Back By Popular Demand

So I didn't realize anyone was really reading this until Geoff harassed me via facebook for more blog entries. This weekend was sort of a "settling in" weekend, so I hadn't put much thought into what I was going to write but here goes:

After my blog entry Friday we went out and saw a bunch of the sites in central London (Big Ben, Parliament, the River Thames, ect). I seriously felt like I was in the middle of the Disney cartoon Peter Pan. It was amazing. When I first got here, I have to admit I was just a little disappointed. We live in a sleepy, well-to-do residential  borough called Earl's Court, and at first it seemed nothing like what I expected the city of Oscar Wilde, Winston Churchill, and Mick Jagger to be. But when we got down town all I could think was "Damn, I'm actually here!" Pictures at the end of this entry.

I've only gotten a little taste of the nightlife so far, but the way they go about it here is completely different. The pubs, which are basically the rough equivalent of American bars, all close between 11 PM and midnight. Typically people go out to the pubs right after work (sometimes without even going home first) or right after an early dinner. A lot of them drink there heavily and then go home when they close, get a good night's sleep before work, and do it all again the next day. After midnight your only choice for a quiet drink is to go back to your flat and booze in the privacy of your own home. The late-night scene is pretty much all dance clubs where - this may surprise you - they play almost exclusively popular American R&B and Hip Hop (some of which was a little dated). If I think through the alcohol-induced haze, when we went out on my birthday I vaguely remember hearing the "Apple Bottom Jeans" song, "Poker Face," and "Gasolina." I also think I literally poked someone in the face during "Poker Face" and got yelled at by the bouncer for it.

I haven't found any good places for live music yet, but I'm sure I will soon enough. I start work tomorrow (I'm pretty excited/nervous), and I'm hoping some of my co-workers can point me in the right direction. We didn't go out Friday because our graduate resident (basically a glorified RA) was out of town so we threw a raging party at our flat with all of the other American students from the other houses, and I came home last night after the pubs closed because, quite frankly, I was beat (or "knackered" as they say here) from all of this week's craziness.

A soccer hooligan update for Jay:

I actually met a genuine soccer hooligan last night while coming back from the pubs. Apparently there are about four different soccer championships that all of the English teams here play in. In addition to the one Barcelona beat Manchester United for the other night, yesterday the Chelsea Football Club (CFC) won the FA Cup. We live in the borough immediately adjacent to Chelsea, so needless to say it was pretty crazy. I was patiently waiting in line for some drunken Burger King at a little past midnight when an incredibly intoxicated man with a shaved head, full-sleeve tattoos, and a Chelsea jersey walked in and loudly inquired "Whot tha fowk? Where ahhw awwl tha Chelwsea fans?" (Translation: "What the fuck? Where are all the Chelsea fans?"). Not wanting to disappoint him, and being the friendly bloke that I am after I've had a few drinks, I joyously yelled "Ayy-O! Chelsea!" and gave him a double high-five. We then enthusiastically discussed the various merits and general superiority of the Chelsea Football Club for about twenty-five minutes. As most of you probably know, I know absolutely nothing about sports in general, let alone the English Football Championships. I have, however, decided that I am now a Chelsea Football fan for life. This was made all the more interesting by the fact that we took a tour of the Chelsea stadium today, and our tour guide told us that Chelsea is infamous for having particularly nasty football hooligans. Basically, if I had been wearing a Manchester jersey that night my new friend probably would have ripped my face off with his teeth.

Soccer, Stabbings, and Cigarettes

I don't know how many people back home were following the soccer finals that just finished, but as you probably know, people over here get pretty crazy about that stuff. And apparently this craziness extends to any soccer fans this side of the Atlantic:

Angry Manchester United Fan Kills Four Barcelona Supporters After Wednesday's Loss

Sorry, Jay, I didn't get in any pub brawls with soccer hooligans, but I figured this was just as crazy.

This brings up another interesting topic. In my class yesterday we learned that 50-some people were killed by stabbing in  the entire UK last year. The British find this an appalling and unacceptable amount of violence, and are clamoring that their lawmakers do something about it.  - It just sounded like a rough weekend in Chicago to me.

Its also interesting to me that police do not routinely carry weapons here. Apparently there are special units trained to use firearms in case of extreme situations such as terrorist attacks, but that's it. Our professor said the idea is that if the police arm themselves then so will the crooks.

Finally, this one's for you, Dan and Joey:

When I came home wasted from the clubs on my birthday Tuesday night/ Wednesday morning, I bought the first pack of cigarettes I've purchased in I don't even know how long. I have no idea why I did it, except that I was drunk. By looking at the pack in the morning it looks like I smoked one on the walk back from the store, and I'll probably give the rest away. Another thing I noticed in the morning are these incredibly, incredibly ominous labels they put on packs here. Do they have shit like this in China, Dan? Or do they even let you smoke cigarettes over there?

Better Late Than Never

So I should've started this blog a few days ago, since I've probably already forgotten most of the "insightful" observations I came up with during my first few days here. But I promise to do my best to make this interesting, and for that reason I've only sent the link to this blog to a select group of people so I don't have to censor it or leave anything out.

In the interest of keeping things exciting I'm going to try to include fun stuff like a "song of the day" along with my deep cultural observations. I'm open to other suggestions as well, cus I really hope I can get a few people to read this...