Last Night

Well, it is my last official night in London. I'm sad to be leaving it so soon....I feel like I just got the whole hang of it.
This morning, Neil left me to go back to California.
Then I went walking around Oxford Street and did some last moment shopping.
NYU-L provided a BarBQ in Bedford Square's gardens, which was delicious and somewhat sad. I love how I didn't even recognize half of the kids there. I'm wicked social.
Paul told me to Facebook him to keep in touch, and Nigel gave me a hug.
Tonight, apparently I will be stopping by at Rob's flat for a little get together. Then I'm meeting up with Oz at Oxford Circus to say goodbye. Then I might finish the night with NYU kids at Print Works (just because I feel bad if I don't...I hate Print Works).
My flight's at 2pm tomorrow, so that means I'm out of here around10am.

Oh London, I'll miss you dearly. Europe, I miss you already.

The next time I'm writing in a blog, I'll be in the US again.
If you are interested in potentially keeping track of me while I'm in the states, I have a Domestic Kim Times.



Otherwise, the next time I'll be writing on this blog will probably be....in January, when I'm in Paris at Sciences Po.

Prodigal Roommate

I have never been so upset about cleaning out a fridge & cupboard in my life.
When Erin left, she had left a LOAD of stuff behind (including clothing): CD cases, a first aid stash, some toiletries that are usable, books, notes, etc.
Ok I can understand that, to a degree.
But when Julia left this morning, she had left an entire slew of food behind. This I am not OK with.
To name a few: boxes of Bisquick, vegetables, fruit, boxes of cereal, condiments to the wazoo (including 3 jars of jam!), cartons of eggs, old chicken, 2 bags of sugar, 2 bags of flour, food that grew legs, cheeses, whipped creams, a pack of Red Bull, a few Fosters, and 3 bottles of vodka.
Most of it I had to throw away.
I donated a boxful to charity.
The rest of the stuff, though, brand new stuff, and definitely salvagable, but opened, so not donatable. Neil and I are trying to get rid of if all as much as possible. I made biscuits. I might make some kind of coated baked chicken (chicken fingers? cereal-yogurt coated? who knows). We made a lot of eggs with onions.
Not to mention I have my own food to try to get rid of ASAP.
This is ridiculous.

I'm going to the gym to work this off.

And The Verdict Is...

Done.

Time to give Neil the full attention he deserves. And to nap.
Note: Neil is my good friend from NYU who just studied the semester in Ghana.

Andy Was Here...Now I'm Alone

While Andy was here, I actually met British people I liked! It's so sad that the last 2 weeks of class I meet mutual friends that are good people that I would want to make a true effort in keeping communication with while in the states. And they were all very smart AND socially capable, so the conversation was always flowing with ease! IT WAS SO NICE! But now...alas, c'est la vie...

He came pretty jetlagged, so we basically called it a....day when he got here. We got lunch at Tito's, made him go to Tesco's for groceries, napped for a few hours, and then I cooked him dinner while studying (he was just chilling). His friend, Nicola (spelling?), from an Oxford chorus, called at night. We met her at her flat on Bond Street, had some tea, talked for a few hours, and I made him walk all the way back (a few miles, middle of the night, but I loved it).
Andy is a skytzophrenic. He slides in between a British/American accent, depending on who he talks to. NUTS! I will admit, however, that I was also guilty of similar issues all weekend.

Friday, I made him go to the gym (YMCA). He left early for a date (it WAS a date!) while I finished up at the gym. Then I went home to study some more. When Andy came back, he threw a slight tangent, and let me know we were eating dinner with one of his other Oxford (straight) friends, Adam.
Let me just say for the record that Adam was very cute, Scottish, well dressed, smart, and funny. We had wonderful banter all night. And conversations. Great guy. Too bad I'm leaving in a week!
Adam met us at my flat, and we talked for a while in the living room. Andy, having plans with some gay guys to go clubbing or whatnot, wanted to go out and eat, so we walked around to find a quiet place to eat that would cater to someone who is gluten free and allergic to most fish (yeah, that's Adam). After walking a very large circle around the City of London, we settled for the Bleeding Heart Tavern. A British tavern owned by a group of French men with a French chef. Needless to say, the food was brilliant. I had some pig/black pudding dish. The chocolate mousse was scrumptuous. And the conversation was one of the better conversations I've had while in the UK.
To Andy's dismay, we talkd for too long, so his gay friends went home. So, we went for another walk around SoHo, Covent Garden. Long walk, long talk, I loved it. But Adam had to catch the last tube to whereever he lives, so we called it a night.
But no, it was not the end of the night. Julia decided to eat lots of pasta before getting completely wasted while mixing drinks, so we walked into the flat to find out she had not only been sick in the bathroom for a few hours, but she had mostly missed the toilet. Yes, people, the bathroom looked like spaghetti. And she had decided to go to the bed one time to sleep, but didn't make it back to the bathroom. Lovely. Andy and I, being completely disgusted, used the basement toilet to get ready for bed.

Saturday, Andy and I headed for Oxford. We first met one of his NYU friends at Victoria Station for lunch(she's from Chambers this semester...so I'll be seeing her more often). That was nice.
A 2-hour ride to Oxford. Andy's close friend, Fabio (yes, he's from Italy), met up with us at the train station and brought Andy and his luggage to his flat that him and his boyfriend, Alex (from Germany), share. The place was soooo cute, and they're a very adorable couple. Alex and I talked about middle eastern studies and politics while the other 2 prepped for an Oxford outing.
Andy and Fabio had me do the 2-hour walking tour of Oxford University in about 45 minutes. I was impressed. And it was a definite plus to be with Oxford students/alumn, because their student cards let us have access to ALL of the MANY places that tourists typically cannot enter ever. I was feeling mighty cool.
I saw a LOT of old buildings. Very pretty, Andy took pictures for me. And I also ate at Ben's Cookies (A MUST! AMAZING! so gooey, and chocolatey) with them. We walked around some beautiful gardens and really stunning areas. And the conversation was always entertaining and intelligent. Well, except for the fact that Andy can't get through 20 minutes without some crude remark.
Cream tea was wonderful, the scones were to die for (and the jam!). We mosied about for a little while longer, got caught in a rainstorm, and then headed back to the flat. Fabio had made homemade lasagna, and I felt sooo spoiled. A wonderful dinner, wonderful company. I haven't been so happy in England before! We talked a bit after dinner, ate some fruit, then I caught the 10:45bus back to London.
A woman (and her dog) sat opposite me in the bus. We had a wonderful conversation. She was an old secondary school teacher, and we talked about foreign exchanges, the differences in cultures nationally and internationally....women's roles in Muslim societies....really, 2 hours of using my brain, FOR ONCE!!! People to actually talk intelligently to! It was a great day.
Getting home sucked, but otherwise, I was feeling accomplished, encouraged, and reaffirmed into human society.

Now, I study for 3 finals. Happy Mother's Day (US only), Mom. I'm going to continue to freak out, now...

Guest columnist

After so many months of ruining kim's reputation, I figure I might as well post a guest column while that slut is studying for finals. So today I arrived in London and I wanted to take kim to a sex shop but obviously she wasn't having any of it (she'll cave soon! soon I say!) . I ended up standing outside the door to her classroom waiting like some hooker on a street corner for her to show up.

Obviously since it was actually a nice day outside in london (big big big shock and gasp) I ended up ditching her boring ass media studies class to go shopping instead. We went back to her flat and instead of having a wild orgy, I applied my clay mask cleanser to clean away the sins so already apparent on my face before going to lunch at this random sandwich place called Titties or Titos or something like that.

By this point, the jet lag had set in, and Whoresome, in a bid to keep me awake, dragged me to Tescos to pick up provisions for dinner (mostly sausages. Uncut sausages galore. oh and cucumbers. Why would kim want so many cucumbers? ;) )

Whoresome is currently sitting on the couch reading some exceedingly uninteresting shit in preparation for her finals while I waste time on her computer downloading gay porn and surfing how-to-be-a-crackwhore- sites for the best street corners to practice my trade here.

More to come later, when we go street walking after dinner (to a cafe of course. The brothel, we'll visit later) .


Slut.

I'm Alive

Just to say that if you're reading this (cough cough, family), I'm alive. I've been pent up for days now, trying to study and write final papers.

Friday, I went out with some random guys (Bob & Rob) from class. It was fun, we went to a few pubs, hung out with a few other NYU kids (which was potentialy awkward), danced, and I taught Rob how to salsa. Well, tried to...

Last night, Oz and I met up late and went to some place called the Zoo Bar (a slightly sketchy place with many-a-wasted Brits dancing on bartops...really, a treat for all) with some of his Barcelonian and Istanbulian friends. Seeing as many of his friends there were religiously Muslim, we stuck to sodas, and the two of us kidded with each other and goofed off while making fun of the people in the bar all night. I tried to show him how to dance like an American. He didn't get it. And he made fun of my English.

Today, my laptop and I have been inseperable while I attempt to outline this media paper I am writing. Though I completely disagree with my own paper, the thesis statment is: Hollywood hegemony exists in the global film industry because of its overall superiority, especially in business tactics, quality for the popular public, and professional education. Any takers?

The paper's due on Thursday, Andy is coming to visit on the same day, finals start on the 15th, and Neil comes that day, too. This will be a trip!

Edinburgh, Scotland

Denysha, Eliana & I went to Edinburgh for the weekend. We got flew into and landed on Saturday at around 10pm. As soon we landed....crap....we realized none of us had money to use for this trip. Ok, we'll work with it...right? College kids have no money, right? We'll be fine. Right.
So we shuttled to the center of town to grab another shuttle to our hostel. Little did we know when we reserved at the Globetrotter Inn that it is a 30min. drive from City Centre. Slightly inconvenient, but we were rolling with it.

The hostel itself was nice. It sat right on the water with a grassy knoll in the back. There was a bar lounge, a laundry room, a computer room with movie theatre, a gym/spa, mess hall (free breakfast!), etc. And the dorms had cute little nooked bunkbeds. The bathrooms were big communals.

When we got there, our hostel was teeming with old (& very drunk) British men. They were loud, sociable, and ready to amuse (which they did oh so well). We were encountered by one on the shuttle who talked about how much he didn't like Tony Blair but woah that chic was gorgeous over there.
Keep in mind that none of us were used to listening to Scottish accents, which are very different from the English accents we've grown accostomed. So, understanding what was going on and what people were talking about was (though very nice to listen to) extremely hard.
We went into the bar for pints of water. Sat there for a while, listening to the 80s rock in the background, exhausted. Eliana went up early to bed. Then, Denysha's afro became the main topic of the men around us. They started approaching us like we were the only women in the bar. Oh wait, we were. One was nice enough to explain that it was a party where one of them, "the groom", was left by "the bride". Oh, good. We went to bed quickly after that.

Sunday, we headed out to explore the wonders of Edinburgh. In other words, we didn't know what on earth we were going to do.
The city is beautiful; it is surrounded by water and mountains, and in the center of the city is a large hill/mountain with a massive medieval castle covering it (Edinburgh Castle). The buildings were tightly packed on the hills. Nice green and gardens everywhere. Buildings battled between Greek, Roman, Gothic, Baroque, and medieval architecture.
We started climbing a hill towards the castle. I really wanted to go into the castle. The castle's entrance was 10 pounds. Agh, no, thanks.
We started to mosey down the Royal Mile (a mile-long road between the old castle and new Holyrood Palace....completely littered with stores, pubs, and other assorted fancifuls). We were trying to find free things to do, and there wasn't much.
We ended up at the bottom of the Royal Mile, and looked up. A mountainish hill you can climb on an open trail?! Oh, I was excited. The girls, however, were not. But, wrongly assuming it was Calton Hill, I made them walk up the hill. It was quite steep for a leisurely stroll. And, me being deathly afraid of heights, VERY dangerous. The girls were troopers for most of it. It was a breathtaking view of the city and surroundings.
Afterwards, we hit up a small cafe for a cheap lunch outside. To our surprise, we found ourselves in front of a place of Clairvoyant Cleansing! This interested us quite, and proceeded in. Eliana became annerved, and began to freak out about the whole situation. Denysha & I, having been in these places before, were happy. And besides, the atmosphere was positive, light, and airy. Nothing bad going on, here. We were in a room full of people reading tarot cards, giving reiki massages, and other joyous things. Eliana couldn't have stuck out more. Being so uptight about it all, women came to her asking if she wanted "help". Being unable to sit still, she kept blowing them off. Denysha & I just laughed and chilled.
After a while, we upped and left. We found a postcard ad for some sort of spiritual festival, Beltane, that night on Calton Hill, which we found out was actually a smaller hill on the other side of the city. Of all we knew, it was just a bunch of people playing with fire and talking about the earth. Why not?
We quickly hit up the National Museum of Scotland. We didn't end up staying too long, and we found ourselves sitting and talking in St.Gile's Cathedral for over an hour. That's one ugly cathedral.
Then we discovered the Real Mary King's Close, and opted to pay for this one tour. Basically, a few hundred years ago, Edinburgh's Chamber of Commerce decided to knock down a few of the tight neighborhoods in order to build a gov. building. But they left ruins undernearth. And these ruins were haunted with old people from the plague, as well as others. But we didn't know that until we took the tour. The tour was very informative, but also scary. It was extremely strange because you could see the old buildings and the dramatic slope of the earth. And it was DARK. And creepy. We wimpered the entire time.
After running out of that tour as soon as it finished, we ate some cheap kebabs at a hole in the wall. Some Scottish man talked to us about what to do around here for youth. Then we started to walk to Calton Hill for Beltane.

Beltane, where do I start? Well, this event is ENORMOUS, especially with all of the college students. We walked about 20 minutes to get to the back of the entrance line. People were dressed up, not dressed up, drinking, eating, painted in weird colors. Oh god, what have we gotten ourselves into?
So we walk up the hill to find a mass of people in front of the Greek monument. And the crowd was growing. Men in black capes and painted red were walking in a pack to one side. Were we in some sacrificial ceremony?? I asked someone, who said basically it was just a big party where people drink and some theatre kids dance around half naked to celebrate the beginning of May. Right, we knew that. But my Lord, did they put on a show. Drummers dressed in black, torches lit, lighting wooden structures on fire, blue men dancing, white painted women dancing. The crowd was very aggressive, and several times we all got swept up a bit or completely stuck (literally, physically). A procession. Drums. Tribal cries. It was sensory overload.
Though it was kind of fun, we ran out of that place 3 hours or so into it. We had to catch our shuttle, anyways (which, Eliana would like to let everyone know, she fell on her face while running to catch it).

Monday was a lot more low-key. It was Bank Holiday, so not as much was left open. We groggily ate breakfast (cereal, OJ, & toast for all). I went to the book swap in the hostel and picked up "The Alchemist". It was raining. We had to check out and carry our bags all day. We got to town with nothing to do. So, we walked. We first hit up the National Gallery and the Portrait Gallery. But we weren't much for museums, so we walked about a mile on the opposite side of the city to the college area, The Meadows. It was, all grass. That's it. So we chilled out for a while there. Then we walked over to Jimmy Chung's Chinese Buffet (I didn't explain, but, this restaurant was the meeting point for the shuttle, and became the topic of quite a many conversations). It was Chinese food, American style. Very very bad for you. But good.
Shuttled back to the airport 2 hours before flight, and read.
I finished the book. It was very good.

For the girls' defenses, I made them walk A LOT. Sometimes they were not very happy with me because of how much I wanted to walk, and uphill mostly. But they still did it mostly. Thanks, girls.

How To Play Billiards

I brought Susanne some banana bread I made today out of celebration of great grades on our Finance projects. She asked me if I wanted to go play some billiards at the Trocadero, in Picadilly Circus, and I said sure. My classes for tomorrow are cancelled. Let's play pool!

This place was massive, like a sci-fi mall, only more impressive. Apparently Brits have a huge gambling problem, because it was 4+ floors of slots and other games. Well, arcade games, too. So anyways, we ended up at the back of the sports bar area where the billiards were. There was a big football game on the TV, so the bar was PACKED, and rowdy. For those of you interested in the sport, it was Barcelona vs. Milan in the Champions League finals. Barcelona won, it was REALLY close, though.

Susanne and I managed to play....5/6 games of pool. Long games of pool. I won 1 of them. She's decent, I suck. Let's just say, I've never been taught how exactly to play pool well. Alas, it showed.

2 random college guys (asian and black, not like it matters, but it's for visualizing purposes) watched us for most of the time. They just stood/sat on the side, watched us suck, commented, watched football, tried talking to us. Around the end, the guys asked us to play a match with them. Sure, we're nice girls, let's play pool. I was teamed with Glynn, who's an electrical engineer. Susanne was grouped with Shane, an socio-anthropology major. Both UCL students. They were wicked nice guys. Poor Susanne couldn't understand their VERY thick British accents (think north, hackney-ish). Give the girl a BREAK, she's from Austria!!!
The guys asked us about ourselves a bit. I asked questions, and translated to Susanne into American english.
Glynn and I won that one. The poor guy, though, got a nosebleed in the middle of the game (leaving me to make most of the "shots"). I asked Shane what was up, and he said, "he's excited to be playing with you." Cute.

Susanne and I got tired around 11pm, and started heading home after the game so we could watch a movie with Erin. The guys wanted to get drinks, but we said we had classes in the morning. Terrible lies.
Shane asked, "Wait a minute! You mean we aren't going to do the whole exchanging numbers deal?!" We tried to explain to him that we only had 3 more weeks left in London, but he insisted that we could all get a few drinks before then. And that we could make fast friends, or something. Ok, they were nice guys. We gave them our numbers.
When Susanne called Erin to tell her we were coming back, Shane and Glynn came over and Shane asked me if I had a boyfriend. I laughed, not knowing how to reply, so just said not right now. Then he asked, "What about som kind of British guy? You have any British boyfriends?" This made me sad, thinking about mistakes I've made in the past, but I laughed and replied, "Not for a long while." Silly questions people ask. We upped and left then because we had to catch a bus back to the flats. See them later, perhaps?

We came back and ate lots of Austrian chocolates and ginger cookies while watching the b&w movie Brief Encounters. Sad. Romantic. Not the best movie ever. But it was fitting.

I Miss...

Norway and Switzerland. Nuts, I know! But man, do I long to go back right now!

But I was talking with Denysha about it, and she misses Norway, too. We both want to be there right now. Ohhhh, so so badly!
And I want to go back to Switzerland and be happy eating fondue and looking at the beautiful little towns.

Susanne (my sweet and adorable Austrian friend) made palatschinke (the German version of pancakes, aka crepes) for me. She taught me kind of how to make them, and we talked about Germany and chocolate.
Maybe I should live in Germany, Norway, and Switzerland sometime when I'm alive. That could be neat.

Otherwise....life here has been extremely vanilla. Homework. I made banana bread yesterday, and that way the best thing I did all weekend.

I've been reading so much that it almost disturbs me. Kim's recently read books:
1)"Happiness" by Richard Layard
2)"Everything is Illuminated" by Jonathon Safran Foer
3)"A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius" by David Eggers
4)"The Restaurant at the End of the Universe" by Douglas Adams
I'm currently working on Lewic Carrol's "Alice in Wonderland." Just because.

Longest Movie Ever

Tonight, as I was reading "A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius", Erin asked me if I cared to join her in Notting Hill to see an old movie. Sure, I'm always up for a flick.
The Leopard.
The longest movie in the history of time.
With no plot.
And some not-so-great acting moments.
All in Italian. With English subtitles. Though the actors were speaking in English.

We got in the theatre around 11pm. We got home at 2:40am.
We laughed the whole busride home.

One of my favorite lines: Sicily is tired. We are old, and worn out. We think that we are perfect, because we are gods.

Yessssssssssssssssssss.

Madrid, Spain (& Toledo)

I landed in Madrid, realizing that, much like Germany, I didn't know the language. Well, I know enough words to say "I'm sorrry" and "I don't speak Spanish", and a few assorted items that helps me get by....but I was translator-less. It's OK, I'll just mime it the whole time. Right.

When I got in, I got a little bit lost trying to find Cassie's flat, near Estudio Santiago Bernabeu, but I got there in time for dinner with her and her flatmates (Elana & Howard), and to watch Freaks&Geeks! Good show. Damn.

Sunday (HAPPY EASTER!), Cassie and I hit a British/Anglican church for Easter service. I know, right? In Spain? Go figure. Anyways, we got there late and was placed in a large pack with people. The sermon was very well done, by a man who looked just like Santa Claus. I'll spare you the details, but I was interested the whole time.
After Sunday breakfast -- Cassie made us pancakes! -- I decided to start on a voyage to the downtown part of Madrid. I wasn't really expecting anything to be open, being a Catholic country and everything, but it seemed almost as if they didn't know it was a holiday. I first went to the Parque del Buen Retiro (think Central Park). It was completely infested with people! Granted the weather there was gorgeous, but I wasn't expecting to get caught in a mass of people in a PARK! People were selling stuff on the sidewalks, and some even dressed as Disney characters. Nuts. But I enjoyed walking about the park. It was so peaceful in the more wooded & maze-like areas.
I stumbled, somehow, to the Museo del Prado, and concluded that I might as well go in now due to the "Free Sunday!" signs. It holds mostly Spanish art from 1500-1800. Everything was religious. Everything. I whizzed through it pretty quickly, because there are only so many times I can appreciate Jesus being crucified. But I did find one of my favorite paintings, by Bosch (The Garden of Earthly Delights). How pleasantly surprising.
I somehow ended up in the Puerta del Sol, which is one of the main shopping/eating/eventful spots in Madrid. Lots of people. RUN AWAY! So I ended up in Hotel Preciados' restaurant for hot chocolate and a meriandos (which is basically a common Spanish snack) while I chilled out and read. Just to let you know, the hot chocolates in Madrid are absolutely phenomenal! Sooooo thick. Soooo creamy. Soooo chocolatey. I'll never be the same.
Took the Metro back to Cassie's place. The Madrid Metro is very very clean and new. That was something I was happy about.

On Monday, I went to a nearby gym to FINALLY work out. Note: Don't speak Spanish. So somehow they (I'm assuming) concluded that I was a tourist (true) from the hotel nextdoor (false). Whatever, I got a free 3-day pass to this nice gym. SWEET!
Though it was raining, I started off my adventures by going to the Palacios Reales (the Royal Castle). It was big, impressive. Gawdy. And grand. And royal. The rooms were somewhat awesome, and I gawked at one room completely done up in velvet (walls, too!) and black statues. Wow.
I meandered over to the Plaza Mayor, which is basically this big closed off square with restaurants and novelty shops lining it. Walking, walking, walking.
I was trying to find the modern art museum, and apparently looked confused while looking at the map, because some Spanish old man came up to me and started talkin to me in Spanish, saying, "Prado? Prado?" No, no Prado. Thanks. He kept talking about God knows what. I just kept saying "No comprendo. Lo siento." Then I said "Soy d'Americana?" And he kept babbling, and I said, "Reina Sofia?" Ah, yes, that's it. He pointed and apparently was giving me directions to it, though I didn't get all of it. Thanks?
At the Reina Sofia, I went through all of the exhibits. It was great! Dali was there, and I discovered some art that I really liked by other Spanish artists. And the special exhibits were wonderful. Really weird art, really interesting art, art that makes you really creeped out. I loved it. And I discovered one of my new favorite artisits: Adolfo Schlosser! He takes rocks, trees, leaves, plants, strings....all nature things, and makes them into these beautiful and intriguing shapes. Soooo good!

Tuesday, I decided to go to Toledo (former Spanish capital). Please remember I don't speak Spanish, and I'm on my own. So, when I tried to by train tickets for Toledo, they made the times for me. I had about 7 hours to do EVERYTHING in Toledo, a city I don't know at all. So, I got lost as soon as I got off of the shuttle to the town. It's okay, I bought a map. I started off at the old residence, Alcazar, but it was closed for renovation. Check. Then I stopped and got some lunch, a paella dish with seafood? I don't know, it was overpriced, though.
Toledo is very compact, in the sense that everything is smooshed together. And every building is connected to another building. So it was easy to get turned around.
I hit up the infamous Cathedral. My lord, I thought that Birnau was impressivly overdone, but it was a mere cloud compared to this place. Massive, I say! MASSIVE! Bulky columns littering the sides. Chapels completely detailed on every square foot. The ceiling was big. There were courtyards attached to the thing. The cathedral had so much going on! And the actual center of the place..........was......ridiculous. Gold outlining each brick. A gargantuan gold decorative background. I can't attempt how to explain it, again. Let's just say, I was almost offended at how done up it was.
Walking around, got lost, kept getting lost, OOH! A Mazapan shop?! I bought one of each (yes, I was glutonous). Delicious! I discovered the Museo del Santa Cruz, partially open, but mostly closed for remodeling. Okay....So I chilled in Plaza de Zocodover and read for a few hours. Then I see a train putting along. I must!
I take the train tour around Toledo, wish I'm glad I did. The train showed us the most beautiful views of Toledo, the city at large. I think I almost like Toledo more than Madrid. And, I learned that Spain has Arab descendants! And it all made sense.
Get back to Cassie's around 10pm, and we watch Beauty&theGeek.

Wednesday, another gym outing. Then I meet up Cassie & her flatmates at a tapas bar for some tapas (basically, you order a bunch of appetizers and eat). Very delicious. Maybe I should eat like that more often! Ha. ha. ha.
Off to the Botanical Gardens, and I just mosied around for a few hours, read a bit, appreciated the beauty in nature. I really can't believe I don't do things like that more often.
Then off to the airport I went!
You see, Deejay? I did make Madrid a bit shorter.

Bolingen, Germany (and Switzerland)

Last Monday, I went to visit my dear old friend Felix at his home in his little southern part of Germany. He lives in an area called Konstanz, which is right on the border of the Swiss Alps (therefore, also Switzerland), Lake Konstanz, and the end of the world. This area is doused in really really old culture (think 600 AD-ish), and Christian culture at that.
Felix picked me up and drove me from the airport to his house, taking a nice little detour/roadtrip around some scenic parts before we got there for dinner with his family.

Let me make some things clear before I continue:
1) I am only used to seeing Felix in a strictly USA, Boston-type location. All English speaking, him always in the passenger seat, and just a jolly foreigner. Now I was completely on his turf; vulnerable, and completely at a disadvantage. Not only do I not know the area whatsoever, but I can only say about 4 things in German. So, he was taking complete control (in a good way) of the few days I was there. He drove everywhere, translated everything for me (including what his family was trying to say), gave me historical and cultural background where appropriate....Honestly, I was impressed and in awe of him the entire time. Good man.
2) The Schweigger residence is a funny, and ADORABLE, place. His mother is beautiful and very bubbly, always smiling, trying really really hard to make conversation in a language she can't speak, cooks wonderfully, spoiled me rotten. His father (did I mention he's Peruvian?), though mostly not around because of work, is welcoming, educating, at first a bit intimidating, but seemingly lovable like a teddy bear, who also makes big attempts to hold an English conversation without knowing lots. His younger brother, Tobi (18), looks 100% Aryan, taller than Felix, speaks almost as good of english but with a German accent, is funny, and very approachable. And I love his younger sister, Elka (16), because she's as tall as the boys, quirky in that adorable have-to-love-them type of way, speaks decent english with a British accent, and bonded with me very well.
His house is another matter. Guys, he wasn't lying when he said most of it is marble. It's marble. Big house, about 3 levels. Very neat, organized, NEW, chic. I can't explain. But I wanted to move in.
3) Did I mention that this area is very Christian? Mostly Catholic? I didn't think much of it at first, until I realized that there were crosses and Jesus monuments on the sides of the streets and highways. And little prayer huts. While driving round a turn, there's a Jesus stone. You wouldn't think it to be so peculiar to a person from Boston (full of Irish Catholics), but, this was turned up maybe 4 or 5 notches from THAT. This also explains why so many of the sights we saw were churches/cloisters/cathedrals.
4) I've never eaten so much in my life. Everday, there was chocolate in multiple forms, cheeses oozing from other cheeses, breads being spread with other stuff, HONEY, milk being poured into glasses like water, and so many other things that I forbid myself to eat on a daily basis. Felix, if you're reading this, you live a life that only you won't die of a heart attack. You lucky, lucky bastard.
5) When you look at the landscape of this area of Germany, you notice how oddly puckered some of the mountaintops are. They kind of jut up, and plateau peculiarly on top. Apparently, these mountains were really old volcanoes, now dried up. Hundreds of years back, people decided it'd be a great idea to build their castles on these tops (that way they would not be easily seiged). Then, after building these castles, they realized how hard it was to actually get to the castles....Don't worry, Napoleon bombed most of them, so they're mostly all ruins now.
6) I made it very clear to me, and to Felix, that I was on vacation. That meant I decided nothing, did anything, and was happy as a clam the entire time. He didn't like this much, but I persisted.

Right, so the first night I was exhausted, so we hit sleep early after dinner (did I mention that Tobi gave up his room for me?), and after his family tried hard to make conversation with me. Felix did most of the talking.

Tuesday, Felix wakes me up to tell me that, after we eat the breakfeast someone set out for us, we'll be driving into Switzerland. I have yet to be in Germany for more than 20 hours, but I'm up for it. So he cheerfully brings me to a little town on the lake called Stein am Rhein. I fell in love with Switzerland that day. The buildings in the tiny downtown were ancient (around 1300), painted with elaborate murals on the front, and in the middle of a small square. Something out of Disneyland. The waterside was beautiful, the people were friendly, it was quiet, and oh so beautiful. We just walked around for a while, mainly because Felix knew I'd be giddy and squealing about the absolute cuteness to be seen. He steered me then to the old church in the town, Stadtkirche, and the kloster (aka cloisters) nextdoor. Simple, but in great condition for how old the place was. Afterwards, he ordered a few bread rolls, bought 2 types of cheese, and we feasted on the waterside with our picnic (fighting some ducks in the process). Of course, we couldn't leave without grabbing a months-worth supply of Swiss-German chocolates!
We ate a German meal with his family and loitered around the house with them all. I dragged Felix to take a walk around his ever-so-miniscule of a town, Bolingen. Church in the middle, remnants of a medeival wall in the town...We talked a bit, and it was a nice night out. But on the completely head-cocking side, at around dusk, all of the houses put down their window-walls. I mean, every house has these metal (aluminum, perhaps?) shields on every window. I think he said something about privacy, and protection? It was silly, but apparently normal in Germany. I laughed about that one for a while.

Wednesday, I woke up wanting to go for a run (seeing as I was gymless). Felix volunteered to join me in the jogging festivities, but I tried hard to discourage him. Why? Well, because he's very tall, and a German track star. Translation: To a person like Felix: Kim doesn't run, Kim walks and bounces. But he didn't resist, so I let him join me on my run, making me look and sound like a complete idiot (wheezing, puffing) next to this Greek god of a German (chilling, talking). But the landscape was absolutely breathtaking in the morning. I could have been at Brokeback Mountain, if it weren't for the fact that I was in Germany, and with a German, and without sheep.
Felix brought me over to a museum near us about their Carnival. This is supposedly a big deal in the lower-western German areas, where they celebrate debauchery, liquor, horror, and other enjoyable feelings. Personally, I was petrified in this museum, because basically it was a museum full of mannequins covered in uber eery/elaborate/creepy Halloween outfits. You know, the kind of outfits that only killers and stalkers would wear in your nightmares. But apparently this is the joyous part of living around here, and Felix looked at the suits contently. After he explained the entirety of the carnival, it wasn't as scary, and almost entertaining.
We then frolicked over to an island, Mainau, which is known primarily for one of the oldest churches & cloister establishments in Germany (900 AD). You could tell that they were old because of the roof being all wood, and the inside being so simple. I enjoyed this discovery a lot. And Felix taught me lots. After we circled the island, we popped over to Konstanz (an actual city, also) to take a look at the port, the prostitutes, and get some gelato. Good night for all.

Thursday was when we took a ferry over to hit up Meersburg. This town holds Germany's oldest castle (600 AD), and the town around it is pretty picturesque. I made him scale the town and take scenic tourist pictures before we entered any of the museums, which made him kind of antsy, but he dealt. First we went to the Neues Schloss Meersburg, which is the new castle (made museum-exhibit hall-art gallery) in the village. Then we found ourselves in the castle castle. Man, was it old. I felt very barbaric-european in some of the rooms. But apparently the castle was continually built on, and you can surely tell the differences between the old parts and the not-as-old parts. Secret doors everwhere (no, Felix, let's not go down that one), wells and torture cells, dead people stuff everywhere. It was really exciting to see what all of those movies about the Middle Ages were "trying" to get at.
As it started to rain, Felix drove me to this baroquechurch, Birnau. He was building it up quite a lot, about how amazing it was, and I was anticipating a big let-down. Well, I was surely not let down what-so-ever. Jaw dropping. I never thought gawdy could happen to a church! So elaborate, so decorative, so......MUCH! I can't even attempt at explaining how incredible this little, not-so-well-known church was, so I won't try. Just, wow.
After I put my eyes back in, we went back home (yes, my home now, too) and had another dinner. Apparently we were going out clubbing at this club Top 10 (he said it's on the Top 10 in Germany, too....get it?) that night, so Felix made me eat. Lots. We went, and it was enormous. And packed. I was thinking I was going to a Yankees game or something. Getting through the crowd of loud, dancing, boozing Germans was something miraculous. We met up some of his school friends (mostly girls, and mostly with boyfriends), and I was so confused about this place, that I just kind of soaked it all up in the corner for a while. Well, that, and I can't speak German. Right. Felix was a doll and kept making sure I was OK, and that I was having fun. Yes, I was having fun. I was just trying to learn German. Dancing happened. A few drinks. Tobi (who was supposed to be driving) got a little tipsy, and Felix bounced between languages (as always).

Friday, Felix brings me to Technorama, the Swiss Science Center in Winterthur. Well, first we got lost for about an hour in Switzerland (heading to Zurich), but then we got there. It was this fun interactive place, like that one in San Fransisco. We stayed there until close.
Stepping outside and realizing it was beautiful out, Felix drives me to Rheinfall in Neuhausen near Schaffhausen. This is the Niagra Falls of Switzerland, only not quite as large per square foot. It was wonderful! Very, very nice to look at. Refreshing. There were 2 stone cliffs in the middle of the falls. Rainbows. Spritzing water. I made him stay there for a while, before we head back for dinner.
That night we played, with Tobi & Elka, and intense game of Monopoly. Elka, the youngest, won. Felix and I are both studying business. We were the first to lose. Go figure.

Saturday is when I left Germany to get to Madrid. I miss Felix and his remarkable family already.

Parental Supervision

Oh wow, I totally forgot to tell of what I saw when my parents were in London last week (I'm in Madrid right now...more on that later)!
So, they arrived on Thursday and I met up with them at their hotel when I was finished at the gym. Note: their hotel was incredible, I couldn't have felt any more prestigious. We just kind of vegged out after we went to Wagamama's (everyone goes there!) for dinner. I made them take the scenic route so they could see my school and the British Museum.
The next day we walked to get show ticketsfor "Guys and Dolls" at TKTS in Leicester Square, and I showed them around Chinatown, we loitered at the British Museum, and cruised back to the hotel again. Eliana & Denysha met up with us at the hotel's lounge (they were in awe, too), and we ate at a pizza cafe across the street for dinner. "Guys and Dolls" was very well done. You could tell that the actors were all much stronger in ther dancing skills (the dancing was superb), but they knew how to sing, so I was mostly pleased. Overall, I give it a B+/A-.
Saturday, dad wasn't feeling well, so he stayed in while mom and I went shopping on Oxford Circus. I love shopping. I bought 3 new jeans, and 3 new shirts. And 3 new CDs (Ben Harper, Simon Webbe, and CRUNK HITS).
The oddest thing about my parents' stay was that they kind of made me go out Saturday night with the girls & Oz. Literally, told me to call them so we could go out. Okay. Well, when we got together, no one really knew what we were going to do (apparently I was supposed to plan an outing...oops). So we ended back up at MASH, where the girls were happy with the music selection. Being poor students, we just went in to dance (poor Oz just smoked his cigarettes and bounced along to the music). Some guy from Pakistan came over and tried to be "intimate" with me (though his words were very flattering, I am sure he was far gone). I gave Oz a look of desperation, so he came over and played the role of the boyfriend to get me out of there. Good olde Oz.
So, after sleeping maybe 3 or 4 hours, my parents and I hit up a bus tour of Stonehenge, Bath, and Stratford Upon Avon. Seen the first one already, so I just hung out and read my book and slept on the bus. Then we hit up the George Inn for a Sunday roast. The Inn is very historical, according to the tourguide, who said that it was pre-Elizabethan, and used way back when for important political and influential meetings.
Bath is beautiful. Nothing at all to what I was expecting. Bath is hidden in ths nook of a valley. You see it, and it's just this huge labyrinth of tightly packed stone buildings. All sandstone buildings (a massive amount, at that), and very busy with people (expected). The Bath Pump Room was neat. We got to walk around the ruins of the ancient Roman baths (surprisingly well kept, and there were many models of what it looked like), and see where the springs came from, and the history of the springs. I was enjoying it all. When we were done touring, we set out to walk a bit of the city. Lots of shops. Lots of fudge. Rain, as always in England. Finally, we drove for a few hours (I napped) to see Stratford Upon Avon, where Shakespeare was born. The town is microscopic, and the house was adorable. Rain. They served us strawberry scones and champagne, we toured the house, and ran back onto the bus.
The bus tour was mostly bus, which was good because that meant I slept a lot. The tourguide was a hilarious old Irish man. He babbled for much of the ride, of which I was sleeping and could hear in my sleep the babble of an old Irish man.
When the tour ended, the parents and I ate at Garfunkel's, and then headed on back to their royal hotel.

Found It......!

Today was magnificient outside, so I decided to get out of the flat (well, I wasn't really originally at the flat, it was a decision when walking back from yoga) and go for a walking romantic adventure with myself.
So I put on my headphones, left my mobile in the flat, and started roaming up to Angel. Angel is this adorable little section of East-Central London that would kind of remind you of a little area in the West Village (NYC reference, had to). Cute shops are brimming there! Sidewalk cafes scattered around, a little outside mall (?), lots of restaurants and pubs....
And I found where all of the youth (15-25) of London are.
At last!
So I just mosied up and down St.John's Street for a while. And it was sooooooooo beautiful outside! Didn't really go into anywhere because I lack money.
But, I finally found the London that I knew I could fall in love with.
Found City University, and a sign for LSE (London School of Economics). Now, for those of you who aren't familiar, LSE is up there with Oxford, especially for us business/law students (no, I'm not law, I'm just saying...). This excited me more, so I decided to quickly go back to the flat and change my jeans (because they were falling off a lot and annoying me) and continue my adventures.
On my second adventure, I discovered the London's Silver Vaults (near Chancery Lane). This is exciting, because they sell silverware and jewelry, ALL SILVER, for outstanding prices. I must go when it's open sometime.
Off to Holborn I went. Holborn is near Covent Garden, kind of busy little area.
But before I got there, I discovered some beautiful old (and condensed) buildings. Lincoln's Inn is gated, so you can't go in, but it's really adorable and quiet. And Kings College. Next to it is the Royal Court of Justices. This building is not only massive, but it's probably one of the only not-as-known landmarks that really define London for me. And I could see the Thames in the nearby distance. The puzzles are coming together, now!
I wish I had my camera with me.
And there I found it. LSE. The campus. It's small, kind of intimidating. Very urban. I loved it.
And on the way home, I went by buildings that I normally just pass by, and saw what they actually look like. That was exhillarating.
I like how it takes me about 3 months or so to actually discover my own London. And it's right in my backyard.
Idiot.

Some Culture

Aside from Friday's extravaganzas (which I would prefer to keep in the depths of my mind....and email box. If you really want to know, email me. 1 name: Lawrence.) , I had an overall very low-key weekend.


Today I went to go see the London Symphony Orchestra perform some Bartok and Shubert. The concert hall itself, at Barbican Centre, is located in not one of the best locations ever, but it may have been because of the route I took to get there.
The hall is beautiful, and simple. It was like stadium seating, only convenient, because the stage was very easy to see, and you didn't have to crawl over people's legs to get to your seat. Very brightly lit, and a light wood design on the walls. I was impressed.
The concert was excellent. The Bartok piano concerto (#3) was performed by some Piotr Anderszewski. He was wonderful. Very light on the piano (I think it was a Borsendorfer!!!), and the orchestra held their parts with him well. Personally, I wasn't nuts about the song itself, but the performance was great.
The Shubert songs, overture Die Zauberharfe and Symphony No 9, were also very well done. Very upbeat. Very clean. Again, not my favorite songs ever, but I was kept awake, which is always a good sign.
Overall, I was content and felt rejuvenated afterwards. Especially for a free ticket with a free glass of orange juice!

Walking Back To Crawford...

I noticed a few interesting things when I was walking home from the gym today. Normally I see interesting, or at least entertaining, things when I walk home, but today I just feel particularly motivated to muse about it.
Observation 1: I noticed this one of the first days here, but I think it's worth sharing...British people run. I don't mean for you to think, "oh yes, good for them, they're healthy." They're not. I mean random businessmen and women, people of every denomination, can be found running down the streets looking either upset, concentrated, or in a rush. Yes, yes, I know, not that interesting...but think about it: I live in New York City usually. If someone's running down the street in NYC, and they're not in athletic attire, you better than hell believe you should be running, too. I wonder where these Brits are running to. I wonder what makes it so they're more motivated to get whereever so quickly.
Observation 2: Another not-so-new musing...the Europeans are FAR MORE into Public Displays of Affection (PDA) than Americans. Every crossing, tube escalator, or public nook has a couple or two snogging ever so in the open. I'm a little uneasy about this, mostly because I think PDA is rather low brow, but also because I'm slightly jealous. I think anyone seeing them is at that moment in time.
Observation 3: British Street Police check out the backsides of women/girls walking behind, or past them.
Observation 4: More people are out of style than you really think. Just look a little harder. Not too much. Just enough to realize that what they're wearing may "in fashion" at the time, it still doesn't look good.

That's all for now in London.

PS: If any fellow NYUer is reading this, and is planning on getting an apartment for Fall 06, LET ME KNOW! I need to get out of Housing ASAP, and it'd be nice to room with a familiar face for once.

Aimee Visited

So, Aimee came from DC to visit this weekend. Yes, I had A LOT of homework to do while she was here (think 40+ hours on 1 project...I hate finance), but we managed.

Friday morning, I take the Tube 45 min. to get her at Heathrow. I think she was on her 3rd kick of adrenaline or something. We started our way back to my place, and....wow! I did not remember how loud Americans really are compared to Europeans! Her and the other "just-in" Americans were not just the only ones talking on the Tube, but they were echoing! That took some getting used to.
Anyways, I made her nap as soon as we got in so I could work on my project. A few hours later, we went and grabbed some Thai food nearby, and I went back to work some more. Luckily, the 2 that've been helping me out in this class, Manish and Susanne, were willing to make due in my room so Aimee could "see my sister". We had a reservation at the IceBar for 6:30pm, so we headed for that after a while. This place is hidden really well in this nook on Regent Street, and basically it's this kind of small room that has huge blocks of ice for walls, tables, bartop...even the glasses! We were forced to wear these eskimo-like hoodies, which we were glad for. It was lit kind of dimly blue, to make you feel in an igloo...I don't think there was music playing, but the people were so close and chatty, it didn't matter. The drinks were POTENT! HOLY MOSES! Absolut Vodka, and that's about it. Mine tasted like Christmas, Aimee's tasted like peach.
Eliana & Denysha met up with us to go to Wagamama's for dinner. We ended up at the Leicester Square one because Aimee's friends from DC were there....so we went, feasted, ate, drank. It was nice. Then Aimee's friends wanted to go pub/bar hopping...cute bars, very swanky places, very delicious drinks: The Cosmopolitan was delicious, the French Martini was a little pineapply, the Mojito was light and delightful. After I cut myself off, and I cut off Aimee, too, we walked home from Leicester Square. A bit of a jaunt, but only Aimee complained about it. ;)

Saturday, we woke up to go to the British Museum for the Michelangelo Drawing's exhibit I bought tickets for. It was really cool, that man was a genius! After about 30 minutes in there, Aimee and I went gallavanting around the museum, finding the Rosetta Stone, a crystal skull, the Parthenon, Cleopatra....you know, the essentials. But knowing me, I can't be in crowded, busy places for too long or I get a headache. So we left a few hours later, and went grocery shopping. Then I did some work. Then I forced (literally) Aimee to go to the gym before it closed so I could have some kind of cardio work for the weekend. And then we ruined all of the hard work by eating fish&chips for dinner. Lazy night, full of finance, it was glorious. We went to bed early to wake up earlier (daylight savings happened here on Sunday...).

Sunday, we ran to Victoria Station to hit up our tour bus going to Stonehenge, Devizes, and Avebury. The tour guide never came, so the bus driver (who was new to the english language) attempted to make up for it. 2 hour drive, I napped the whole way. Stonehenge is massive, but not really. Hard to explain. You can tell that it used to be a lot bigger, but it's still big. And it was pretty amazing. The stones were all craggy & ragged on the edges with moss and stuff growing off of it, but it was still elegant. We couldn't go up to it, but we could walk around it, with little audio tours attached to our ears. It's all rolling hills around it (well, except for the highway). And in the distance, you can see ancient funeral mounds !!!
Then we went to Devizes, which wasn't much to see, it was your typical British village; cute, laden with pubs, a square, closed on Sundays. I ate a Sunday roast at some pub (roast beef, potatoes, vegetables), while Aimee ate a jacket potato (basically a baked potato with 2 fillings/toppings).
On our way to Avebury, we saw the oldest man made mountain....in England? Maybe in the world, I can't recall. It was funky looking. Wonder why they made it. Avebury basically is Stonehenge-ish, only older, huger, and a little more primitive(?). It's 2 circles of stones with an inside circle, too. And inside the circles is this little town, divided by how the rocks are positioned. They put up a few keystone rocks to give you the full image of the circle. It was, dare I say, cooler than Stonehenge. And we could touch the rocks, climb them. It was raining and windy, but otherwise, pleasant.
After that, we came back and I taught Aimee how to make eggs & cookies while I worked.

Monday, I had class, so Aimee went to the National Gallery by herself. We met back up around 6pm (with Denysha by my side), and we went to dinner to this cute little Italian restaurante the girls & I have been to before and loved. Good meal. And cheap.
Aimee and I ended up going to a musical afterwards. It's called, "We Will Rock You." Only in London. Yes, it's co-written by Queen, the music's queen, the storyline is about Queen, and the jokes are Queen-related. I enjoyed myself immensely. The story is about the future, where musical instruments are banned, and only digital music can be listened to, and everyone's a clone. There is this group of rebellions, called Bohemians, who are trying to resist the government by finding out about the past and music. In the end, the bohemians learn to rock out, brainwashed people come back to their senses, robots are blown up....The usual. I've had "Under Pressure" stuck in my head all day, now.
After that, I went back to work some more after chatting to Mom, and Aimee called it an early night.

And.....that's it. Back to work. This project's due tomorrow!!!!

Saturday Night

.....it's REALLY long because it was a pretty interesting night, and I want to be able to recall everything that happened.

So, Eliana, Denysha & I met up at Oxford Circus to grab a cup of tea before we went out for the night. Eliana had a falling out with a guy she was dating, and so they were both pretty upset about it all. Then I got a call from that Turk guy I know, Oz, because he was goin to meet up with us at Oxford and bring us out with his friends. So we met him, and started walking to the club, which wasn't very nearby but that's OK because it was nicer out.
We end up at this little place in Soho or Leicester Square, I'm not really sure which....to this aussie pub called WalkAbout. We got in early, so it was free, which was nice. This place was cool; it looked like the inside of some really old courtyard, kinda intentionally run down sports bar. They're still celebrating St.Patrick's Day, so there was a lot of drunken Irishness going around. That's cool.
We kinda waited in an awkward silence for a while until Oz's 2 friends met up with us. Mike (Oz's flatmate) and Lawrence. Cute. Nice. British. They were great, we hit it off with them at the beginning. Oz got us a few drinks, so life was neat.
For a while, us 3 were the only guys in the pub. Definitely could feel some focus on us.
I realize in the middle of talking to eliana, that there's a man behind her staring at me. I look at him, and he starts beckoning me to come over. Note: this guy must have been in his 30s, WAY TOO OLD! So I just look at him, laugh and look away. It was silly. But, 15 minutes later, he's still staring at me. I look at him incredulously, he's a little more persistent for me to come over there (why he didn't come over? I don't know). I shook my head, and looked away. Thinking that it was done, I went behind eliana to put my glass down on a table, and the guy grabs my wrist and yanks me over to him. As the girls start yelling for me, this guy says nothing and just kind of has me in this grip. weird. I look at him, say "what?......no." He let go, gives up. Awkward.
So we're all talking again, at first his friends are a little shy and are talking to themselves on the side. Oz is talking to us. He's kind of a touchy feely guy anyways, so he's always putting his arm or hand on me. Ok, I can deal with that, but I'm NOT sending signals, particularly because I'm not interested. I'm a little peeved, because I feel I've been pegged as "his", which I'm NOT. But then he's talking to Eliana who's sitting, and he starts playing with my hair lightly with his hands. That's when the big Stop Sign flares up. I try to move away a bit. So he starts talking to Eliana more, who's still a bit upset, and he puts his hand on her leg, and she kind of gives him this look. Good, good.
I took the initiative to talk to his friends more. They are quite the enthusiastic guys! Mike's in post-production, and Lawrence just quit his job at some agency because it, "was wank." Oz is still talking to the girls. I get kind of between these 2 and we're talking about music; what I listen to that's British, what they listen to that's American. Also, the geography of the US. I don't know why, but every European/etc. we meet always asks us about that. And I got into this intense conversation about media's role in society with Mike. Totally not pub talk, but I enjoyed it nevertheless.
Now the music turns up more, DJ starts mixing, and the lights turn dimmer. Dance party?
So we're having fun dancing, these guys are hilarious. We're all talking still. Us girls are getting into the music. Ok, so now we're all flirting. Everywhere. More people with Oz, but we're kinda focussing on these 2 guys. A few hours go by, we're all flirting, all having fun. The girls made me give my mobile to them both and get their numbers. We want to hang out later.
Something interesting about European guys I've noticed, when you're at a club, they talk really close to you. I know they have smaller personal spaces anyways, but they'll talk right into your ear, and they do that to each other, too.
Ok, so now the floor's spinning a little bit. And Denysha&Eliana wanna hit it home because they wanna finish settlin things with this random guy I don't know. OK, but I'll stay for a while longer.
So, Lawrence left for a little bit to get a drink or something. Mike and I are talking, we're flirting, and we're dancing kind of close. A bit touchy. The kind of situation where I was totally expecting something more. I mean, we were close to....but Oz came over, started putting his arms around me, and I was dancing away from him kind of. Then Mike left a little bit after Lawrence came back, and we're all talking, dancing. They're best friends, they were drunk, they're British, so they were hugging each other. But they're straight, they're so straight. Interesting. Lawrence starts talking to me more, he's not much into dancing I guess. But we're flirting, he asks if I'll really call, and I repsond of course! why wouldn't I? So he says he wants to go to lunch, dinner, whatever. I'm laughing, thinking OK I'm 100% for that! and we're close now, too. Mike came back for a little bit, but then he left and went off to make out with some random woman in the crowd. Whatever.
So, Lawrence and I are having fun, but then Oz comes over AGAIN! He really has a knack for that. He starts putting his hand on my back, playing with my hair again, and then rubbing my neck. Alright, I'm thinking, this has got to stop, so I'm trying to squirm a little bit, but I'm kind of stuck. It's WEIRD. And Oz starts talking to Lawrence. (I can't hear anything, so I don't know what was being said) Lawrence starts blushing a little bit? What's going on? Oz is trying to tell me, but I: 1) can't hear a thing and 2) can't understand his accent for the life of me. So he gives up, tells Lawrence to tell me. All I heard from Lawrence was, "he......sex....with you.....think he's lying." WHAT?! WHAT?! That's what I said. He kept trying to tell me, but I couldn't hear it all, and I said, "Did you just say you're gonna have sex with someone, but you think Oz's lying?" He told me to forget it, after I pleaded for a while, but he wouldn't say. Now I'm kinda confused.
Oz comes back over. Lawrence leaves! It is clear to me that Oz has just "cockblocked" me twice! And I'm NOT happy about that. So Oz is dancing with me. I'm upset. Mike's making out with some lady. Lawrence is alone in the crowd dancing......too much for me. I tell Oz I'm leaving. Oz: Ok, so I'll walk you to the door. Kim: No, no no no no, stay here and dance. I can walk out alone. (note: my plan was to go and find Lawrence, kiss him or something, then leave.) But Oz is persisting that he bring me out. And he grabs my wrist and leads me out to the exit. Thanks. Thanks, Oz. I leave in a moderately buzzed huff.
As soon as I'm out of the pub, without Oz, I call up Lawrence's number to leave a message, "Hey Lawrence, it's Kim, Oz's friend from WalkAbout. I'm sorry I couldn't say bye to you before I headed out, Oz kinda pushed me along without saying goodnight. But here is my mobile, landline, and email address. Let me know if you wanna get together sometime. Night!" I left something similar on Mike's mobile, only instead of "Oz", I said, "You were making out with someone, and I didn't want to disturb you."
And I walk home talking to Craig on the phone.
I wake up in the morning, and find a text message on my mobile. From Lawrence, "I'm hoping this is your number. If it is, give me a call anytime you feel 2 hang out. nice 1. lawrence x." Yeeeeeeeeeeeeees. I wrote back to him, saying if he wants to get together today in the park, I'd be there reading. Let's see where this goes, eh?
Either way, though, I just made 2 friends.

St.Patrick's Day

I'll keep this brief.
My roommate, Erin, invited me to go out with her and her friend Jaya (& 2 others) at night to celebrate lightly. So, we went to this little pub in Soho called St.James' Tavern. It was crowded, we didn't stay there very long. So we went to another nearby pub.
Being on antibiotics, I only had a drink. Everyone else was pretty much gone.
After a while, I'm talking to some nice British guy about his phone, British drinking problems. Ironic.
Then somehow these random Brits & Jaya got in this silly fight about a hat. People were upset, getting kinda rowdy, we went outside. Jaya's friends and I are trying to calm people down. Erin gets pissed and storms off. I have to run and catch up with her. We walk home, stop at a Subway.
I had made cookies beforehand, so we finished those.
And then we were sexiled for a few hours.

Quick Housekeeping

Just a quick apology for the very long posts. I know they're really really big, but it's because I am trying to document for myself my trips for later.
If it helps, I won't be traveling again until Spring Break.

I'm officially passing all of my classes this semester! 80 and up! So much better than last semester! Harvard Business School, here I come!!! Not really, I don't want to go there.

I went to the doctor on Monday and was put on drowsy-inducing antibiotics & pain killers. It's a doozy. I feel like I'm in high school all over again.

I tried to go to 2 club meeting yesterday at University College London, but I got lost, lost my ID, and it started to rain out. Another failed attempt to be immersed into British culture.

I made a really nice dish last night, with Basmati rice, tuna fish, mustard, Welshireland (?) cheese, olive oil, and cinnamon. A little dry, but great with tomatoes. I'm a culinary genius. And modest.

By the way, if anyone knows of a summer job I could apply for, LET ME KNOW!

Paris

I was in Paris from Thursday night to Sunday morning...
I write a lot.

Thursday,
We took Eurostar to Paris. As soon as we got out of the train into the station, I looked around and panicked; I realized that I had lost most, if not all, of my french skills. Considering I'm living there in less than a year, this came to be quite an unfortunate shock. It took us about 45 minutes to figure out how to get a metro ticket, and another 20 minutes to figure out how to get to our hostel. On the way there, 2 strange french men came over to Denysha and started hitting on her. But, seeing that I was the only one in the group who could kinda get around using French (Eliana knows some, but usually asked me to ask stuff for her...and Denysha knows "oui" and "merci"), Denysha started crying out for me, and I simply said in french, "She doesn't like you, goodnight."
The hostel was....something else. It was basically a rundown apartment...2 beds, an open shower on the side of the room, a sink next to it...it reminded me something of Tom Hanks' first apartment room in "Big". Pretty sketchy and grody. It was amazing.
We went out to get dinner, and ended up at this cut little bistrot that served us an amazing filet mignon dish (it's the only thing we could actually read on the hand-written FRENCH menu) and potlucked our deserts. The mousse au chocolate and creme brulee were irresistable!
We decided to walk off our dinner by taking a photographing night tour of Paris. We took the Metro to the Eiffel Tower. It is sooo pretty at night!!! We were taking pictures of it, and right before we left, it started SPARKLING! SPARKLING! I kid you not! It was one of the prettiest spectacles I've ever seen! walked past the Hotel des Invalides (Napoleon's gravesite), very gold and bright at night. Ended up stopping at a Domino's to use the lavatory. Got lost trying to find Sciences Po Universite (my future uni), ended up on some back alleyway with defense centers and embassies everywhere. It was very intimidating. Then got to the main street, and I feel in love. Walked by some adorable places. Witnessed a few swat teams (there's a student strike/riot going on in Paris right now...), that was neat. People kept on trying to ask me stuff on the street, but......I don't speak French. Sad.
Got lost.
Found the Notre Dame, and trudged home on the windy and FREEZING COLD Seine. Did I mention that the entire weekend was FREEZING COLD!??!?!?

Friday
Woke up late, and bought crepes for breakfast at noon...smooth. We were staying near the Bastille, so we walked over to it to see the student rally. Interesting, because the Bastille was in memory of the French Revolution, non?
Walked over to the Notre Dame to go inside, it started hailing/raining. We were all sick, so this didn't go over well. Ran into Notre Dame, looked and sat around for a while until it cleared. Then we walked to the Louvre. Cold. Windy. And walked down the Champs Elysee, the main "5th Avenue" of Paris. I didn't remember it to be so long with parks, and so short with the space of stores, but it was jam packed! Walked all the way to L'arche de Triomphe, and then hit a fast food shop for lunch. Denysha's in love with Louis Vitton (or however you spell it), so we went there. And then we went into a bunch of concept car shops, because we all love pretty cars. MAN, were these cars PRETTY! Sooooo pretty.....anyways
Went back to the Louvre to get in for free and look at some of the exhibits. I think the Louvre is too confusing and large, they need some kind of consolidation system or something. And walked back to the hostel. Denysha & I wanted to have a baguette & cheese & fruit dinner, it was delightful! And another early night for the sick kids.

Saturday
Early morning, and headed over to Montmatre (the "hip" part of town on a hill). Had croissants, and hiked up the tall hill. The view of Paris there is amazing; you can see almost anything you want to, south of the hill. Got to the Sacre Coeur, which is this very eastern style cathedral. Very simple, very lovely. We hung out in there for a while, it was raining again. Then walked around the little markets and villages around the cathedral. Very bohemian, very adorable. I love that part of town. Even found the Salvador Dali (my favorite artist!) Gallery! We didn't get to go in, so I must do that some time!
Stopped by the Moulin Rouge, and then feasted at a cute little brasserie for lunch.
We were still tired and sick, so we headed over to the Centre Pompidou (the modern art museum...near our hostel). It's hidden in the middle of nowhere, so it took us about 30+ minutes to find out where it was. Ridiculous. But we got in on discount, and saw some REALLY WEIRD art. Some things include: a Shroud of Turin from a basted chicken named "Binky", and its caskette....a man on a TV screen saying repeatedly, "I am making art".....and my favorite, a picture of a cat, and a metal figure of a man in front of it, saying, "Chatter chatter chatter...." Pretty quirky, and hilarious.
Dinner was at one of the cute places we walked by Thursday night. We got cocktails in conkshells with fresh fruit, and amazing duck dishes!!!! This place was great. Fun place for cool university students, very loud, very neat! The bill was also very large.
Walking around, a bunch of guys stopped us to talk to us, but we didn't understand them, so we would just say, "no". We're lame.
Went somewhere else to get creme brulee again. Delicious, as always.
Another early night for us sick kids.

Sunday
We went early to the train station. At customs/immigration, I was held up. Apparently, because the first person that let me into UK screwed up on my passport for my student/working visa, and someone else had to fix it for me at customs from Norway...I am questionable to get into the country again. Basically, I think I was close to being deported or put into interrogation. I was being questioned about my whereabouts, what I was doing in London, what I was doing when I got back to the US....etc. etc.
Sick girl who can't talk. Thanks.
Another 10 minutes for the customs people to look and discuss my passport about whether it could be accepted or not. Finally, they grumbled and let me go. Keep in mind, Eliana, who's a citizen of Ecuador, was already accepted in and waiting for me with Denysha.
Think about that.

Note: By the end of the trip, I could hold a comprehensive conversation with a French person for a short period of time. I had also lost my voice by Saturday, though, so it seemed kind of pointless.

Wales

The night before I went to Wales, I was asked to go out by Erin & some nice girl I just met, Jaya. We went out to this Latin pub where we met a handful of very drunk accountants, some from Wales, some British, and some rugby-playing Kiwis, who felt compelled to show Jaya & how to scrub as you would in rugby. Interesting. Then we went to another pub/club and danced, and ran away from guys getting too close to us dancing. Fun. That was Friday night in a nutshell.

Ok, so I put on my alarm clock for 5am so I could wake up and get to the bus station @ 7am to go to Wales. Denysha calls me at 6:56am saying, "Girl, you better get here soon, we're leaving in 4 minutes." HOLY LORD! I've never gotten ready in 5 minutes before, but I did...and I called back and begged the tour lady to wait for me. Mind you, this bus station is a good 30 min. walk from my flat. So I tried hailing a cab. And failed, so I RAN to the tube station, changed trains like it was MY JOB, and started getting so upset that I started crying a bit. I've never been so frustrated. But, bless that woman, at 7:30am I caught up with them SOMEHOW, and went to Wales.

Just a note: Welsh is a language based on Celtic roots & Roman influence. Aka, it's one messed up language. I can't read it for the life of me. "W"s sound like "uh" or "ooh" so, good=gwd. WEIRD. Thank god everything's in english, too.

It wasn't that long of a drive (compared to Cornwall...), maybe 4 hours max. But we stopped at a few spots before we got to Cardiff around 6pm. First, we stopped at the Roman barracks & the ampitheater in Caerleon. These places are, well, old, and mostly grassy fields with rock foundations. It was really neat, but took a lot of the imagination. Then we headed off to eat lunch (I was good & had a salad) at Caerphilly Castle. It's kinda interesting, because you can tell that it's been built by a BUNCH of different kind of styles...you got Norman, Crusade-esque, etc etc. But it's magnificent. One of the towers is missing one part of the circular wall, and falling over to one side. I loved that. And there were walls inside walls inside walls. We couldn't go into the chapel b/c of a wedding being held.
But it was quite the photo-taking experience. Eliana, Denysha, & I kinda went a little nuts on this trip with taking pictures. More to come on those some other day...
Then off to the Welsh Life Museum. This place was a huge outside exhibit of Welsh living over the last 500+ years. Big. So, when we first got there, I caught wind that one of the housing exhibits were celtic huts. If you know me, you might know that I am very much obsessed with celtic culture, and I was in my element. No, but really, I was giddy. We took tons of pictures. And then we headed over to the more "colonial period" houses, and bought ourselves bags of Welsh cakes. I HIGHLY recommend them, FABULOUS! Like scones, only sweeter & more pancakier. We headed off to the modern castle & gardens, where it looked kinda like the Secret Garden in winter. That's when my inner photographer/artist came out.
Then we drove to Cardiff, Europe's youngest capital cities. It's small, and a lot of youth are here. We were staying in a sports center/hostel. Very clean & nice (hotel-ish), but like a maze! It took us 20 min. to find our room. Then we napped for an hour.

We decided to go out to the Cardiff nightlife to see what it had to offer.
Heads up, we were with a bunch of Un.Wisconsin kids, they were nice kids, but I felt like they were doing their own thing. Still nice kids, though.
Cardiff nightlife, in an image, is like NYC on Halloween night after the parade. To those that aren't knowledgeable in NYC culture, that means: hell opened up and let loose. People walking around without coats (IT WAS FREEZING!!!!), trashed out of their minds, walking on the streets in scores, NUTS. So, us girls tried to duck out ASAP, and we sweet-talked our way with a bouncer into this little club called Moloko for free. We danced the whole night, it was nice. And because none of us had the desire, nor the money, to buy drinks, we were aware of all of the weird things around us ALL NIGHT. We were trying to be nice & friendly with the locals, but these 2 guys came over to dance with us, which was fine then, but then grabbed my butt (think full grab), and then Denysha. That's when things stopped being fun, so we called it a night, at 11:30pm. Got lost getting back to the center. Walked back through hell. And slept hard.

Full English Breakfast at 8am. Passed by the Brecon Beacon National Park. Left for the Big Pit Mining Museum at 8:30am. What is that, you ask? Basically, we got to go into & under a coal mine on a tour. It was awesome. We put on the hardhats, the belts, and scuttled about 300 feet underground. Learned a lot about coal mining. And our guide was adorable, he was this old bubbly Welsh man. Couldn't understand half of what he was saying, but we got the point.
Into the bus. Went to Cistercian Tintern Abbey. This abbey's in the Wye Valley, a very picturesque place that Woodsworth wrote all about. The abbey reminded me vaguely of the Glastonbury abbey, but only b/c it was the ruins. This abbey wasn't so dismantled, though. Most was missing was the roof, floor, the window glass, and some walls. Very aesthetic, but pretty at the same time. Denysha & I saw 2 doves fly above us onto one of the cathedral walls, and that was pretty inspiring. Took lots of more pictures. The grass was so green on the floor, and the sky was so blue for the rooftop. And some of the cemetery stones in the chapel part were still there. COOL!

Drove home, slept most of the way, and said farewell to our Wisconsin mates.
Got back to the flat to frantically study for a marketing midterm........now. WISH ME LUCK!

Get Involved

I'm apparently volunteering at the Benjamin Franklin House Museum in London....who knew? The lady is really flighty, and has been having a hard time making plans with me. We'll see how far this goes

I joined UCLU's Stage Crew Club for their play this weekend, "The Tempest" (I love this play). The guys were pretty nice. Picked up my name immediately, got me involved right away...and were really glad to have me there helping. Very approachable. Very techies.

I have come to the fatal conclusion that I am dead broke. Think, no money. So, I'm looking for some little jobs here & there that can replenish what I like to call my, "PITS OF HELL." Let's hope I can come back to the US still holding onto a thread of decency.

Oh, Monday morning around 6:30am I got a call from my friend Matt Dell (NYU). He was in New Orleans for Mardi Gras, and was calling all of his good friends to say hi, he said. I was still asleep, so I think I mumbled something about seeing him when I get back, have to hang out, and then I fell back asleep, but VERY happily. It may have been a drunk dial, but it made me happy, nonetheless.

Classes are happening. Wonderful. Burning out much?

Cornwall

So, I just got back from a trip to Cornwall with a crew of 60+ NYU kids. I didn't really know anyone. So, alone I was.
Got to the hostel in a little Rockport-like seatown called St.Ives, and these kids are pampered, rich brats!!! They were all scoffing and complaining about the hostel: "oh, i can't shower here!" "i wanna go get a hotel room" "i bet you this is the dirtiest place in the town". Ok, honestly? It wasn't that bad of a hostel! I've lived in much worse! I felt like I was in a spa, they felt they were roughing it. Do kids my age not know what it's like to go hiking anymore?
That night I went out to get dinner by myself at a pub, some NYU kids came. It was awkward, but then a few nice premeds came over and befriended me. We went out to a pub, played some darts, and called it early.
Woke up at 7am for a full English breakfast: baked beans, sausage, mushrooms, bacon...I could tell that this trip was not goin to be the most healthy eating I've ever had in my life.
About half of us kids went on a tour of Cornwall. We drove St.Michael's Mount (much like Mont St.Michel, only a little newer....), Penzance, & Minack & The Minack Theatre (which is a beautiful outside theatre built into the cliffs of the seaside).
The seaside we saw the entire tour was amazing. It was dramatic drops, the water was crystal blue, and it wasn't that cold out. Just windy. The Minack Theatre looked like something just out of a Greek tourguide book. Stunning.
At the Minack Theatre, I ordered a normal Cornish meal called Cornish pasty, which is basically a steak&onion broth in a flaky DENSE croissant pastry. Delicious, and hearty.
We drove to see a Stoneghenge-like ancient formation called the Merry Maidens & Two Pipers. Very entertaining to see NYU kids gallop around fields with big rocks. We ended up at Land's End, which is the most western & closest part of the UK to America. Very touristy, but pleasant nonetheless. The rest of the ride home, our tourguide talked about the history of Cornwall, and we all slept.
I met up with 2 girls I remembered from Eugene's apartment, Natasha & Danielle, and we hit up St.Ives. Really, honestly, just like a New England seaport. We got the Cornish Ice Cream (which is super good, and fattening) and Cornish Cream Tea (just tea w/ scones...but you put Cornish Clotted Cream on the scones, which might as well be called LARD). We ate like true Corns that day, but we probably also gained about 10 lbs, too.
We walked to the beachfront, it was a nice walk & a great view.
Then we went to a local theatre to see "Munich". It's an OK movie, I thought some of it was well done, and other parts I felt Spielberg really banking on his directing genius a little too much. I was really disturbed by the movie, though, because it was about Israeli & Palestinian fighting mostly, so I got a calling card & talked to Ido for about an hour. That was nice.
Woke up at 7am again for yet another English breakfast. It was starting to wear on me....
We went to the Eden Project today. Basically, it's the largest Biodomes in the world. Pretty awesome stuff here. They have plants & trees from around the tropics & warm temperate parts of the world, jam-packed into this revolutionary bubble. It was soooo pretty. And I got to look at Cocoa beans. That made me happy.
I learned a lot about nature today.
The bus ride to and fro Cornwall was roughly 6 hours each way.

Glastonbury

So on our way to Cornwall (SouthWest England), we ended up at Glastonbury.
This is where a lot of the Arthurian legends pan out. When you enter this town, it's very very spiritual/relgious fusion....very pagan & into the more wiccan & celtic things.
I went to the Abbey Ruins. The Abbey is where apparently Jason & Jesus built the first worship area for Mary, and where King Arhthur & Guinivere is buried.
This place is gorgeous. I went to the ruins, and got teary-eyed. I've never seen beauty like that. The church that was built around the 12th or 13th century was ruined by Henry something something...that is what you go to see, and it is very majestic. But, it's not the first church built there....the first one was built somewhere in the 1st century, and they kept on getting burned down and rebuilt. Still, gorgeous.

I was alone in Glastonbury, since everyone else on the trip I didn't know, but I didn't mind. I don't think anynone else there was appreciating what we were seeing as much as I was. I got to take my time, be in awe. It was wonderful.

Ate a panini. Set off for the Tor.

The Tor was the Isle of Avalon...alright, basically, Avalon was a magical isle where Morgan LeFay lived, and helped Arthur. But then the water receded and it just became a huge mountain top. It's apparently where there is a portal to the "other side".
PS: The Tor is on a vertical drop. Hiking up the hill/mountain took roughly 25 minutes for me, alone, and a gym rat. Mini cardio workout. But man, was it gorgeous. Someone built a church on the hill, but again, it's in ruins, so only a ruined tower exists there now. But it was amazing. And the view was splendid, too.
However, the wind howled like nothing else. If that was a portal, someone on the other side (or the wind...I'm not sure which one) must be PISSED! I almost got thrown off of the hill!