace ourselves in the future.
But on to The Producers -- that has got to be one of the best musicals I have ever seen. It was funny, it was catchy, it had a moral center -- perfect. And any musical that does a song and dance number called "Springtime for Hitler" is okay by me. A sharp satire. Loved it.
Today I went to a few museums and got museum overload (an actual affliction), so now I need to take a nap. I saw the coolest thing at the National Portrait Gallery, though -- a sketch of Ted Hughes done by Sylvia Plath. It blew my mind. Sylvia Plath actually touched that piece of notebook paper from her journal, those were her pencil-marks -- I stared at that thing for a good 15 minutes. I wanted to touch it, but of course that is a big no-no. But that just about made my day. I decided that I wasn't going to see nothing as exciting as that, so I went home to eat some soup and surf the net. And now I'm going to take a nap before Elizabeth comes home from work. Good night.
Tuesday, September 19, 2006
The raincloud moves a little to the left...
After an insane amount of job hunting, I finally have my first interview this afternoon and two more tomorrow. I must have applied for about 25 jobs, which is a horrible process. Yesterday I spent a whole day applying for jobs, and then I had the pleasure of coming home and talking to two of my flatmates who really tried their best to keep me looking on the brightside -- one of them told me that it took him three months to find a job, and the other one has been looking for ages and they didn't expect me to find anything except a waitressing job. But they're also lazy. I never said that, by the way.
Today I'm going to be interviewing for a researching job with a media/marketing research firm. The company is also based in Palo Alto. Right now, I am 99.9% sure of two things: 1) my deodorant will continue to keep me dry and fresh, and 2) the company is interested in me partly because I worked at Stanford over the summer. That Stanford name gets you in.
Tomorrow, I'm interviewing for a data entry position with LexisNexis! That's right, LexisNexis! I'm so excited about this -- I really hope I get this job. After that, I'm interviewing for a cashier position with Westminster Abbey -- you want tickets to tour the Abbey, you would come to me. I don't want this job but I'm going to the interview anyway in case the other two fall through. I'm not gambling, no siree -- I do not want to have to apply for more jobs. What's really hilarious about the Westminster Abbey job is that the lady who is going to interview me made it seem like counting money accurately was a difficult thing. She also made it seem like I had to be a math major or something. Please. I've done enough shopping in my life to know how to count money.
I forgot to mention something that happened yesterday that was really British and bizarre. Elizabeth and I were walking in Kensington Gardens by Kensington Palace -- where Princess Diana used to live -- and suddenlty a helicopter starts descending and lands in front of the Palace, just thirty feet in front of us! It turned out that it was a Royal Family helicopter transporting Princess Ann, Prince Charles' older sister, to the Palace. Nice! How British!
Wish me luck! I'm crossing my fingers!
Today I'm going to be interviewing for a researching job with a media/marketing research firm. The company is also based in Palo Alto. Right now, I am 99.9% sure of two things: 1) my deodorant will continue to keep me dry and fresh, and 2) the company is interested in me partly because I worked at Stanford over the summer. That Stanford name gets you in.
Tomorrow, I'm interviewing for a data entry position with LexisNexis! That's right, LexisNexis! I'm so excited about this -- I really hope I get this job. After that, I'm interviewing for a cashier position with Westminster Abbey -- you want tickets to tour the Abbey, you would come to me. I don't want this job but I'm going to the interview anyway in case the other two fall through. I'm not gambling, no siree -- I do not want to have to apply for more jobs. What's really hilarious about the Westminster Abbey job is that the lady who is going to interview me made it seem like counting money accurately was a difficult thing. She also made it seem like I had to be a math major or something. Please. I've done enough shopping in my life to know how to count money.
I forgot to mention something that happened yesterday that was really British and bizarre. Elizabeth and I were walking in Kensington Gardens by Kensington Palace -- where Princess Diana used to live -- and suddenlty a helicopter starts descending and lands in front of the Palace, just thirty feet in front of us! It turned out that it was a Royal Family helicopter transporting Princess Ann, Prince Charles' older sister, to the Palace. Nice! How British!
Wish me luck! I'm crossing my fingers!
taking the train outside of london...
Yesterday Elizabeth and I took a train to Egham, which is about 45 minutes south of London -- it's really interesting to see the dramatic change. London is a huge, metropolitan city, while Egham is this quaint, quiet city where all the shops close at 5:00. We visited Royal Holloway, the college where Elizabeth studied abroad for a semester, and it was quite the sight to see. The clock tower was used in one of the Harry Potter movies, cool! I have pictures but am too lazy to post them right now, but will post them tomorrow.
We then met up with two of Elizabeth's old flatmates, Will and Matt. I've met Will before -- he came to California and we all took a trip to Yosemite, but I never met Matt. We went to a pub for pub quiz, which is a big thing over here. Basically, you're not social unless you go to pubs, it's that big of a deal. People go to pubs during their lunch hour, and as soon as work lets out, they go back into another pub. Even the BUNAC orientation I went to, which is the name of my student work permit, emphasized the fact that you should go to pubs if you want to interact with British people. The Brits don't interact with you on the tube or when you're walking down the street -- it's only at pubs that they'll finally talk to you. The BUNAC representative encouraged us to go to pubs with our co-workers so that we'll find new friends and interact with them. Pub quiz is a popular game played on Sunday nights throughout Britain. Basically, you throw in a quid so that you can form a team with your friends and answer incredibly hard questions. It pretty much makes Americans look unintelligent because it mostly involves world history and current events, and I don't know about you, but all I learned in middle school and high school was American history. So, basically, Americans are useless and the British people are pretty impressive. Of couse, we lost, because those questions were really hard. But this is an example of how important pubs are to the British -- it's a place to unwind and relax, and it's a common pasttime -- it's nowhere near what we would call a bar. In fact, pubs usually close by 11:30, which is pretty early compared to the 2:00 am time for American bars.
Today I spent my time searching for jobs, which isn't very fun at all. I have one lead -- a media research assistant position that's right up my alley -- so here's hoping I get it. Tomorrow I'll be searching for waitressing jobs, which is really quite horrible because most only pay minimum wage, and it's next to impossible to live in London on 5.05 an hour. It makes me feel much better knowing that I'll only be here for three months.
What's cool is that Elizabeth is working for Arcadia, a study-abroad program, and they give special weekend rates to go out of London and into places such as Bath, Oxford, and Brighton. Elizabeth and I get to go for free -- sweet! Also, we have free tickets to see the Producers on Wednesday, and next Wednesday we're seeing Avenue Q -- all for free! That is very beneficial considering our less-than-average income as of present.
We then met up with two of Elizabeth's old flatmates, Will and Matt. I've met Will before -- he came to California and we all took a trip to Yosemite, but I never met Matt. We went to a pub for pub quiz, which is a big thing over here. Basically, you're not social unless you go to pubs, it's that big of a deal. People go to pubs during their lunch hour, and as soon as work lets out, they go back into another pub. Even the BUNAC orientation I went to, which is the name of my student work permit, emphasized the fact that you should go to pubs if you want to interact with British people. The Brits don't interact with you on the tube or when you're walking down the street -- it's only at pubs that they'll finally talk to you. The BUNAC representative encouraged us to go to pubs with our co-workers so that we'll find new friends and interact with them. Pub quiz is a popular game played on Sunday nights throughout Britain. Basically, you throw in a quid so that you can form a team with your friends and answer incredibly hard questions. It pretty much makes Americans look unintelligent because it mostly involves world history and current events, and I don't know about you, but all I learned in middle school and high school was American history. So, basically, Americans are useless and the British people are pretty impressive. Of couse, we lost, because those questions were really hard. But this is an example of how important pubs are to the British -- it's a place to unwind and relax, and it's a common pasttime -- it's nowhere near what we would call a bar. In fact, pubs usually close by 11:30, which is pretty early compared to the 2:00 am time for American bars.
Today I spent my time searching for jobs, which isn't very fun at all. I have one lead -- a media research assistant position that's right up my alley -- so here's hoping I get it. Tomorrow I'll be searching for waitressing jobs, which is really quite horrible because most only pay minimum wage, and it's next to impossible to live in London on 5.05 an hour. It makes me feel much better knowing that I'll only be here for three months.
What's cool is that Elizabeth is working for Arcadia, a study-abroad program, and they give special weekend rates to go out of London and into places such as Bath, Oxford, and Brighton. Elizabeth and I get to go for free -- sweet! Also, we have free tickets to see the Producers on Wednesday, and next Wednesday we're seeing Avenue Q -- all for free! That is very beneficial considering our less-than-average income as of present.
Friday, September 15, 2006
and this is London...
First off, Virgin Airlines serves excellent meals and should open a restaurant chain ASAP. And don't even try smoking in the toilet while on-board -- you'll get arrested.
The shock factor of entering a new country - not just to visit but to actually live there - is intense, to say the least. I never felt so emotionally unstable in my life like I did on that first day-- I felt like a little girl who just got her blankey taken away. I missed my family and friends like a kid at her first day at camp. Needless to say, I felt like a child. And even though thousands of people were milling around me, and even though Elizabeth was right beside me, I couldn't shake off the nagging sensation of lonliness.
But then I went to sleep and the next day I felt better. Yes, that easy. Sleeping good.
So I've seen a lot of what London has to offer: Big Ben, Parliament, Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, a lot more really old buildings that I forgot the name of, Picadilly Circus, the Thames, etc. And don't forget Harrod's -- good lord, that place has everything except for a firing squad and pony rides. They even have a Princess Diana memorial, which consists of a photo of her framed in classy, plastic gold, and what they think is the engagment ring given to her by that Dodi guy.
The people of London are definitely interesting -- all manners, until they enter the tube -- than it becomes a hodge podge of people pushing and shoving down the stairs. And not very politically correct at all -- in fact, they believe Americans to be too PC who need to loosen up.
As for food, Cheerios taste better over here. And they have shredded wheat with cranberries in the middle. Delicious. Other than that, I've eaten fish 'n chips, which was tasty -- but everything fried is tasty anyways. There are McDonalds everywhere and they look very clean. Once I get something called an income, I'll be able to discuss the food at greater length.
And highlight of the day? Watching some little girl at the Portobello Market sing and dance in an army girl costume. Except it was the most horrendous singing and dancing I have ever had the pleasure of hearing and seeing. What was she doing it for? Collecting money for "some poor kids charity." Sure. I expected Tom Bergeron to come out and yell, "you're on candid camera!" because our face -- and the faces of many others who happened to pass by -- showed a mixture of amusement, disgust, and, ultimately, worry. Beautiful.
The shock factor of entering a new country - not just to visit but to actually live there - is intense, to say the least. I never felt so emotionally unstable in my life like I did on that first day-- I felt like a little girl who just got her blankey taken away. I missed my family and friends like a kid at her first day at camp. Needless to say, I felt like a child. And even though thousands of people were milling around me, and even though Elizabeth was right beside me, I couldn't shake off the nagging sensation of lonliness.
But then I went to sleep and the next day I felt better. Yes, that easy. Sleeping good.
So I've seen a lot of what London has to offer: Big Ben, Parliament, Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, a lot more really old buildings that I forgot the name of, Picadilly Circus, the Thames, etc. And don't forget Harrod's -- good lord, that place has everything except for a firing squad and pony rides. They even have a Princess Diana memorial, which consists of a photo of her framed in classy, plastic gold, and what they think is the engagment ring given to her by that Dodi guy.
The people of London are definitely interesting -- all manners, until they enter the tube -- than it becomes a hodge podge of people pushing and shoving down the stairs. And not very politically correct at all -- in fact, they believe Americans to be too PC who need to loosen up.
As for food, Cheerios taste better over here. And they have shredded wheat with cranberries in the middle. Delicious. Other than that, I've eaten fish 'n chips, which was tasty -- but everything fried is tasty anyways. There are McDonalds everywhere and they look very clean. Once I get something called an income, I'll be able to discuss the food at greater length.
And highlight of the day? Watching some little girl at the Portobello Market sing and dance in an army girl costume. Except it was the most horrendous singing and dancing I have ever had the pleasure of hearing and seeing. What was she doing it for? Collecting money for "some poor kids charity." Sure. I expected Tom Bergeron to come out and yell, "you're on candid camera!" because our face -- and the faces of many others who happened to pass by -- showed a mixture of amusement, disgust, and, ultimately, worry. Beautiful.
Monday, September 11, 2006
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