Dangers and Directions

March 9, 2010

And a few more days sail by. And I only have six weeks left! Agh. That makes me so sad. The weather is starting to get so nice here and we are out walking everywhere. No leaves or flowers yet, but more people outside, more green grass! Crap, now that I’ve said that it will get really crappy and rainy for the rest of the week. But I really wouldn’t care. It couldn’t stop me. Viv, Hal, and I have planned out our whole week and we won’t let anything deter us from all of our adventures. We only have six weeks! And we have so much to do!

On Sunday, Hal and I got home from Hastings and just sat around. I contemplated going grocery shopping, but decided against it. I was too lazy and survived off some spaghetti noodles and a can of tuna. Yum. I was just whipped out from our misadventures getting home. We did do a bit of research on Scotland and train rides to the Highlands. I think we are going to make that trip next weekend. But we’ll see. I really want to see Edinburgh and Loch Ness (monster!), but I don’t want to leave London. I don’t want to miss a thing! (Thank you Aerosmith)

On Monday I had this crappy thing called class. It especially sucks after an entire week of hanging around the beach and traveling to Paris. Ugh. And we didn’t even talk about anything very interesting. Usually, our Contemporary Britain class is pretty fun. We talk about the UK, make fun of their odd behavior and accents. And in return, Justin, our professor, tries to explain this crazy place called England. He pokes fun at the US all the time, too. We all laugh, but I feel like half the time I don’t get his jokes… its that British sense of humor. He’s always joking, but I think its over my head. He could be saying something terrible about us and we’d all just laugh. It always sounds funny with that accent! But Monday’s class was dead boring. Even after three cups of coffee I couldn’t focus. Maybe I’ll do better next week.

Oh, and before class I went for a long run in Hyde Park. It was great! The park was almost empty except for about a thousand other runners. Everyone is training for the London Marathon. I’ve been building up, every morning I run for about three hours, and I think I’ll come in at around first in my age group this year… yeah right. I can barely run for two miles much less 26. I look like an idiot next to the guys in tiny shorts and tanks. I’m freezing in my sweatshirt. They are crazy! And determined. Olivia and I have committed ourselves to running a 5K this summer. I gotta get on that.

After class I skyped with Mom. It was great. I love skype. Just thought I’d mention that. After chatting with Mom I forced myself to go grocery shopping. Not very exciting.

That night we met with our theatre professor for another of his always interesting night walks. He loves these things, seriously. And he is always so enthusiastic. We got on the tube and rode across town to East London. And let me tell you, it is a completely different city over there. But I love it, of course. What don’t I love about London? The east side is everything Kensington isn’t. There is trash on the ground, streets without lights, cheap food(!), and noise after 11PM (there is a curfew in Kensington). I feel that that part of the city is alive and exciting no matter what time of day or night. There was diversity! And tons of Asian food! East London also has tons of history buried beneath it. Literally. There is this huge shopping center called Spitalfields that is built over a Roman burial ground that is about 1500 years old…

We also walked by the pub were Jack the Ripper picked up his last victim, Mary Jane Kelly. The building is exactly the same as it was that night, their claim to fame. The windows, furniture, bar, and everything else has been preserved. And it was kind of a foggy, cold night so it was pretty spooky. Brian, our professor, just loves Jack the Ripper. We learned a lot about London’s most notorious serial killer, as this was the area where all of his victims were found. It used to be a pretty poor, dangerous part of town, but now a flat above a pub goes for about 1.5 million pounds. Oh, how times and real estate prices have changed!

After riding the Tube home (about a 45 minutes ride, this place is huge), Viv and I planned out our week. So much to do!

Okay, here comes a really long story. So during spring break I had trouble with my headphones. On the way to Hastings, they quit working in one ear… so annoying. So when we got to the coast, I bought a pair at HMV, this music and electronic store. Those worked for about two hours and then they cut out. I was pissed. So then the day we left, I went back to HMV and exchanged them. On the bus ride home, I busted out my third pair only to find that those didn’t work at all! What the heck? I was not very happy at all. So then I got home, looked on the Internet to find an HMV in London to exchange them yet again. But when I plugged them into my computer they worked fine… hmmm. So then I tried Hal’s headphones in my iPod. And they only worked in on ear! It was my iPod!

So, on Tuesday, Hal, Viv, and I trekked across town to the Apple Store on Regent Street to either replace my old iPod or get a brand new one. Sure enough, my warranty ran out on February 1st… So I bought a new one! And I love it. I’m happy. But 183 pounds poorer.

Our walk across Mayfair to the Apple Store was probably the most entertaining part of my day. Seriously, I don’t think I’ve ever seen more Bentleys, Rolls Royces, or Porshes in a five-block radius. It was ridiculous. I didn’t even really notice until Hal pointed them out. And then I couldn’t not notice them. And they were all so shiny.

The shopping along there wasn’t too bad either. We passed a shop that sold only men’s bow ties. There was a sale going on. Only 125 pounds for the simple black one! And then there was the swarovski crystal shop and the Louis Vuitton factory store and a Starbucks with 6 pound coffee. Yum. And the Ferrari clothing store. Oh, and I can’t forget the yacht sale and management store. They had about a million little yacht models and could even hire staff for your new boat. Jeez. I’m so out of place in my Primark dress and Uggs.

After the Apple store, we headed down to the Tate Britain for Art History class. We didn’t even realize it, but our walk there was rather spectacular. We passed Piccadilly Circus, Trafalgar Square, Parliament, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, and a big park by the Thames. Not bad scenery! I can’t believe I live here.

On that fifteen minute walk, three different people asked me for directions. And it happens all the time! I don’t know what it is, maybe the red hair. They think I’m friendly. But I usually have a big map out, looking really confused, and pointing in different directions… not exactly the first person you’d ask for directions. Hal and Viv never get it. Sadly, I usually can’t help and probably send them in the wrong direction.

And as for today, I’m going to the London Transport Museum to do some “research” for my history project. It is going to be great. Learning all about the Tube!

Cheerio,
Kelly