Just came back from London this past week, which was pretty ridiculous, awesome, wondrous and fun. I met up with a couple relatives, went to a PR Law firm (Schillings), BAFTA (basically the British version of the Oscars), took a tour of the Olympic areas, from the stadium to the village, which was massive and full of plenty of examples of our wonderfully globalized and capitalistic society (Forever 21 and Starbucks galore!)
Our first day on the scene, we were greeted by heavy rain, somewhat uncharacteristically freezing weather and a bike ride through it all to tour London how it was meant to be seen: wet, grey and cold. After that we had some time to decompress and prepare ourselves for the week to come, which was a doozy. From the get go we were sent out into the confusing world of the London Tube system, which was filled with names that look nothing like how they're pronounced; for example, Southwark is pronounced Suh-thark. Lecesteir= lester, Gloucester=Glah-stir...I could go on but it would only make your brain implode. As we navigated our way through this underground cavern of tubular vehicles and tracks, I actually began to realize how helpful it was to be in a country where all the signs are in English, and maps are posted pretty much everywhere, and arrows always point you in the right direction. They also tell you not to fall between the train and the platform, or "mind the gap." I'm sure you've heard this before, or something like it, but I just thought how much they like to remind you as you get on and off the train. Another tip: don't test your luck with closing doors. You will lose.
I had the pleasure of dining with my 2nd Cousin (mom's cousin) Bernadette Cawley, and she treated me to a wonderful lunch at Fortnum and Masons, a very interesting, four-story shop which held upscale things from beverages to tea and confectioneries to fancy pajamas. I had a wonderfully unhealthy meal of toast with chicken, bacon and cheese melted on top, and finished it off with a tall cool glass of gin and tonic with gin and tonic sorbet as a float. It was glorious. LOOK THERE IT IS \/
I also met up with my 2nd Cousin once removed..? Not sure what he is to me, but he's my mom's cousin's son. I just call him my cousin. Or just Tom. Makes things much easier. With him twice actually; went to a comedy club called The Phoenix after dinner one night, had a beer..or two. or three. Anyways, that part doesn't matter as much as the ridiculous hilarity of the show, which was a wonderful mix of music and comedy, possibly my two favorite mediums of performing arts. So that was obviously very fun. The second time we met, I had the pleasure of being the first American relative to meet his girlfriend Callie. She was very pleasant and very pregnant (7 or 8 months I believe) and I had a wonderful Turkish meal of liver (chicken or lamb, I can't remember which) and squid. Super delicious. Afterwards I was given a VIP tour of Tom's offices at Bloomberg and was able to name drop a bit when I was with my professor. As it turned out, we had just been monkeying around! HAHAHAhahaha. ha. so funny.
Speaking of meals and such, I was spoiled pretty thoroughly by DIS, which provided some very fancy and tasty meals. I can't quite remember everything, but I definitely always left every meal satisfied, or wanting more of what I had just eaten. Either way it was all good. As was the Guinness! I've been told by many that it's better over there, but I didn't quite believe it until the delicious and dark fluid hit my lips on British shores for the first time. It was like seeing God. Or achieving nirvana. Or something like that. Needless to say I was pleased, and consumed the beverage at every possible juncture. Definitely drank at least one of those for my Grandpa who passed away this past week unfortunately. I know it's sad and that death is always hard to deal with because we can't talk to those people anymore in the physical sense, but I'd like to think he's in some very good company with Father Phil and my Uncle Paul Krause. I know they'll dutifully watch over all of us for a long time to come. Also, I know I can always have a private conversation with them on my own with them anytime I need some advice, am having a crappy day, or just wanna thank somebody and feel grateful in general for just being alive on a really really sunny day (just like we had today! I was almost sweating it was so hot. Or warm. Warmish. Not cold. Yeah it was sunny at least)
Anyways, now that dreamy week of no classes and foreign exploration in a new land is over, and it's back to work. Okay so it's not that bad, but I'd still like to travel more. Probably why I just applied to my school's program in Norway next Fall...sigh. Guess I won't be going back to the US (for school anytime soon). Oh well. Life is rough sometimes.
