TFC: nine

nine [Fri, 4-Dec]

After cranking out a bit more of my British Cultural Studies final in the morning, I met Annie at Covent Garden to secure Christmas gifts for some very special loved ones.  Great success!  It was a beautiful day so I moseyed home via foot and bus, taking in London as much as I could–my strategy for a while now but getting ever more imperative as the days pass by.

Upon arriving home, I did a bit more work as I made a meal from the frozen food reserves–time to clear out!  The second to last Friday night was officially upon us, and ecen though we were all feeling a bit mellow, Lauren put it perfectly: “I know I will kick myself if I don’t take full advantage of my legality.”  And off to our closets Sarah, Lauren, and I went to get ready for a girls’ night out.  We headed south to a champagne bar, Amuse Bouche, in Fulham.  I didn’t get the chance to do a champagne bar yet, so checking it off my list made the evening even better.  We invested in our own bottle to start with but–in a throwback to our earliest London nights, minus faking names and pretending to be from exotic locations–ended up capitalizing on charity/drunkeness/wealth of 20-something Brits.  Cheers!

Published in: on December 5, 2009 at 11:07 am  Leave a Comment  
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Americans Abroad

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!  It was very strange to be living a holiday from another time zone — madre texted me that the bird was in the oven when we would usually start eating in the GMT time zone.  Not going to lie, it was definitely a bittersweet day for me in London…but at least there was definitely some sweet.

I started the day at St. Paul’s Cathedral for the Thanksgiving Service for the American Community in London.  It was very strange heading out into a city that was not on the same festive wavelength as me, but as I headed east across the city the American accents became the majority in an even stranger way.  Inside St. Paul’s, I had a new cultural revelation: Americans–no, WASPs–are definitely an identifiable race.  Thanks to flying solo, I snagged a seat within the first section of seats and enjoyed belting out my favorite Thanksgiving tunes (my neighbor even complimented me at the end of the service) and hearing the President’s Thanksgiving Day proclamation, something I never really heard in full, read by the US Ambassador.

I thought I had a celebrity sighting during the service, and it was confirmed on the steps when leaving: Chris Matthews, host of Hardball on MSNBC!  I wasn’t the only one who noticed (there was a group of Georgetown University students) but I was the only one who interned in the same office as his public relations agent this summer ;)

Chris Matthews

Afterward I headed home to a bustling kitchen where my Vassar flatmates hastily decided to whip up a feast.  I tracked down the full Charlie Brown’s Thanskgiving Special on YouTube but failed to find a live stream of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Finally, it was 6:30pm, and I headed over to the Texas Embassy Cantina where I met Annie Black, her visiting parents, her cousin who is here in graduate school, and Jenna Sterling.  It was so sweet of the Blacks to include us in their holiday celebration and it was great to spend time with some sort of family…especially one actually from Texas at the so themed restaurant!  They served a Thanksgiving dinner, but they also put chips and salsa on the table and our first round of drinks were margaritas.  It was a delicious meal out, and I did have turkey, cranberry sauce, and sweet potatoes, but it just wasn’t quite Thanksgiving…most perfectly embodied in the small sliver of pie that equaled about 1/3 of my usual first-round dessert serving.

I headed home again to stuffed Vassar students and a turkey in the oven for a Marist flatmate and his visiting sister.  And that, my dear readers, is when I became that adult who goes out to dinner for Thanksgiving with one family and joins another group for their post-dinner festivity. So strange…but it was very comforting.  We had a great night listening to holiday music, playing games, and just enjoying each others company.  Isn’t that what the holidays are all about?

Published in: on November 27, 2009 at 1:05 pm  Comments (1)  
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Darice in London!

Fellow Vassar and Cushing House gal pal Darice Murphy was in London this weekend!  She traveled from Madrid where she is studying abroad and it was lovely to be able to spend some quality time with her–she stayed over Saturday and Sunday nights.  Luckily, I was in prime London tour guide shape following madre/ma mère’s visit and showed Darice around the Londontown!  Her visit was also a great occasion to spend time with Annie and Jenna.

Besides seeing the sights documented below, we spent some time at the Tate Modern, danced Saturday night away at Zoo Bar in Leicester Square (to ridiculous 90s pop throwbacks while sipping on delicious cocktails), and watched Harry Potter and the Order of the Pheonix (clearly the best, and clearly tons of London references). All in all, a great weekend!  The downside: my bed will never be as warm as when I was spooning with my girl :(

Published in: on November 24, 2009 at 5:42 pm  Leave a Comment  
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London Eye

Thanks to a sweet hook-up through FIE, I got to experience the London Eye for only £10!  I headed over after work on Thursday and was lucky enough to meet up with some other Manson Place residents–3 girls who live in another flat but go to Marist, so hang out in my flat a lot–which means I actually got to be IN photos!

Our “flight” began at 6:30pm, and the timing couldn’t have been more perfect.  We got to experience sunset, seeing London by day on the way up and London by night on the way down.  I know there are a lot of photos of the same views, but I really wanted to document the temporal experience more than anything.

Afterward, I headed back home to the lovely sight of Julia Arena!  We were both on the Cushing house team last year and lived in the same hall.  She is studying in Copenhagen, Denmark but was in London all week with her program for a study tour.  She came over and out with us on Tuesday night, and instead of leaving on Thursday with everyone else from the program she stayed with me until Saturday morning.  It was great to have a true friend here with me, and we had a great time.  We had a true pub dinner Thursday night, cooked an exceptional stir-fry with king prawns and oyster sauce for Friday dinner, invested in Party Rings for dessert, and went out on the London town to Zoo Bar (Leicester Square) on Friday night, where Annie Black met us with two of her flatmates.  It was quite the reunion!  I was so sad to see her go so early on Saturday morning.  It might have been a little too great having her here, cause now not pales in comparison :(

Published in: on October 10, 2009 at 6:33 pm  Comments (1)  
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