The Art of Nonversation

Art and Random Craziness

2010-01-26T13:06:00.000-08:00

I went with my housemate to the National Gallery today. It was wonderful. To be honest, I loved the building almost more than the art, but the pieces were really amazing. And the fact that all of them are so incredibly old really awed me. My housemate knows a ton, literally shocking amounts, of information about the various periods of art and how they influenced and flowed into each other and what in society was influencing the particular movement, etc. It was like a complete art history course in one afternoon. Fantastic. Turns out I like Baroke or Borroc or however the hell you spell that art period. Also like modern art like Picasso and Degas, as well as older stuff like Rembrant and this other guy who's name escapes me. One of my favourite pieces was by Degas, I forget what it's called which is hilarious. Three Dancers, I think it's called actually. It's really simple but also really beautiful up close.

The afternoon really got me thinking about art because it's something I've never really bought into. To me, what some people call art is really just nothing. Absolutely nothing. And I learned today that it's all due to some guy in 1917 who did an exhibit and put a toilet seat in the exhibit and called it 'art'. Since then people have been doing all kinds of crap and setting up all kinds of ridiculous exhibits and calling it 'art'. Whatever, maybe I'm just not as enlightened as some of the more 'artistic' individuals out there. Or maybe I'm just more of an auditory individual in that I feel music is one of the purest forms of art. Tho clearly there's some total crap out there as well, but I can at least appreciate the total crap if it's catchy or fun to dance to. When visual art is crappy, it's just crappy. Buuuuttttt, in saying all of this, I am attempting to be open minded. My problem is that it seems that if you're Jo Dumbass and you decided to pee in a glass bottle and put a green cork in the bottle and then decide to place that bottle on a podium under some light and call it art, people will believe you. And then along comes Dave Stupidhead and Dave decides he 'totally gets' your art is 'is deeply moved by what your art is saying' and agrees to pay you, Jo Dumbass, a ridiculous sum of money for this piece of 'art' and suddenly Jo Dumbass is some world renowned artist simply because people assume that if one Stupidhead is willing to pay craploads of money to a Dumbass for that Dumbass' art then that Stupidhead must know/see something the rest of us can't and that the Dumbass really is some amazing artist. And no one is going to admit that they don't understand what the hell is so deep, moving or inspiring about urine in a bottle with a green cork on a podium under some light so they go along with it, stroke their chins, walk around the podium and disuss its dimension and use of the colour green (which may or may not symbolize how money is the cork with which we stuff our bottled lives, hoping the urine that is our lives will appear somehow more like liquid gold). I'm opting to just stay out of it and experience art in museums only. I will have art in my home, of course, but I'll stick to more urban and cultural art and stay away from any kinds of 'movements'. And if you ever hear me say I spent more than $500 on a piece of art, slap me. Slap me hard. And if the piece of art does not take up an entire wall for $500, then hit me with your shoe and remind me what that $500 could have bought me at Forever 21.

Now the random craziness of my day. There were two instances. The first was returning home from the gallery, in the Charing Cross underground, there was this woman. At first as we walked up to her from behind, I noticed her swaying a bit. Then as we got closer, I could swear that she was shaking her booty but she was wearing a pretty bulky jacket so I couldn't be sure. As we passed her, I turned to look and she was wearing head phones, her bags were on the ground, her eyes were closed and she was definitely boogeying down. It was alot more visible from the front because her jacket was open. She was proper grinding away by herself to whatever music she was listening to. And then she started say 'ooh', ya', 'oooooooh', 'ya', 'woooh!', 'uh'. And with the way she was dancing I would have to assume she was listening to some old school R&B or soul intended for the bedroom like some Teddy, or Luther or Barry . But I had to give it to her, she was really enjoying that song and grooving down right then and there, regardless of the crowd of people on the platform, even throwing in some slow motion pelvic thrusts as well while making an 'ooohhh, yes' face also more appropriate in the bedroom. And then the train came, we got on, and she did not!!! She just kept on dancing right there. Too funny.

The second random craziness was at the Co-op (grocery store). This woman started yelling at this stockboy that there was no organic milk and how the last six times she'd been there, there was no organic milk. She wanted to know what the hell was going on and if they had even placed an organic milk order, or if they even planned to continue stocking organic milk. She made it clear that she was furious and expected there to be some organic milk in stock on her next visit. Totally hilarious. Especially cause the stock boy completely ignored her after she began her rant. When she first yelled 'excuse me!', he went over, then when she started asking why there was no organic milk, he shrugged, said 'sorry maam, I can not help you' and went back to stocking his shelf and then ignored the rest of her rant. So funny, I was dying inside.

Ah London, how I love your random craziness. We don't get craziness like this at home and I assume it's because there are less people and therefore less crazy people.

Mr. Rickman and Me - Part II

2010-01-24T06:20:00.000-08:00

Last Saturday my aunt had a party for her birthday. It was all very impromptu having been planned that Thursday night but it turned out great with about 60 or so people showing up and having a wonderful time. The wine was non-stop, there was sushi (can you imagine how happy I was?!), oysters, prawns, fish pie (think 'Shepard's Pie but with cheese and different kinds of fish. Sounds disgusting but is actually insanely addictive. I could actually go for some fish pie right now...), cake, bread and even more wine. Basically all the ingredients required for a great party. I was actually planning on going out that night but ended up staying in to party cause I knew it would mean alot to my aunt. Turns out to be The Best Decision I Ever Made. Why? Well the party was also attended by Sam Neil and...yes, you guessed it: Alan Rickman! AND Imelda Staunton. Who is that? That is the hated Delores Umbridge from Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix!!!

So first Sam Neill. I went downstairs quite early, pretty much before the party had really started and only two or three guests had arrived so far. I was in the kitchen by myself pouring a glass of wine when the door opened and Sam Neill popped his head around the corner, I did an extreme double take and then just stared while my mind tried to remember what movies I'd seen him in. He looked at me then put down the bottle of wine he was carrying, looked at me again, gave a super awkward half smile and then pretty much ran out of the kitchen. That was when I realized I was staring. Hehehe. And then it hit me: Jurassic Park!!!! One of my favourite childhood movies and also the reason I love Jeff Goldblum. I clearly did not play it very cool but I was caught unprepared so it really doesn't count.

I then circulated the party for a while and then returned to the kitchen to find none other than Mr. Alan Rickman in the kitchen chatting with some less important people. I was thrilled! In these close quarters this was my opportunity to meet and talk to Mr. Rickman. I confessed my plan and obsession to my housemate Konstantinos and he decided he would help me by introducing my to Mr. Rickman. Konstantinos has lived with my aunt and uncle for two years so he's met Mr. Rickman on several occasions and also Mr. Rickman directed a play starrring an actor that Konstantinos used in one of his films so they ended up going for coffee and chatting about directing and such a couple times. Perfect. I had a plan. So we circulated and worked our way closer to Mr. Rickman. And then the moment arrived: Mr. Rickman was chatting with my aunt's close friend and Konstantinos and I were right beside them. Konstantinos interrupted and introduced me to them both. I said hello to Mr. Rickman, SHOOK HIS HAND, then said hello to my aunt's friend and shook her hand and ended up chatting with her because I didn't want to be too obvious that I was dying to meet Mr. Rickman. Pretty anti-climatic, I know. But don't worry. There's more.

So later into the evening I'm outside with Konstantinos and my aunt, trying to recover from the oyster I just tried for the first time (turns out I like to chew my food so oysters aren't for me) and this tiny little woman comes out into the garden and my aunt starts shrieking. The tiny woman looks familiar and then it hits me: Delores Umbridge. Delores Umbridge is standing about 15 inches away from me. I discreetly ask Konstantinos if I am correct and he confirms that I am. My aunt then introduces Imelda to Konstantinos, she shakes his hand, says hello. And then my aunt introduces her to me and she says: 'Oh, you're gorgeous! Just lovely!' and I went into shock. I replied thank you so much and smiled but that was all I could manage. I was very cool tho, don't worry, my shock didn't show on my face and I was only second in a line of people she was introduced to so there was not awkward silence or staring. It was played extremely cool. A while later she returned to the garden and Konstantinos and I were still out there discussing what a nice evening it was and she turned to us and said 'it's really quite warm out tonight, isn't it?' and I said 'yes, we were just saying that, it's really lovely' and she said 'I guess I don't need this coat, but I love it' and I said 'It's a really nice coat' and she said 'thank you, you know I've had it for twelve years' and I said 'wow, really?! What a great buy! It still looks great' and she said 'doesn't it? I just love this coat'. And then someone else asked her a question. But yes. That was my conversation with Delores Umbridge, who is real life, is ridiculously lovely. Tiny and smiley and really sweet.

Even later on in the party, I found myself chatting with a rather lovely lady who I later found out is Mrs. Rickman. We had a very interesting conversation about the differences between Brits and Canada. She asked me some really thought provoking questions. So that conversation ended (Kind of a good thing cause I was a bit buzzed and my thoughts weren't happy being provoked) and I found myself standing beside Konstantinos as he and Mr. Rickman continued the conversation they'd been carrying on for at least the past thirty minutes. I was determined to speak to Mr. Rickman, to somehow inject myself into their conversation and remain in it. So I hovered there a moment semi-awkwardly but very determined and then, an opportunity arose! They were discussing Avatar!! Excellent, I haven't seen it but I've read a lot about it and thought now or never, I better jump in! So I turned to face them and Mr. Rickman said 'hellooo' in a very awesome snape-like way. And I said 'I heard you guys discussing Avatar and I wanted to know what you both thought of it', turns out neither of them had seen it but both wanted to. I joked that I thought I was the last person in the world not to have seen it and they were making me feel much better. And then Mr. Rickman mentioned that it's nominated for best film. Mr. Rickman is part of the Academy and had just done his voting the past week. (ACK!) He started telling us how there will be 10 films in the best film category this year. And then Konstatinos explained that it's a money thing cause each film nominated gets an additional two months in theatres cause so many more people want to see it after the oscars. Both Mr. Rickman and I were like 'ya, that does make sense' and then Mr. Rickman told a joke and I laughed and I made a joke and he laughed. And then. And then. *sigh* And then I spent the next 17 or so minutes discussing films and the Oscars with Mr. Rickman and Constantinos. Mr. Rickman named the films he'd seen and described what he liked about them. I had seen none of them but heard of all of them (thank God for my obsession with watching trailers on Apple.com) and so could contribute to the conversation. There were a few films he told me I should see and I will definitely see them, if they come recommended by Mr. Rickman, they must be good, right?! The entire time this conversation was happening I had to keep reminding myself not to do a happy dance and to breath and to PAY ATTENTION!! And not to just smile and stare whenever he was speaking directly to me. God forbid Mr. Rickman should think I'm an idiot. It was wonderful. Amazing. We chatted, we laughed, we joked, I was witty, intelligent and very cool and he, well, he was Mr. Rickman.

And that, folks, is Part II of Mr. Rickman and me. Much much better than Part I and hopefully not as good as Part III. I'm still in shock and would almost have thought I dreamed it if Konstantinos hadn't been there. By the way, he confirmed that I did, infact, play it very very cool.

I would like to thank my aunt for being born and having a party last Saturday to celebrate. I would also like to thank Mr. Rickman for being born and being available to attend the party on incredibly short notice. And I would like to thank Konstantinos for talking to Mr. Rickman and giving me my in. If I do absolutely nothing else this entire trip, it will still be the best trip ever.

Sam Neill

Mr. Rickman

Imelda Staunton

Chicken Fingers!!

2010-01-07T14:32:00.000-08:00

Yes, that's right. I successfully made delicious chicken fingers using my own random recipe. I marinated the chicken strips in soy sauce and spices then I mixed flour, an egg, water and more spices together for the batter. Then for the breading, I used a mixture of breadcrumbs and crushed seasoned croutons and a bit of garlic salt and spicy seasoning. After the chicken was marinated I dipped it completely into the batter then rolled it in the breadcrumb mixture. I then fried the chicken fingers in vegetable oil. Sooo delicious! I'm so excited! I've been meaning to try this recipe I had in my mind for weeks now and I finally did and they turned out fantastic.I recommend you try it too. Or come visit me and I'll make them for you. It'll be worth the trip.

I'm still on a complete cooking bend here. Last week I made Caribbean patties and they were so delicious my aunt, uncle and cousins ate them all (I was not impressed). This weekend I'm going to try to make oxtail because I love it and I've never made it. I'm determined to make it as delicious as my aunt's oxtail tho it may take some practice.

This weekend I'm also thinking I'll do some museum-ing. There are so many museums here and some of them are free (which is my exact price range right now). I'm also going to mail out the Christmas cards I bought before Christmas. Sorry people, I haven't forgotten you, I'm just terrible at correspondence. I have stack of cards and post cards all written up, I just keep forgetting to put them into the actual post.

I've been here four months now and I've noticed that I'm picking up certain British words and phrasings. Like the word 'proper' which the British use instead of 'actual' or 'real'. Ex. Canadians might say "pppfffft, you haven't seen 'real' snow" while the British would say "ppfffffttt, you haven't seen 'proper' snow". Love the word proper, use it all the time. If you've talked to me recently, you know this already. I've also picked up loo and loo paper as well as arse. I've also picked up the word 'sort' and its derivatives (ex. sorting out, sorted out, sort out).

I think that's it tho, so that's not too bad. Still quite Canadian because I say 'make out' instead of 'snog' and 'strapless' instead of 'boob tube', I also say underwear as opposed to 'pants' although that has caused some confusion in more than a few conversations when I'm talking about pants and they think I'm talking about undies. I'm trying to think of what other British things I've picked up...I don't talk on the tube and I stare offendedly at people who do. Hehe. I also have started hugging and double kissing people now because people seem offended when you hug them and go for just one kiss and they were going for two. There's just no way to know who's gonna go for one and who's gonna go for two so I just go for two. Better to seem very friendly than rude. Also, one big Canadian thing is that I say 'how are you?' as opposed to 'y'alriiiight?'. I still don't even know how to respond to that properly because it doesn't actually mean 'are you alright?', it's more like the British version of 'sup', it can essentially mean hello, how are you, looking good, hey, and I think in some cases it can also mean 'wanna have sex?'. I'm still sorting out the particulars.

I think that's it. I'm still 98% Canadian and maybe 2% British.

Happy New Year!!!

2010-01-04T10:14:00.000-08:00

Hope everyone had a good holiday season! I had a lovely one. A nice British Christmas complete with homemade breadsauce, minced pies and a proper English trifle. Good times. Also went to Bath finally, to visit my aunt. It is a freaking beautiful city. My pictures are on Facebook so check there, but I've also put a few up below. I also went to Bristol while I was out there and it's gorgeous there too. Some pics below of Bristol as well.

New Years was good too. Went to a party at a bar on Portobello Road for New Years Eve. Good fun, great music. Then for New Years Day night I went to a massive party at a bar in 02 arena (where Michael Jackson's show was going to be performed) and it was not fun. Way too many people, the music was totally unvaried and got annoying quickly. Total waste of an outfit, not to mention the money I spent on the ticket and cab rides there and back. But whatever. It just reminded me that I've been wasting too much money clubbing in London, I need to start traveling. So, first big trip is planned for around Feb 18 to Barcelona (thanks to the voucher I got from MCG!). It's not booked yet cause I have to get the time off from work first (still at the College, my contract has been extended) but right now that's what I'm planning for.
Then Paris in March. And then, the world! Hehe.

Super excited for 2010!!! Can't believe that last year this time I had just decided to make this trip and now I'm actually here. This time next year I want to have done and seen a lot. I also hope to still be blogging pretty regularly. My current lack of blogging is due to my current boring lifestyle. But all that is about to change. I hope. Fingers crossed!!!

Pictures are below:

My cousin's school in Bath. Pretty sure Harry Potter also attends this school.

The Circus. If you ever visit here, go to the centre where my cousin is and sing or yell. The acoustics are crazy!

My aunt's house in Bath. The one on the left.

Bristol Cathedral...no wait, Bath Cathedral. Sorry.

YES! Love olden day racist street signs!

White ladies, your health centre awaits! Hehe, Whiteladies is actually a road and apparently an area.

Here we go, this is Bristol Cathedral.

Tooting on the Tube

2009-12-04T11:20:00.000-08:00

I've noticed that some people think it's ok to toot on a full tube. It's not. It's not even a little ok. When like 100 people are packed into one compartment and no one can move and everyone is trying not to make eye contact with the person whose face is just inches from theirs, this is not the time to ADD to the extreme discomfort by tooting. Especially if you know your toots are deadly. Hold that shiz in!!!

This evening on the tube an older man was sitting next to me, though there was one empty seat between us and he was asleep. He was snoring a little and then he suddenly let our the Mother of All Toots. I'm talking loud and extended. I actually jumped then turned to stare as it went on and on and on. Seriously, with all that air inside of him, I'm surprised he wasn't floating. He continued to sleep, not knowing how he had shocked the other passengers so deeply. Luckily there was no scent, or at least it didn't reach me. But it was hilarious. I totally started laughing cause HOW FUNNY IS THAT?! You had to have heard it cause it went on forever. By far the highlight of my week.

My weekend plans? Nothing. This stupid freaking weather has ruined my plans way too many times. I'm not going to give it another chance. Instead I will plan to spend my weekends indoors and so no plans can be ruined. Ha! Take that weather!!! I will spend the next couple months' weekends catching up on my reading, seeing the occasional play or movie and trying out wondrous new recipes. This weekend I'm not sure what I'm making yet. I'm contemplating trying for some goat water or 'mannish water' as the Jamaicans call it. Also thinking I might do some fish. Mmmmm, fish. And I'm thinking wraps with chicken, goat's cheese and various pestos for my lunches next week. Tasty!!! I forgot how much I LOVE experimenting with wraps.

I'm also contemplating swimming as a fitness routine. Maybe an hour two or three times a week. I just need to buy one of those caps for my hair because we all know I will NOT be dunking my hair under water three times a week any time soon. Anways, apparently it's the best exercise there is because it literally works every single muscle in your body. So either I swim or I do the 'swimming' Pilates exercise on my mat for an hour. Either way, I will become more fit. Cause so far, I've miraculously managed not to put on weight, or at least only put on two or three pounds then drop it right away, but that luck may run out now that it's Christmas. Time to buckle down!!!

Scary Randomness

2009-11-29T11:25:00.001-08:00

Had a nice week. Working and such. Went for Thai last night for my friend's birthday. I've been eating a lot of Thai food since I came here. Thai food is great. You should eat some soon.

I'm sick also. Stuffy nose and sore throat and slight cough. I don't think it's H1N1 cause there's no headache or fever so it's all good. Except it sucks cause I hate being sick. I'm very lazy already and the sickness makes me even more tired. Today it took me four hours to work up the energy to get out of bed, shower and go to the grocery store. And it started pouring, which was LOVELY. So I got drenched. If I wasn't sick before, I am definitely sick now. Anyways, I decided to cook so that I'll have food to eat this week. I made this lamb dish that I'd been thinking of. Basically lamp steaks with coconut milk, spices, garlic, onions and button mushrooms in a dish and stuck it in the oven. Turned out great! Then I also made what I call 'Asian chicken'. I call it that because I made a it in a bit of a tangy sesame sauce. It's really good too actually. Both from scratch. I really may have to start a cook book while I'm out here so I don't forget these recipes. I also fried some plantain because I've been craving it for a while.

Random sighting to share: today at the grocery store, I looked over and this tall old man had dried blood all down the side of this ear and neck. It was disgusting. I didn't know what to do. I wasn't sure if he was aware of the blood but he had to be because there was a lot. And how do you say that? 'Um excuse me sir, are you aware that you seem to be bleeding?' I was actually scared that he was crazy or had been in some kind of fight, or worse, was just bleeding from his ears. I didn't want to be around in case he went beserk or dropped dead so I quickly left the aisle. I'm still pretty shook up though cause it was REALLY gross. Eeewww.

Another random event: yesterday, took the tube home late, around 12:30 from my friend's bday dinner in the East end. At one stop, this young guy with a shaved head got on the tube and sat directly across from me and started staring at me. He was probably about 17 or 18 and had the creepiest green eyes. He was holding a beer and wearing all black. CREEPY. I wasn't certain he was starting at me but when I risked a quick glance at him, he definitley was. And he had this horrid little half smile on his face like he totally knew he was creeping me out and seemed to be enjoying it. At the next stop I practically ran off the tube, walked down and then got into another compartment. He did not follow me, thank God. But then when I got off the tube at my station, I noticed that he got off too, but I was behind him so he couldn't have seen me. I didn't know what to do so I walked slowly hoping he would be long gone by the time i got out of the station. But then he veered off to the right, into a corner, and opted to urinate. I pretty much ran past while his back was turned and got the hell out of the station. I kept looking back but thank God, if he came out of the station, he went the other way. Soooo creepy though. He just looked totally evil, you know? I've never met anyone who actually gave me a feeling like that from the moment I saw them.

So that was a lot of scary randomness between last night and today so I'm hoping that's my quota for the rest of...my life, maybe? Really hope so. I prefer the funny randomness to the scary randomness.

The Weather

2009-11-24T11:01:00.001-08:00

I know that I was thoroughly warned about English weather before I came here but I must take a moment to rant.

First off, the weather was freaking fantastic for my first month here. Had a few cold days but mostly was really nice fall weather, sun shining, birds singing (actually it was the strange people that live across the street singing outside at all hours of the morning), you get my drift. Then there were a few days of crappy raininess which was alright. I could handle that. Then it was back to great, sunny gorgeous fall weather. This is what lead me to think that everyone was just exaggerating. Silly people, I thought, English weather is lovely. Maybe they have more grey days than us, but it's wonderful. La di da.

Now?!! Now it's like I live in hell's urinal and all day long we get pissed on. Sometimes it's just a little bit of pee, more of a tinkle than a stream, but that tinkle flows consistently through out the entire day. Throw in the insane wind and suddenly it becomes a lovely light urine blizzard. Other times it's like a stream of drunken pee that just won't stop. And of course, the thing that makes hell even worse: the wind. I think I could handle it if it were just raining or drizzling BUT when you add the wind into the equation it's like someone pinching you and you think 'ouch, ah well, that's not too bad', and then they STAB YOU IN THE EYE.

I have reached the stage where I delay going outside in the morning for as long as possible (making myself late for work regularly) just so that there are at least 15-20 minutes everyday when my hair looks like it's supposed to because AS SOON as I open the door, PFFFTTT, it dies and looks like shit. I spend pretty much every day looking like something that could have been fabulous died a slow and frizzy death on my head. Why not just wear a hat, you ask? Or use an umbrella? Well, I do both. BOTH. But the wind makes my umbrella and my hat useless because it just blows all the rain at me so I end up damp no matter what, except for the very very top of my head. I may just stop doing my hair altogether. Or maybe I'll buy one of those little pocket straighteners and carry it around with me because I just can not handle this any longer.

Last Saturday I ventured out to get my nails done because I had no other time I could go. It had been windy in the morning and rainy, but it seemed to have calmed down so I took my chance and went to catch the bus to Kilburn. As I waited for the bus, the wind picked up again. Not fun. When I got off the bus it started to rain. As I sat getting my nails done, I washed people walking past struggling against the rain, fighting with their umbrellas when they went inside out, holding on to their children and babies lest they fly away. It was insanity. I lingered in the nail shop as long as possible without seeming strange and then prepared myself to head back out. As I waited for the bus, I am fairly certain I saw a small child blow by in the wind calling for its mother. I attempted to use my umbrella but the wind was so strong it broke. So I stood there getting drenched, hanging on to the bus pole for dear life and cursing this blasted urinal in which I live.

My current prayer is that this so called 'winter' in England does not last as long as winter in Canada. I would trade some beautiful snow for this piss anyday. But at least it's not too cold, so I guess there's a 'brightside' to this urinal. Maybe not so much a 'brightside' as a 'less suicide-inducing' side.

Please do not comment on this post about how lovely the weather is in Winnipeg. I know. My mom showed me on Skype, despite my protests. No snow, sun shining, grass still green, all that crap. Lucky bums. Enjoy it while you can because soon you will happily trade your icebox for my urinal.

I'm baaa-aack

2009-11-22T14:17:00.000-08:00

Hello people! Sorry for my unplanned absence from the blog. No excuse really aside from the fact that I've been living the boring life for the past two weeks with nothing interesting to report and I've been ashamed. Here I am in London, one of the most exciting cities in the world and I'm being boring! It's so shameful. But I've decided it's time to fess up and just admit that my natural tendency is to be boring. Can't help it. I like to read and watch movies, eat and cook. Not the thrilling stuff of must-read blogs sadly. And when I'm working full time, I become a bit of recluse during the week. My weekends haven't been exciting either. The weather's been terrible so I haven't really done anything much. Work is fun and good. Very busy with Open Evenings and Parents Evenings and such so I've been working late most days. I work, I go home, I eat, I read and I go to sleep. Some days I go shopping after work. Shopping has maybe been the highlight of the past few weeks for me. And this week my goal is to find a nice new winter coat. I want something either black or purple with a high collar and a belt and pockets. Very exciting for me, but for you, not so much.

I feel that since my life is quite boring, I shall start blogging more on the random things that I observe. Like the man on the tube the other day. He was black but his beard was orange. It looked like he may have dyed it but either way, there was just no reasonable explanation I could think of for his beard to be orange. I'm not going to lie, I did stare at him for a while before I realized I was staring and stopped. The tubes are full of strange and sometimes disturbing people. My coworker last week had a man in her tube pull down his pants and pleasure himself (wank off is the British term) on the full tube. He apparently finished, zipped up his pants and then got off the tube like a normal person when he was done. Yup, those are the pleasures of the tube. I have luckily not been scarred for life by witnessing something as horrifying as that but I did have a man stand in front of me, when I was sitting, and make pelvic thrusting movements. That was lovely. I was looking away actually and then noticed the rhythmic movement out of the corner of my eye and turned my head to confirm that yes, that was in fact what he was doing.

Aside from the joys of the tube, yesterday I got to experience another British or London tradition: the fancy dress party. Apparently fancy dress is what they refer to as dressing in costume. And apparently it's quite the normal thing to do. People either have fancy dress parties or they have a fancy dress night where everyone dresses up and then goes out. Fancy dress is generally themed. The fancy dress party I went to last night was Kung Fu themed and people went all out. I didn't know anyone so I didn't feel comfortable taking pictures but it was awesome. I didn't dress up because I only decided to go at the last minute but most people there were dressed up and most of the people dressed up had gone all out. Lots of Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat characters. People do fancy dress for birthdays, bachelor or bachelorette parties or just randomly for fun. I remember this guy at one of the temp jobs I did telling us how him and his friends did a fancy dress as priests in Poland for a bachelor party and then went out to a club and the police got called in and they had to take of their crosses and collars because it was too offensive. So funny but also totally offensive. Next time I get invited to a fancy dress party or night, I'm dressing up...unless it's something offensive.

So that was last night and then today I spent all day cooking. I made sweet&sour meatballs with pasta. And cheese tortellini with chicken in a basil pesto cream sauce. I made baked chicken with tomatoes and onions in a rose sauce and I made beef fried rice. I also bought all the fixings to make nachos for dinner tonight but then I snacked so much on the other foods that I wasn't hungry in the end. I've been trying to do all my cooking on Sundays so that I have food for lunch during the week and sometimes food for supper too. My mistake the past two weeks was to make just one dish for the whole week cause by Wednesday I don't want it anymore and end up eating take away for the rest of the week and throwing out the food I'd made. So this week I made myself a bunch of options to keep things exciting all week long. And I tossed some of the beef fried rice into the freezer so that when I'm lazy and don't cook, I can just heat it up for dinner.

Settling in Nicely

2009-11-06T15:10:00.000-08:00

This was a nice week. Been working my bootay off but I feel good. I'm really starting to feel like I'm settling in, you know? I get along well with my team at work, I think the boss likes me (not certain, but I don't think she hates me, so that's good, right?). The only downside is I am FREAKING TIRED. Seriously, I get home from work and just end up collapsing onto my bed for as long as it takes to work up the energy to get up and change into my pjs, then I rest til I can work up the energy to rustle up some food. On Tuesday when my aunt offered me dinner, I seriously almost cried with gratitude cause I was standing in front of the fridge wondering how I was going to find the energy to make something to eat. She made chicken and chips and it was delicious. I have yet to try fish and chips but everyone keeps telling me that I should. But the only time I tried it at home, it was disgusting, too greasy. But clearly this is where it originated so they'll do it properly here, but I'm kinda scared that when done properly it's still super greasy. I'll try it eventually I'm sure.

Yesterday was the graduation ceremony at the College. I remember thinking at my U of W grad how organized it was and how much work must go into that. I had no idea. This was just a grad of 130 students and it was a ton of work, and that's just at the actual event. The work leading up to it started before my time at the college, long before my time. It went really well tho. I was a bit horrified at how idiotic and rude some grown ass people can be. There were grads running in at 7:05 when the ceremony started at 6:45 and grads were asked to be there between 5:30 and 6!!! They were rude, they wouldn't follow instructions, they took their cameras up on stage with them. It was unbeliveable. And these were higher education students, meaning they are adults, grown ass adults who should know better. They even got up and went to the washroom during the ceremony! I'm not gonna lie; I yelled at a few people and had to give a few people my look of death to get them to stop talking or to stop speaking rudely to me. But anyways it was a success so that's nice. And we got to come in later to work today because we were there until 10 last night.

As you've noticed, work has overtaken my life. But I still have weekends! I'm going out tomorrow night, should be fun. All my shopping in the past few weeks has left me with an abnormal problem: I have too many outfits to choose from. It's a problem I rarely have. I'm gonna see how I feel tomorrow night, see what my friend from work is wearing and see where we're going and then decide which outfit to where. They are both fabulous outfits, but in different ways :)

Winter is settling in here and it's cold and rainy. Not too cold, I just wear a fall jacket. But thank goodness my back is to the window cause it's not a fun sight to look out at all day long. But the fall colours are lovely with all the red, orange and yellow leaves everywhere. Yesterday was the offical start of winter--bonfire night/fireworks night. It's this strange British celebration that stems decades or centuries maybe to when this man tried to blow up parliament so that he could take over and enforce strict Catholic laws on the people. The man failed in his attempt and got caught. His punishment was to be hung, drawn and quartered. So first he was hung till he was close to dead. Then they stretched him ('drawn' apart by horses I assume) til he was closer to dead. Then they cut him open and pulled out his internal organs, while he was still alive. All this to send a message to the people that attempting to blow up parliament will be severely punished. So after that Brits celebrated the failure of this man's attempt at taking over Britain and enforcing strict Catholic rules by burning a bonfire of leaves on bonfire night and setting off fireworks. It's also the official start of winter cause they rake their yards and burn up all the fallen leaves. Apparently in the old days they also used to make scarecrow-like things and then the little kids would prop them up on the side of the street and when adults would walk by they would say 'penny for the fellah', or very similar to that, and they would collect all the change they got and use it to buy fireworks for the evening. I have no idea how fireworks or scarecrows fit into celebrating the 'burning of the catholic' but apparently they do.

It's funny cause my aunt was shocked at how horrified I was by this traditional celebration. She tried to say that thanksgiving is just as horrific if you go back far enough. I pointed out that no, that's not true, it's a celebration of the Indians and the pilgrims sitting down with one another and sharing and giving thanks together. But she pointed out that the pilgrims killed off most of the Indians, which is true. BUT that's not the part of our history that Thanksgiving celebrates. Their little bonfire night celebrates brutal public torture and punishment. Anyhoo, I was working so I missed out on the festivities and what I'm sure would have been a lively discussion as to which cultural celebration is more horrific.

An afternoon in Windsor

2009-11-03T11:54:00.000-08:00

I went to Windsor on Saturday with one of my mom's cousin and his Italian lodger. It was nice cause the Queen has a castle there. It's insanely huge. Eton and Windsor are two small little towns that are right next to each other and connected by a little footbridge so we parked in Eton and then walked over into Windsor. Super pretty. We wandered around Windsor and then ate at a pub, which was interesting. I'm still not too excited about British food, to my cousin's disappointment but I did opt for a traditional English dessert: sticky toffee pudding. It was AMAZING. AMAZING. I can not stress this enough. Anyone who comes to visit must try it. AMAZING!!!

Sunday I went to this Thai place with a couple of friends. It's in Soho and called Ubasa or Abasa or something like that. It was fantastic. Red curry is one of the best things ever on Earth. Period. And I tried a lamb red curry which was even more spectacular.

Aside from eating, I've been working my butt off. So far this week I've worked 9hrs each day and I have at least one more 9hr day left. It's a lot of fun tho and I'm starting to really get into the swing of things, which is nice. And it's busy all day long which is also nice because the days just fly by.

Back to food for a minute: I made roasted veggies for the first time yesterday. I cut up zucchini, red onions, mushrooms, orange peppers, whole cloves of garlic in the skin, green onions and baby corn and put them in a casserole dish. Then I mixed olive oil with a ton of garlic, mixed herbs, a little brown sugar, a splash of seasoned rice vinegar and some sea salt and then poured the mixture over the veggies, covered it all with foil and put it in the oven. The result: DELICIOUS.

Anyhoo, below are the pics from Windsor...

Do you see how the castle extends out into the distance, nearly beyond the horizon!!!

That's me!

That's me again!

Trying to capture how gigantic the castle is up close. This is actually just one small tower.

This is the back of the castle...or actually maybe it's the side...

Look how high and far it goes!

The little bridge between Eton and Windsor

The main road in Eton..so quaint and sweet.

Soaking up the Art Culture

2009-10-27T04:24:00.000-07:00

Went to the Tate Modern yesterday to view the new Pop Life: Art in a Material World exhibit. I was so excited! My aunt has a membership so I didn't have to pay to get into the exhibit. Most exhibits at the Tate are free but their feature exhibits cost money. It was honestly pretty crazy. I'm not sure I knew what I was getting into with Pop Art cause I didn't really know what Pop Art meant. I now know it refers to Popular or commercial art, similar to the way Pop Music refers to Popular or commercial music. So basically, the Pop Art movement is very modern, beginning with Mr. Andy Warhol in the late 50s and carrying on to now. There were four rooms devoted to Mr. Warhol, his stuff is insane. I really like it. I think my favourite was the Four Multicoloured Marilyns he did in the 60s. And I did not know he was shot by some woman, crazy! The other rooms were dedicated to a variety of pop artists and Pop Art in general. One room was devoted to Keith Haring, he is amazing. His art is everywhere and I had no idea it was all by one artist. I thought it was just an art style. Below is a pic of one of him and some of his pieces, he's even wearing one of his tshirts.

I must mention that a lot of Pop Art is what I, as an uncultured non-art-lover would refer to as 'porn'. That's because, to me, large close up shots of penetration and ejaculation and cunnilingus and masturbation is 'porn'. And when these images are featured in magazines, as many of them were in the exhibit, that definitely qualifies as 'porn' in my books. As do images of one woman and several men engaged in various acts. The rooms containing these pieces all had warnings as you enter saying that there was sexual content and that you needed to be 18+ to enter and they had staff at the entrance to watch out. One guy asked me if I was over 18 and then looked skeptical when I said yes (This was probably due to my gasp of horror/shock when I saw the first massive image in that particular room was an extreme close up of something that does not need to be viewed extremely close up, much less blown up and hung on a wall), he only relaxed when I offered to show him ID. That was the room for an artist with the last name Koon, just a heads up for any of you who might one day go see an exhibit featuring his work, 'Graphic' does not even begin to describe his images. One of these magical rooms in the exhibit was devoted to an artist (Andrea something) who's piece was a video of her (the artist) having sex with a collector. Apparently she contacted a bunch of galleries and asked them to get a list of collectors who would pay an undisclosed amount to have the privilege of getting a video of her having sex with them to add to their collection.....yep, that's porn to me. So the room just had the explanation of the piece and then the video shot from one mounted camera using existing lighting. There were tons of people standing around watching but I read the description and thought that maybe I misunderstood, watched the video for about 10 seconds and realized I understood perfectly and then left the room. The room right after the one with the video was one that had only one 'piece': a life-sized fake (God, I hope it was fake and not stuffed) dead horse sprawled on the ground with a wooden post stabbed in its flank that had a sign stuck to it that read 'Iniri' or 'Ingiri', something like that. It was by far the most disturbing thing I have seen in a long time. I wanted to vomit. But I guess that's what some art does to you. What boggles my mind is that there were some people standing around observing it. I just got the hell out of that room before my stomach could reject my lunch.

So I've noted my favourite piece, my least favourite piece, but the craziest piece was in a room dedicated to the young British artists who brought Pop Art to Britain, having been influenced by the Americans. I forget the name of the piece but on the wall, there were two identical squares made up of multicoloured polka dots. Beneath each of these squares was an identical chair and on the chair were two identical twin red-headed girls wearing identical outfits, right down to the shoes and bags and reading the same book. Did I mention these were ACTUAL PEOPLE. That's right, these two, live girls, were part of the exhibit, just sitting there reading and answering the occasional question. It was nuts!!! I wanted to ask if they moved around with the exhibit and if they went to school or how they knew the artist but I was kind of creeped out by the whole thing. And you're not allowed to take photographs so I'm not sure you're supposed to talk to the pieces either. Some people asked questions but I couldn't tell if they were actually answering the questions, I didn't want to get too close. So weird.

Pics below of Keith Haring and his work and also some pics I took outside the Tate Modern. Absolutely breathtaking view.

The view from the boardwalk thing outside the Tate Modern .

Close up.

The path leading to the Tate from the little boardwalk area.

This is a foot bridge that my uncle suggested I take to go to St. Paul's Cathedral after the Tate. I then had to explain my bridge phobia to him. When I actually saw the bridge I laughed out loud. There is no way in hell I would walk across that thing. Even if this side of the river was on fire, I would just jump in the water and try to swim as opposed to walking over that death-trap.

D-e-a-t-h-t-r-a-p

Keith Haring and some of his work, also wearing some of his work.

One of my favourite Keith Haring pieces.

Interview, successful!

2009-10-23T14:02:00.000-07:00

I got a job! Well, I got a contract position, initially for three months but very likely to be extended. I am now the Communications Assistant at Ealing and West London College!! It's more of a Marketing assistant role because it's in the Marketing department. I am sooo excited!!! The job sounds fantastic and the team seems really creative and forward thinking so I am pumped!!! And the campus is huge. I've always thought it would be super fun to do marketing for a college or university so yay! I'll be doing everything from copywriting to press releases to updating the website to helping with the refresh of the college magazine to helping plan campaigns and stunts around campus geared at both the internal and external markets. YAY! Again: YAY! It's a new role so they're starting it off as a temporary contract for three months and then they will review in a month or two to see if it should be extended or maybe become permanent. I'm just happy to have some financial security for the next three months and have a job that actually excites me. Yay!

On a less happy note, today someone's leg somehow got underneath one of the trains at Oxford Circus and they shut the station down. There was no service on the Central Line for the majority of the afternoon. Apparently they had to saw the person's leg off to get them out from under the train. I don't really know what happened but I cannot imagine. I do not know if they were trying to kill themself or if they tripped and fell or got shoved. I shudder to think of what it would be like to get stuck under one of the massive tubes.

On the brighter side, I am getting to know my Greek roommate and he's really nice. He's a film maker, just finished school this spring and already won an award at the New York Film Festival! It's so strange listening to him and my aunt and uncle talk. I think it's so amazing that they actually work in this industry!!! Craziness.

Anyhoo, looking forward to starting work next Wednesday. Planning to make the most of my last few days without work and go see the new Pop Art exhibit at the Tate Modern. I will take pics if I'm allowed and post them up as soon as I can!

Fun British Facts

2009-10-21T08:51:00.000-07:00

I've learned more about the Brits over the past few weeks, thought I'd share:

-There is no Thanksgiving in Britain. Makes sense I guess but it got me thinking: why is there Thanksgiving in Canada? Is it also to pay tribute to all that the Europeans stole from the natives? I can't remember. I was asked a lot and I gave very vague, wobbly answers but really I have no clue. Anyone?

-Women are expected to wear suits to interviews. Isn't that odd?? I met with a recruitment agent last week that asked if I owned a suit. I admitted no, cause I'm not a 45 year old business executive. But apparently, in Britain, every professional female should own a suit and is expected to wear it to interviews. Who knew?! I've worn fabulous dresses to the two interviews I've been to here so far and it seemed fine. I bought a suit last week anyways. From H&M. It was the least fun shopping trip I'd had in a while.

-There don't appear to be any Avenues in London. Only Streets and Roads and Lanes. I noticed this a while back. I think there might be a couple Broadways and there are tons of Squares, but no Avenues.

-'Slag' is a British term used to refer to what Canadians call 'sluts'. The worst of the 'slags' are referred to as 'slaggy slags'. Isn't that such a gross word?! I hated it on sound, it immediately filled me with distaste. It will not become a part of my vocabulary. **

-Brits really do all cigarettes 'fags'. I knew this already, as I'm sure you did too, but it's still quite jarring to hear that word used in everyday speech. Especially because 'fag' is not a word in my vocabulary. Last night my aunt was talking and was like 'I was having a fag in the garden' and thought 'what the?!' but then remembered.

-The little West Indian shop down the road from me is owned by an African. I thought this was hilarious. Good for him! It's a good shop too, they even sell roti shells.

-Brits automatically put milk in their tea. Even in restaurants, they just put milk in your tea automatically without asking. This has resulted in me having to send tea back several times and in dozens of cups of tea having to be poured out and remade. It's not just that I don't like milk, it just doesn't agree with me so if I'm going to have some, it'll be in cheese or ice cream, something worth it.

-I've found that Brits have weird pronunciation. Not just cause of their accents, but they do not say things how they're spelled. I think it's quite ironic since they're supposed to 'speak the most proper English' and supposedly we in North America have butchered the language, but at least we pronounce all syllables. Here, Leicester is pronounced 'Lester', Chiswick is pronounced 'Chisik', everything ending in 'shire' like 'Oxfordshire, Derbyshire, Notthinghamshire, Gloucestershire' atually ends in 'sure' so it's pronounced 'Oxfordsure, Derbysure, Nottinghamsure, Gloucestersure'.

-They have La Senza here. I actually thought that was really strange but apparently it's all over Europe.

-You can buy 2 bottles of Smirnoff vodka for £5.50...I didn't, but I'm just saying it's possible. If you're an alcoholic then London is the place for you!

-'Long' is used by Brits to refer to what we call 'tight' girls at home. You know what I mean. I don't really get why they call it being 'long' here. A opposed to 'short'??? At least when we say 'tight' at home, it makes sense as opposed to 'loose'. **

** I would like to take a moment to note that neither of these terms were used in reference to me...

I'm Back Baby!

2009-10-19T05:22:00.001-07:00

So sorry about last week to any loyal readers that stuck with me through my bought of self-pity and lack of posts. To those who've left, I understand. I'm back now though! Chalk full of optimism and happy as a Santa Claus on crack at Disneyland getting laid (Friends reference). Had a nice, relaxing weekend and hit the ground running this morning. I've already set up two appointments with recruitment agencies for this week and actually heard back from an online application I just sent in this morning. Woot woot! Things are looking positive. I have resigned myself to temping over here and I am happy with that. There are much worse things I could be doing than temping in London for two years ;)

I actually had a moderately productive Sunday too, in that I actually got out of bed before 2 pm and managed to finally get to the store and pick up my microwave! I even went out again and bought a little table to put it on. Now I can cook as much as I like and then reheat my left over for days!! My aunt and uncle don't really do leftovers so they didn't use their old microwave and right now they don't have one at all. I've been dying for one for weeks now cause there are some things that you just can't reheat in the oven (like rice and stir fry) and there are times when I'm hungry now damnit! I want to pop my food in the mike and eat in the next 2-3 minutes. So now that I can, I've got cooking fever! On my list for the next week or two are: fried breadfruit with smoked fish (this is a Caribbean dish for any of you who might be disgusted or confused), roti and curry chick peas with chicken, a pilaf rice with smoked turkey and mushrooms and a coconut salmon. Mmmm mmm!! I may soon not be able to fit into any of my adorable, recently purchased dresses (I shop when I'm depressed) but I'll be well fed! I've just made myself quite hungry, I think I'm gonna go start my search for breadfruit. What the hell does a breadfruit actually look like, I've only seen it cooked?? Found a pic!

Also, one of my cousin's friends helped me stage the pic below at my cousin's party to prove that I was in the same room and venue as Mr. Rickman. I look hideous, please excuse that, but it is still proof that we were both there. He's in the background, leaning in to kiss my aunt (so jealous).

You can't fake this stuff people! Well, you can actually, but I didn't!

Unemployed Temp for Hire

2009-10-13T13:20:00.000-07:00

So last week made me crazy and I opted not to return to the horrendous telephone temp work this week. Sad cause I really liked the people. I thought I would use these days to find a recruitment agency that specializes in media or communications or marketing. And I did find some, lots even. Sadly none of them seem interested in me and none of them have gotten back to me yet. Yes, I know that they all say they'll get back to you within 5 days and it's barely been one full day but so what?! I'm poor and bored damnit!!! I want a j-o-b. I didn't do much this morning but this afternoon was a bit better. Managed to work myself out of my sulk and apply for a few jobs then I even managed to get a recruitment agent to set up an appointment to meet with me tomorrow afternoon. I'm tentatively optimistic. We'll see how it goes I guess.

I was quite down and out this morning so I spent the morning and early afternoon watching SATC and a bootleg movie I purchased down in Peckham yesterday when I went to get my nails done. It was Tyler Perry's latest film titled I can Do Bad All By Myself, and it was alright. Had some of Perry's signature scenes that are so difficult to watch they make you cringe. But it also had his signature cheeseball ending that made me want to cover my eyes in horror. I don't want to ruin the movie for you but the following line was uttered: 'I don't know how to love like that but I want to learn, will you teach me?' and it was said tearfully and oh-so sincerely. I do not know why film makers love to throw cheese into the end of their movies and ruin them for any realists in the audience.

I went to see Love Happens on Monday. It wasn't my first choice but I was running behind so it was really just a mattering of timing. And it was my friend's first choice so I went with it. The film was mediocre as I expected. I mean mediocre isn't bad, but it's not good either. If you were contemplating it, hoping that maybe the trailers just didn't do it justice, I'm letting you know that the trailers were mediocre because the film is mediocre. I just didn't really care about either of the characters but it was a nice story and there were a few laughs so it wasn't a total waste. I would say rent it on a Wednesday night as opposed to go out to see it on a Friday or Saturday. Has anyone else seen it and liked it? Let me know.

I forgot to mention that I went to the famous Portabello Market on Saturday and it was AMAZING!!! Hellllooooo vintage shopping! I always thought these markets that everyone keeps talking about just sold food and scarves and jewelry but no, no. I was very mistaken. This is a massive market full of fabulous stalls selling great vintage clothing and new clothing as well, and purses and coats and shoes and jewelry and Mexican food. Everything!!! I loved it. I am addicted. For £30 I bought a pencil skirt, a fabulous short tweedish skirt (hard to describe but has a giant bow on it), a sweet dress, a tutu (my new thing by the way) and a belt!!! And the tutu and belt and the dress were all new! The market was seriously indescribable. I will be a weekly attendee for certain. In fact, I may never shop in an actual shop for anything besides jeans, undies and shoes again! And I have a feeling that I may eventually get into vintage shoes. Right now, it gives me an icky feeling but it just takes on cheap and fabulous pair and I know I'll be hooked. We all know I have issues with feet but that I have equally strong feelings about shoes so we'll see which one wins this battle. I will take pictures of the market next weekend and post them so you can all see the wonderfulness.

After the market shopping on Saturday we went for lunch at this wonderful conjoined Thai and sushi place on Portabello Road. After we'd finished up and were just hanging around chatting, I randomly noticed a tall man in a jean jacket walk by then stop then walk into the restaurant. I didn't really pay any attention. Then three minutes later we hear yelling and the man comes dashing out of the restaurant (we were on the patio) and the owner comes out after him saying 'stop! come back!' The tall man threw something from under jacket behind a large plant then turned and shrugged like 'what?' and then stalked off. Then the owner reached behind the plant and picked up a plastic bag!!! This blond girl in the restaurant was near the doorway of the restaurant looking confused and when the owner handed her the plastic bag she looked shocked and we realized what happened: apparently this man walked into the restaurant and just walked around, didn't sit down, then, unnoticed by anyone but the owner, snatched this woman's bag, stuck it under his jacket and tried to make his escape. But the owner saw and started yelling at him to stop and chased him out the door. Isn't that insane?!!The woman didn't even notice that he'd taken her bag, if it wasn't for the owner that man would have totally gotten away with it! The owner was like a little Japanese (or Thai) hero! We all applauded once we realized what had happened and he just shook it off and looked angrily down the street after the attempted thief. I even added an extra pound to my tip cause that is some good service! Fresh delicious sushi, rich flavourful Thai food AND heroic acts performed on the premises? Needless to say I put the take away number in my phone and will soon become one of their favourite and frequent customers :)

Mr. Rickman and Me

2009-10-11T10:21:00.000-07:00

First off I must say that I was not actually introduced to him. It deeply saddened me but my aunt was quite tipsy and running about everywhere and I didn't want to ASK her so I just left it alone. Today she felt terrible and assured me that he would be around again and I'd be introduced then. But really it doesn't matter that I didn't shake his hand because I got to be around him for five hours!!!

In real life he looks quite different. He's not as thin as in Harry Potter and clearly he doesn't have shoulder length black hair. But THE VOICE!!! aaaahhhh!!!! Love it! He ended up reading the speech my uncle wrote for my cousin because my uncle got stuck in Kenya doing a commercial and couldn't make it back. So He read it!!!! So insane! Can you imagine having Snape read a speech to you at your birthday party??? I was also happy cause then I could freely photograph him instead of pretending to photograph the person next to him and actually taking a close up shot of him like I did when my aunt was talking (hehe). Also, at one point when I was helping out behind the bar, He came up and took a picture of me and another girl. So somewhere on his camera is a picture of me!!! I wanted to ask him for a picture in exchange for a picture but I felt that might be rude or forward.

Other highlights: when I felt someone brush against me from behind and turned to see Him retreating. I may never wash the back of my dress again!!! I also smiled at him SEVERAL times and he smiled back. And it was all done in a very natural way, generally as I was entering the room where he was sitting and we made eye contact. Honestly he seemed like the nicest man. Very chill, just hung out with his partner (female) all night and a chatted with all their friends, ate some chips, etc. He even tidied up the gift table so that nothing fell over or got lost. He got my cousin the most fabulous gift! It was huge and wrapped in matte pink wrapping paper and he dug up a pic of her at three and taped it to the bag, so cute! The huge bag turned out to be an actual giant purse that was SSOOO perfect for my cousin, her exact style. Then he bought her about 10 different things and wrapped them individually and put them in the bag. These items included two books on photography (my cousin is in school for photography), an eye palette by some crazy expensive designer, an FCUK belt, and....crap! I can't remember the rest, there were like 4 more things in there. I wasn't jealous so much as completely consumed with envy. Not so much for the gift as for what it must be like to receive a gift from him.

And apparently he had a great time cause he rang this morning to say so!!

Below are the pics. Sorry if this isn't as exciting as you'd hoped but I just couldn't bring myself to do anything more than admire him from afar and smile shyly when we made eye contact. Now that he's seen me once, I think next time I might just introduce myself! And there will be a next time. Even if I have to set it up myself.

Also, he's not holding a lightsaber, it's a lamp thing. We set them up all over the room. He was trying to give my aunt some light so that she could read the speech herself but she couldn't so he read it.

Him reading the speech.

My cousin is the one in the blue dress.

*sigh*

Boooorrrriiinnnggggg

2009-10-09T15:53:00.001-07:00

So this was a very boring week. All I did was work really and see Fame. Went out for drinks last night to a place called Galaxy....or was it Gallery?? Something like that. It was nice, a great lounge with good drinks and atmosphere. But then around 10:45 a DJ appeared and started 'spinning' loud horrible music and we left shortly afterwards. Being driven around London really emphasizes how confusing this city is. The streets just do not make any sense whatsoever. There is no pattern, no grid, nothing. Just random roads and streets everywhere and the street signs are so small and poorly placed that it's almost like an afterthought. Like 'oh, you know, it might be nice to have the names of the streets somewhere. Let's put them up really small on the sides of the buildings on the corner.' Good plan.

The job this week was not great. Pretty horrible in fact. It was at the same place I was at last week but instead of doing research like I did last week, I was contacting hundreds of people across Europe asking them to be part of a database. Essentially telemarketing except I wasn't selling anything. I hated it. And the worst part is I'm apparently really good at it so they asked me to stay until next Wednesday but I had to turn it down. I've worked non-stop for the past three weeks and I haven't had anytime to put into tracking down marketing-related recruitment agencies much less time to go in during the day to register. So I'm hoping to make some headway in that area early next week. The people at this place were really nice though and they've asked me to stay in touch so I'm hoping their hiring freeze gets removed sometime soon so that they can hire me on to do some actual PR work which would be amazing.

Tomorrow is The Party. The Party where I will meet The Man who Killed Dumbledore!!! And it's confirmed that he will definitely be in attendance because he phoned tonight in a panic over what to get my cousin for her bday. Apparently he's going to get her a 'glamorous frock' from some designer and some makeup or something and make up a package for her. I'm trying hard not to be insanely jealous...trying very hard. Anyways, my aunt found out tonight just how excited I am to meet him and she thought it was really cute and said that she would introduce me to him!!!! AAAHHH!!!! Freaking out! And she pointed out that tons of my cousin's friend would probably be completely starstruck so I won't stand out for blatantly staring. Now here is the big question: what does one wear to such a fabulous event in the East End of London??? I don't know!!! I have one dress that's my back up but I feel like I need something crazier and poofier! I might actually get a tutu to wear under the dress to raise the poof level but tomorrow we're going to a retro shop that's apparently like a warehouse full of vintage dresses so I might find something there. So excited for my first vintage shopping experience. Woot woot!!!! I hope I find something massively poofy and purple...with sequins...and strapless...with a bow!!! There must be something like that waiting for me in a shop somewhere.

Anyhoo, that's the plan. Look forward to a full update on Sunday. Also, so jealous that you will all be enjoying a fabulous Thanksgiving dinner on Sunday and I will not because Brits don't have Thanksgiving. I might buy a smoked turkey leg and make my own version of my mom's stuffing!!!

Shame on Fame. Shame I say!

2009-10-06T13:33:00.000-07:00

Went to see Fame last night and it was horrendous. What crap. Half way through I had to check my ticket stub to make sure we hadn't accidentally bought tickets to High School Musical VIII or whatever version they're on now. I was so disappointed. I LOVE musicals. LOVE THEM. Even the really cheasy happy musicals like Hairspray (which wasn't actually all that happy what with the whole racism plot line) but this was just pure shite. The movie actually had no point. I kept waiting for the climax and there wasn't one. Even when the credits started rolling, I sat there waiting thinking that there was something else that was going to happen but there wasn't. My aunt said that the original Fame was pretty gritty but this one was Disney....actually wait...was it Disney??? I don't think it was and I'm too lazy to check right now. They had a good lineup of actors playing instructors including the fabulous Debbie Allen and Mr. Kelsey Grammar and what's her face from Will and Grace (Karen), and this black guy who's good. Don't know his name, but he's good. But sadly the instructors were not at all the focus of the movie, it was the teens and they were horrible. Their acting felt like acting, no depth, the characters were poorly developed and it was therefore very difficult to feel any sympathy or empathy towards them. If you were planning on taking your hard earned money and spending it on this film, I recommend you spend it elsewhere. Even just going to McD's would probably be a better investment than wasting 2hrs of your life in a theatre waiting for a plot that will never really develop.

In the theme of movies and movie stars, guess which movie star will be present at my cousin's 21st birthday party on Saturday??!!!!! (hint: he killed one of the greatest wizards who ever lived). SO EXCITED. I've been trying to think of a way to play it supa-cool but still manage to get a pic with him. Even if I could get a pic of me where he's in the background or a pic of him where I'm lurking in the background. I dunno, but I'm gonna find a way to make it work somehow....maybe I'll ask if he's seen Fame and then he's say 'Yes...it was crap' in his voice that gives me haunting shivers and we'll laugh and chat together about how bad Fame was and form and instant and life-long bond. *sigh* And he'll invite me over for tea and we'll have crumpets and he'll introduce me to Emma Thompson cause I LOVE her and he'll also introduce me to Kate Winslet because she's an acting Goddess. And I'll be their token young black girl friend and we'll live happily ever after! Yes, that sounds like a swell plan! So excited! EEEEEEEEeeeeeeeee!

One Month Down, 23 to go!

2009-10-04T11:47:00.001-07:00

It was my one month anniversary in London yesterday! I think it's nuts that I've been here for a month already, it still feels like I just got here but then I think back on everything that's happened and ya, it's definitely been a month. And a good month too!!! Can't wait for the next 23. Also can't wait to start travelingggggggg!!!!!! Once this job thing gets a bit more secure or at least once my bank account starts looking relatively healthy, I'm off!! In the meantime I think I'm gonna start doing some country weekend trips in England so I can get to see the British country side. My mom has a cousin that lives in Bath so I think I'll try to head there later this month and then start planning some other trips after that.

Last night I went to this club/lounge called Koko Bar. It started off not too fun cause I got there at the time I planned to meet with my friend and her boyfriend and then they ended up being an hour late because their ride was running late and the club had no coat check so I just sat there in my coat annoyed for an hour. But once they got there and I ditched my coat in their car, it got fun and then funner and then I ended up having a fantastic time! The music was non-stop great. Seriously, every time I sat down for a second to rest my feet, another great song would come on and I would have to get back up and dance. One really interesting thing about the bar is that they played a lot of Nigerian music. Sounds strange, I know, but they were essentially just catering to the audience and I think the DJ was Nigerian as well. I already love Nigerian music cause my dad loves it and used to play it non-stop on our road trips when I was younger. But this music was the more recent stuff from younger artists so it's quite contemporary and fun to dance to. Apparently more and more clubs here are playing Nigerian and African music because there are so many really good artists coming out. I loved it.

At the end of the night, I took the night bus home for the first time. I had considered taking it home last weekend but I just felt super uncomfortable with the idea and ended up cabbing it.This weekend tho, for some reason, I was certain the night bus was the way to go so I planned out my routes and put them in my phone before I went out. I brought along tights and flats to put on so as not to draw attention to what I might or might not be wearing under my coat and I was set. Of course, the stupid website gave me the wrong bus numbers but I've been here long enough now that I know which buses to look out for and which general direction I should be headed in. And the bus drivers and very nice out here (not like at home) so they're generally very helpful. One jolly old black bus driver gave me such precise details last night, I almost asked him for his number so I could phone him up whenever I get lost. Anyhoo, I found my way home without too much trouble, didn't even get on the wrong bus or anything! It took about an hour so I got off the bus just before 4 am and speed walked to my place. It was only about a 2 minute walk from the bus stop but at that hour, I didn't want to be strolling along at a leisurely pace, even though this is a good neighbourhood. I'm really proud of myself for my little nightbus adventure. And I'm excited to think of all the money I'll be saving by not cabbing it home all the time!

Also, great news: I found several brands of Caesar salad dressing AND two different kinds of croutons at Sainsbury's!!! I was thrilled and may or may not have done a little dance in the aisle when I found these items. And this little dance may or may not have caused several people to look at me like I was crazy and a child to hide behind his mother's legs and peer out at me frightened. Anyways, to hell with them, I've had two GIANT chicken Caesar salads in the past two days and they were both delicious!! And today, i just ate some croutons with Caesar dressing! Very delicious. Some of you might be disgusted, but then you must also not be aware of my love of croutons. Now you know. I am so happy I do not have to go another 23 months without a Caesar salad. It doesn't make up for the turkey bacon but I still have to go to that American grocery store to see if they have it. To be honest, I'm putting it off cause I'm scared they don't have it and I really won't have any turkey bacon until one of you nice people send me some (HINT HINT). So I figure if I wait long enough, one of you will have already put some in the post and then if the super market doesn't have any, I won't have to wait too long before my turkey bacon care package arrives :)

HINT HINT!!!!!

SERIOUSLY???!!!!!!

2009-10-01T13:00:00.000-07:00

Today I came home from work and decided I would have a giant chicken Caesar salad for dinner with croutons and parm cheese and the works. So, I changed and off I went with my 'Don't think mean, think green' reusable shopping bag, happy as a clam. I stopped at the cheap grocery store to get my salad and then planned to go to the expensive grocery store for the fixings (chicken, dressing, croutons). Got my chicken, and I'm on the hunt for my croutons and dressing. I come to the dressing section first. After about 1 full minute of starting and the two small shelf areas with salad dressing, it slowly sinks in that they do not have Caesar dressing...I think I must have missed it, right? So I look again, deliberately reading each label. And still no Caesar dressing. Now I think back to the various menus I've seen over the past four weeks and like a black cloud, along comes the realization that they don't have Caesar salad OR Caesar dressing here!!!! SERIOUSLY???!!!!!! I am NOT impressed with this place. First turkey bacon, now Caesar salad dressing??? Two staples of my diet snatched out from my reach. I am thoroughly unhappy with this new development.

Stupid London, with their stupid 'Heinz Salad Cream' and fresh ham bacon. F%"*, F$%@ity, F$%! aRGh!

....

SERIOUSLY???!!!!!!

Researching, cooking and such

2009-09-30T13:32:00.000-07:00

So I've been temping yesterday and today at this Communications Agency in Notting Hill. It's good, kinda boring, but nowhere near as horrific as that data formatting job last week. I am still in full possession of my will to live so that's a good sign. The only sucky part is that the hours at 9-6, which is very common here. It's really long so I take my lunch around 2 or 2:30 to help the time pass.

I must say that I had no idea my weirdo story would spark such interest. I will do my best to report further on the other weirdos I meet cause there are tons. Last weekend while waiting in Liverpool Station I saw some ridiculously strange things including a man who from the front looked bald but from the back had a little patch of unshaved hair so long he had it pulled into a ponytail. He was also wearing quite fitted capri pants. I stared at him long and hard trying to comprehend exactly what was going on. I also saw a girl in dress so short it and tight it rode up and showed her bum when she walked. I know I have been known to wear some pretty short things, but there is a limit to how short I will go and bum-bearing dresses is it.

Sidenote about short dresses/skirts: professional skirts and dresses go suprisingly short over here. Things that at home I would hem and haw trying to decide if it was too short for work (and then wear anyways) are totally fine over here. It's fantastic!!! I think it's cause everyone wears flats to work cause they have to take the tube.But really, it's nice :)

Anyways, I've posted a pic of my delicious afternoon snack I had at work today. It was a limonada or Italian lemon soda and a cinnabella (I think I made that up, but it was called something like that). It was a homemade doughnut. VERY similar to the ones I had in my cookbook. It's inspired me to make some cause they're delicious and easy to make. I had it at this little Italian cafe/restaurant in Notting Hill. I've walked past it a dozen times and never noticed it until today.

OH! And while on the topic of food, I made my own version of Moxie's Warm Mosaic Dip last night. It was delicious. The only difference between mine and Moxies was that I mixed the mushrooms with minced lamb which was amazing. It was lamb and mushrooms with a ton of garlic and red onions topped with diced tomatoes topped with seasoned goat cheese. I ate it with naan bread which was the closest thing I could find to flat bread. So delicious. I didn't take a pic cause it didn't actually look very appetizing, it just smelled and tasted amazing. I still have some left. So good. I wish I could share it with you all so that you could tell me what good cook I am ;)

Oh, and there's also a picture of Mabel the dog! Isn't she adorable??!!!

Mmmmm, homemade doughnut. It's just occurred to me that this may have been a Greek restaurant and not an Italian one.

Isn't she's sooo sweet??? Aaaaaawww Mabul Wabul!!!

And the Weirdo Award goes to...

2009-09-28T10:27:00.000-07:00

Alright so that weekend was not that interesting. Did my hair Friday, as I've already reported. The puking girl was ok by the way. I've posted pics of the hair below for those of you who care to take a look, feedback is appreciated!

Sunday my bed got set up, which is nice. I enjoy it. Makes my room seem smaller but it's still a good size. I still need to buy a microwave and a full length mirror but I'm just too lazy to bring either item home on the bus. Maybe this weekend...

So on to the weirdo award. I've seen a lot of weirdos here but this one tops them all so far. This occurred Saturday night around 10:30 pm. I was in the tube station waiting for the tube to go meet my friends cause we were going to a 'black rave'. Essentially a social. I was scared when I heard the word 'rave' but that's just London speak for social. It wasn't good. I don't feel like elaborating cause it just reminds me that I wasted a fabulous outfit and £15 and did not enjoy myself. Anyways, back to the tube station. I have my fabulous outfit on beneath my long empire waist coat and flats. My shoes are in my bag. I'm waiting for the tube and I actually just missed it so I'm the only person standing on my side of the platform. I'm on the phone with friend. I notice a man walk by but I don't really pay any attention. I end the call and the following conversation ensues between me and the other man on the platform. This isn't word for word but it's pretty close having been imprinted in my memory as one of the strangest conversations ever:

Him: (really loud) Hey, are you American or something? (He was actually standing much closer to me than I expected)
Me: (at a normal level) No, I'm Canadian
Him: REally? Canadian. Wow. So what are you doing here?
Me: Just came to work and travel.
Him:Sure sure, you came to check out the London men.
Me: What?!
Him: I know, don't worry. How old are you?
Me: 23, how old are you? (I asked this because he looked about 35 and I was hoping my young age would bring him shame and scare him off)
Him: 27 (bullshitty!! He was definitely at least 35, he had grey hairs in his beard)
Me: 27, really? I see. (Here I tried to end the conversation by looking away in the direction of the train for a good 20 seconds)
Him: How long have you been here?
Me: 3 weeks
Him: REally? Wow. Then you need someone to show you around.
Me: No, I don't.
Him: Yes you do. I'll show you around. I'll show you a good time.
Me: No, really, I have plenty of people to show me around. I'm fine, thanks though.
Him: Do you live near here?
Me: Yes.
Him: Where?
Me: Near here.
Him: Do you have a man? (This was less of a question and more of a demand, I had barely finished responding to his previous question)
Me: Ummm...no. (As soon as I said no, I realized I should have said yes)
Him: WHAT?! (this was pretty much yelled and made the people on the other side of the platform look over)
Me: ......(silence and looking away again, praying for the train to come)
Him: How is is possible? (Still pretty much yelling)
Me: ......I'm not sure?
Him: New, Canadian and fine, how can you not have a man? (Still way too loud)
Me: (praying: Dear God, please let the train come, please, please, please)
Him: mmm mmm (still staring at me)
Me: Oh, thank God. (the train pulls up. I walk away from him and he follows. I stop near one door, he stops, then I walk on to another car, he follows. I sigh and get on. He follows me on and starts gesturing to one of the two-person seats at the back. I ignore him and go sit one seat away from a man and put my bag down beside me. He comes to stand beside where I'm sitting, I ignore him)
Him: (leaning over and into my face) How can you not have a man?
Me: I'm quite happy actually.
Him: You're happy without a man? (incredulously)
Me: Ya.
Him: What, are you celibate or something?
Me: What?!
Him: Are you celibate?
Me: How is that any of your business (I'm starting to be rude now)
Him: I asked you a question.
Me: Well the answer is none of your business.
Him: How come sexual questions are so prohibited in our society?
Me: Seriously?? Because of their nature (In retrospect I should have gotten up and moved away but I was so annoyed with this psycho, I couldn't help answering)
Him: No, really, why are sexual questions so prohibited? What is everyone afraid of? (He seemed to think he was being really philosophical and deep)
Me:....(silence)
Him: (after about 1 full minute of silence) Can I just ask you one more question that's been on my mind for a while now?
Me: (silence, looking straight ahead)
Him: Why don't you wear you natural hair? I see all these black women wearing white woman hair and it pisses me off. Are you ashamed? Why do you want to look like a white woman?
Me: I can't really answer on behalf of all black women.
Him: Well then answer on behalf of you.
Me: I just like my hair like this, alright?!! ( I was PISSED. He should know that you DO NOT ask a black woman why she wears weaves or imply that she shouldn't. You just don't.)
Him: Alright, alright, it was just a question.

I guess he saw how mad I was cause he didn't say anything else after that. And, thank God, he did not follow me off the tube when I got off. I was kinda scared he would. But I was prepared to go straight to the security guard if he did. So that guy wins the Weirdo Award of the week. I pray I do not meet anyone weirder than that this week. And that I don't ever run into him again. Below are the pics of my hair which apparently so offended the weirdo and yet is probably half the reason he noticed me in the first place. Dumbass.

New hair!

2009-09-25T17:07:00.000-07:00

It's official: big curly hair has hit London!!! I went for the Vanessa Hudgens look but with more bangs and I am loving it!!

Today was the last day of The Job from Hell. The people were really nice but I didn't really fraternize much cause I hated the job so. It's funny, they kept apologizing to me for how terrible the work was and I kept saying 'no, it's fine!'. But in my head I was like 'Kill me, kill me now!'. They even invited me to come to the pub with them after work today but I said that I couldn't. I could have but they remind me of the work and I need to wipe this experience from my mind. And the recruitment agency asked me to come back next Mon-Wed and I said no thank you. I know I could use the money but if the choice is between money or my will to live, I choose my will to live.

My older cousins and their oldest daughter are all away for the weekend. It's just me and my 15 year old cousin here. I adore her, she's so fantastic. Very mature, very artsy/folky/rock. I actually wish I could have been like her when I was 15. She has a bunch of friends over right now and they're downstairs drinking and such. Very chill, very British. I kinda wanna go hang out but I don't wanna crash. I chatted for a bit, asked them not to smoke anything in the house and ensured the boys weren't spending the night. Holy crap! One of the girls is puking in the bathroom! Oh to be a teen again. Crap, that sounds bad. Better go make sure she's ok...

Boring Crap & More British Facts

2009-09-23T14:51:00.000-07:00

The reason I've not been blogging this week is because it's been SUCH a boring week. Went from one dull temp job to another. This second job though is unbearable. I'm doing it until the end of the week. It's data formatting which is actually much much less interesting than it sounds (and I know it doesn't sound interesting in the first place).The only good part about the job is that it pays well and I get to listen to music in headphones all day long. I literally do the same thing over and over and over again all day long. The funny thing is there is no way in hell I can finish everything by Friday and when I mentioned that today they were like 'oh yes, we figured that it would take probably about two weeks but we wanted to start with these three days'. When I heard two weeks I started looking for the nearest window so that I could throw myself out of it and therefore be too injured to work. I think I'm just not going to say yes if the recruitment agency asks me to work there next week. I'll just explain that I can't continue unless they want to be responsible for me going berserk.

Anyways, here are some more Fun British Facts:

-Brits sign their text messages with either x or xo or xx. I like it and I've adopted it, as some of you may have noticed.

-British accents make cute children unbelievably adorable and obnoxious children seem like the spawn of Satan. It's shocking how much worse annoying children are when they have British accents! I've started just getting up and moving away from them when they sit down near me on the tube. I always look back after I've sat in my new seat and look right at the children then the parents to confirm what they have already started to guess: they are, in fact, the reason I've moved. I've done this three or four times so far. It sadly does not work during sardine can time or 'rush hour'. During those times I must endure the horrid 'children'(spawn) and exchange empathetic glances with the other people around me.

-Brits call crosswalks 'Zebra Crossings'. They don't have big overhead flashing signs like we do. In fact the crossings are quite inconspicuous. They're narrow and have a black and white striped pole with a light on top at either end and the asphalt is painted black and white as well. Sounds conspicuous, I know, but trust me, it's not.

- Fried chicken shacks are insanely popular here. They're normally called Chicken Cottage or Chicken Village or something along those lines (Chicken City) and I must say they're not too bad. I haven't tried a chicken Cottage but I've had Chicken Village and it was delicious. I will take all visitors there so I hope you like fried chicken!

-There are more Lebanese restaurants here than any other ethnic restaurant. And the vast majority of restaurants here are ethnic aside from the chains. Seriously, there is at least four Lebanese places for every one McD's or Burger King. It's unbelievable. Sometimes two or three in one block then two or three in the next block as well!! I asked the girls at my temp job what the hell was up with it and they said it's cause Londoners like 'Kabobs'. But not the kabobs like we have at home. What they described is like a giant piece of meat on a stick that twirls around and then pieces of meat are sliced off it as it turns. We have that at home but I can't remember what we call it. Anyone??? It's Greek I think. Not souvlaki but something else. Anyways, I haven't worked up my nerve to try a Lebanese restaurant yet, mainly cause there are so many I'm scared I will go to a bad one and get Salmonella and die.

-Here, 'public school' refers to what we call 'private schools' at home. Strange, no?

-The majority of schools are same sex. The few coed schools are apparently 'quite dodgy'

-Here they call eggplants 'aubergines'. I was out for dinner on Saturday and I was like 'What the hell is an aubergine?? Is that pork? Sausage??' Ya no, it's eggplant. There's another vegetable they call a weird name too but I've forgotten.

-My cousin is friends with Gary Oleman's son. ACK!

-This is less a fact and more an observation: there is a large amount of women in London who's chests are disproportionately large. I mean like a size 4 with D cups. It's weird. I would say about 1 in 5 women have giant gajungas for their size. It's so prevalent I've noticed it. My theory is that it has to do with all the whole cream and milk and the fresh cheese and yogurt. I plan to test this theory over the next two years on myself. I'll let you know how it turns out...

-Nottinghill is a predominantly black area. They 'whited it out' for the movie. Isn't that odd?? I thought it was full of rich white people but it's actually full of middle class/upper middle class black people.

That's all I can remember right now. I need to start writing them down when they come to me. Some pics below.

This is a theatre on Oxford street with an awesome sign. It's HUGE.

Went back to Haagen Daz on Monday. We're addicted! This is just one scoop of strawberry cheesecake topped with caramelized pecans. The caramelized hazelnuts are better but the ice cream was just as delicious as last time.

Can you see this?? I think if you double click on it you can see it bigger. This is Leicester Square at around 8 on a Monday night. Crazy crazy busy.

Another shot of the bustling square.

I am DYING to see The Lion King.

I don't know where this is or what it is. I think it's in Nottinghill actually. But I just thought it was a really nice British-looking building so I figured I'd share it with you all.

Relaxing London Weekend

2009-09-20T10:52:00.000-07:00

Not too exciting a weekend to report. It was very enjoyable for me, but it wouldn't be much to write about. Slept in yesterday then went to church. Went out to eat after church with a group of people from church, it was nice. We went to an Italian restaurant that was delicious! Only downside to eating was the fact that there was so much pork on the menu. Everything either had sausage, ham or was vegetarian. There were only about 2 chicken dishes on the whole menu. But they were pretty flexible so that was good. We also had starters of bread with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. AMAZING. How do I always forget about that?? I bought some balsamic vinegar today cause I already have some olive oil. That is going to be my dinner one night with bread when I'm too lazy to cook. We also had a starter of mixed olives which was also delicious. I bought some olives today and ate them all in one sitting :O They were pimento stuffed green olives with some kind of cheese. So yummy.

Anyways, aside from the food, just stayed in and took things easy. Did some laundry, which was good. It reminded me that I actually do have a lot of clothes and I do not NEED to shop....at least that's what I keep telling myself in hopes that I'll start to believe it.

Friday my mom's cousin took me out and about at night. We saw the Queen's castle (sooo huge and amazing!) and the Tower of London (sooo creepy!) and Tower Bridge (seee below). And Big Ben. All great. Sadly it was too dark to get really good pictures, but I do have a few pics below for those of you who keep asking. I'll get some more this week as well to post on here. I apologize yet again for being so bad with the pics!

This a gorgeous canal right near my house. I pass it everyday on the way to the tube station. There's a cute little foot bridge across it. Yes, that's right, I walk fear-free across a bridge everyday! Aren't you proud of me?? Also, this pic is a little misleading cause it looks super gorgeous from this angle, but if you look right over the rail of the bridge there's a ton of leaves and garbage and crap right under the bridge.

This is a random sculpture we saw on Friday. It's on this boardwalk type thing near Tower bridge overlooking the Thames. I'm not sure what the sculpture is supposed to be but I sure know what it reminds me off.....

This is Tower Bridge, it's gorgeous. The architecture is insane and it's really really old. I was, of course, terrified to go over it but my cousin made me and it wasn't actually that bad. And then he told me that it's the only bridge in London that opens open to let ships pass underneath it. See below...

This is the bridge opening up for a huge ship to pass through. It looked like a cruise ship, but I didn't think cruises stop in London. If so, that is a gooood cruise! Seriously though, how gorgeous is this bridge?? This is the view from the boardwalk, by the way. It's kind of an above ground boardwalk...hard to explain...looks like you'll just have to come visit me so I can take you there ;)

ACK!

2009-09-18T09:55:00.000-07:00

I was having a really nice week until yesterday. I had an interview yesterday, didn't mention anything on here in case I didn't get it but as it goes down as one of the worst interviews in history, I felt you may all want to revel in the pain with me.

First off when I sent in my original application, they emailed back with a brush off. Then, out of nowhere, I get an email the next day looking to set up an interview for yesterday. They wanted to interview me at 5:30 but the website I've been using to find my way around said that it would take at least 40 minutes to get there and I finish work at 5 so I asked them if we could do it for 6:15 instead. They said yes and it was set. I figured if I got to the area at 5:40 or so then I would still have 20 minutes to find the place and then be on time (to me, 15 minutes early is on time for an interview only, in the rest of life, arriving about 5 minutes late is on time). Wednesday I got all prepared, printed out my portfolio pieces, put them with my reference letters, chose my outfit with the help of my temp coworker's advice. I started quizzing myself on what they might ask me. I also printed out my map of how to get there.

Now it's Thursday, I'm done work, I've changed and I'm off! I have my map, my portfolio, my beautiful purple pumps to put on right before I get there (they match my bag) and the girl at work gushed that I looked 'so smart' so I was feeling good. Sun was shining, birds singing...little did I know...(that's called foreshadowing people). I get on the tube, do the sardine can thing cause it's rush hour, transfer, do the sardine can again. Get out of the tube and follow my handy little map to where the office should be. As I arrive, I realize that I've only got the post code because that's what what I normally use on the website to find directions. Ah well, it's fine, I figure, I've got 20 minutes and it's got to be one of the little side streets off this one block.

15 minutes later and it's not in the block and no one appears to have even heard of it. Alright, I think, maybe it's on the other side of the square, so I try over there. 10 minutes later and I'm freaking out. I've just realized I FORGOT TO BRING THEIR NUMBER. Ok, I'll just check my email on my phone and get it from there. But my brand new phone that has never had a problem decides now is the time to freeze. HAHA (panicked, deranged laugh), alright, I'll phone information. I ask a woman passing by and she gives me the number for directory assistance but it doesn't work. I approach two ladies having a smoke and they tell me the number like I'm an idiot for not knowing it. I say thanks in spite of their rudeness (I actually wanted to kick them each in the shin). It's now 6:15 and I am starting to lose my shit. I phone directory assistance and the girl is not the shiniest button in the drawer and tells me there is no listing in London for the company. And then my phone cuts off the call because I'm apparently out of credit. Lovely.

I am now beyond frustrated. I do the round of the block again quickly. A security/receptionist man at one building takes pity on me and asks me what street I'm looking for. I tell him but he doesn't know it (I find out later it's because I was pronouncing it wrong). I ask him if he has a computer I can use and he says he just shut down his laptop. My bottom lip starts to quiver and he quickly says he'll turn it back on and take a look. I want to hug him but I think he senses it and hurries away behind to the desk to get his laptop. I wait for what feels like forever as he loads it up and waits for EVERY SINGLE START UP PROGRAM to finish loading before closing them. A good 2 minutes go by. It's now about 6:25. I want to tell the man that he needs to go into the control panel and select which programs should run at start up but I just don't have the time. We Google the company and I phone the number. It goes to voicemail and I leave a panicked fumbling message cause I don't know my new mobile number cause I just got it on Monday so I have to find the card in my wallet and *sigh* it just was not a good message.

While I'm leaving the message the receptionist security guard man has Googled the address as opposed to the post code. It's a ten minute walk from where my stupid map told me to go!! He gives me directions and off I go. I wander around, asking people for the landmarks the receptionist security guard man told me to look out for but which are actually unrecognizable if you don't know the city. I FINALLY find it by fluke after going the wrong way and doubling back only to realize if I'd wasted 5 more minutes cause it was right behind me. I walk in and the security guard for the building phones upstairs but it goes to voicemail like it did for me. We have to wait until another security guard comes down to watch the desk and he takes me up to the 4th floor. There he realizes he doesn't have his swipe card and can't get past the main lobby area on that floor. At this point I was resigned. I knew there was no way I would get the job being over 30 minutes late for the interview, I just didn't want to be a no show. Better late than never, right? Barely, but right.

Just as the security guard is waiting for the elevator to go get his swipe card, a girl comes down one of the halls and opens the door. 'Delly?' I wanted to cry. Finally, SOMETHING had gone right (and I'd put on my pumps in the elevator just in case so I was ready. The security guard seemed uncomfortable with this elevator wardrobe change but he was the least of my worries). She was very sweet and understanding because she was American and had gotten lost in London a lot as well. But she wasn't the person interviewing me so I was still worried.

I'm not going to go into the interview in detail here as I still haven't heard back and it's not the kind of thing you should send off into cyberspace. Sorry.

I'm still so upset with myself and everything that went wrong but ah well, what will be will be, right? No point in rehashing and stressing. Typing this out was my therapy. Woooooossaaaaa. Moving on.

PS. More pictures this weekend, promise. Tho the internet is being a bit wonky so it may be Monday. But it will be soon! And I'll try to make them good.

Temping and things

2009-09-16T06:18:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the long break between posts. Unfortunately the break was not because I was off doing fabulous things that would make you insanely jealous to hear about. Quite the opposite actually. I've been working and meeting creepy people.

First the job; it's good. Very very very slack. Cleary since it's 2.30 in the afternoon and I'm blogging. I had some mindless admin work to do yesterday and this morning but since about 11:30 I've had nothing to do but answer the phone. 'Pretend you're busy Delly!' you may think BUT in my turnover notes from the girl I'm covering, she noted that the internet is available to me if I have any downtime. She also said to bring in a book. I thought the book might look kind of bad, though I always have one with me, so I'm doing the internet thing instead.

It's an office of nine people, five of whom are on vacation. I am temping for one of those five (the office assistant). I've so far met three of the ones actually working this week and one of the ones supposed to be on vacation. The company is a brand of Bars across England. Pretty posh bars, more what we would refer to as 'lounges' back home. The people so far have all been very nice, fun, young, trendy, you know the sort I mean. It would probably be a good place to work on a permanent basis but they're not looking for anyone. They've got a marketing team of two people and they seem quite good (too bad for me, hehe). This temp position has opened my eyes to the fact that it would be AWESOME to do marketing/brand management/PR/advertising for a brand of bars or restaurants. I've always contemplated a hotel chain or airline or clothing line, but bars and restaurants, hello! What do I love? Food, drinks, clothes and sleep! Bars and restaurants cover 2 out of 4 of those things (ie.food and drinks). This place is full of alcohol, red bull and juice. Way more alcohol even than my previous workplace when it's well stocked. And such variety! Perfect for me. I'm going to look into it. I also love music and movies, but I think that might be aiming a bit too high right now, maybe down the road in my career.

So that covers one of the things that's kept me away from the blog. The other thing that's kept me away was meeting creepy people. This isn't an activity I set out to do (but that would be an interesting mission, probably easy too) but rather something that happened by chance. On Monday I went with a friend of mine to a shoot she was doing. She is an amateur model and was approached by an amateur photographer to get together for a free shoot for both of their portfolios. She's done a number of these sessions and has gotten some really great portfolio items out of it. And it was in my area so I said I would come with her. So we're walking down Portobello Road following the vague directions of the photographer woman when we see this hippy-looking grey haired woman in a baggy blue dress approaching us. 'Hi there!' she shouts out. I nearly grabbed my friend and took off, but then she called my friend's name and I realized she was the photographer. I pushed away my natural tendency to judge a book by its cover and tried to be openminded.

My friend introduced me to the woman and she said 'oh, it's so smart of you to bring a chaperone! You never know with all these guys out there just waiting to get their hands on a pretty young thing like you'. AAHH!!!! This is what I thought. Is that not the strangest thing to say?? Especially because my friend did not introduce me as her chaperone, just a friend that was coming to watch. I started wondering if maybe this woman was dying to get her hands on a pretty young thing like my friend. She then started asking me all about myself and when I said I was from Canada she exclaimed 'A canuck, eh?!' I was instantly annoyed. Don't know why really, all I know was that cemented the fact that I did not like this woman. Maybe that's unfair, but LIFE is unfair people. She also asked me if I modeled, I laughed and said no and then she kept looking at me just a second too long. You know what I mean? Not in a lesbian way or anything, just uncomfortable extended eye contact. Well, uncomfortable for me, at least. As we get to the door of the flat we're shooting in, she tells us that there are three other men that will be shooting my friend as well and they're 'really sweet, nothing to worry about' (another reference to us being raped and/or taken advantage of). I was ready to turn around and head back to the tubes but my friend kept walking so I couldn't leave her.

We got into the flat and it there were not lights on. It wasn't pitch black or anything but the only light was from one small window. Again, I was ready to leave. You're probably thinking this was dangerous, but it wasn't. I should note that I have excellent instincts and I am an extremely cautious person but I didn't really think we were in danger. If my instincts had been flashing, I would have insisted we not even go in, but it wasn't my danger instincts flashing, it was more my 'waste of time ahead' instincts. Anyways, my friend got ready and the 'shoot' began. While she was getting ready, Creepy Lady tried to trap me into conversation with her again, little did she know that I am amazing at one word responses and bringing a conversation to a dead end if I want. Hehe, she figured out pretty quick and then just left me alone. This has no real relevance, but she had terrible teeth (they were grey) and she kept invading my personal bubble by standing way too close to me when talking. I noticed she did that to everyone.

Back to the 'shoot'. These people were beyond amateur. They gave my friend no direction whatsoever, had no concepts or anything except the fact that they were trying to teach themselves how to work with bad lighting (hence the near darkness). They had a lighting kit which they did not know how to use and a black velvet curtain set up. The shots were not good for the most part. Though a few good ones slipped through by fluke. There was no real thought to compostion or even head room! My 'waste of time' instinct was correct, as usual. The 'shoot' went on for about an hour or so and then we bounced out of there.

I walked home and Creepy Lady and one of the men were going in the same direction as me. Creepy Lady saw me looking at my little map and kept trying to give me WRONG directions. Not on purpose, I'm sure, but everything she told me was wrong and even I knew that and I have no sense of direction.

Got home safe and tired as did my friend. What a waste of a perfectly good Monday evening. Ah well.

Sidenote: had KFC here for the first time after the club on Saturday. Had a craving for fried chicken and it was delicious! Much smaller menu here than at home but I found what I needed. And they're open very late here, it was about 2:30 am when my cab driver stopped there for me. Now I've made myself hungry...

Why Fried Food is Bad for You

2009-09-13T09:12:00.000-07:00

I just very nearly burned down the kitchen. It was terrifying, I'm still very shaky from the incident and I think I need to go lie down. I was making my dinner, fried plantain and these turkey rasher things which are the UK's answer to turkey bacon (they were crap, nothing even close to bacon). So, I've finished frying the plantain and the oil is very hot. I put it on a cool burner to cool off so that I can dump it in the garbage and use the same pan to make my rashers. I clean up a bit, watch a little Friends, which I have playing on my laptop. 15 minutes goes by and the oil is still really hot and my plantains are cooling off so I need to cook my rashers asap so that I can eat. So I decide to just put a bit of cold water in the oil to help cool it off. Makes sense, right? Good plan, right?

Wrong. Not just a little wrong. Unbelievably, mindblowingly wrong.

I open the tap a bit and put the frying pan under it. It immediately starts to sizzle. Excellent, I think, it's...POP POP ZZZZZ POP PIP PIPLE! Didn't even get to finish my thought before the oil started exploding out of the frying pan and all over the kitchen!!!! I nearly shat right then and there. I quickly returned the frying pan to the cool stove, ducking and dodging the flying hot oil, and then run to the door way to watch helplessly as the oil continues to bubble and pop and explode sending hot oil everywhere! I was in shock I think, all I remember is silence except for the popping and sizzling. Then slowly I hear laughing in the background and realize my laptop is still on the table, within range of the oil. I run and grab it, and my cell phone and go back to the door way. The popping oil continued for a full minute, at least! When it finally started to settle down, I started to make my way back into the kitchen and then POP, another large explosion sending oil everywhere again. Seriously, I thought that something was going to catch on fire and that I would stand there and have to watch as the kitchen burned down.

About three minutes after that last scary pop, I went back in to survey the damage. Oil was everywhere. My cousins went out to the country yesterday and are due back today so I kept imagine them walking in at that very second and I was freaking out! I grabbed a cloth and started cleaning like a mad woman. It took me about 40 minutes to clean everything up. 40 minutes imagining I heard a key in the doorway or the gate squeak open.

It is now nearly two hours later and I'm done eating and my heart is still pounding. The kitchen reeks of oil and the floor is a bit streaky looking but aside from that, everything looks fine. I still can not believe that happened. Scariest thing to happen since I've been here. Possibly scariest thing to happen to me ever. Funny thing is I hardly ever eat fried foods and I rarely fry things myself. After this I may never fry anything ever again. Except I love fried plantain and my mom isn't here to fry them for me, and plantains are so readily available here............k, well I'll still fry plantain...but that's it!!!

Oh Turkey Bacon, Where art Thou?

2009-09-11T11:11:00.000-07:00

I'm going through my first bought of homesickness. I'm missing turkey bacon. Bad. The delicious smokey taste, the way it changes my sandwich from regular to spectacular. The way it's always just right there in the freezer at home, the way it compliments my pancakes. *sigh* As you might have guessed, I have yet to find turkey bacon here. Apparently there is a large supermarket on Portobello Road that might have it. And let me tell you, they better have it! It's such an essential part of life for anyone who doesn't eat pork! Or at least it should be. How am I expected to live the next two years without so much as a crumb of turkey bacon??? Not possible. I will find it. And all the other bacon here are fresh, thick slices which only makes me want to try the turkey bacon even more. Mark my words, I WILL find it.

Moving on, I made myself a tasty coconut curry beef stir fry for dinner tonight. I'm still having trouble cooking for one so I ate way too much and I still have some left over, but it was delicious! Spicy and flavourful, just like food should be. I also found some good water yesterday, total fluke. I've been trying different brands of water ever since I got here to try and find one that tastes like Dasani or Aquafina. So far they've been alright, but they all had a sort of 'taste'. But yesterday I stopped in the little convenience store at the tube station on the way home and picked up a couple bottles of Volvic Mineral Water to try. Success!! It's delicious and taste-free just the way I like it! I've already drank 1 litre and I have another 2.5 litres in my room. Mmm mmm, good!

I think jet lag is just hitting me now. I had a registration appointment at a recruitment agency this morning at 10 am. I agreed to that time thinking I'd be fine. I went to bed around 12:30 and woke up at 7:45 to get ready to leave the house by 9. I could barely get out of bed. I managed to shower and get ready but I was still super tired. The registration went fine, but not as good as yesterday when I registered at another agency. I only scored 70% on my MS Word test today while yesterday I scored 90. My typing was about the same 66wpm (damn right! That shiz is going on the CV baby!). But my excel test score was much lower as well. Then the recruitment consultant made me wait for about 20 minutes while she finished up with another person and I kept dozing off. After I left, the last thing I remember is getting off the tube and being hungry. I'm pretty sure I came home and made a cheese and pickle sandwich but I'm not sure, all I remember is being unbelievably exhausted. I must have passed out cause I woke up 3hrs later in my bed. Crazy, no? I don't know what kind of weird jet lag delay that was but I did not like it! I'm still pretty tired and out of it but I'm not as bad as before.

I hope this is the worst of the jet lag cause I start a temp job on Tuesday. I'm going to be covering receptionist for a company in Hammersmith next week. Terrible pay but at least it's UK work experience and it's £ in my pocket so I can stop using my saved money for a little while. And if I can do a few temp positions for the rest of the month while looking for a good permanent position, I'll be less stressed. I hope it goes well, even if it doesn't, it's just a week, right? Better than nothing? Right? RIGHT??!!!

Right.

First Night Out

2009-09-10T14:18:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday night I went out with Vanessa and her friends to Vendome Mayfair. It's a very posh spot in Central London on Picadilly across from The Ritz. Crazy, I know. Little old Delly off to Vendome where the likes of Kate Moss have been spotted. Hehe. Anyways, let's back up to Tuesday during the day. I had sent Vanessa a few pics of some of the dresses I'd brought to see what she recommended for my first night out. Now, imagine my utter horror when she pronounced all of my dresses too casual!! I was mortified! Like some little country bumpkin come over to the big city with her little town girl clothes wanting to step out to the hottest clubs. Can you imagine?? I wanted to hide in shame. Especially because I did not see that coming at all. I thought that my dresses were all very cute and totally in style. I mean, they're not straight our of magazines or anything, but I love a good party dress so I have a bunch that I've bought in the past year.

After I got past my shame, I met up with Vanessa in the day to go get my nails done at her nail shop and to find a dress for me to wear out. I took the tubes then the overhead train to Forest Hill, which is South London, where she lives. Total transit time: approximately 1hr 15 minutes. Not horrible, it goes by really fast actually. When I got there, I remembered I needed to deposit my travelers cheques into my newly formed account so I stopped at the bank to do that. I must pause here to vent on something; is there a rulebook somewhere for all banks that specifies that as soon as a line starts to form, at least two tellers should shut down their station, leaving just the two slowest tellers to take on the quickly forming line of people?? Cause if this is in the rulebook, then Barclays in London should receive some kind of award or at least an international recognition. Also, bank tellers, just a note: your job is to do banking, NOT to try to be friends with customers and inquire about their children and pets and new handbags. These inquiries only frustrate the already angry people waiting in line for your services and that anger and frustration stays with them and continue to build with each visit to the bank. Eventually that anger and frustration will need to find a release, beware you are not the recipient of said release.

Thanks for allowing me that rant. After the bank experience, we took the bus over to Peckham High Street, aka, Nigeria. I didn't immediately make this connection, but I had heard there was an area in London that had a ton of Nigerians. To be honest, it didn't seem like that many, maybe because they all have British accents so I can't actually tell if they're British or Nigerian. Anyways, there were a ton of black people along this street and a bunch of markets and small grocery shops. There are also about a million little shops with incredibly cheap clothes, shoes, purses and jewelry. There are also a lot of Caribbean and African restaurants and food stands. I ended up giving in to my craving for oxtail and I'm glad I did. For about £7, I got oxtail, rice and peas and fried plantain. It was fantastic! I was worried, especially about the oxtail cause you can really ruin that, but it was great! And it was a lot of food, I wasn't even able to finish it all. I'm sorry I don't have any pictures. To be honest, we already attracted a bit of unwanted attention and I didn't want to whip out my camera and draw even more attention to us. It's not really a touristy area, so to speak. More the kind of area where you keep an eye on your purse and don't make eye contact with any males.

But the shopping was great! I got a great tour and I found all the black hair shops. A good black hair shop is almost as exciting for me as a good library. And in one of the clothing shops, I found my dress. It was fabulous and not too crazy. It's a bright coral empire waist party tube dress for £7. That's right, £7. I'll say that again: £7. I nearly bought two, just because! Really, my lunch was the same price, if not a bit more than my dress. I also got my nails done for £12. A full set of acrylic nails with a French tip. Fantastic.

That was the day. I rushed home, ate quickly (too quickly actually, nearly choked to death on some rice alone in my room), took a shower and got ready.Because I live in North West London and the rest of the ladies live in South London, I met up with them at the tube station near the club. I got dressed but carried my shoes in a little bag and put on flats for the walk to the tube station. I also put on a long coat, so as not to draw any unwanted attention in my (tiny) bright dress at 10 at night. I was able to leave my stuff in the car once they picked me up from the tube station so I didn't have to worry about lugging all that stuff around with me all night.

We got into the club without paying cover since in most clubs here girls get in free before a certain time (WONDERFUL trend! It should be adopted worldwide I think). The club was fun. Very busy and the music was great. I was VERY worried about the music because I know the Brits love their pop music and their house and dance music. But turns out they also love 'funky' music which is a fantastic cross between house, pop, hip hop, r&b and dancehall depending on the song. I loved it!!! It had a great beat to dance to and there were words with an actual chorus, not techno lyrics that just repeat over and over until your ears start to bleed. There was even a live performance by a group called Wake Up London. I think that' what they're called anyways. I don't always catch everything that's said with their accents.

I must apologize again because I didn't take any pics of the actual club itself. Just of the us ladies. But I can describe it. It was basically a circle with the dj booth at the centre of the circle. Around the dj booth was the dancefloor which was clear with coloured lights beneath it that changed colours. Then around the dancefloor is a kind of exterior dancefloor a step up, on this level are the booths that can be rented out. Then along the left and right sides of the circle and down a step were the bars and sitting areas. It wasn't very big at all, but it's London, nothing's big except the clothing stores :) After going to the club and seeing how people were dressed, I do actually think that most of my dresses will be fine once properly accessorised. Two of them probably are too casual but that's alright, I can just wear them out to chill or with tights to dinner.

I had booked a cab early in the evening to pick me up from the club. £11 from the club to my place. Pretty great! I'm happy our area is so close to Central London. Apparently once I get to know the city better I'll be able to hop a Night Bus home, but until then I am happy to cab it for under £15.

Things I noticed at the club:

-Perverted old men trying to talk to young females is a worldwide epidemic. Winnipeg, Atlanta, London, Minneapolis. They're everywhere, and if you're wondering why you haven't noticed them, maybe because you are one....

-The smart way to drink is before the bar and then just sip on cranberry juice all night to quench your thirst. The drinks at the club were more than my dress.

-No matter where you are, when Michael Jackson comes on, everybody dances.

-Girls love bathroom pictures. For anyone that doesn't know, these are pictures taken of each other in the bathroom right after fixing our makeup and hair so that we look perfect.

-Men are shrinking. It's true. For every guy above 5'10, there are 14 more who are about 5'4 and a couple under 5'2. It's horrifying. You're walking by and you feel something brush up against your elbow and hip. 'what's that?' you wonder. You look down and (gasp!) it's a small little man trying to talk to you!! Oh the horror!

-The less attractive the guy, the more confident he is that you want him to touch you and the more convinced he is that you're playing hard to get, even when you say 'fuck off, do not touch me' and walk away.

-The Dutty Wine will bring out the slutty in any girl, even the ones you don't expect

-Everyone everywhere is blaming it on the a-a-a-a-alchohol...!

It was a fun night. And it's really nice to know that some things are universal. And as different as the club was here, it was still just a club. I think I'm heading out to a different on Saturday though so I'll be sure to report back.

Sidenote: I do have pics from that night, but I feel like it's a looks a little self indulgent to post my bathroom club pics on here...yes I know the very concept of blogging is pretty self indulgent, but still. Anyways, just trust me when I say the dress was fabulous ;)

A Touristy Day

2009-09-08T20:25:00.000-07:00

I know I've been slacking for the past two days but never fear! This blog will last more than a week, I promise.

So.

Yesterday I met up with Vanessa, my cousin's British friend whom I was introduced to via Fbook. We met up at Charing Cross which is in the south east end of Central London right near Trafalgar Square (the pics along the side are from Trafalgar Square and Regent street). It was a fun touristy day, but also long and full of walking ( I guess that's what tourists do). We did lunch first at Pangos which is a Portuguese restaurant where you order and pay and then your food comes. It's really good. They mostly seem to serve chicken but you can pick if you want it hot, extra hot, wild herbs and spice or...I actually forget the last option. I opted for a hot double fillet pitta (that's how they spelled it on the menu) and some spicy rice. We also had a roasted red pepper dip for an appetizer. Everything was delicious, especially the dip which had chunks of diced roasted red peppers and was served with warm pitta bread. Mmmmm.....I'm making myself hungry which is not good because I have absolutely nothing to eat. Nothing. Nadda. I desperately need to do some grocery shopping and buy some bread. I feel like I could eat a whole loaf right now...

Moving on. After lunch we went window shopping all down Regent Street and somewhat down Oxford street. It was great, we went into some upper end stores like Guess and also we checked out H & M. There are about four in that area and they're all massive and wonderful in every way. We also checked out Topshop, which was good too. A little pricey in some areas but their jeans look amazing so I'll definitely be getting a pair once I have some $$. And a blazer too!

I feel I must voice my concerns regarding the fashion trends in London and my general tastes and how I forsee me having to break out of my print-free, earth tones + black fashion shell. I am plain. Delly plain and average height. I like plain clothing that can be accessorised and that match with everything else in my closet. I have a sinking feeling that I'm going to have to take some pretty terrifying fashion risks while I'm out here to fit into the culture. London loves the 80s. I do not. I actually think the only good fashion trend that came out of the 80s was tights. That's it. Nothing else. But in Topshop and H&M and everywhere, the 80s are making a horrendous comeback with shoulder pads and triangle shaped dresses. Also with the whole droopy roushing phenomenon. I don't really know how to describe it. It's like the MC Hammer pants...but in a dress or skirt. *shudder* never for me, thanks. I may give in to the bright colours and the clashing (ex. blue shirt + orange skirt + green shoes + purple eyeshadow), but that's as far as I'll go. The buck stops there. The day you see me in Aladdin pants is the day I invite you to go ahead and slap me in the face with your shoe.

Moving on. We also hit Primark, which is kind of the UK version of Forever21 except not nearly as amazing. I compare the two only because they both carry they same kinds of things you would see at H&M or Topshop but at prices the average person can afford. F21 has a much better selection of dresses, skirts and dressy clothes. BUT Primark has a larger inventory of items including bedding and towels and even shoe insoles. I allowed myself a few minor purchases at Primark: a GORGEOUS dark purple snakeskin clutch (£7), a belt that matched the purse(£2.50), a large super soft cotton towel (£4.96), a long black cardigan (£10) and some other personal odds and ends. I felt it was money well spent!

Oh yes, I also paid another visit to Nicholas at Barclays bank and he accepted the Statement of Assets from my bank and allowed me to open a bank account. Annoying British Banking problem: no temporary debit card. All I have is the piece of paper with my name and account number that I have to carry around with me until I receive my visa debit card in the mail. Very annoying because I have to go in and wait in the inevitable line every time I want to deposit money or withdraw money until I get my card.

That was Monday. See more pictures below :)

OMG! I almost forgot to mention my favourite discovery from yesterday: The Haagen Daz Restaurant!!!! Yes, that's right, a sit down restaurant whose menu consists solely of Haagen Daz ice cream and sundae options. Fantastic does not even begin to capture it. One drawback I must mention and warn you of is the horrendous service. But that seems to be pretty much a given here in London, so it should come as no surprise. There is a pic below of the deliciousness. Sorry, I actually dug in before remembering to take a picture. Anyway, I ordered one scoop of the strawberry cheesecake (there is actual strawberry cheesecake in the ice cream) and one scoop of pralines and cream (a little too sweet for me in the end, but still amazing) and got it topped with caramelized hazelnuts and put in a waffle cone. Total cost £5.45 :) Best money I've ever spent. And you can bet I'll be back...possibly tomorrow....

Trafalgar Square, the Time Square of London.

Just Another Lazy Sunday

2009-09-06T13:23:00.000-07:00

Nothing too exciting to report today. Went down the road and over to Harrow road which is about a three minute walk. There are a couple pound shops (dollar stores) and little grocery stores along that street along with some interesting looking restaurants and other shops. It's Sunday so a lot of the stores were closed and all the rest were only open until 4. I picked up some household stuff and started to get my room all organised. I've done not too bad so far. All I have left to do is iron my clothes and hang them up in my closet. I'll post a pic once my room is nice and tidy.

The plan for tomorrow: set up my bank account hopefully. And I'm meeting my cousin's friend at lunch. We were introduced via facebook a couple months ago and we've kept in touch so we're gonna hang out tomorrow.

I'm gonna try and go to bed in the next hour or so to start a normal UK sleep regimen as opposed to going to bed at 3:30 am and waking up around noon. Wish me luck!

Fun British Facts

2009-09-05T17:22:00.000-07:00

Today we went to my cousin's birthday party. I met a lot of people who are related to my cousins out here but on their dad's side while I'm related to them on their mom's side. I don't know if I've mentioned this before but teenagers out here are extremely independent and grown up. They're very free to do what they like and come and go as they please. So today I met my cousin who's 14 and I honestly thought she was about 19 or 20 until people kept saying how big she was and asking what form she was in school. I also met her cousin who is 13. Aside from them it was all older people my cousins' age so I ended up talking to them most of the night. I should explain here that the person I refer to as my 'aunt' who I'm staying with is actually my mom's cousin and she's older than my mom, then she has kids who are 15 and 20. The cousin's birthday party I went to was actually a second cousin who turned 48. The cousin who was 14 was the 48-year-old's daughter. Confusing. I may just refer to everyone as a cousin from now on. And it was nothing like talking to two young teens at home and I picked up some fun British facts! I don't remember them all, but I'll share what I remember with you:

-British teens start having serious relations with one another at around 11 or 12.

-British people greet each other and say goodbye with either one kiss or two kisses, one on each cheek. I'm not sure if they're interchangeable of if one is appropriate only in certain situations. All I know is that I've accidentally nearly kissed several people on the lips when they went for two kisses and I stopped with one.

-The man who plays Snape in Harry Potter lives just down the road apparently and is my cousin's godfather!!!! Crazy, no?? I love him! He's also in Love Actually which is one of my all time favourite movies.

-American Apparel is quite popular here.

-Topshop is not that cheap. I always thought it was super affordable.

-When a Big Brother season is on tv, there is a channel that actually allows you to tune into the Big Brother house at any time to see what's happening. The edited shows air everyday I think or twice a week or something, but you can tune in anytime and watch people sleep or whatever. I don't actually like Big Brother but that aspect certainly makes it more interesting.

-Idris Elba is not popular here, even though he's British. Or at least not with the 13 and 14 year olds. I was sad they couldn't give me a tip on where I might go to "accidentally" bump into him so that we can fall in love and get married.

-Pop music is huge here. Even their rap music is quite poppy.

-Police officers are not well liked here. I guess that kind of goes for everywhere, but here if you're a police officer it's not something you would share with people. Or if your dad is a police officer you wouldn't want people to know. Like it's something to be ashamed of. I don't like that at all.Clearly.

-Everyone goes away for "uni" or university here. No one stays in London because there are only two universities and they're quite specialised.

-Most words that we would put a 'z' in use an 's' over here. Ex. organise, prioritise, specialise.

-There is rumour over here that Beyonce, Jay Z and Snoop Dogg all worship the devil and apparently that Snoop actually died and then was brought back to life by the devil and it's the devil who's made them all famous....ya...I'll just give you a sec to let that one sink in.....ya. Very intense, I have no idea who could have possibly started that rumour or who could believe it!

That's it for the Fun Facts for now. More to come later.

I still can't get over that Snape is my cousin's godfather and I might meet him at a dinner party here. I would die inside, while keeping a very cool exterior. Very cool indeed.

Pictures (Finally)

2009-09-04T13:10:00.000-07:00

This is the house I'm staying in from the outside. It's three stories high. I took this picture from across the street after killing a super spider that was building a web above our gate. Very scary. When I came home two hours prior, that spider and that web were not there....or were they??? No, they weren't, I would have noticed. Anyways, both the spider and the web were huge. I broke a branch off the tree by the door and used it to knock down the web and knock down the spider. *shudder*

This is the Victorian style 'bathroom' I mentioned, with the large bathtub front and centre, no toilet, only a sink.

This is one of the 'toilet's' I mentioned yesterday. No sink, only a toilet, as per the Victorians.

This is one side of my room.

Another wall in my room with my little fireplace and two of my giant suitcases.

My room from another angle and you can see the view out of my window. It's essentially a large apartment block that runs the length of the street but it's still a nice view. Though I did realize today that if I can see clearly across into the windows of their staircase then they can probably see clearly across into my window while I'm changing...(awkward).

So far, not too expensive

2009-09-04T11:17:00.000-07:00

So after all the hype and 'advice' regarding how expensive London is, so far the prices have been not too bad at all. I must mention here that income gets taxed about 30% here which is horrifying. I nearly screamed when the orientation woman said 11% plus 20%. I think I'd rather just live without healthcare, thanks. And minimum wage is 5.77 which is way below ours. Please do not convert it to Canadian dollars because people living in London are paid and pay in pounds so the conversion is pointless unless you're a tourist. Also rent can get pretty expensive and the tubes seemed kind of expensive but you can get a monthly travel pass for 99 pounds and that allows you to ride the tubes, the bus or the night bus (not really sure what that is but apparently it's perfectly safe to ride at night) unlimited for that entire month so that's actually quite good. Our bus passes at home are 75 bucks and that's just to ride the inefficient, cheap-as-borscht transit. So in comparison it's quite reasonable.

Also, regular things like food are really cheap too. And there are so many restaurants here, it is insane. Tons of random shops too. The prices range but you can find dresses for 15 pounds and shirts for 5. You can also get takeout from a buffet for 3.5 or grab a gourmet flatbread pizza for 8.50. Today I happened upon a market during my search for a flat iron and bought myself the makings of dinner. For 2 pounds 65 pence, I got:

-3 peppers (one green, one orange, one yellow)
-4 heads of garlic
-4 heads of green onions
-1 red onion
-1 large piece of garlic (about 4 inches long)

Then at the supermarket, I got the following for 6 pounds 85 pence:
-2 packs of fully cooked, sliced chicken breasts with about a 1 1/2 cups of chicken breast in each pack. They were 1 pound each.
-1 bag of pasta. Enough for about 3 servings
-1 medium sized jar of creamy tomato sauce
-1 self-grinder spice (garlic and chilli pepper--great combo)

So for under ten pounds, I made dinner for myself tonight, had seconds (it was delicious!) and I still have enough left over to have for lunch and snack tomorrow. AND I used less than half of my ingredients so I can make this delicious meal again! If I was working, I could have lunch for a week. All in all, I won't be starving here as I thought I would. But all the walking will make up for it. I'm pretty sure I walked at least 12 miles today, which is insane. Thank God for flats. I'm sad for all my pumps that I brought cause they won't be worn unless I am certain I won't have to walk any further than the tube station. No getting lost in 3 inch heels for me, no thanks.

Orientation and other fun

2009-09-04T09:21:00.000-07:00

This morning started off wonderfully with the memory of yesterday and ran smoothly until....breathe Delly, breathe....my muther freaking flat iron went beserk!!! ARGH! Just the memory of it incites my rage all over again. What the hell Wal-mart?? Why sell a voltage converter and adapter in one if it DOES NOT WORK BUT INSTEAD MAKES PEOPLE'S VERY EXPENSIVE FLAT IRONS GO APESHIT?! Damnit! I can't even tell this story, it makes me want to throw things and I'm trying to make a good impression on my relatives. Bottom line: Wal-mart's converter/adapter does NOT work and may have killed my 1 year old expensive titanium plated flat iron. It's reasons like this why people hate you Wal-mart. Every time I caught a glimpse of my limp, part wavy, part straight, part frizzy hair and fly away bangs, I wanted to scream. And of course today is the day I'm wandering around Central London seeing all sorts of beautiful men with lovely accents. I'm pretty sure one guy actually gasped in horror at my hair and then his friend had to hold him back as he tried to run into the street to get hit by a bus and away from my hair. I will never forgive you Wal-mart. Never. Nevah!

*shaking it off and moving on*

NEVAH!!!

......

With my aunt's advice yesterday on when to leave, I made it to my orientation on time this morning without getting lost. I was quite proud actually. The orientation was useful with tips on where to get a bank account and tips on the cultural differences, how to find a job, how to find accommodation, etc.They also took a look at my CV and cover letter template and reassured me that the reason I've been so unsuccessful in finding a position is most likely because I wasn't in London yet and had no local phone number not because both my CV and cover letter utter crap as I'd feared. That really relaxed me. I'll be following up on all my job applications (there are over 20 out there) from my last two weeks at home next week to see if I can get to talk to some recruitment consultants and "form a rapport" so they remember me and send some jobs my way. Fingers crossed!

After my orientation, I took the long walk up to Barclays bank on Islington Green only to be told that they can not accept my drivers' license as a second proof of address because it's a two-part document (thanks Manitoba). Needless to say I was NOT impressed. I'm pretty sure I scared poor Nicholas (my bank advisor) by showing my anger. I momentarily forgot that the British are not emotional people. He looked worried when I went on a mini rant, like he was scared I was gonna whip out a gun and shoot up the place. What's funny is that I still kept myself pretty in check, nothing compared to what I might have unleashed at home. Had I really let loose, poor Nick would've probably jumped crawled under his desk and called 999 (the UK version of 911 as I learned today at orientation). Anyways, I'm still wandering around with a crap load of cash and travelers cheques on me feeling like a I have a huge "I'm a tourist, mug me please" sign glowing above my head. I'll be leaving the cheques at home until I get that account set up.

After the bank disaster, I went on the search for a new flat iron. I asked at one salon and they directed me to another salon and that salon directed me to a hair and beauty wholesaler. This is where Irony decided to come smack me in the face. So I enter the wholesaler and let the saleswoman know I'm looking for a flat iron. I let her know that I prefer titanium plates. She gushes to me that they just got the newest, top of the line flat irons in and they're 120 pounds ($200). The price makes my jobless wallet squeal in fright, but I decide to take a look anyways. Low and behold the lady comes back to me holding MY flat iron. The exact same one that suffered a stroke this morning. It was too soon for me and I had to actually look away as the anger filled me again (similar to what happened at the beginning of this post). The lady kept going on and on about the wonderfulness of the flat iron until I told her that I know how wonderful it is, I own one and it nearly died this morning.

After much deliberation and mental budget finagling, I decided that I just could not afford a 120 flat iron right now and instead purchased another one specially designed for curling that was on sale for 52 pounds down from 99. I haven't tried it yet cause it's still too soon for me, but I'm hoping it will be alright. If I hate it, I'll just re-buy my flat iron when I get some $$$.

The journey back to the house was eventful as I got too confident too fast. I was so proud that I figured out where and how to transfer tubes that I didn't realize I need to make two transfers not just one. I ended up heading into zone 4 before I realized what had happened. I got off quickly and made my way back and made the correct transfer. But that lovely little detour got me home about a half hour later than I would've if I hadn't been so busy patting myself on the back.

The first day and night

2009-09-03T16:48:00.000-07:00

I arrived early today and took a cab to my Aunt's place. The cab driver was NOT friendly but he did pack and unpack my three 50 pound suitcases and my 35 pound carry on so I tipped him well. The house I'm staying in is so great! Very British. My room is up on the third floor and it's a great space with nice big windows. I'll post pictures tomorrow. It's got a fireplace with a mantle and a cute little desk and chair and another white leather lounge. The whole house is nice with interesting artwork and neat little touches.

One strange thing: the "toilets" and "bathroom". The "toilet" refers to the two rooms in the house that contain a toilet and nothing else. No sink, no mirror, nothing. Just a toilet and some toilet paper. The "bathroom" is a large room with an old school bathtub in the centre, no shower curtain. No toilet here, but there is a sink. I was so confused. I didn't use the washroom here all day cause I wasn't sure what to do. I waited until I went out to tinkle. I did shower though. The tub is great and it has a detacheable showerhead, thank God, so I didn't make a mess. I'll post a pic of the bathroom too. My cousin said that the toilet and bathroom situation is the general Victorian style and that it's very common out here. It will take some getting used to for me though. Apparently you use the toilet then go into the bathroom to wash your hands. My question is what do I do if I need to wash my hands and someone is in the bathroom taking a shower?? I'm thinking hand sanitizer will take up a whole new meaning here.

Anyways, this afternoon my aunt and her husband dropped me off on the famous Portobello Road to get my 'mobile' set up. The Orange store ( a UK carrier) I went into didn't have the phone I wanted in the colour I wanted so I ended up walking all the way up to Nottinghill Gate to the other Orange store to get my phone. Then I walked back and home, stopping to get my Oyster card for the tubes! Portobello Road is wonderful, there are tons of cute little shops and vendors. I resisted buying about 25 different adorable (and affordable!) dresses. It was tough, but I did it. The streets here are so interesting and dangerous. I nearly got hit by several cars cause there are no stop signs and a lot of intersections have no light.

My night was surreal. I went to the screening of a BBC miniseries that my aunt's husband is starring in. The screening was held in Soho which definitely lives up to its reputation. You can practically smell the fabulousness in the air when you get nearby. It was crazy. Just a bunch of producers, actors, composers, writers and BBC people networking and hobnobbing and then there's little old me! I kept wanting to pinch myself. I was quite intimidated but I did meet a young actress who had a role in the 3rd Harry Potter movie as Pansy Potts which was pretty cool.

The miniseries was fantastic. They showed clips of the first four episodes and then showed the entire fifth episode. I got sucked in. It airs next week on the BBC every day at 5:15, tune in! My aunt's husband was wonderful. I was worried, but needlessly so because he is one great actor! I was sitting next to him during the screening, I kept wanting to gush about how great he was but I thought that would be uncool. I tried to appear relaxed like I go to screenings back home all the time. I'm pretty sure I fooled everyone.

So basically today was pretty much indescribable, it just did not feel real. It felt like I was living someone else's wonderful life and then every once in a while I would realize THIS IS MY WONDERFUL LIFE!!! Ack! So excited for what's to come. All I need is a job and everything will be perfect :) Tomorrow I'm off to my SWAP orientation all by myself on the tubes! If you don't hear from me it's cause I'm lost wandering somewhere in London so alert the police!

The plane ride

2009-09-03T16:20:00.000-07:00

I had originally wanted to book a first class ticket so that I wouldn't have to spend 7 hrs in the air scrunched up in a ball in coach, but then after noticing the thousands of dollars difference in price, I decided coach is good enough for me. Turns out coach is actually pretty great! The plane was massive, I'm sad I forgot to take pictures (be patient, I'm new to the blogging thing). It had a row of two seats along either side of the plane and then a row of three seats down the middle. The first class and business class sections were ridiculous. First class had actual beds, I was jealous but I just don't have first class kind of money.

The plane ride was good though. I started reading I Know This Much is True by Wally Lamb and it's got me hooked. I tried to sleep but I really couldn't very well. The highlight of my plane ride occurred before the plane even took off: this flight attendant was walking down the aisle like they do before take off, just making sure that everyone is seated and closing the overhead compartments. I was sitting in the very last row on the aisle of the middle row. So the flight attendant is coming towards the back and this older lady three seats up from me in the centre waves a plastic bag at him. It looked like garbage. The flight attendant smiles jokingly and makes an "eww yuck" face and shakes his head as he walks by. Then after he's passed her he turns and asks "what did you want me to do with that?". The woman then throws the bag AT THE FLIGHT ATTENDANT and says "throw it out". The bag missed the flight attendant and nearly hit the the woman across the aisle from me. I distinctly heard the flight attendant say "stupid b$%*" as he bent down to pick up the bag.

The lady across the aisle from me looked at me and we couldn't help snickering. It was just so ridiculous, as if the lady threw a bag of garbage at the flight attendant. So funny!

The only bad thing about the flight was the dumbass infront of me who reclined his seat as soon as the plane took off. He was about 5'4 and clearly did not need any extra leg room but he still opted to recline his seat all the way back, forcing me to do the same. His wife looked back at me when he reclined his seat and I shot her such a dirty look that she did a double take. She actually kept glancing back at me periodically through out the flight and I kept looking right back at her. But she didn't seem to clue into why I was giving her the looks. Kinda funny actually. I caught her looking at me in the customs line too. Hehe! I know I'm mean but looking back it was pretty hilarious.

All in all, a great experience!

Next Stop: London

2009-09-02T11:21:00.001-07:00

I'm packed, I'm showered, I'm dressed, I'm hungry so I'm gonna go get some food, then I'm off.

Heart attack averted

2009-09-02T09:03:00.001-07:00

I turned on my computer this morning to check my email and such and to my absolute horror, it would not start. I can not explain to you how shit scary this was for me. I nearly cried ( a tear or two might have slipped through). And then I had a revelation: this computer will be my only connection to my current world! Without it, I will not be able to afford to keep in touch with everyone I want to. ACK! The pressure was building in my chest.

Anyways, I started freaking out and pressing all sorts of button combinations that probably only made things worse. Then I started praying like a banshee. It wasn't pretty. I finally shut down the computer and restarted it and some message came up recommending I have the Windows find the problem and repair them which "might take several minutes". 15 minutes later, I start to feel my left arm go numb and my heart is pounding harder and harder and suddenly a message appears telling me Windows can not fix the problems! Things are starting to get hazy and I'm feeling as though there is less oxygen in the room than there should be. The message tells me to click finish to shut down the computer. I do it.

I wait as long as I can (about 1.5 seconds) and restart the computer. I wait with baited breath, mostly because I am still hyperventilating. The computer starts as normal. Holy mother freaking shit, pardon my francais. I may never shut down my computer again, just on the off chance this happens. Could there have been a worse way to start the day I leave for London? I can't think of one right now. I really really hope this is not foreshadowing for how this day will turn out cause if it is, I'm just gonna stay in bed.

Top five irrational fears for London

2009-09-01T23:31:00.000-07:00

5 - That there will be lots of foreign bugs everywhere...even in my bed

4 - That London will be smelly...like a faint odor of vomit hanging over the city

3 - That all the water will taste funny and I won't be able to afford bottled water

2 - That I will get fat

1 - That all British people will take an immediate and strong dislike to me, not because of anything I say or do but just from the look of me. Ex. they'll look at me and say "You know, I don't like the look of that one..."

Template

2009-09-01T23:23:00.000-07:00

Excellent, I've now finally found a template that I like. I was told (by my brother) that the stockinged feet are creepy, but I disagree. Any thoughts from anyone? I think the template overall gives a nice feel and captures the essence of what this blog will be*. I'll keep looking though and if I find anything better I'll change it.

*hopefully

Welcome

2009-09-01T14:19:00.000-07:00

It took forever but I've finally decided on a blog name, thanks to urbandictionary.com. So welcome! Starting Thursday I'll be a quasi-Londoner living and working amongst the most proper people on Earth. It's very likely this blog will become very boring very quickly but I'm hoping I can keep things fresh. And since what I post here will be what's happening in my life, once the blog goes south, it means my life has gone south too. So if you're noticing things are getting dull, have some pity on me, keep reading and make some comments cause this blog may be the only thing keeping me going in my sad, grey life....BUT hopefully that won't happen :)