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...
Friday, September 25, 2009
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Boring Crap & More British Facts
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.
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.
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Relaxing London Weekend
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 ;)
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 ;)
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