"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.

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!

"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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

My ribs are holding up breweries and factories

30 years rising.

3 days until England.