Safer in London than Gtown

I've been a little blog crazy today, but this could be interesting for family readers. My parents worry about me walking around London in the dark. Mind you... the sun sets at 4PM nowadays so it's inevitable. But here's an email from the Department of Public Safety at Georgetown. I would just like to point out that it was 6PM.

Date: November 23 2007

Time: 6:00 PM

Location: Non-campus, West Georgetown

Address: 3600 Block N Street

Incident type: Robbery

Respondents: MPD

Incident summary: A robbery at gunpoint allegedly occurred in the 3600 block of N Street at 6:00 pm on Friday, November 23, 2007.

The complainant reported that at approximately 6:00 p.m. on Friday, November 23, 2007, while walking in the 3600 block of N Street, NW, he was approached by three males. The complainant indicated that one male placed a gun to his forehead and the other two males went through his pockets, took his wallet, credit cards, keys and laptop. The alleged assailants then fled toward Prospect Street. This incident was initially reported to the Metropolitan Police Department on the evening of Friday, November 23, 2007. The victim informed DPS about the incident over the weekend.

Things I Miss

Besides missing certain people and missing the ability to buy things, I miss these three things the most. Strange what you miss right? And yes, I'm aware this isn't Singapore.

1. Wearing hats
2. Chewing gum
3. Wearing sunglasses


Helly Hansen pic w/ hat AND sunglasses... probably also chewing gum. In England, that hand signal means "Piss off." In the U.S., it means "Take me seriously. I'm cool. Really."

Saturday Off - Week Recap

I'm not working this Saturday and it feels refreshing to finally have an unplanned day. I must admit that I do miss having a free day to just explore. That's one reason I'm looking forward to spending term break here. I'll take some time to catch everyone up on some happenings.

On Tuesday, I saw a production of Macbeth starring Patrick Stewart (yes, the Captain Picard of Star Trek). I've never seen a professional production of Shakespeare and it was quite good. I must admit that I would have had almost no idea what was going on had I not read the play in high school. It was a pretty tense performance and from the start, I knew I would be stressed out a little during the play. The setting was Stalinist Russia (I think) and it was a very sterile, eerie set. The Weird Sisters were thoroughly creepy and with all that stainless steel and projected images around the stage, I was glad to relax at a bar afterwards. For kicks, Jared, JP, and I decided to go to a Soho strip club to see what it was like. There's a first time for everything and I thought, why not try? It was a memorable experience. From television and movies, I had a preconceived idea of what a strip club would look like. But since this place was more bar/pub and less strip club, it was much different than I expected. No tables and chairs or couches facing the main "stage." Just a bar and open floor space in front of a small area with a pole and crossbar. A bit awkward for a set-up I thought. There were two strippers who didn't really phase JP, Jared, or me. It was kind of similar to a background music video playing at a club: it's there but you only turn to see what's playing once in a while. Anyways, I thought that was interesting and blog-worthy.

My Thanksgiving was pretty quiet. Thursday is like my "day off," since I work Wednesday and weekends, so I just wanted to get some laundry done and relax. I tried to go to Roseberry, another LSE hall, for a turkey dinner but there was no food left by the time we arrived. Jared and I improvised and headed to The Monument pub for some Thanksgiving-ish sandwiches. Unfortunately due to the bird flu, the turkey was replaced with chicken but it still had the other necessary ingredients: cranberry sauce and stuffing. It was good to just relax and have some pints. Definitely a unique Thanksgiving though. It's strange to think that my Thanksgiving for 20 years has been characterized by all these traditions and now, for the first time in my existence, I'm switching things up.

Two friends are in town this weekend, Jeff whom I visited in Dublin and Josh from Oxford/Gtown. Yesterday after class and rock climbing, I met up with the boys at The George, a pub in my area. For the first time, everyone decided to actually come to Southwark! It's a cool place and I like it a lot, but it's not necessarily somewhere I want to coerce everyone to come to in case things are disappointing. So after freezing a bit at The George among inadequate heat lamps, we learned that two pubs I had planned to go to were charging ridiculous cover fees or requiring stricter dress codes. Luckily, we ended up at a pub nearby that charged only 2 pounds for pints and was a cool, cozy student bar.

Today I met up with some friends in Covent Garden for lunch and we walked around the Jubilee Market for a bit of exploring. I love markets despite their aim at tourists and such. Tin placards, license plates from North Carolina, framed photos for 10 pounds, caricature artists, jewelers, leather goods, etc. Glitzy Christmas decorations hung from the ceilings and it had a very seasonal feeling. California, perhaps because of its weather or landscape, has never really been able to manufacture that feeling for me, so I almost feel more in the Christmas spirit here than if I were at home. The Santa and reindeer lights display near Costco just doesn't cut it.

I think I've rambled on for long enough. Everything is going well, I think. A highlight today was a street performer's rendition of Bob Dylan's "Don't Think Twice (It's Alright)." I was moved enough to throw in 2 USD worth of change.

Rainy Days

There's something about London that can make me appreciate it even when I'm walking home in the rain with a heavy backpack and two bags of groceries. I've never had this same type of appreciation while walking back to Georgetown's campus from Safeway, and I can't quite pinpoint why. Maybe there's nothing along the way to see? I don't know.

It's a rainy, cold day and I'm still in a good mood. I went climbing at the Castle today and met up with a friend from work. His name is Gabor and he's Hungarian and we both get a kick out of losing things in translation. When he was finished in the changing room, he said, "I'm worse than a bride." Number one. I couldn't figure out he said the word "worse" for a while and number two, I had to have him explain the saying. I'm slowly getting better at climbing, but I'm also noticing that the heights make my palms sweat more than when I first started. I wonder why.

I can't find normal "American" cheese at the grocery store. I went to the cheese aisle and they had blocks. This was my third attempt. Also, in fun news, I've discovered an American-ish bar is only 10 minutes from my dorm. I went to the bar (at another location) after work on Saturday night only to see the Michigan vs. Ohio State NCAA game. Pretty unexpected. Then I had to endure taunts of "Rugby is a real man's sport" by an annoying co-worker. This rugby versus American football debate doesn't actually exist. Most Americans abroad agree that rugby is cool, but to concede that it is cooler than American football is rare. They are simply different and I will leave it at that. My American pride is strong in London and I'm not about to let some arse tell me repeatedly that football players look gay in tights.

One last thing. Hold two fingers up as to signal "two beers, please." No, you just said "Piss off" or something. I forget. I hold two fingers up a lot and it's kind of a problem. Alright. That's all for now. A full week ahead and Thanksgiving! We will probably go to this pub called The Monument and order the turkey with stuffing and cranberry sandwich, since the bird flu has pushed turkey prices OUT OF CONTROL.

Also, I'm working on getting more postcards out. If your name is Grandma or Grandpa, one is coming as soon as I think of something unique and interesting to write. I've gotten no mail from overseas (ahem, parents). When my aunt gave me a some stuff from home, I half expected to see something special in there. Alas. It's not actually making me sad. That said, I miss everybody and hope Thanksgiving is a much deserved break for everyone working so hard. Talk to you soon.

Christmas Break

I am nearing real personhood. I opened my own bank account and started a mobile phone contract all by myself (but with some parental consultation). Those small accomplishments make me feel like I can survive out here by myself.

I'm not sure who knows this, but I'll be staying in the UK over Christmas break doing... something. Most people have had really surprised reactions to this seeming sentence of loneliness and homesickness. Don't worry, everyone. I'll be fine. I'm working 20 hours a week now and it may increase to 40 over the term break, which will keep me busy. I am still considering going on the climbing trip to Morocco, although I'm not sure if my skill level is up to par yet. Also, I'm up for some winter exploring.

Ok, once again, I'm blogging on my lunch break. I have to go now. So perhaps a more thorough recap later.

Life Recap: Dublin

I haven't been my usual blogging self lately, but here's a little recap of what I've been up to. I traveled to Dublin to visit Jeff (from Georgetown) Tuesday-Thursday and then I had work all day Saturday and today (Sunday), so I've been sleep deprived for a solid 3-4 days. I really need to catch up on work and I'm thoroughly relieved to have no travel plans until my December trip to Prague.

First. At Heathrow, I saw none other than KENNY IZZO at the Aer Lingus Terminal. For those of you that don't know, Kenny Izzo is a Gtown Basketball player that graduated last year. I said "Hi," introduced myself, and we chatted it up for 10 minutes. I heard about his basketball exploits in Mexico, Ireland, and Hungary and it was all pretty surreal. He was a really down to earth guy and was really gracious about being approached by a random person at an airport. He had a bit of a Midwestern accent and I was fondly reminded of the U.S. Sigh. I was sooooooo tempted to get a picture but felt it was too ridiculous. Crazy, right?

Dublin. I see why Jeff compared it to Boston now, since we finished the mandatory site-seeing in roughly three hours. Granted, we did it in Japanese tourist fashion. Get there, take a picture, read a sign or placard about history, and move on. I didn't make the peace sign unfortunately.

You can see all my Dublin pictures HERE on Flickr. I saw major things like... the Spire, Christ's Church, St. Patrick's Cathedral, the Guinness Storehouse, the River Liffey (if that counts), Temple Bar area, Grafton Street, St. Steven's Green, blah blah blah. Jeff was a good tour guide.

Anyways, work is good. I think it satisfies my need for human interaction, since it's basically 20-hours of guaranteed contact with people. Most staff members are 20-30 and from various countries like Hungary, France, Denmark, etc. It's a fun place and it's not as bad as it first seemed when I got trained. We get commission and they keep an eye on how much you sell, so that adds a little pressure to the job. I hate being an annoying sales person and following people around or stalking the till (don't dare call it a register in the UK, people) to tell them that it's MY sale. The first day, I sold 500-600 pounds of stuff and today, I think I sold about the same. As long as I keep around there, I'll be happy. Anyways. I need to sleep and/or do some work. Either.

LSE Departmental Support

This is an email I received today from my LSE department tutor:

Dear Jessica,

I notice you are doing a 3rd year economics course. I should warn you that EH GC students often fail these courses as they are often very technical, so unless you have a very strong background in economics and mathematics I would advice you to do another course.

Please let me know how you are finding the course so far and what your background in the topic is.

Best wishes,
Gerben

Wow. That's super encouraging. I'm glad he emailed me before it was too late to change courses... wait. He didn't. To be fair, an Economic History student probably would fail Development Econ. But I am an Econ student that happens to be placed in the Econ History department. So... I'm hoping this little fact gives me some type of advantage over the typical EH GC student.

Jen's Visit

Here's a story. So I mentioned to my mom that I was going to a Polish Vodka Party on Thursday night (but that I'd take it easy). Based on past events of Christmas '05, she told me to be careful and to let her know I was okay afterward. Of course I forgot to email her so I get an email on Friday with a subject of "How was the Vodka party??" with no body text. Haha.

Turns out I didn't go to the vodka party. The only reason I was going was to maintain social ties to the rock climbing society people. Being a beginner (read: shitty rock climber), I can't really bond with people just based on rock climbing. So I look to other things... like vodka. Anyways, we just went to a pub, because the music at the Polish thing was ultra-eurotrashy and we weren't feeling it. Perhaps if I was armed with a glowstick or two and put on a Zoolander face, I could get into the vibe. Not this time.

I started off the week a little behind on work and was kind of rushing to catch up the whole time. I had my first day at Ellis Brigham on Wednesday and that was okay, not amazing. I hope it gets better, because I was bored out of my mind and wished they would train people more efficiently.

Work plus feeling like I was coming down with a cold meant I didn't go rock climbing. Jen, a close friend from Pres, was visiting this weekend AND of course, I'm going to Dublin on Tuesday, so I didn't really want to push my body. But here I am on a Sunday clearing my throat and breathing through a congested nose. It could be worse. I still feel up for traveling, but I just need to continue taking it easy.

I was really excited for Jen's visit, since we never see each other during the school year (and sometimes summer) when I'm at Georgetown. We saw the sites with Jared: Notting Hill again, Parliament and Big Ben, St. Bride's and St. Paul's, and then to a historic pub or two. Highlights include cupcakes at Notting Hill (see above) and finding a Banksy work (above as well) near the flea market part. Unexpected and cool. Alright. I'm off to do some work... eventually. Hope everyone is well.