Archive for the 'The Misadventures: Lost in (Greater) London' Category

Election Day not just for Americans anymore

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jessi
at November 04, 2008 in The Misadventures: Lost in (Greater) London. 2 Comments

This is my first time living abroad during Election Day and I have to say the Brits, or maybe just my colleagues, are really psyched about the elections. It was even a partial focus of our Year 7 assembly today. Students and colleagues alike have asked me if I was excited about today and I’m not gonna lie, at first I had no idea what they were talking about. I honestly thought they were asking me if I was excited about our first day back from half term holiday. I really think everyone else is more enthusiastic than I am! It kind of makes me wonder if I’m really an American (despite the blog title).

Can you believe the fate of the world hangs in the balance because of these elections? I never thought of it that way, but that’s the way one of my colleagues put it to me. He was like, “Whatever happens tomorrow affects everyone, not just your country.”

It appears I’m not going to be the only one at school tomorrow anxiously awaiting the results.

Dinner with Tom

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jessi
at October 31, 2008 in The Misadventures: Lost in (Greater) London and In Good Company. 0 Comments

I was messaging on facebook with Tom recently and he and I arranged to meet for dinner last night. I hate to say it, but I was looking forward to being social with someone near enough my own age who I didn’t work with. (I’m pretty sure that is a grammatically incorrect sentence, but I really don’t care at this point.)

It was going to be the third day in a row that I traveled into London!

Of course, when I departed from the flat, it started that pesky cold rain. I was less than pleased, but I braved it anyway ‘cuz I had my heart set on buying a mocha from Starbucks before heading into London Victoria.

I was happy that the rain stopped by the time I got into London. I’ve never been on the Victoria Line before, but it was easy to figure out. I’m definitely getting more confident with using the public transportation in London. And, it turns out that the Northern Line is just incredibly cramped but the other lines seem to be less so.

I got off at Green Park Station and went topside. It was unfortunate that there weren’t exit numbers, but I text Tom to let him know where I was and we found each other eventually.

Neither one of us was especially hungry, so we wandered around for a while. He took me through Green Park on our way to Buckingham Palace. Her Majesty the Queen was in residence. Tom and I speculated on what she must be doing; Tom said she was probably waiting for Eastenders to start.

We wandered around towards Piccadilly Circus next. Apparently, I was there on Tuesday night and didn’t even know it! In fact, I had hit all the major hot spots on Tuesday and didn’t know it: Piccadilly Circus, Leicester Square, Covent Garden.

He asked me what I wanted for dinner, and again, I’m still on a burger craze so we went out in search of one. Unfortunately for us, it was the height of dinner rush so most places were pretty crowded.

We wandered about some more. He took me to Forbidden Planet, the ginormous comic book store. “It was a very bad idea to take me here,” I told him honestly. I managed to restrain myself, however. But at least I knew where I would be able to go when I needed my comic fix. I mean, there’s a branch out where I live, but the one in London was pleasure overload worthy.

Eventually, we found a burger place that was more or less deserted. I had another great burger, less than great onion rings, but Tom let me eat his less-than-good chips that weren’t all that bad when they were doused in vinegar.

We talked about Japan a lot. In fact, in our wandering, he took me past one of the Japanese markets he knew about. I had to laugh at the fact that they had merchandise in there from Daiso (¥100 store). Of course, it was all overpriced. But at least I know where to go when I’m desperate.

I was very jealous of him ‘cuz he was able to go to Osaka recently and see all our mutual friends, including Rob. I miss Rob. I miss Japan.

It was a really good night out. I got to see someone my own age, and I was reassured that I am able to navigate the more popular parts of Central London.

The outing did however make me think I should move closer to the city. I couldn’t help but notice all the places I passed on my way home were still open. Including a Starbucks that was open until 11 PM!

The Misadventures: The Tower of London

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jessi
at October 30, 2008 in The Misadventures: Lost in (Greater) London. 0 Comments

The events of Wednesday the 29th of October 2008

I’ve just been a regular Londoner these past two days!

Much like yesterday, I decided to make the journey into London. Truth be told, I don’t mind it too much ‘cuz it only costs me £5 on the train. (I don’t think about the bus or the Tube too much ‘cuz I use my Oyster Card for both of those.) Also, I can kill you with my brain. I mean, also, I don’t go into the city THAT often so it costs me like five quid every three weeks or so.

I thought I was doing good on time, in fact, I made it to my destination with Tube transfers and everything round 11:15. I followed the flow of people ‘cuz most everyone was going to the same place. When I stepped out of the station, I once again kicked myself for not bringing me Da’s camera (I don’t have any batteries!). There’s this viewing spot right outside the station that looks on The Tower of London over the River Thames. ‘Twas very picturesque.

I wend my way down the path. There were plenty of tourists all going the same way, so I wasn’t too worried about not finding where I was supposed to go. I got to see the foundation of one of the original posterns that was uncovered while workers were building the Underground.

By the time I got to the ticketing area, I was wishing I had gotten there as early as I’d originally planned (9 AM or so) or that I had booked my tickets online. The line was crazy long! As much as I tried not to think it, I could help it — I added buying tickets to my list of things I’m not overly impressed with in England. Yes, I know I’m probably being crazy unreasonable, but if you had seen the line and how slowly it was moving, you mighta thought the same thing!

I did not voice any of these things; that’s what the people behind me were for. I didn’t know which was worse, having to queue up or having to be by American complainers. While I admit, I agreed with most of their points since it took nearly an hour to buy the tickets, I’m never one to voice these things. At least, not in an English-speaking country where most everyone around me can understand what I’m saying.

It cost £16. I decided that I would be damned if I didn’t get the most out of my money! It was by far the most expensive touristy thing I’d done.

One of the first things I looked at when I got past the gate was the moat. I got to stand in it. I didn’t get to stand in the one at Osaka-jo, so I took advantage of the fact that it was part of the tour. I read all the little signs about the moat, like how it used to be where all the human waste ended up and they decided that was just plain gross. They had it drained and refilled. And one of the people, I can’t remember who, decided they ought to make the most of the water and put pike into it to help feed the peoples.

Also in the moat was a trebuchet. There was a little crowd of children listening to one of the reenactors talking about it. (I was reminded of Doctor Kaboom! from the Renaissance Faire.) I tried to get in to listen as well, but there was quite a lot of people standing about so I couldn’t get close enough.

Once I left the moat, I returned to the main path into the Tower. My favorite part about the whole thing is the fact that it’s not a tower at all. At least, not in the sense that I was thinking. When I think “tower”, I think like Sears Tower or the Tower of High Sorcery. The Tower of London was more like how I picture Darry or one of the other lesser strongholds of Westeros (yes, I am referring to A Song of Ice and Fire…again).

I’ve been doing museum-y stuff lately, and lately I’ve been thinking I ought to get one of those audio tour things (this along with “I should have brought my camera”). And yet, I walked on past the lady hawking the audio tours. One of these times, I’ll actually get one. (And maybe bring my camera.)

The first thing I walked by was the Traitor’s Gate. I wish I could say that I took in its historicalness, but I really didn’t. There was a Yeoman Warders tour in front of it, so I moved on. I did go into the “Torture at the Tower” part. Everyone always thinks about the Rack; I didn’t even know about the Scavenger’s Daughter, which is essentially the opposite of the Rack.

For some reason, I thought this part of the tour would be more extensive ‘cuz for whenever I hear about the Tower of London, images of torture come to mind. Mostly ‘cuz of history and stuff; it was used as a prison and it does have a history of blood. Heck, there’s even a tower called The Bloody Tower.

That’s getting ahead of myself, though. Like I was saying, I thought this part of the tour would be more extensive, but it really wasn’t. I was impressed by the writings on the wall. They’ve preserved some of the etchings made by prisoners and they had plates next to most of them for the parts that were more difficult to read. They were mostly names, but some had messages. Of course, I can’t remember any of them verbatim, but they had religious context.

I went off to the White Tower next. I’d read about how they have suits of armor stored there and I thought perhaps they would have swords as well.

The first floor had muskets and flintlock pistols. When I rounded the corner, there were models of horses and the line of kings’ armor. One of the most prominent displays was that of John of Gaunt’s armor; he was apparently a giant of a man.

I was happy that the tour didn’t end there, as I’d originally thought. On the second floor, there were examples of weaponry from the Spanish artillery. There weren’t a lot of swords, but looking at the Spanish morningstar was still pretty cool.

Up the winding staircase again brought me through to the Chapel of St. John. This floor mostly contained information of the building of the White Tower. I wish I could say that I stuck around to read every single sign, but I decided to move on. I mean, I went to that particular tower to see medieval weaponry. I will say that one of the interesting things on this floor was the Norman toilet. And people think they were so uncivilized back then.

When I got to the next floor, there was a tour group going on. The lady was talking about the different suits of armor so I decided to attach myself to the group.

The first suit of armor belonged to Henry VIII. It was originally silvered, but due to poor preservation it had lost its veneer. It was, however, still intricately engraved. The entwined H and K were representative of the union between Henry and Katherine of Aragon. Also, both English and Aragon symbols were represented to further emphasize the union between the two countries.

The woman said that the armor was made for Henry when he was at the age of 24. Most people think of Henry differently which brought us to the next suit of armor. It was much broader and had a very distinct codpiece. This was the last suit of armor supposedly worn by Henry VIII for the last tournament he held. He did not ride in the tournament, but he did wear the armor for show.

We looked at the armor of Charles I. It was originally made for his elder brother Henry, but Henry had died by the time the armor arrived so it was given to Charles instead. The woman pointed out the painting on the wall as well, saying that the information describes Henry, but the face is actually that of Charles. “They recycled even then.”

The next suit of armor was also the heaviest. It belonged to William Somerset. This particular suit showed how the fashion of armor changed throughout the years; it was displayed with pantaloons.

An interesting suit of armor that belonged to James I was given to him by the Shogun of Japan. I couldn’t help but smile about that one; I didn’t even know that there had been relations between the two counties at that time.

I couldn’t help but think of The Tudors when we looked at the jousting lance that belonged to Charles Brandon, brother-in-law to Henry VIII. It looked heavy but it was actually not as heavy as one would think. As a tournament lance, it was made to shatter upon impact and most of the weight was at the handle.

That pretty much ended the tour of the suits of armor. I had to laugh when the woman said, “I hope you enjoyed your tour. If you did, my name is Theresa, if you didn’t my name is Barbara.” I found that incredibly amusing.

There was actually loads more that Theresa talked about, but that which I’ve written about were the ones I remembered the best.

I stuck around on that floor ‘cuz there were still lots of things to see and read about.

That pretty much ended my exploration of the White Tower. I’m not gonna lie, I really liked it. (Probably why I wrote so much about it.)

I had wandered around for about an hour or so. I saw a line for something just outside the White Tower’s entrance so I decided to jump in. It was quite a long queue, so whatever it was must be cool.

It was the line for the Crown Jewels. I didn’t really care to see them, but it was something listed on the Ten Things to Do at the Tower of London so I went on in.

Here’s the thing about the Crown Jewels…I really don’t think they’re the real deal. Sure they’ve got all the pretense of security and all, but to have the Imperial State Crown there? Isn’t that something you’d want to keep at like Buckingham Palace?

I did enjoy the video of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation. I wasn’t alive when it happened, so it was kinda cool to see.

After the Jewels, I went to the Bloody Tower. On my way there, I got to see two of the ravens. Again, I wished I had brought my camera ‘cuz one of the ravens was just chillin’ out on this fountain not at all bothered by the people taking pictures of him. I think it was a “him” ‘cuz he was bigger than the other one.

The Bloody Tower was just kind of there. I did think it was cool that it was renamed “bloody” after the Princes in the Tower. It was apparently originally the Garden Tower.

I took the tour of the Medieval Palace and South Wall Walk. There was lots to see. I can’t really remember it all ‘cuz all the Towers started to blend together. One of ‘em had a replica of a bedroom; one had examples of tools they used back then; the Salt Tower had more inscriptions from prisoners; and the Martin Tower had the old jewels and explanations of how the diamonds were cut.

That pretty much ended my day at the Tower of London. I spent around three hours wandering around the different places. I hadn’t eaten lunch yet, so that was my motivation to leave.

I didn’t really know where to go for food but I ended up finding Tower Place, which had quite a few different places to choose from.

I’ve been craving burgers lately, so it was rather convenient that I found Gourmet Burger Kitchen, and that it was practically empty when I got there! I ordered a classic burger, but it was still pretty frickin’ good! I usually have burgers plain, but the relish thing (essentially salsa) made it pretty tasty. And the fries, yes fries, were pretty good too. It cost about £10 for everything, but considering it was a fancier burger place than MacDonald’s, I was pretty happy.

It was definitely a good day in London. Even if I didn’t get to see the ghost of Anne Boleyn.

The Misadventures: The National Gallery

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jessi
at October 28, 2008 in The Misadventures: Lost in (Greater) London. 2 Comments

I’d resolved to do some more touristy stuff this week. In my head, the places wouldn’t be as crowded as they would be on the weekend, so I saved venturing into the city for the week.

The first place I put on my list was The National Gallery. I’d finally bought myself a Lonely Planet London so I had a pretty good idea of where I was going. Of course, I double checked it all online.

I was all kinds of proud of myself for not having to ask for directions once I got into Charing Cross. It was actually rather straightforward once you stepped out of the station. I just followed the signs and found my way.

As I’ve said in other posts regarding art, I have a preference for oil on canvas. My brain gets stuck on the idea that the artists are able to make it all look so freaking real. I kept staring at the ones that had shadows ‘cuz I couldn’t figure out how the artist painted them.

I only made it through about five rooms before I got hungry. I went in search of food then. The cafes that were listed on the map didn’t look particularly exciting, so I figured I would go out and come back in again.

The first place I stopped in at was a pub that had a rainbow flag in its window. I had to smile at that, and at the sign that said the pub primarily serves gay and lesbian customers so if anyone has a problem with it don’t bother crossing the threshold. Unfortunately for me, they didn’t serve any food. I considered staying for a cola, but then my stomach reminded me that I was in search of lunch. (I was damn proud of myself for going inside, though.)

Right next to the pub, there was this little cafe that served sandwiches. However, I didn’t notice that all the seats were full when I went inside. I’d have felt stupid leaving, so I went ahead and ordered anyway.

One thing I will say about this country, they sure as hell know their cheese. I freaking love cheddar cheese, and here I get the proper stuff! I had a cheese and tomato sammich with a Pepsi, all for the “low, low” price of £3! Hey, that was really cheap considering how much I’d have paid at the gallery cafe.

I was happy ‘cuz it just so happened that by the time my sandwich was done being made, a table opened up. One of the workers told me I could sit there and that’s just what I did. I didn’t even care that someone else sat down with me not long after I started eating.

I may not have a lot of self-confidence, but I’ve got to have something to be able to do all this kind of stuff on my own and not care that much, right?

I returned to the museum thereafter. I pretty much made a direct line back to where I’d left off with the 17th Century Dutch painters. After leaving the Netherlands, I found myself in Room 18. I didn’t quite catch which country I was in, but there was definitely one painting that I liked so much I wrote down the title: Allegory of Grammar, by La Hyre. (After googling the painter, I think I was in France.) I’m thinking of printing out the Latin phrase and putting it in my classroom.

Some of the paintings made me angry with myself for not finishing Ovid’s Metamorphoses since several of the stories in it were the inspiration for the paintings. I at least remembered reading the one of Io being turned into a heifer. I also thought it was funny that there were so many paintings titled “The Judgment of Paris” and “The Adoration of Kings”.

Not for the first time did I wish my dad was with me when I walked around the art gallery. Museums are one of the few things my dad and I still enjoy together.

I wish I could say that I was able to stay there until closing, but no lie, my brain was kind of out of it. Apparently, I can only take in so much art ‘cuz I started to just breeze through the Impressionists. It sounds bad to say, but I’m glad The National Gallery and The British Museum are both free ‘cuz then I feel like I can always come back at another time to catch all the things I missed the first time around.

Since I was so close to Foyle’s, and I knew it, I decided to buy a book. Much like doing touristy things, I’d also resolved to buy a book.

Again, I was proud of myself for navigating the area as well as I did. I mean, I’d only been there once, but I was able to retrace my steps from three weeks ago…and from a completely different starting point! (I’m thinking when I have more time, I’ll just spend a day wandering the West End.)

Knowing I have to teach A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Richard III this half of term, I decided to cave and buy the No Fear Shakespeare versions of them. I’m not going to pretend to be some great scholar and if I’m going to help my students, I figure I better have a good handle of the texts. Much to my delight, both copies were £4.50 — once again, I remind you that I have to think in GBP or else I’ll never buy anything! I also caved and finally bought a copy of Strunk & White’s The Elements of Style (Rich ought to be proud).

As for reading for fun, I decided on Ender’s Game, thus recommended to me last year by Rob. I usually don’t do straight-up sci-fi, but I didn’t mind Alfred Bester, and I thought it was time for something out of my element. But, because I have the incurable crazy, I was not satisfied with the copy they had at Foyle’s and thus, I bought the three other books, but not Ender’s Game. It became my mission thereafter to find a suitable copy. I tried three other bookstores (I was on the bookstore street after all), before I finding not one, but THREE copies at Blackwell.

Have I mentioned how much I like that street?

Since I was still out and about in London, I thought it would be good for me to get dinner in town as well. That was before I realized it was dinner rush and it started to rain. It was already cold to begin with, and I’d brilliantly left my Columbia jacket in America, so the rain really wasn’t helping. I was very happy to remember that I’d left my fold-up umbrella in my backpack, so I was at least somewhat dry. (My shoes, socks, and below the knees were not.)

I went back to Charing Cross Station only to discover that the fastest train to East Croydon Station from there wouldn’t be leaving for another hour. I remembered the last time I’d come out this way I had gone into Waterloo East. I saw signs pointing out the station, so I took a jaunt across the river to Waterloo East. (It wasn’t as close as I’d originally thought; ’twasn’t a horrible walk, but a cold one.) It turns out that I’d just been lucky the last time I was at those stations ‘cuz I had to make a journey to London Bridge instead. I could have walked it, but I opted to take a train and make a transfer instead.

It was still a great day despite the cold, wet end. I got to do touristy stuff AND bought books. Can it get any better than that?

Burger and chips

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jessi
at October 27, 2008 in The Misadventures: Lost in (Greater) London. 0 Comments

It really did sound like a good idea at the time. I’ve been craving dead animal burger-style for like two days now so today I went and did something about it. There’s this little cafe near the flat that I never get a chance to go to ‘cuz they close at 4 PM and I never get out of school in time to eat there; then on the weekends, it usually has at least one or two students eating there with their families. Hence, I avoid it when possible.

Today, after stopping in at the school, I decided I would get a burger to go. I was all proud of myself for remembering that they call fries chips in this country. It’s one thing when you get “fish and chips” and another when my natural wording is “burger and fries”.

But dude, I am still full! And I ate at like 2 PM! That was five freaking hours ago…almost six hours ago! I blame the grease and the caramelized onions that I didn’t know would be on the burger. Also, when I said “beef burger” the guy must have heard “cheese burger” — no big, just wasn’t quite expecting much else on the thing other than the dead animal and the bun.

I have also decided that I’ve been poisoned by this country. I have taken to putting vinegar on my chips. I think it might be a style thing, though. I don’t know that I will be taking this habit with me to the states, but one can never be too sure.

Mmm…vinegar…

Stupid supermarkets!

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jessi
at October 18, 2008 in The Misadventures: Lost in (Greater) London. 0 Comments

It’s official. I hate shopping for groceries in this country. Just thought I’d share.

Random update

Published by
jessi
at October 11, 2008 in The Misadventures: Lost in (Greater) London and On Teaching. 1 Comment

I’m taking a break from marking books (grading).

I had an awful day yesterday; I almost cried after my MacBeth class! It wasn’t because the students were being mean or anything like that, it was more the fact that I feel like I’m failing them. This group of students are Year 10, so that means they have their GCSE coursework coming up fast…as in it’s due in two weeks. They weren’t with it at all on Friday and it really bugged me. I felt like I was doing something wrong, the lessons aren’t engaging enough, etc. I’m glad that I didn’t cry, but I just felt awful.

Then there was my Year 7 class. Seriously. It was a rotten Friday. It was so bad I even stood outside with the ninjas (smokers). I didn’t smoke, though. Instead, to cheer myself up, I had a Pepsi. (Incidentally, the Pepsi here tastes better than I remember it tasting ten years ago. Maybe they changed the formula, or maybe it’s ‘cuz I’m drinking it from a can.)

I have decided chores and errands suck in England. Well, before I get ahead of myself, I went to the UniQlo here in Croydon to do a little shopping. Of course, the store is nothing like the ones we had in Japan, but it was still decent. I bought one shirt. I mean, much like every other time I’ve ever gone into UniQlo, I always see things that I like, but I refrain from buying ‘em. I always figure I can come back for them or something. It probably doesn’t help that I keep buying the same colors. Although, I’m trying not to repeat the pink cardigan thing (Darya knows what I’m talkin’ about).

Whilst I was out, I caved and bought an iTunes card so I could finally get some songs I’ve been wanting forever, like “So Says I” by the Shins and “Still Alive”. I also bought the Dr. Horrible soundtrack so I can stop annoying Toni with the same song over and over again. (Now I’ll have the whole soundtrack to choose from! Muhahahahah!)

After going to Shopping (that was intentional), I started finishing up my chores. Before I left for Shopping, I started up my laundry. I maintain that it’s a pain in the ass to do laundry in this country. I also had to go to the supermarket. It was the first time I would be going to the store for more than just a few items.

Yeah it sucked. Then again, I think I felt that way because the girl at the till just seemed so cross. And I don’t like pushing carts at the supermarket. That might have also factored into the experience.

I have seriously got to stop comparing my life here with Japan!

ETA: I remember something else I wanted to gripe about — why is it that America is the only freaking country that has folders?! Seriously. I just need a couple folders! Grrrr…

The Misadventures: the British Museum and Japanese London

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at October 11, 2008 in The Misadventures: Lost in (Greater) London. 1 Comment

From last Saturday

I had resolved to do something touristy last week; I decided that this Saturday, I would go into London and visit the British Museum.

I had some errands to run before I could actually make it into London, though. Trying to get those done was certainly something else. It started by a bus completely passing me by even though I did the whole stand at the stop and wave my arm thing that seems to be the indication to drivers that I’m waiting for that bus number. I think I ended up waiting for like thirty minutes for bus when I should have only waited ten. It only reinforced the fact that I’m not super impressed by the public transportation of England.

I eventually got to where I kind of needed to go. I was meant to go to Caterham, but the buses in my area only serve Caterham-on-the-Hill. When I had asked co-workers about how I’d get into Caterham using public transport, they all said I’d have to take a blue bus, meaning a non-Oyster card City of London bus. That was fine by me, I just had to find the bus first.

Okay, so I didn’t find the bus, but I did get directions and it really wasn’t that bad of a walk down into the valley (and yes, I mean a valley — the place isn’t called Catherham-on-the-Hill for no reason!).

Yay! I got money! Money is always a good thing.

I was feelin’ pretty good about the fact that I got paid, so I hopped a train from Caterham Station and took it up to East Croydon Station. Technically, I could have stayed on the train I was already on, but it was headed to London Bridge and I had plotted my route from London Waterloo so I got off at East Croydon to try and catch a different train. At least the trains kind of work for me; I’d still much prefer some kind of marking like “Local” or “Rapid”, but I happened to catch a speedy train into the Waterloo so it all worked out for me.

Once I got to the station, I caught the tube. I was all kinds of proud of myself for not having to ask for any directions when I got to the underground. The last time I’d been there, I wanted to make doubly sure I was going in the right direction and the like. I didn’t even have to buy a ticket — my Oyster Card worked on the tube as well! It’s a good thing I put £10 on it last weekend.

I wish I could say I didn’t need directions once I got to Tottenham Court Road, but that would be a damn dirty lie. Then again, even when I did ask for directions, the guy at the news stand pretty much pointed down the road and didn’t say I needed to turn anywhere.

Eventually, I got there, though. The first thing I saw was the Rosetta Stone. I could have left right then and there, ya know? Of course I didn’t, but it was one of the objects that made the trip all worth it yeah?

It’s hard to describe everything that I got to see. I mean, I probably could have spent the whole day on the first floor alone! Technically, it wasn’t like I had anywhere to go, but I wanted to explore a bit. I wandered around the first floor for a while, mostly taking in Egypt; it wasn’t long before I got hungry, though.

I think one of the things I liked about the museum was all the language I heard being spoken; it was strangely comforting to be surrounded by tourists. I can’t really explain it, but this doesn’t quite feel like home yet, ya know?

I was incredibly proud of myself for not freaking out eating alone. I usually feel way uncomfortable, but it really wasn’t all that bad. I got the lunch special, which I think was gamon steak with chips (British usage) and carrots. It was pretty good so I was pretty bummed by the fact that I could finish it.

It was off to more wandering thereafter. I figured I should start at the top and work my way down, so I scurried up to the third floor. Now, I know that the British Museum has an extensive collection from the Ancient World and Classical Greece and Rome, but I was more interested in the history of Britain so that’s where I headed first.

I couldn’t help but think of Beowulf as I wandered around the Europe exhibits. They had artifacts from a place called Sutton Hoo, and I think the helmet that was on display has been used as an image for Beowulf covers, but I could just be making that up because of the general style.

I’m not gonna lie, I also marveled at the fact that they had examples of utensils from the Bronze Age. I mean, most folk think the people back then just used their hands all the time or something, but clearly they had utensils. How cool is that?

I was disappointed that I didn’t see any suits or armor or swords. I wonder if those are kept at an art museum the way it is in Chicago or something. Not that the place sucked, I was just hopin’ to see stuff from the Middle Ages.

While I was on the Europe floor, I foolishly decided to see what the Japan exhibit had to offer. That was a huge mistake. I ended up aching for Japan again. How sad is it that I’m in a new country, and I still miss Japan so much?

I left Japan after a brief breeze through for Greece. I enjoyed looking at all the pottery ‘cuz a lot of it showed the myths I’d studied in school.

The mummy floor was super crowded so it was kinda hard to really see a lot. And we all know how I feel about crowds, so I kinda ducked out of that floor kinda quick too.

So yeah, I spent a good few hours in the museum. I left around 4 or so. There was a Starbucks across the street, so I thought I’d get a mocha and write a letter to one of my friends in California. I mean, I used to do that kind of stuff all the time when I lived in Japan, so it seemed only fitting I do so again in England.

I chose a really bad time to go over ‘cuz not long after getting into the queue, everybody else and their brother decided to get coffee too. In fact, there was a delay in my order and I ended up standing about for like ten minutes whilst the people who had ordered after me got their drinks first. It was mildly annoying. I was also worried about finding a place to sit down, but I was lucky in that I was alone so I could sit at a small table.

After killing about forty five minutes, I decided I ought to wander some more. I flirted with the idea of just heading back to the flat, but my sense of adventure won out.

I didn’t go back the way I’d come since it was a roundabout way to begin with, so I just wandered down one of the sidestreets, figuring I’d come to a main road eventually.

And then it started. I passed a bunch of Japanese-themed restaurants on my way back to the main road. So not helping. Then, when I got back to the station and wandered down the other side of the street, I saw a Muji. I was actually kinda excited about that ‘cuz I thought maybe they carried the body wash I liked; unfortunately for me, it wasn’t like the four-floor store in Osaka and their selection was a bit smaller than what I’m used to.

On the bright side of it all, I think I found the book district or something ‘cuz I swear there was a bookstore at just about every turn. Naturally, I went into all them, including the Borders.

But the best bookstore I found was Foyles. At first, I just passed it up ‘cuz I had never heard of it before. But after having dinner at one of the Japanese restaurants (seriously, they were like everywhere), I decided to step in.

Boy am I glad I did! I’m not kidding when I say they have the largest selection of books I’d ever seen. Take the plays section for example, I thought it was just one book case. Then I turned the corner, and the other corner. I’ve only seen a selection like that at a public library! They even had a whole case just for shooting scripts!!

I so wanted to buy a book! Unfortunately for me, I’m back in a book funk. Besides, it’s hard to read for fun when I have to read for school and all. When I get a little time, though, I am absolutely going back there!

So basically, that was my misadventure in the City of London. I got to do something really touristy, and the city is apparently telling me to go back to Japan. At least, that’s how I interpreted all the Japanese restaurants, the Japanese language school I found, and the fact that there was a Muji. :-P

Laundry Day in Greater London

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jessi
at September 28, 2008 in The Misadventures: Lost in (Greater) London. 0 Comments

It’s official. Doing laundry in this country sucks. How sad is it that it was easier to do laundry in Japan than it is in England? Maybe it’s just this particular washer and dryer, but so far, it’s all a big fat not-so-much.

Maybe I should try and find a laundry mat and I can meet some cool characters like Billy and Penny. There would be singing, dancing, freezing, the whole lot!

Laundry really shouldn’t take this long…

The stuff I keep forgetting to mention

Published by
jessi
at September 28, 2008 in The Misadventures: Lost in (Greater) London. 0 Comments

I live by horses. Did I say that? When I come home from school I usually see them chomping away on some grass and hay in the field along my street.

The houses here have names. Like “October House”. Not all of ‘em but there are quite a few down one of the main roads that do. I wonder how they get their mail.

The washers in this country seem to suck. Maybe I’m just used to the washer I have at home and the ones I used in Japan, but the ones here (I’m in the process of getting some laundry done) seem to take for flippin’ ever. Seriously. I think I put the wash in like an hour ago and it’s still washin’. What’s up with that? Also, they don’t have like regular ol’ detergent, they do this weird capsule thing.

I have made it my mission to go to the British Museum next Saturday. I still have yet to do much sightseeing and touristy stuff. I should really put in more of an effort with that as much as with my lesson planning.

I had pizza for dinner last night, and I don’t know what Grant was on about ‘cuz it wasn’t that bad. Then again, we went to a fancy California Pizza Kitchen-esque pizza place and we were served by an Italian, like with the accent and everything. ‘Twas pretty good, but the Brits are all proper with their stuff and eat with a fork and knife. Not like we don’t, but it didn’t help that the knife didn’t cut all that well. I resorted to being an American and got as far as cutting up the pizza then used my hands.

My hermit lifestyle continues as I barely went out yesterday, and don’t really know that I’ll really be out much today. For the most part I’ve been revisiting How I Met Your Mother and that keeps me pretty happy. I’m supposed to be planning and stuff, especially now that I have a change with my Year 9’s.

But yeah. I live by horses. Houses here have names. Washing machines are unimpressive to me. The pizza I tried wasn’t that bad. Oh bloody hell, I just discovered how to make the ¥ on my computer. Wait, never mind. I had John when I was living in Japan. But this led me to find the £ sign. Yay! Now I can write it correctly. Sorry.

Where was I? Oh yeah. Planning. I gotta start planning. I also have to start being more social or something like that. Even though I’m perfectly happy to just hide out on my own. And again, the question comes up about whether I ought to live alone or with people. For money purposes, and possibly to keep me from being a hermit, I ought to try and live with people. But we all know how well I love people.

Right, right. Sorry. Planning. Must start procrastinating…I mean planning!! ARGH!!!

Have a good Sunday people! I miss y’all!