A Not So Touristy Weekend

This weekend, we decided to do some more creative things with our time. We've lived in London for a month now, so the tourist traps start to look like traps. And we start to get annoyed when "new" people crowd the Tube and don't know where they're going.

So we started Saturday afternoon off by exploring a Vintage store. Apparently this is a traveling Vintage event too, which we thought was worth checking out.

Surprisingly, some of the stuff was fairly expensive. Half of the clothes were real vintage - 60s, 70s, or 80s style - which I would need to be more creative to find a way to wear it. Or it was really cute clothes that were the same price as the nearest Primark or Topshop, two of the cheaper and decent stores in London.

The area also came complete with a bowling alley, a pub, and a small cafe, with racks of clothes stacked on the floor above and around these extra downstairs pit stops.

A signature purchase: I invested in a nice change purse. The frequent use of British coins, rather than 'notes', was literally making my clutch burst at the seams. The change purse is way more functional for Europe.

On Sunday, we celebrated the Chinese New Year in Trafalgar Square and Chinatown, where streets were closed off and decorated.

It was pretty cool. Trafalgar Square was packed. So then the lesson of the day became that the distance from one historic place to another is not as far as it seems on the Tube. I walked from Trafalgar Square to Piccadilly Circus to Chinatown in about 15 minutes.

When you're on the Tube, the distance you travel between those points feels a lot longer.

Anyway, Chinese New Year turned out to be pretty cool, despite the lack of free food that some people thought would be there. Really, there were a ton of booths set up selling Chinese New Year trinkets and noisemakers, the streets were decorated, and there were some stages set up with entertainment. The only entertainment I actually saw was Kung Fu Panda.

That was exciting.

Then... we once again digressed in to more tourist stuff.

Introducing: The Natural History Museum.

This museum is part of a series of museums in South Kensington, about a 20 minute journey from my flat in Earl's Court. The building is absolutely breathtaking.

The best part of the actual museum was probably the dinosaur fossils on the first floor. The one on the left was pretty cool. There's also some galleries on the floor above, so you could look down over this dinosaur almost anywhere you go in the museum. After about an hour though, we felt like we had seen the best parts of the museum and decided to head out.

Except we ended up going the wrong way on a bus and ended up in Harrod's.

I've never walked through Harrod's before.

Looking at the building in and of itself is kind of stunning.

Going inside and glancing at some of the price tags is literally jaw-dropping.

Totally worth a step inside though, even if you're only walking through it to take advantage of the heat before reaching the Tube station, like we did.



In other news this past Sunday, my neighborhood was fairly excited about the Chelsea v. Liverpool match. [That's an understatement, folks.] It was a big deal because Chelsea had just signed a previous Liverpool player, Fernando Tores, in a record-breaking 50 million pound deal.

And Chelsea still lost 0-1 against Liverpool.

There were some pretty depressed people in blue and white walking around Earl's Court that night. So that topped any thoughts I had about the Super Bowl for awhile.

Phew. It was a busy, but incredible weekend. Note to self: busy weekends are better on so many levels.

Of Crumpets

[This post is dedicated to my roommate, Liz Schultz, without whom I would have persisted in my ignorant belief that crumpets are basically English muffins.]

Crumpets are so much better than English muffins.

They're more like miniature waffles. I think English muffins are a little flatter, but a crumpet is thicker, so the butter seeps through it.

It's just really good bread. Try it if you get the chance.

I think food overall here is pretty good. Most of the restaurants or cafes I've tried have been amazing. (Obviously, we're living in a city, so there has to be good food somewhere.)

I might not be the best person to write about cooking, seeing as I don't do much of it anywhere. However, I have succeeded in not burning any pots or pans, or forgetting about food stored in some corner of my cabinet, which is a success in my eyes. I can stock up on food fairly cheaply at the Tesco or Tesco Express. And most stores will randomly put food on sale if it's about to expire, leading me to buy a pack of muffins, crumpets or baguettes whenever it's marked down to 99p or less.

So there. Food in Britain: not bad. Am I excited to try food in other countries though? Absolutely. I would pretty much give anything to have a crepe cart in this city. [And there's a shout out to you Bre.]

..And the fish is pretty big here too obviously. [Sonya? Ah, sorry. I'm just going to start tagging you guys in posts I think you should look at.]

In the News

The Super Bowl was yesterday! Usually I just watch the Super Bowl every year to see the awesome advertisements. I seriously mute the TV during the game, and watch the commercials. It's fun. Unfortunately I've had to check out all the $3 million dollar ads on YouTube this year. Still, seeing this was one of the best parts of the morning after coverage:


I've watched this three times today. Once at work without the sound on.

I did stay up to watch the game a little bit. Mostly because, instead of ads, BBC had some random commentators talking about the game. We're pretty sure one of them didn't even know what a receiver was.

Quality.

I can't disclose who I rooted for though, because my Dad will disown me if I rooted for the Packers, and I'm pretty sure I'd lose half my friends if I rooted for the Steelers.

Anyway, you Wisconsin folks will be glad to know you got a full page in the London Evening Standard. Except it was mostly about Christina Aguilera messing up the national anthem, the Black Eyed Peas, and a shot of George Bush. Instead, the game was reduced, not to a sentence, but a clause:

Former president George Bush, and film stars Jennifer Aniston, Michael Douglas and wife Catherine Zeta-Jones were in the crowd in Texas to watch the Green bay Packers beat the Pittsburgh Steelers 31-25.

That's it. Well, and this bit about Aaron Rodgers at the bottom of the Sport section.

So what's happening in British news?

-Chelsea lost against Liverpool in their first game after the 50 million pound deal to sign Tores, who played for Liverpool previously. That was kind of a big deal. I was slightly and irrationally a little worried about walking outside after the game... I also still want a Chelsea scarf.

-Assange's trial. In the standard, there's a big headline that his extradition "will risk him being sent to Guantanamo" and his lawyer said, "there is a real risk that he could be subject to the death penalty." There's a more in-depth article on BBC.

And since it's only Monday, I'll leave any more news for later.

Snowpocalypse v. Westminster

So, there was a blizzard in the Midwest or something?

Oh. Right. That little thing.

I understand this storm is one of those crazy stories that only happens every ten years or whatever, but seriously, can everyone calm down? All I see is a tremendous storm and a wonderful opportunity for a snow day.


Photo Courtesy Mom and Dad Allen


Okay, maybe I'm just jealous of your snow day... good old, perfect, MY University of Wisconsin... And maybe I miss the snow a little.

But when all anyone can talk about is the blizzard, I seriously start to wonder whether all of this transatlantic communication technology is really worth it.

My Typical Skype Conversation This Week:
Me: Hello?
Somebody: Hello?
Me: Oh good! The internet is finally working, [which it never does over here because high-speed connections are non-existent.] It's so great to talk to you! How are you? How's everything going?
Somebody: Well, we have this blizzard coming, did you hear?
Me: Yeah I saw on Facebook and everything. You even got a little shout out on BBC-
Somebody: Oh it's going to be a big one! Everyone was grocery shopping like there was going to be no tomorrow. On the Weather Channel it's stretching over the Midwest to the East Coast! It's all ice on the ground now, but then there's going to be some major snowfall!
Me: Right, I saw it on weather.com-
Somebody: It's going to be a big one!
Me: Yeah, well at work today-
Somebody: All the school's have a snow day!
Me: Aw, I missed it! And I had to work today-
Somebody: Yeah, everyone had a snow day! Classes kept getting canceled or delayed, and then they just called a snow day! Everyone was so excited... yada yada yada for the next 10 minutes.

New Rule: If I suddenly lose all communication with you because of a blizzard, or if all you can talk about is a blizzard, I will stop going on Skype, Facebook and updating Twitter and Blogspot.

...Ok not really, obviously. But I really wanted to.

So what did I really do this week besides feel grumpy about this ridiculous blizzard that I don't even get to enjoy? You know, walking through Westminster, listening to debates, writing writing writing, website work, class. Keeping busy.

Proof:

Why are these buildings always under some sort of construction? [Because they're really old and need preserving?] Anyway, you get the idea, I hope. I finally snapped this picture when I didn't feel ridiculously self-conscious about pulling my camera out in the middle of Westminster Hall.

Ok, more updates that are more exciting than the snowpocalypse to come soon!

British Humour

Yes, the British spell it with a 'u', so I'm going to spell humour with a 'u' for the time being.

Dealing with the British sense of humour is probably one of the hardest things about living in London. And I did not expect it to be. I like the Monty Python series. I like Hugh Laurie. I've watched my fair share of British television shows and movies. So I know I like British comedy and figured I'd at least be able to recognize it when I hear it.

Case in point

Turns out this is referred to comedy, folks. The British interject humour into their everyday life like Americans ask each other "how are you?" The problem with this for outsiders (like me) is that it's often hard to tell when they're being serious and when they're joking, especially because a lot of British humour isn't even meant to get a laugh.

Rather, according to an article I had to read for class, British humour is made up of ironies, understatements and wittiness. Humour is well-timed and well-turned.

The article adds the British have a thing about being earnest. "Seriousness is acceptable, solemnity is prohibited. Sincerity is allowed, earnestness is strictly forbidden." This ban on taking oneself too seriously leads to the phrase "Oh, come off it!" It also leads to self-deprecation, because they place a high value on modesty.

Anyway, the English are always ready to throw some humour into anything. The author gave the example that when her father went out to dinner with some Italian friends, and they complained about the restaurant, her father simply said, "Oh, so you wouldn't recommend it, then?"

Dealing with that can get difficult. Especially if I think something is a joke and start to laugh, but the English barely smirk. The humour is subtle and interjected everywhere you go. You have to be quick to recognize it and quick to respond to it.



Are they serious? Are they joking? What the-?

So, just another part of British culture to get used to. Some study abroad to learn a new language, and I feel like I'm studying abroad to relearn a language.