London Update

So instead of posting everyday what I have been doing (lets be honest, that would be boring,) I figure I will give an update every two weeks or so. Or anytime I have something really interesting to talk about. So yea London is great, I am having a fantastic time so far. The adjustment isn’t really that hard, I mean they speak English. And the city only gets better after you get a general sense of where you are and where things are located.

Anyway so I arrived on Monday January 4th. (By the way, I hate that they put the date before the month, so annoying.) They put us in some hotel across from Hype Park for 3 days. The hotel was really nice but those first few days are always hard I guess. The good thing was that they gave us free breakfast, which was awesome. At the time, England was going through their worst winter in like 50 years and snow was falling across the country. Basically a few inches shut the place down. I met a few people the first few days, went to a few pubs in the area, and went to Piccadilly one night, which was awesome. We also went to a musical called Blood Brothers starring Sporty Spice. It was eh. The orientation process is never a fun thing to go through but it wasn’t terrible. I though orientation at Dickinson was much worse. My roommate at the hotel was Paul from Bucknell, definite bro so we hit it off naturally haha.

I think everyone was happy to get out of the hotel on Thursday and finally get to campus. Moving in was very nice. And finally having internet access. Once we were all at Queen Mary, it was a lot easier to get to know people. The east end of the city is a really cool place. And things are slightly cheaper. Also every other store is a fried chicken joint. That first night we all got together in one of the kitchens and drank together. You always learn a little more about people when they are drunk. Especially when Miley “Party in the U.S.A,” comes on or Nelly “Hot in Here.”

Anyway the Queen Mary orientation process was one of the more painful experiences ever. We were in the gigantic lecture hall and the heat wasn’t working. I had zero leg room which really sucked and my back and legs were killing me. And they talked for over 3 hours when all I really needed to hear should have taken no longer than an hour. At one point when the English department was droning on, I went numb and my brain shut down. I didn’t feel or hear anything for the last twenty minutes, it was awesome.

I picked all my classes, which are all history course, or modules I guess. The best part is that I worked out my schedule to where I have a 4 day weekend. No classes on Monday or Friday, which is fucking incredible. I have only gone through that once, but I know I will love that.

Most of the weekend was spent hanging around the area and drinking in someone’s kitchen. Saturday I ventured out with Adam to some Bar in Marleybone to meet up with Ian and watch the Jets somehow beat the Bengals. (Ok the Bengals were never that good.) Sunday we went back to the same bar and saw the Patriots pull a no show against the Ravens. Also I met the most annoying ravens “fan” of all time. Hopefully he is lying in some gutter right now. What a shitty game. Earlier that day, I met up with one of my sisters friends, Emma, who has lived in London for a year in half. We went to this amazing place for breakfast. One of the best meals I have had. Monday was the boat cruise on the River Thames. Beer was 3.50. Good thing I didn’t bring a lot of money. Also not enough Cudi. That Tuesday I pre-gamed with some Brits and went to some club in the Liverpool Station area. That was a crazy night. We were very tempted to go to McDonals that night but we didn’t. Kinda disappointing to be honest.

Wednesday night saw Dan, Justin and I venture back onto Liverpool Street and get dinner. We stopped at some pub famous for their bangers and mash. (CASH BANGERS MASH.) It was delicious. Like amazing enough for me to go back there, again and again. That night brought the arrival of Dickinson friends Jack and Emily. My room is a single so fitting 3 of us in there was a challenge but fun. Trying to use the bathroom was a little harder. That Thursday I met up with them in the center of London for some dinner. We went to The George, this legendary old pub and again I got Bangers and Mash….so fucking good. Then began the quest for ping pong balls. Jack, Em and I literally ran around the city for over an hour trying to find them only to be denied every which way possible. Finally heading home I decided I was so angry that I was going to get very wasted.

We played ten pence (quarters) with the rules that if you make it, you pick who drinks plus what drink goes into the cup. A combination of beer, cider, rum and coke, straight rum, vodka, Bacardi and some cranberry vodka drink ended up in that cup. A deadly game. I ended up passing out at the Half Moon down the street.

After brunch with Jack and Emily in Camden Town, they left for more European adventures in Spain while I headed to the British Museum. That place is incredible. Definitely will be back there soon, especially since I forgot my camera. That night finally had the first pong action in England. We played 15 cup with 21 cup rules. After winning the first game I think my team lost the next 6. These kids just don’t know. Some of them proved to not be rookies while others I questioned what they do with their time at college.

That Saturday night I met up with my friend Emma from Dickinson and her friends. The crew of 4 Montana girls and a jersey boy was quite hilarious looking back. We spent the night in Camden town, which was a lot of fun. I ended up drinking a lot more then I thought I did. We split up around 2am so I tried to find my way home on the night buses. Big mistake! I got on a bus figuring it would take me somewhere that I recognized. I ended up falling asleep on the bus and waking up at the end of the line in North London. Oooooo noooooo. So it was 3:30am and freezing with me having no clue where I am. I ended up getting back to Camden town and found a bus that took me somewhere close to campus. I also got offered a ride for 32 pounds. Yea fucking right. So I finally walked into my dorm at 5:30am. Not the best end to the night.

Sunday was a beautiful day that I wasted mostly inside sleeping. Although around 5, Dan Justin and I headed to Brick Lane to hit up the market. AMAZING! They had all this cheep food, which was delicious. All this crazy shit that I will definitely be checking out again. We also hit up the amazing 24 hour bagel place that I will definitely be going back to. I met up with Emma and her friends for dinner before they went back to France. We were all tired and the restaurant was very dark so everyone seemed to be falling asleep. After saying goodbye to them, I met up with Ian to watch the first half of the Jets-Chargers game. That literally put me to sleep, so I went home and missed the Jets winning.

So I figured Monday was a good day to actually start doing a little work. Of course I procrastinated and watched two episodes of the Wire. Then I got the offer to come to the Clapham Frisbee practice which I felt like I couldn’t pass up. So Monday night, I went with two of the captains to the pitch where they practiced every Monday when it was half decent out. Well for a January evening it was beautiful. Mid 40s and zero wind. It was an awesome experience. It was just a collection of great ultimate players. I was able to hold my own yet I was incredibly out of shape. I got my butt whopped physically but I was feeling better by the end. My partner and I did win our last sprinting exercise so that felt good.

When I got home all I wanted to do was pass out but I had to prepare a 5 minute presentation on Joe McCarthy. I stopped working around 3am. Finished up just before I had to go to class at noon. I emailed the presentation to myself but the room didn’t have a computer so I winged it. The one thing about Queen Mary is their shit of a Library and their lack of technology. Anyway my 4pm seminar was cancelled so I slept for a while. That night I played some indoor ultimate with the Brixton team. A lot of fun and a bunch of cool guys but I was still incredibly sore from Monday.

Last night featured the return of 15 cup in flat 46 and the return of Jack and Emily. Lets just say the night ended with some people passing out with their clothes on, serious Dixie chicken runs at 3 in the morning and everybody singing Backstreet Boys in the hallways.

Anyway I am off to Paris today. Hopefully I will have some more interesting things to write and I will get my camera to somehow work and get my pictures online. Also next week will be the Top 10 movies of the decade from the Feldman brothers and myself. Get Pumped.