So.
Not that I was doing super awesome on posting very frequently, but in case you were wondering, yep, I'm still alive and kicking, but barely. I had started my 'random observations' post over a week ago and was chipping away at it--finally finished it up and posted it tonight, see below. I was midway through and then things, well, kind of fell apart over here last week. Here's the scoop....
So last Monday I went along with the Art History class to the National Gallery--it was wonderful to be going around there with someone who knows what's she is talking about! I got so much out of it I'm hoping to get to tag along to all the gallery talks in the future. I got home around 3pm--and since dinner is daily at 5pm here, Sylvia is nearly always here at this time. Last week--not so much. Lots of food prepared (a baked lasagna, some stew on the stove, etc.), but no Sylvia. Almost as if on cue she called me--she was 'feeling weird' and took herself to the hospital "but hoped to be back by 5pm" (which I knew wasn't happening). I warmed the lasagna and pulled together dinner, no problem, but it was all a bit weird and I was worried. I found out only after dinner that she had a 'small stroke' and was being kept overnight for tests.
My first thought, of course, was "Holy Crap! I hope she is OK!"
My second thought, of course, was "Holy Crap! What the HELL am I going to do??!!"
Sylvia has been the cook and on-site house manager here for something like 12-14 years, and has this place down pat. Not only does she order all the food and cook our dinners, but she also handles finances, calling repair people, etc. etc. Fortunately, I had been here enough weeks to be able to pretty much 'get' what she does and how she does it, but of course, I don't know everything...AND, I'm here to do a totally different type of job. So...
..Sylvia underwent more tests. She was having some vision problems, but seemed in better spirits when I talked to her Weds. I haven't talked to her since, but have been working with/through Diane in our Int'l Ed office, trying to figure out how to steer the ship (er, keep the ship from sinking entirely) for the time being until we know more information about Sylvia's long term health issues. Thank goodness the students leave on 'Excursion Week' break starting this coming weekend. For now, we have a temporary cook coming in this week, though I am still doing grocery shopping and some quick food prep (like the breakfast stuff, which is easy/continental).
Now, for obvious reasons, this is bad. Very bad. I mean, of course it's bad--it's a ton of responsibility on top of my already many responsibilities, and having 18 hungry college students is not a mob you want to face. We skated through dinners early last week, thanks to Sylvia's previous prep (no idea why/how she managed to get 3 dinners prepped total, as if she knew?), one night of pizza ordering, and one taco night that I must say turned out great. I'm having students help whenever possible (what better time to learn how to cook, right?) and they have been pretty understanding/sympathetic (like how dinner was almost 2 hours late the other night, because I had NO IDEA it took so long to cook a roast...fortunately, ask anyone--it turned out great though!).
No, what makes this my TOTAL nightmare is, and many of you know this already, is that I am NOT the world's most intuitive cook. For as much as I obviously love food, cooking it is not my forte (eating it clearly IS!). I mean, TWICE in the last year or so I have almost burnt my house down by leaving something flammable on my flat panel stove at home. I have burnt the hell out of things as simple as microwave popcorn and frozen pizza. I have never really enjoyed cooking, either. I think it must be the perfectionist in me--fear of failure, something. I don't like to experiment with cooking and get really freaked out when trying to cook something that doesn't come in a box with simple, clear instructions (and even then, I manage to mess that stuff up half the time as well). So the idea of cooking FOR MYSELF is bad enough, let alone 18 sometimes picky and always hungry college students was very, very overwhelming. I mean, gauging food amounts is really tough--one night, too much pizza by far, the next night, ran out of half the stuff, that kind of thing. This is why, on top of it all, this is my WORST nightmare come true. And why I have barely slept this week and spent a lot of time wondering 'why me?' (dumb question--why NOT me? But still...sigh).
So, yeah. Sylvia's health matters are still unclear. The future is unclear, other than Chris the Temporary Cook who will come and get us through til next week's break. Beyond that, I'm not sure--but should be the end of my meals, from what I understand.
On the bright side, I did have some highlights this week. On Monday my student Shelby and I went to Avenue Q, which I had been wanting to see forever, and laughed our butts off. On Weds I joined the Theatre class to 'Cat on a Hot Tin Roof' with James Earl Jones and Phylicia Rashad--great show, despite the fact that JEJ's character was pretty much a horrible man. But he was amazing. Some students convinced me to stay on and wait at the stage door, and I'm SO glad I did. Phylicia (we're on a first name basis, obviously) was gracious and very pretty in person, and signed programs gamely. But James Earl Jones? It was raining, so he went directly to his car. I thought for sure he'd drive away, but no. Instead, he sat in his car, while his assistant (who we later came to know was his son, Flynn!) held an umbrella for those in line, and signed the programs for EVERY LAST PERSON waiting in line. Two guys ahead of me had like 6 pieces of Star Wars Darth Vader pics and he signed them as well. When it was my turn, he asked where I was from (I said Iowa with a laugh...then realized, DUH KAREN, YOU COULD HAVE TALKED ABOUT 'FIELD OF DREAMS' WITH HIM!...but I forgot), couldn't believe I was a teacher not a student (why thanks, James Earl!) and asked where I went to school, what I taught, etc. Couldn't be nicer. The guy had a conversation with me! He was amazing, so humble and sweet, kind. We're totally BFFs these days. My students were bummed we didn't bring him back to the house, but I figure, hey, the show is running through April, there's still time. JEJ and I are like family at this point.
On Thursday of this week we also took a boat down the Thames to Greenwich, the Home of Time (I just made that up, though I think it could be in the running for the town slogan, wouldn't you think?). We straddled the Prime Meridian and got to check out the Eastern Hemisphere for a while, good times. I loved the museum there at the National Observatory but that's likely because I'm obsessed with maps and whatnot, so Greenwich was a delight for the maps-for-fun nerd in me.
Forgive me, but I'm tired, and ready to try to squeeze out 7 hours of sleep instead of my usual 5-6. It's been a bit rough, but we survived, and we're all still managing to have tons of fun in London. I have had my moments, certainly, but for now, I can still say I am so lucky to have had this experience. Just pray/send good karma/eat a fortune cookie for me that things start to get normal relatively soon...
Out to buy my chef's hat. 'Til next time...
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Random Observations Part II (of many)
Wow—here I am, another week past since my last post. I think I had this assumption that I would blog really, really regularly (like nearly every day) but I guess I was wrong on that one. Thanks to my chronic tiredness (see previous posts) I think when I find some downtime I just want to sleep…or watch BBC. So, sorry. I’ll try to be a bit better on posting more frequently. And yeah, I’m still struggling with the photo issues. I think I figured out how to upload them, but my internet connection is so unreliable and slow, it seems to hate the pics. So, on to Facebook they go. I think most of you have access to my FB and can oogle and comment about them at will. For those of you who do not ‘do’ Facebook (hi Mom and Dad) and want pics, just let me know, I’ll figure out another way.
Anyway, onto more fun and important things, like my next installment of Random Observations! I know you’ve all been waiting.
1. Observation One was worthy of a full blog post in and of itself. Somehow, I guess I thought I mentioned my Super Bowl experience here, but apparently I did not (I must have gotten that mixed up with a Facebook status update or something). Anyway, of course I HAD to watch the Super Bowl here when in London. As an avid football fan and media scholar, I was really excited to see the great American TV spectacle from the British perspective (I also am a huge fan of the city of New Orleans, so that was a bonus as well). The students strategized about this for about a week. They were so excited but of course, not only was the Super Bowl on a Sunday night, but also didn’t start until 11:30pm here, making for one late night football game. Well, they eventually found a bar that was going to stay open for the event (I will say I saw/heard of very few places that were hosting any sort of Super Bowl affair…I kept my eyes peeled for signs when I walked across the city and only saw ones for the OTHER type of football that is, oh you know, just a little bit popular around here).
Anyway, the Super Bowl here was kind of a hoot, and generally, just very weird. First off, you realize how much time is devoted to the commercials when you are watching BBC and there are NO COMMERCIALS. So, basically, about every 2 minutes they would cut to the commentators, who were two American guys that were probably some sort of washed up NFL players, and then some British rugby commentators that just looked COMPLETELY uncomfortable. Poor guys. I mean, they had all this time to fill and just seemed really perplexed, kind of annoyed, and really, really wishing they were with their mates at a pub watching any other sporting event but this one. The Washed Up NFL Dudes did their best too, but I swear they kept showing things like Peyton Manning’s high school football videos and such. As you can imagine, then, for multiple reasons, I really missed those commercials. Though I have heard since that all really missed commercial-wise were ones of men dropping their pants…???
2. My second noteworthy observation is the fact that I keep running into people here. No, not like running into people like “Hey, long lost neighbor Kristen!” but, literally, running into people. This undoubtedly has to do with the question of whether you go towards the right or left when confronting an oncoming person (which happens all the time here, as you can imagine, in this busy walking city). Ok, so fine. What’s the big deal, Karen? Just go towards the left, right? (er…correct?). Yeah, I do that. And inevitably, I still manage to bump into people. So I thought, “Hmm, maybe like pounds (lbs) or the concept of miles, maybe some things in Britain are like the States” and started shifting to the right whenever someone was coming up in oncoming traffic. Nope. Same deal. So I don’t know what to do! In the Tube stations and whatnot, when faced with a big staircase, you do go to left. But you can’t go TOO far to the left in case there’s that busy person trying to pass you (on the left). So it’s this little game of how far to the left do you go. Maybe this little dance plays out in real life too, I don’t get it. I DO know that, for crying out loud, it really does feel like I’m dancing with other Londoners half the time…as I try to waltz my way around them as I walk down the street. I know that may sound like a poetic image, but trust me, it’s not nearly as graceful as it sounds. Maybe 'human bumper cars' is more like it.
3. Along those same lines, I am starting to learn that people who run in as the elevator doors are closing or hold up the Tube because they try to squeeze on at the last minute are GOING TO A SPECIAL RESERVED PLACE IN HELL. Yeah. They really piss me off.
4. The British do measure certain things in pounds (like lbs. pounds, not The Pound Sterling, which kicks the American Dollar’s ass every single day) and what not, but weight is often referred to as ‘stones’. I finally found out from Sylvia that 1 stone=14lbs. Now, considering the Brits penchant for all things in 12s (you know, 12 inches in a foot, 12 oz in a pound…oh wait, that’s 16 I think…well, whatever, 14 can’t be divided by 4 so it’s just weird, ok?) I find the 14lb thing to be really, really random (hmmm…maybe I will have some sort of ‘Random Awards’ by the end of this semester. If so, this little nugget is up for nomination), but I also like it. I mean, doesn’t everyone sound lighter if you say “Yes, I only weigh 10 stones” (haha, if only)? Who wouldn’t want to say that? But then, 14 lbs is a big range for your weight . I’m still deciphering how people describe this. I mean, say you’re 147lbs…14 and a half stones, right? No problem. But what about someone who weighs…143lbs=14 and .21 stones? I mean, what the hell right? One of my students suggested that maybe ‘stones’ are like weight classes in boxing/wrestling, and I like that idea too. I mean, it gives you a 14 lb leeway before you have to move up or down a stone, right? (thinking of my wrestler friends from high school—hopefully going up or down a stone does not require one to binge eat or wear about a million layers of clothing in hopes of sweating it all off…ew). Anyway, my new weight goal is to lose 14lbs here (exactly) so I can say I “lost a stone.” Of course, then again, I could just go to the park and find some rock and ‘lose’ it, allowing me to utter the same phrase with no dieting. Yeah. Better idea.
5. So diet concept moves me in to my favorite subject, food. Cripes, this could be a whole post category in and of itself. My new food-related observations are as follows:
--Only twice now have I had a meal here where I was like “Wow, that was soooo good.” The first was Punjab, the kick-ass Indian place that I would go to every day if they didn’t charge 3# just for the rice alone (that’s about 5 bucks. For rice. Yeah.) The second meal that was really pretty darn good was…
--Stars and Stripes Pizza. Yeah, we ordered pizza last week for the house from one of the handy pizza places nearby, and low and behold, it came from Stars and Stripes. I haven’t felt this patriotic when ordering pizza in a long time. I swear, they practically had a photo of Sarah Palin on the pizza box. Anyway, it was actually really quite good. NYC style thin crust, good amount of cheese, tasty overall. They will be hearing from me again soon with another order. Like, perhaps, the minute I am done with this post.
--I know fish ‘n chips is supposed to be eaten with malt vinegar. And I actually LIKE malt vinegar, but being that I like All Things That Are Fattening, apparently, I like tartar sauce even more. Not to be found at the grocery around here at all. If it didn't come from here, the worldwide headquarters of Fish 'N Chips, then where DID it come from? Annoyed.
--The goat cheese thing continues to kill me (in a good way). I’ll give it to the British—they really know how to do dairy. And custards. There are custards and mousse galore, it is AMAZING.
--When you eat a lot of goat cheese, like I do, you need a vehicle for them, which sends me to the 'biscuits' aisle. Now, for the uninformed, biscuits=crackers here. But biscuits are more than what we think of as crackers--in fact, I had no idea that the range of what counts as a 'cracker' could be so large, but it is here. Move over Ritz, Triscuits, and Saltines...the Brits have you beat. So there are a gazillion different types of sweat crackers, some with fruits and special creams and etc. (closer to what we think of as cookies, for sure), then of course the lovely water crackers (thin with little favor, but perfect for holding my cheese) and what are called 'cream crackers', which are thicker and richer but not necessarily good in my option. My favorite is the whole category (that takes up, like, shelves and shelves) of what are called 'digestives'. Now, if they have these in the States I sure haven't seen them before. I finally got some today of the fruity and oat variety (vs. the plain kind and/or the chocolate kind) and they are goooooodddd. Really thick, really mealy, and really satisfying. I suppose they also are probably like 100 calories a cracker or something, they are so dense, but whatever, I'm sold. Sign me up.
--I LOVE CRUMPETS. Crumpets and chicken curry are the gold stars of the British food world, I’m convinced. I finally tried one the other day and now I’m obsessed. You know, I always say that if you don’t like the texture of a food, you’ll just never like it (for me, this is water chestnuts. I HATE the texture of water chestnuts, and no, I don’t care that they come in tasty Chinese food, they totally freaks me out). Well, in this case, the texture of crumpets are SO INCREDIBLY AWESOME they are perfect. Basically a crumpet is kind of like an English muffin. Think of an English muffin cut in half, then plumped up to be thicker and full of holes, not unlike a sponge. Then imagine a ton of butter seeping into those holes, some extra jam on top…voila. Breakfast heaven. I mean, they are just so cute and spongy…if I could, I would make a gigantic round bed made out of a crumpet. I can guarantee I’d sleep like a log (and have built-in breakfast to boot!).
[this is as far as I got before 'the incident' happened...see post above]
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Playing Catch-up (not to be confused with playing ketchup)
Sorry for my lame play on words in my title, I couldn't help it. This is what happens with a sustained lack of sleep...you think you're funny when you probably aren't. I will make a note about the ketchup here--I don't like it. It tastes...I don't know...just weird, maybe kind of vinegar-y? I feel like I remember ketchup being nice and sweet and tasty in Europe. Maybe that's just reserved for ketchup on the Continent though, or maybe I need to try several more brands. But let's be honest--it's probably more due to the fact that there are few things food-wise that the Brits do all that well. With the exception of my fave Indian restaurant, Punjab (which is great but too expensive to eat at on a really regular basis), I have not yet come away with a feeling of 'wow, that was an amazing meal' yet in London. Granted, as with just about anywhere, if you're willing to shell out, I'm sure there is amazing food in this city, but I am still seeking it. I have yet to get fish and chips, to be honest--this is in part because we have potatoes at almost EVERY meal in the house and getting french fries during other times just does not seem appealing. There is supposedly one place in London that you just HAVE to go to for fish and chips, but am saving that for when my visitors arrive. For now, I'll just stick to my chicken curry sandwiches and ready-meals and go from there.
Wow, there I go on another food riff again...this is what happens when you are probably some sort food addict like me. One side note I will add on about food--the goat cheese here is ridiculously cheap (about the only thing that IS cheap in London), which I can already tell is going to be problem. I mean, the only way I'm not eating goat cheese 24/7 in the States is due to the cost. Here, you can get practically double the amount of cheese for about half the price. This too, along with the daily croissants, will probably do me in (or at least shatter my dreams of having weight just fall off of me due to all the walking I'm doing!)
So, anyway, it's been a good week or so since I posted, and that is due in part to the fact that A) I am very tired (nothing new there); B) I laid pretty low last week due to fighting off some sort of cold/cough thing that is going around the house (somehow, I bet we will be perpetually sick here); C) I honestly have not been feeling too great about things and don't want to be a downer in my posts. Now, granted, I want to make clear that overall I'm doing fine and am still happy I made the choice to come here and have this experience. At the same time, some of the day-to-day responsibilities and constancy of it all is a bit draining. There's constantly dishes to be done, wondering if dishes WILL be done in time for the next meal, making sure students aren't taking food out of the pantry (the Centre provides breakfast/dinner...I think a few of them have been trying to get by with taking NutriGrain bars for every other meal/snack), making sure everyone gets home ok (this can range from getting in at midnight to 5am...granted, I don't stay up or make them wake me upon arrival during those times, but it's still the kind of constant worry of 'where are they? are they okay?'
In short, more and more everyday I am getting a taste of what motherhood must be like. I mean, I walk away from the dining room one minute and it's clean and sparkling...the next minute it's covered in crumbs, and I find myself nagging, and getting upset b/c I JUST GOT THE DANG KITCHEN CLEAN! Ugh. No wonder housewives go nutty, or have 'the problem with no name' that Betty Friedan discovered. No wonder more and more housewives drink during their children's naptime. I could use a cocktail right about now, in fact.
The good news is that I have heard from multiple sources, ranging from Sylvia to George to other Eckerd profs back home that these feelings are normal...that everyone hits a type of wall about two or three weeks in, which is exactly where I'm at. I will admit that generally speaking the students have been quite good...they seem to get along well and are continuing to learn the rhythms of the house and whatnot. Often, I enjoy their company, particularly at breakfast and dinner. Many of them are still terribly off schedule, similar to me...staying up WAY late on Skype, getting up for breakfast (since it is only served from 8-9:15am or so), then going back to bed. I feel bad in a way that they have to get up so early for eating--I mean, I feel their pain, I am a total night owl myself--but the 'system' of the house doesn't really allow for all-day grazing either (in part because of the dishes--it's ALWAYS the dishes). So, whatever, we're working on it.
[As a sidenote, in the time I've been trying to write this post, one of the student room sinks starting gushing water out of nowhere...likely a plumbing problem of some sort that will be a NIGHTMARE for a 225 year-old house with 18 people constantly showering and pampering...oh my].
More than anything, I just want to take a total mental break, even if I can't take a physical one. Even though the students have been really good and rarely 'bug' me unless necessary, I think my internal worrywart is on overdrive even when things are going fine. I went to the really nice YMCA gym yesterday to check out a membership--it very close to us (meaning it is also very close to University College London, so there has to be a lot of student use, right?) and was bummed to hear that even as a teacher I A) don't get a discount and B) the rate would be 175#s which translates into about $280 total...nearly 90 bucks a month. Ow. Yuck. My first response was "No frickin' way" but I guess I have started to re-think a little...a space where I work out regularly, including swim...a place that is not the house and will get me out of the rain...a place to be around people that are over 21 years old...it's starting to seem like it may be worth it to suck it up and join and not think too hard about the bill. I suppose I could justify it because there are tons of bills back home that I'm not paying right now, including my $125/mo cable package...hmmm. (sounds like by the next post I'll be reporting on the British gym experience, right?!)
To end on a brighter note, I am really excited for some shows I was able to book. I have fabulous (if a bit costly) seats to 'Cat on a Hot Tin Roof' with James Earl Jones and Phylicia Rashad (you know, Claire Huxtable) next week; I'm hoping to go to a show this weekend, some big musical with last minute tickets probably; and I booked a ticket to see Peter Gabriel live at the new O2 arena in March (I take that the O2 arena has somewhat replaced Wembley Stadium). This is so exciting for me--I went through a period in college, as Carrie is likely to recall, where I was kind of obsessed with Peter Gabriel's live album, Secret World...I even own the VHS tape of the concert (VHS tape...hahaha). I hear he puts on amazing shows though granted, he's getting up there. Still, the guy has an amazing repetoire of stuff and I can't wait to see it live, even if I'm going to it alone. Don't care. I'll just make friends with other old Peter Gabrel fans, right?
All right, time to go let in the window cleaner and see if the 3rd floor is flooded. Such is my glamorous life in London... :)
Wow, there I go on another food riff again...this is what happens when you are probably some sort food addict like me. One side note I will add on about food--the goat cheese here is ridiculously cheap (about the only thing that IS cheap in London), which I can already tell is going to be problem. I mean, the only way I'm not eating goat cheese 24/7 in the States is due to the cost. Here, you can get practically double the amount of cheese for about half the price. This too, along with the daily croissants, will probably do me in (or at least shatter my dreams of having weight just fall off of me due to all the walking I'm doing!)
So, anyway, it's been a good week or so since I posted, and that is due in part to the fact that A) I am very tired (nothing new there); B) I laid pretty low last week due to fighting off some sort of cold/cough thing that is going around the house (somehow, I bet we will be perpetually sick here); C) I honestly have not been feeling too great about things and don't want to be a downer in my posts. Now, granted, I want to make clear that overall I'm doing fine and am still happy I made the choice to come here and have this experience. At the same time, some of the day-to-day responsibilities and constancy of it all is a bit draining. There's constantly dishes to be done, wondering if dishes WILL be done in time for the next meal, making sure students aren't taking food out of the pantry (the Centre provides breakfast/dinner...I think a few of them have been trying to get by with taking NutriGrain bars for every other meal/snack), making sure everyone gets home ok (this can range from getting in at midnight to 5am...granted, I don't stay up or make them wake me upon arrival during those times, but it's still the kind of constant worry of 'where are they? are they okay?'
In short, more and more everyday I am getting a taste of what motherhood must be like. I mean, I walk away from the dining room one minute and it's clean and sparkling...the next minute it's covered in crumbs, and I find myself nagging, and getting upset b/c I JUST GOT THE DANG KITCHEN CLEAN! Ugh. No wonder housewives go nutty, or have 'the problem with no name' that Betty Friedan discovered. No wonder more and more housewives drink during their children's naptime. I could use a cocktail right about now, in fact.
The good news is that I have heard from multiple sources, ranging from Sylvia to George to other Eckerd profs back home that these feelings are normal...that everyone hits a type of wall about two or three weeks in, which is exactly where I'm at. I will admit that generally speaking the students have been quite good...they seem to get along well and are continuing to learn the rhythms of the house and whatnot. Often, I enjoy their company, particularly at breakfast and dinner. Many of them are still terribly off schedule, similar to me...staying up WAY late on Skype, getting up for breakfast (since it is only served from 8-9:15am or so), then going back to bed. I feel bad in a way that they have to get up so early for eating--I mean, I feel their pain, I am a total night owl myself--but the 'system' of the house doesn't really allow for all-day grazing either (in part because of the dishes--it's ALWAYS the dishes). So, whatever, we're working on it.
[As a sidenote, in the time I've been trying to write this post, one of the student room sinks starting gushing water out of nowhere...likely a plumbing problem of some sort that will be a NIGHTMARE for a 225 year-old house with 18 people constantly showering and pampering...oh my].
More than anything, I just want to take a total mental break, even if I can't take a physical one. Even though the students have been really good and rarely 'bug' me unless necessary, I think my internal worrywart is on overdrive even when things are going fine. I went to the really nice YMCA gym yesterday to check out a membership--it very close to us (meaning it is also very close to University College London, so there has to be a lot of student use, right?) and was bummed to hear that even as a teacher I A) don't get a discount and B) the rate would be 175#s which translates into about $280 total...nearly 90 bucks a month. Ow. Yuck. My first response was "No frickin' way" but I guess I have started to re-think a little...a space where I work out regularly, including swim...a place that is not the house and will get me out of the rain...a place to be around people that are over 21 years old...it's starting to seem like it may be worth it to suck it up and join and not think too hard about the bill. I suppose I could justify it because there are tons of bills back home that I'm not paying right now, including my $125/mo cable package...hmmm. (sounds like by the next post I'll be reporting on the British gym experience, right?!)
To end on a brighter note, I am really excited for some shows I was able to book. I have fabulous (if a bit costly) seats to 'Cat on a Hot Tin Roof' with James Earl Jones and Phylicia Rashad (you know, Claire Huxtable) next week; I'm hoping to go to a show this weekend, some big musical with last minute tickets probably; and I booked a ticket to see Peter Gabriel live at the new O2 arena in March (I take that the O2 arena has somewhat replaced Wembley Stadium). This is so exciting for me--I went through a period in college, as Carrie is likely to recall, where I was kind of obsessed with Peter Gabriel's live album, Secret World...I even own the VHS tape of the concert (VHS tape...hahaha). I hear he puts on amazing shows though granted, he's getting up there. Still, the guy has an amazing repetoire of stuff and I can't wait to see it live, even if I'm going to it alone. Don't care. I'll just make friends with other old Peter Gabrel fans, right?
All right, time to go let in the window cleaner and see if the 3rd floor is flooded. Such is my glamorous life in London... :)
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Routines, Updates, and (Missing) Photos
I'll try to make this post a little less random than the last one--though I can't promise that is how it will turn out after the insane amount of coffee I have in me this morning! Look out. I am fully caffeinated and ready to type like the wind.
Week Two has begun, I can't believe how fast the days go by. This is in part due to the fact that at least for these opening weeks (while I get everyone 'trained'), my days are structured by meals here. I generally assist the students in the set-up and clean up of breakfast and dinner (lunch is on our own here, which typically consists of me running to the Le Pain du Jour to pick up a yummy baguette sandwich for 1.70). So here's a sense of my daily routine, at least during the week:
7:15am Get up (this is very, very hard for me as a night owl...still trying to get used to it!)
7:45am Bleary-eyed students pad downstairs and we start getting out the breakfast food. Breakfast is continental, and is basically cereal, various breads, yogurt, hard boiled eggs, and my downfall, croissants.
9am--help clean up breakfast with the students who are a little less bleary-eyed at this point, thanks to heavy amounts of instant coffee.
Rest of the Morning--I'm either teaching if it's Weds/Thur or doing work at the computer. It's nice, quiet time as students are either in class or still sleeping.
Noonish--Sylvia arrives, students each lunch, sometimes I am around...or not.
Afternoon--more class for students, often a nap for me (thanks to the early morning/later night thing) or more buzzing about town.
4:30pm--prep for dinner with students who are excited about eating this early.
5pm--Dinner is served, we eat, then dinner clean up.
The rest of the night is pretty much mine. The students study, watch movies, or go out. Sometimes I'll chat with them in the Common Room, help them with various things, or sometimes I hardly see anyone at all. When on my own, I tend to do work or various things, which apparently will soon include going to a ton of shows. I'm going to join the Theatre class for several plays on Tues/Weds nights (including Cat on a Hot Tin Roof with Phylicia Rashad and, ahem, JAMES EARL JONES; The Misanthrope with Keira Knightley; Waiting for Godot with Ian McKellan, just to name a few). I also am getting tickets to see Peter Gabriel in concert (a dream of mine, I know he does amazing shows and I love his music). What this means, of course, is that I'm bleeding money on these shows, but whatever, I don't care. It's just amazing to be so close to so much great theatre and great shows, and there's tons of free stuff too, which is great. Many of the museums are open til late on various days (I went to the Victoria and Albert Museum, a museum full of pretty stuff--think dishes, clothing, figures, from all over the world) last Friday night and while it wasn't my favorite of the museums I've been to here so far, it was still pretty awesome and a nice way to spend a Friday night, even if it was by myself.
[Sidenote about the 'by myself' issue: I will say as much as I love this city already, I am missing people very much. I really just wish I could magically transport everyone over here, and we could go to plays/concerts together, and takeover a pub and drink good beer all night. If I figure out a way to make that work, or one of you back home wins the lottery and can be my personal companion for the semester, let me know].
So that is the basic structure of my days/life so far here. As you can imagine, I also spend a fair amount of time on the computer talking to people back home and emailing for work back home, blah blah blah. I am hoping that once the routines get established for everyone here I will likely get to do more during the week on my days off from teaching, and get to do some day trips too on the weekends. Four of the students went to the cliffs of Dover this weekend for the day and had a great time, I can't wait to start bopping around nearby places and do the same.
As far as updates from my last entry--I learned that dim sum are those delightful dumplings of various varieties that are staples for Chinese lunches (thanks Wikipedia!). I was able to meet up with Anil, a friend of my friend Evelyn that lives in London, has a PhD in some computer-related field and works for Cambridge University (so clearly, he's a dumb guy) and his friend Eva for lunch on Saturday. It was great to meet them and chat about our respective schools/jobs as well as learn about dim sum. Of course, this is also where I recalled how badly I use chopsticks. I have been taught a million times but I blame the fact that I am left-handed on the fact that I am a terrible user of chopsticks. So you can imagine my embarrassment as I look around at this extraordinarily crowded restaurant and NO ONE is using a fork. Well, I'll be damned if I'm the only one using a fork, so I plowed through the meal with my chopsticks probably looking like a 4 year old learning how to eat. Fortunately, Anil and Eva were kind and didn't make me feel stupid (though in their heads they were probably laughing at me) and the meal was delicious. The restaurant was over in West London so I decided to walk home, taking me all through Hyde Park, near Kensington Palace, and all through central London (the walk ultimately took 5 hours, but that was part due to the shopping I was doing on Oxford Street along the way). On Sunday, while I VOWED I would get some rest, I ended up going to Camden Market with two of my students, and we had a great time looking around at the endless, endless stalls and booths selling everything and anything (ranging from punk to vintage to street clothes to foods of all kinds). It was great, if a bit cold--the weather here is extra cold this week, which of course gives me license to buy new scarves and hats. :) I also bought a new pair of tall boots (gray suede, thanks for asking) and its only a matter of time before I pick up those leggings.
So here goes with the pics. I'm not sure if I can do captions or not, and I'll start with pics of the House and my room (there's a class going on in the Common room right now, so I'll get some other ones up later) and then throw in a couple of shots from the random places I've seen/been so far, so enjoy. I'll try to do better with taking and adding pics as we go along!
[OK, sooooo....I don't know if it's my slower internet, or me just being slow, but I'm not getting my pics to upload. Tips from anyone who uses blogger...what am I missing? I'll work on that so there can be a few on the blog too, but for now, will start an album on Facebook! Enjoy!]
Week Two has begun, I can't believe how fast the days go by. This is in part due to the fact that at least for these opening weeks (while I get everyone 'trained'), my days are structured by meals here. I generally assist the students in the set-up and clean up of breakfast and dinner (lunch is on our own here, which typically consists of me running to the Le Pain du Jour to pick up a yummy baguette sandwich for 1.70). So here's a sense of my daily routine, at least during the week:
7:15am Get up (this is very, very hard for me as a night owl...still trying to get used to it!)
7:45am Bleary-eyed students pad downstairs and we start getting out the breakfast food. Breakfast is continental, and is basically cereal, various breads, yogurt, hard boiled eggs, and my downfall, croissants.
9am--help clean up breakfast with the students who are a little less bleary-eyed at this point, thanks to heavy amounts of instant coffee.
Rest of the Morning--I'm either teaching if it's Weds/Thur or doing work at the computer. It's nice, quiet time as students are either in class or still sleeping.
Noonish--Sylvia arrives, students each lunch, sometimes I am around...or not.
Afternoon--more class for students, often a nap for me (thanks to the early morning/later night thing) or more buzzing about town.
4:30pm--prep for dinner with students who are excited about eating this early.
5pm--Dinner is served, we eat, then dinner clean up.
The rest of the night is pretty much mine. The students study, watch movies, or go out. Sometimes I'll chat with them in the Common Room, help them with various things, or sometimes I hardly see anyone at all. When on my own, I tend to do work or various things, which apparently will soon include going to a ton of shows. I'm going to join the Theatre class for several plays on Tues/Weds nights (including Cat on a Hot Tin Roof with Phylicia Rashad and, ahem, JAMES EARL JONES; The Misanthrope with Keira Knightley; Waiting for Godot with Ian McKellan, just to name a few). I also am getting tickets to see Peter Gabriel in concert (a dream of mine, I know he does amazing shows and I love his music). What this means, of course, is that I'm bleeding money on these shows, but whatever, I don't care. It's just amazing to be so close to so much great theatre and great shows, and there's tons of free stuff too, which is great. Many of the museums are open til late on various days (I went to the Victoria and Albert Museum, a museum full of pretty stuff--think dishes, clothing, figures, from all over the world) last Friday night and while it wasn't my favorite of the museums I've been to here so far, it was still pretty awesome and a nice way to spend a Friday night, even if it was by myself.
[Sidenote about the 'by myself' issue: I will say as much as I love this city already, I am missing people very much. I really just wish I could magically transport everyone over here, and we could go to plays/concerts together, and takeover a pub and drink good beer all night. If I figure out a way to make that work, or one of you back home wins the lottery and can be my personal companion for the semester, let me know].
So that is the basic structure of my days/life so far here. As you can imagine, I also spend a fair amount of time on the computer talking to people back home and emailing for work back home, blah blah blah. I am hoping that once the routines get established for everyone here I will likely get to do more during the week on my days off from teaching, and get to do some day trips too on the weekends. Four of the students went to the cliffs of Dover this weekend for the day and had a great time, I can't wait to start bopping around nearby places and do the same.
As far as updates from my last entry--I learned that dim sum are those delightful dumplings of various varieties that are staples for Chinese lunches (thanks Wikipedia!). I was able to meet up with Anil, a friend of my friend Evelyn that lives in London, has a PhD in some computer-related field and works for Cambridge University (so clearly, he's a dumb guy) and his friend Eva for lunch on Saturday. It was great to meet them and chat about our respective schools/jobs as well as learn about dim sum. Of course, this is also where I recalled how badly I use chopsticks. I have been taught a million times but I blame the fact that I am left-handed on the fact that I am a terrible user of chopsticks. So you can imagine my embarrassment as I look around at this extraordinarily crowded restaurant and NO ONE is using a fork. Well, I'll be damned if I'm the only one using a fork, so I plowed through the meal with my chopsticks probably looking like a 4 year old learning how to eat. Fortunately, Anil and Eva were kind and didn't make me feel stupid (though in their heads they were probably laughing at me) and the meal was delicious. The restaurant was over in West London so I decided to walk home, taking me all through Hyde Park, near Kensington Palace, and all through central London (the walk ultimately took 5 hours, but that was part due to the shopping I was doing on Oxford Street along the way). On Sunday, while I VOWED I would get some rest, I ended up going to Camden Market with two of my students, and we had a great time looking around at the endless, endless stalls and booths selling everything and anything (ranging from punk to vintage to street clothes to foods of all kinds). It was great, if a bit cold--the weather here is extra cold this week, which of course gives me license to buy new scarves and hats. :) I also bought a new pair of tall boots (gray suede, thanks for asking) and its only a matter of time before I pick up those leggings.
So here goes with the pics. I'm not sure if I can do captions or not, and I'll start with pics of the House and my room (there's a class going on in the Common room right now, so I'll get some other ones up later) and then throw in a couple of shots from the random places I've seen/been so far, so enjoy. I'll try to do better with taking and adding pics as we go along!
[OK, sooooo....I don't know if it's my slower internet, or me just being slow, but I'm not getting my pics to upload. Tips from anyone who uses blogger...what am I missing? I'll work on that so there can be a few on the blog too, but for now, will start an album on Facebook! Enjoy!]
Friday, February 5, 2010
Random Observations of London (Part 1 of likely many)
[Warning--long post ahead. If you want the Cliffs Notes version of my Random Observations, here they are:
--London fashion for women is solely centered on leggings and tall boots.
--Tesco is a delightful grocery that has food and tights (i.e. lightweight leggings).
--I am obsessed with chicken curry.
--You too can be a volunteer constable.
--I don't know what dim sum is.
Ok, so here's the real post now]:
I'll admit from the outset I am almost delirious so if this seems like an incoherent ramble, well, it probably is. Feel free to skip this post if you like, I won't be offended, I promise.
We are almost done with the official Week One of classes and house life, etc. Overall, I would say all is going well. Other than a few lockouts and a student who had a hometown friend tragically die in a car accident on Tuesday (poor John!), it has been a pretty good first week. We are slowly getting to know each other better and get into the 'rhythm' of the house. There are lots of rules and various procedures here that at times can be viewed as kind of random (until you hear the story about why the rule became a rule in the first place. Case in point: no food or drink is allowed in the Common Room (i.e. living room) because someone spilled some stuff one time and totally ruined the TV). That kind of thing. We have also learned that Sylvia, our house manager/cook, likes us to officially set the table at dinner (many of us, including me, were scratching our heads for a bit on remembering how to do this, if we were even taught at all. Unrefined Americans). Students have been pretty good about understanding why we can't use the huge oven/stove here--it has to be lit a few times with a few different sizes of matches, etc. and if anyone knows my history of kitchen incidents, you know that I am not going anywhere near that thing. Besides, yesterday at the Museum of London we learned that The Great Fire of 1666 (the fire that basically took out most of London) was started by a baker (though of course, other people/things were blamed for the fire in the end, including Catholics and the many sinners of the city). But the baker story works well as a cautionary tale. Now when I leave the students here on their own I simply say--"Don't be like the Baker and cause The Great Fire of 2010, please"). So far, so good on that front.
I'll go into some more about what we have done as classes and whatnot another day. I have random thoughts on the brain so what better time for me to spew them out, right? I really find one of the most enjoyable aspects of travel (and, in this case, living) in a foreign place are all the random observations made along the way, about anything and everything. I love pondering the issue of "Why do they do things this way?" along with its counterpart, "Why don't WE do things this way?" Good times. I am sure there are many more riffs to come, in lots of categories, but here's the inaugural installment of Random Observations:
1. Fashion: I can't get enough of people watching on the streets and on the Tube, constantly observing how women here dress (I watch men too, and how the men dress here...well that's a longer post for another day). I was in Paris this summer and was in awe, once again, at how amazingly chic Parisians (of all genders) seem to look, and how they walk everywhere with the craziest, most uncomfortable looking shoes ever. Now, while I have seen this at times in London, I would say it is not to the extreme in the same way. Surprisingly, female Londoners seem to have embraced the idea of relatively comfortable footwear. I mean, sure, there are some heels here and there for the obviously going-out crowd, but there is seriously a uniform for London women these days, and fortunately, it mostly consists of flat or wedge boots. Ok, so the uniform is:
A coat (therefore almost always blocking my observations about shirts/tops).
A long tunic or short dress/skirt
Leggings. Always. Always always black. I don't think I've seen a pair of jeans since Christmas in Iowa at this point.
Tall boots, sometimes with heels, often not. Sometimes Ugg boots. (I thought those were out of style though...or maybe I have lived in a warm climate too long to know one way or another).
I am not kidding when I say that approximately 2/3rds of the women (at least women in the younger half of their lives) are wearing some version of the above outfit. The good news is that it is not impossible for me to semi-fit in, at least in terms of my clothes (because, there's no way in hell I'm wearing heels to walk around London), and as long as you are in black, you're good to go. I mean, today I had a breakthrough, as a British woman approached ME asked where the grocery store was. Like I was a local. (Unfortunately, I actually didn't know what the heck store she was looking for, so it didn't take long to sound like a tourist again).
Anywho, at the end of the day, I must say I thought I would find some more intriguing fashion variety here. Maybe I need to get to different parts of town. I mean, where's the punk and all that subculture stuff they are always talking about around here, huh? I am also sort of underwhelmed by the style I have seen on most people (and no, I am NOT holding myself up as the gold standard here...my clothes are simply, well, super stale overall, but that's cuz I am a relatively boring dresser from the Midwest) but as Carrie and I talked about, either London is adopting a more relaxed style or Americans are getting more stylish, since the whole look here is apparently going on in America too--(well, according to Carrie in Minneapolis. Leggings and boots do not apply in Florida, ever. So, well, hmmm.
(Ok, to the men and/or uninterested who have happened to read this far, I'm moving on to a new topic now that that riff/report is complete. You can wake up now).
2. Tesco: Tesco is a main grocery etc. chain here. And it serves as a lovely segue from fashion into food. See tonight I was wearing a skirt, some tights and my tall boots (see above), and already ripped my tights. Whatever. But I stopped by Tesco to get a few things and I kid you not, the place is basically a grocery store only, but low and behold, there is this total section devoted to tights. In several colors and thicknesses (is that a word?). Like, just stuck in an aisle next to the cereal or something. How random is that? I mean, at the big grocery stores in the USA (and of course, in a place like Target/Super Walmart, etc.) of course there are non-food items, but tights are not the centerpieces there, they are thrown in with all kinds of other clothes and accessories, right? Yeah, not at Tesco. It's tights galore, then food. It's like the Tesco gods were reading my mind and voila! I was able to pick up sour cream, cheese, and tights in the same trip. Someone's looking out for me.
3. Food-related: This will clearly be a theme of these posts I think, because my project of exploring London's restaurants/foods is an ongoing, open ended one. I mean, London is not France, but man, I'm finding some pretty good eats here, and random things about the food. First off, I am basically eating some variety of chicken curry almost everyday--in stands, sandwiches, in the ready meals, etc. I love it and cannot stop eating it, at least for the moment. I have had amazing Indian lunch already and the rest of the restaurant food I've had is OK, but not necessarily great. I'm saving hitting the super-good fish 'n chips place for when my visitors come to town. Anyway, one thing I LOVE about London grocery stores is that they are chock full of ready meals (as they call them). Basically, think like a Lean Cuisine that is not frozen, or something from a grocery deli type deal. It's amazing, because not only are they pretty cheap, but also pretty good considering you just warm them up. And PERFECT for our situation at the house (which is microwave only for food we cook ourselves) but especially for me, the non-cook. I love this stuff and it makes me so appreciative of the London grocery stores. I don't feel so alone now, because at least it seems as if everyone in London is eating like this--I'm convinced no one really cooks here. It's just a warm-it-up culture. Nice.
4a. Annoying things on the Tube: I think I finally understand the idea of 'hooligans'. There were some drunk ones on the Tube tonight that were about 30 seconds away from me freaking out on them, they were so annoying, loud, and just acting like they were five, hitting each other and generally acting stupid. One almost pushed the other onto the train track. Way to go. I guess it would have made my Friday night a little more exciting.
4b. Weird things on the Tube: So I keep seeing this poster all over the Tube that says something like "Sign up today to volunteer for the police force." Like, apparently you can be a 'volunteer constable' around here if you commit to 25 hours a month. Seriously? First off, 25 hours a month, in any volunteer position, is admirable but hardcore (and not realistic for most people, unless you're unemployed I suppose). Second, the more important issue, is why would anyone 'volunteer' (I assume they don't get paid) to be a police officer? It's like, "Hey, would you mind signing up to help us, to deal with crazy people and people with weapons that may hurt or kill you--for 25 hrs a month? That would be great. Thanks!" And come on, if I'm in a position where I need to call on a policeman, I'd a prefer a professional, instead of Joe-Schmoe-I-am-volunteering-to-be-a-constable-so-I-can-be-on-a-powertrip. Wouldn't you?
Ok, my apologies for those that have hung in with me this long, I realize I'm halfway to writing War and Peace here, and I've only done like 4 observations (oh, wait, make that 5 since #4 was the two-parter). I guess I am known to be a bit windy. Anyway, I have loads of these things on the brain so I'm sure Random Observations will appear again shortly. And hopefully in a shorter form.
I am super slow on pics and I SWEAR my goal this weekend is to get some pics up of the house so you can see were I/we are living and the cuteness of it all (my other goal this weekend: stay awake for at least the first half of the Superbowl). But I need to clean up my bedroom first, as well as look up exactly what dim sum is all about, since I'm going for dim sum tomorrow in Chinatown (hey, I grew up in Iowa people, we are a little slow on these things...like dim sum). Hopefully I can deal with a meal that does not revolve around chicken curry....
--London fashion for women is solely centered on leggings and tall boots.
--Tesco is a delightful grocery that has food and tights (i.e. lightweight leggings).
--I am obsessed with chicken curry.
--You too can be a volunteer constable.
--I don't know what dim sum is.
Ok, so here's the real post now]:
I'll admit from the outset I am almost delirious so if this seems like an incoherent ramble, well, it probably is. Feel free to skip this post if you like, I won't be offended, I promise.
We are almost done with the official Week One of classes and house life, etc. Overall, I would say all is going well. Other than a few lockouts and a student who had a hometown friend tragically die in a car accident on Tuesday (poor John!), it has been a pretty good first week. We are slowly getting to know each other better and get into the 'rhythm' of the house. There are lots of rules and various procedures here that at times can be viewed as kind of random (until you hear the story about why the rule became a rule in the first place. Case in point: no food or drink is allowed in the Common Room (i.e. living room) because someone spilled some stuff one time and totally ruined the TV). That kind of thing. We have also learned that Sylvia, our house manager/cook, likes us to officially set the table at dinner (many of us, including me, were scratching our heads for a bit on remembering how to do this, if we were even taught at all. Unrefined Americans). Students have been pretty good about understanding why we can't use the huge oven/stove here--it has to be lit a few times with a few different sizes of matches, etc. and if anyone knows my history of kitchen incidents, you know that I am not going anywhere near that thing. Besides, yesterday at the Museum of London we learned that The Great Fire of 1666 (the fire that basically took out most of London) was started by a baker (though of course, other people/things were blamed for the fire in the end, including Catholics and the many sinners of the city). But the baker story works well as a cautionary tale. Now when I leave the students here on their own I simply say--"Don't be like the Baker and cause The Great Fire of 2010, please"). So far, so good on that front.
I'll go into some more about what we have done as classes and whatnot another day. I have random thoughts on the brain so what better time for me to spew them out, right? I really find one of the most enjoyable aspects of travel (and, in this case, living) in a foreign place are all the random observations made along the way, about anything and everything. I love pondering the issue of "Why do they do things this way?" along with its counterpart, "Why don't WE do things this way?" Good times. I am sure there are many more riffs to come, in lots of categories, but here's the inaugural installment of Random Observations:
1. Fashion: I can't get enough of people watching on the streets and on the Tube, constantly observing how women here dress (I watch men too, and how the men dress here...well that's a longer post for another day). I was in Paris this summer and was in awe, once again, at how amazingly chic Parisians (of all genders) seem to look, and how they walk everywhere with the craziest, most uncomfortable looking shoes ever. Now, while I have seen this at times in London, I would say it is not to the extreme in the same way. Surprisingly, female Londoners seem to have embraced the idea of relatively comfortable footwear. I mean, sure, there are some heels here and there for the obviously going-out crowd, but there is seriously a uniform for London women these days, and fortunately, it mostly consists of flat or wedge boots. Ok, so the uniform is:
A coat (therefore almost always blocking my observations about shirts/tops).
A long tunic or short dress/skirt
Leggings. Always. Always always black. I don't think I've seen a pair of jeans since Christmas in Iowa at this point.
Tall boots, sometimes with heels, often not. Sometimes Ugg boots. (I thought those were out of style though...or maybe I have lived in a warm climate too long to know one way or another).
I am not kidding when I say that approximately 2/3rds of the women (at least women in the younger half of their lives) are wearing some version of the above outfit. The good news is that it is not impossible for me to semi-fit in, at least in terms of my clothes (because, there's no way in hell I'm wearing heels to walk around London), and as long as you are in black, you're good to go. I mean, today I had a breakthrough, as a British woman approached ME asked where the grocery store was. Like I was a local. (Unfortunately, I actually didn't know what the heck store she was looking for, so it didn't take long to sound like a tourist again).
Anywho, at the end of the day, I must say I thought I would find some more intriguing fashion variety here. Maybe I need to get to different parts of town. I mean, where's the punk and all that subculture stuff they are always talking about around here, huh? I am also sort of underwhelmed by the style I have seen on most people (and no, I am NOT holding myself up as the gold standard here...my clothes are simply, well, super stale overall, but that's cuz I am a relatively boring dresser from the Midwest) but as Carrie and I talked about, either London is adopting a more relaxed style or Americans are getting more stylish, since the whole look here is apparently going on in America too--(well, according to Carrie in Minneapolis. Leggings and boots do not apply in Florida, ever. So, well, hmmm.
(Ok, to the men and/or uninterested who have happened to read this far, I'm moving on to a new topic now that that riff/report is complete. You can wake up now).
2. Tesco: Tesco is a main grocery etc. chain here. And it serves as a lovely segue from fashion into food. See tonight I was wearing a skirt, some tights and my tall boots (see above), and already ripped my tights. Whatever. But I stopped by Tesco to get a few things and I kid you not, the place is basically a grocery store only, but low and behold, there is this total section devoted to tights. In several colors and thicknesses (is that a word?). Like, just stuck in an aisle next to the cereal or something. How random is that? I mean, at the big grocery stores in the USA (and of course, in a place like Target/Super Walmart, etc.) of course there are non-food items, but tights are not the centerpieces there, they are thrown in with all kinds of other clothes and accessories, right? Yeah, not at Tesco. It's tights galore, then food. It's like the Tesco gods were reading my mind and voila! I was able to pick up sour cream, cheese, and tights in the same trip. Someone's looking out for me.
3. Food-related: This will clearly be a theme of these posts I think, because my project of exploring London's restaurants/foods is an ongoing, open ended one. I mean, London is not France, but man, I'm finding some pretty good eats here, and random things about the food. First off, I am basically eating some variety of chicken curry almost everyday--in stands, sandwiches, in the ready meals, etc. I love it and cannot stop eating it, at least for the moment. I have had amazing Indian lunch already and the rest of the restaurant food I've had is OK, but not necessarily great. I'm saving hitting the super-good fish 'n chips place for when my visitors come to town. Anyway, one thing I LOVE about London grocery stores is that they are chock full of ready meals (as they call them). Basically, think like a Lean Cuisine that is not frozen, or something from a grocery deli type deal. It's amazing, because not only are they pretty cheap, but also pretty good considering you just warm them up. And PERFECT for our situation at the house (which is microwave only for food we cook ourselves) but especially for me, the non-cook. I love this stuff and it makes me so appreciative of the London grocery stores. I don't feel so alone now, because at least it seems as if everyone in London is eating like this--I'm convinced no one really cooks here. It's just a warm-it-up culture. Nice.
4a. Annoying things on the Tube: I think I finally understand the idea of 'hooligans'. There were some drunk ones on the Tube tonight that were about 30 seconds away from me freaking out on them, they were so annoying, loud, and just acting like they were five, hitting each other and generally acting stupid. One almost pushed the other onto the train track. Way to go. I guess it would have made my Friday night a little more exciting.
4b. Weird things on the Tube: So I keep seeing this poster all over the Tube that says something like "Sign up today to volunteer for the police force." Like, apparently you can be a 'volunteer constable' around here if you commit to 25 hours a month. Seriously? First off, 25 hours a month, in any volunteer position, is admirable but hardcore (and not realistic for most people, unless you're unemployed I suppose). Second, the more important issue, is why would anyone 'volunteer' (I assume they don't get paid) to be a police officer? It's like, "Hey, would you mind signing up to help us, to deal with crazy people and people with weapons that may hurt or kill you--for 25 hrs a month? That would be great. Thanks!" And come on, if I'm in a position where I need to call on a policeman, I'd a prefer a professional, instead of Joe-Schmoe-I-am-volunteering-to-be-a-constable-so-I-can-be-on-a-powertrip. Wouldn't you?
Ok, my apologies for those that have hung in with me this long, I realize I'm halfway to writing War and Peace here, and I've only done like 4 observations (oh, wait, make that 5 since #4 was the two-parter). I guess I am known to be a bit windy. Anyway, I have loads of these things on the brain so I'm sure Random Observations will appear again shortly. And hopefully in a shorter form.
I am super slow on pics and I SWEAR my goal this weekend is to get some pics up of the house so you can see were I/we are living and the cuteness of it all (my other goal this weekend: stay awake for at least the first half of the Superbowl). But I need to clean up my bedroom first, as well as look up exactly what dim sum is all about, since I'm going for dim sum tomorrow in Chinatown (hey, I grew up in Iowa people, we are a little slow on these things...like dim sum). Hopefully I can deal with a meal that does not revolve around chicken curry....
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
And now for the students...
This post will have to be quick as I am A) constantly interrupted, B) in need of course prep time that is not at 2am and C) totally exhausted! So much for my delightful days of wandering around London on my own. I'm in House mode right now, and while so far has been good, it's been very draining. Such is to be expected with 18 new roommates getting used to an old home, new foods, new rules, and no sense of direction.
So before the students got in, I managed to get to see the West End production of 'Chicago' with Amy, a friend-of-a-friend-of a-friend who was in town for an interview at an International School. She was delightful and full of energy, and was excited to see Chicago too even though she had seen it before. We got half price tickets from the TKTS booth (like the one they have in NYC) and we were in the 4th row. On the very side, granted, but generally it worked out great. Holy crap, watching the dancers up close were amazing. Both the men and the women have INCREDIBLE bodies and are totally insanely sexy and intense. I mean, seriously, if you are woman and want to be in 'Chicago' you better be prepared to wear a full-body fishnet suit (with small bra and basically a thong underneath). Hard core. Needless to say, these folks inspired me to get to the gym ASAP (well, once I *find* the gym, that is!). Anyway, Amy and I had a delightful time out but then I had to get back at a semi reasonable hour...
...because my other 18 roommates began to arrive on Sunday morning. My first one arrived at 8:20am, the last was around 2pm. Sounds like few of them had any sort of major drama--a couple of flight delays, some lost folks on the trains, and the pair whose taxi driver got in a minor accident up the street from us, you know, the usual. The last few days have been a complete and total blur of learning how to do things, where things are, what NOT to do (ahem, the student who plugged in a power strip and blew the outlet out completely), where to go, how to get there, etc. While I am trying to answer everyone's questions as best I can, I have to remind them often that I'm learning/figuring out London myself now too, so just be patient! And for the most part, I will say, they have been great. Probably the hardest part of dealing with the house is that students have to do set up and clean-up of our two meals, breakfast and dinner. In this way, I feel like a manager of a restaurant or a MOM...it's a lot of "this is how you load a dishwasher" to "remember to wipe down the tables!" to "do you really HAVE to take a new glass out for everytime you need a drink of water"???? If this is how being a mom is...I may have to rethink that. Then again, if I have kids I can tell you, vow on a Bible in fact, that I will never, never, have 18 children. I'll leave that to Michelle Duggar, for crying out loud.
So classes got started today, beginning with Muir Morton, the fabulous Politics professor who has done just about everything, it seems...served 30 years in some police force here, served several years as a British consultant for the FBI in Quantico, and had some job in Parliament (I think it was a job, not an elected official, but he showed me some cool pics of him wearing a cool outfit!). He is great, and plans to take the students to Parliament and out to his 'country house with the thatched roof' and I guess I get to tag along too. Sweet!
Other classes continue on later today, then mine are tomorrow and Thursday. Too much to do, let alone head out and about in London. That will have to wait for the weekend, as will (finally) uploading some pics, I swear. Once my head stops spinning, I will, which hopefully will be soon.
So before the students got in, I managed to get to see the West End production of 'Chicago' with Amy, a friend-of-a-friend-of a-friend who was in town for an interview at an International School. She was delightful and full of energy, and was excited to see Chicago too even though she had seen it before. We got half price tickets from the TKTS booth (like the one they have in NYC) and we were in the 4th row. On the very side, granted, but generally it worked out great. Holy crap, watching the dancers up close were amazing. Both the men and the women have INCREDIBLE bodies and are totally insanely sexy and intense. I mean, seriously, if you are woman and want to be in 'Chicago' you better be prepared to wear a full-body fishnet suit (with small bra and basically a thong underneath). Hard core. Needless to say, these folks inspired me to get to the gym ASAP (well, once I *find* the gym, that is!). Anyway, Amy and I had a delightful time out but then I had to get back at a semi reasonable hour...
...because my other 18 roommates began to arrive on Sunday morning. My first one arrived at 8:20am, the last was around 2pm. Sounds like few of them had any sort of major drama--a couple of flight delays, some lost folks on the trains, and the pair whose taxi driver got in a minor accident up the street from us, you know, the usual. The last few days have been a complete and total blur of learning how to do things, where things are, what NOT to do (ahem, the student who plugged in a power strip and blew the outlet out completely), where to go, how to get there, etc. While I am trying to answer everyone's questions as best I can, I have to remind them often that I'm learning/figuring out London myself now too, so just be patient! And for the most part, I will say, they have been great. Probably the hardest part of dealing with the house is that students have to do set up and clean-up of our two meals, breakfast and dinner. In this way, I feel like a manager of a restaurant or a MOM...it's a lot of "this is how you load a dishwasher" to "remember to wipe down the tables!" to "do you really HAVE to take a new glass out for everytime you need a drink of water"???? If this is how being a mom is...I may have to rethink that. Then again, if I have kids I can tell you, vow on a Bible in fact, that I will never, never, have 18 children. I'll leave that to Michelle Duggar, for crying out loud.
So classes got started today, beginning with Muir Morton, the fabulous Politics professor who has done just about everything, it seems...served 30 years in some police force here, served several years as a British consultant for the FBI in Quantico, and had some job in Parliament (I think it was a job, not an elected official, but he showed me some cool pics of him wearing a cool outfit!). He is great, and plans to take the students to Parliament and out to his 'country house with the thatched roof' and I guess I get to tag along too. Sweet!
Other classes continue on later today, then mine are tomorrow and Thursday. Too much to do, let alone head out and about in London. That will have to wait for the weekend, as will (finally) uploading some pics, I swear. Once my head stops spinning, I will, which hopefully will be soon.
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