Category: General (Page 14 of 18)

Well, what can I say? I’m finally leaving London. The history is nice here, but the big city is just miserable. I would have much preferred to see the smaller towns in the UK. I just wish that I had more time here. If anyone is ever considering coming to the UK, I would advise that you start in either Ireland or Scotland, and make your way south rather than the other way around. London is kind of like a black hole that doesn’t let go until you force its grubby claws off of you.

The people that I have stayed with the last two nights have been very friendly. It is a flat that houses 5 people. None of them are English. It is a joke among the people here, that there are no English people in London. I originally thought it was just a joke, but looking back on it, there have only been 2 people that I have met since I have been here that I know have been English. Everyone else has been from somewhere else (Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, the Middle East, etc). It is a very strange phenomenon.

I miss everyone, and look forward to talking to each of you.

Bryan

So, the home that I was supposed to be staying at from Monday to Thursday had completely fallen through. By that, I mean that the person I was supposed to be staying with decided not to respond to me at all. This was very frustrating because it forced me to stay in hostels from Monday through Wednesday. Well, yesterday I realized that I have already spent nearly $400 in London alone o_O This was no good. It was because of this that I decided that I couldn’t afford to sleep in a hostel last night. I was very down on myself because I had no idea what I was going to do, and the weather here has been very depressing. I decided to go to Hyde park (this is a very wonderful and very large park in Central London). I just wanted to sit there and read and write. Upon approaching the bench that I was going to sit at, I was greeted by Alan, an English Actor (no, not movies, but theater). We chatted for a few minutes. During that time I saw what he thought were preparations to a knighting ceremony for an admiral. It was a man in a plumed hat riding in a carriage towards the Palace. Then he had to go. Still feeling down on myself I decided, once again, that I would pull my book out and begin reading, but then I saw a large group of runners approaching the gazebo. Apparently they have a race every last Friday of every month. Well, a few of the runners came to my bench to get themselves cleaned up a bit, and then got talking to me. Two left a few minutes later too look at bicycles, and the third stayed and talked with me some more. After hearing about my woes, he decided to offer his extra bedroom for me, then take me to a nice little Irish pub and buy me 2 pints and some peanuts. When I got to his house, he and his wife were much more than hospitable. Not only did they make me dinner and allow me to sleep here, but they also did my laundry, and went out of their way to try to find me a cheap way to get to Paris without having to hitchhike. They are absolutely wonderful. I am currently posting from their computer.

Well, today I will be traveling to northern London where I meet my next hosts and hopefully I will be able to enjoy myself there.

I will be updating my photos today, so check out my photos section.

I miss you all!!!

The news here is humorous. There are many free publications, and you can find them everywhere. I really enjoy the dissemination of news here.

From the Metro (found on the tubes) on May 28, 2008

[quote]
IT [sic] could have been a scene from Baywatch … well, if you replaced the glamorous lifeguards with a couple of boot-wearing coastguards, swapped the sand for mud – and ignored the fact that a Somerset lamb was being rescued, rather than some tanned Californian. The lamb in question got stuck in a mudflat and would have drowned at the next high tide had it not been rescued. ‘Special safety boards were used to reach the animal and one of the team carried the lamb to safety, to the relief of the grateful farmer,’ said Steve Bird, a coastguard in Burnham-on-Sea, Somerset. The lamb has now been named Baamela Anderson (no it hasn’t, but we know some of you like a bad pun).
[/quote]

Yes, it’s real British humor. Well, I have finally found a place where I can leave my bags for more than 5 minutes. I was able to walk around for nearly a half hour today without carrying my monstrosity of a bag. I am staying in a “trendy” hostel tonight called the Generator. It’s most definitely a youth hostel. I haven’t seen anyone here that looks over 30, while I have definitely seen older people at the other hostels.

One of the things that has been bothering me the most is the bloody keyboards here. I’ll have to post a picture sometime, or you could look it up if you feel so inclined. Where our Enter key is, the European keyboard has been split between Enter and #~, making it very difficult to use. The left shift key has also been reduced in size to add room for another button, then they decided to mix the symbols up a bit. @ is no longer Shift+2. So now every time I try to type in an email address it always comes out as name”email.com. It’s a real pain to go back and redo it every time.

I have also found that it is very western here. I honestly can’t say that I feel much like I left the US. The only difference is that there are Gay stores, a subway, and a thick accent no matter where I go. It is very diverse here though. I think there are more middle easterners here than there are Londoners. I really haven’t met many British people.

Well, that’s it for today. I think I’m going to rest a bit before I do something fun this evening.

I hated London yesterday. It was absolutely terrible. I have to say that after carrying around this bag for 6-7 hours today, I am rather enjoying London. The people aren’t rude. They just won’t talk to you if you don’t approach them first. I think I must have walked about 15-20 miles so far today. My feet are feeling the pain right now. I’m actually glad to be spending a pound for every half hour to sit here and type so long as I get to sit here.

I have been focusing on saving money. I decided that I can walk everywhere rather than take the tube. That saves me £4 per trip if I stay in zone 1. It takes longer, but I’m in no hurry.

I have visited the London Museum, Many different cathedrals (walked by, not in, because they charge money), sat in St James park, and even seen a bowling green (strange sport played by stranger Englismen).

Well, I don’t have much more time, so I’m going to go ahead and get off here (I still need to book a hostel) and then get to it.

Later,

Bryan

I made it to London. It’s currently raining here (what else do you expect).

Everything is very expensive. The pound is up to $2.20 if you are trading here. I’m spending £1 per half hour just to get online. I suppose it’s alright to let everyone know that I’m alright.

I would post pictures, but unfortunately I lost my usb cable, so I’m going to have to get a new one before I can actually post them.

Sorry this is so short, I’ll post more when I’m not paying $5/hour to use the internet.