[Day -28] Mother

I was originally going to just go back and edit the posts that I need to add more to, but that just seems silly at this point. If I had actually written when things occurred they would be much clearer in my mind so it's just not right to try to do that now.

I think the two most important things I have left to talk about are Mother and the cab ride to the airport.


Let's see, I left London on Thursday morning Dec. 23 so I believe we went to Shoreditch on Tuesday, Dec. 21. I can't remember exactly, but I don't think that we did much during the day. It's possible that that was the day we went to Winter Wonderland. For dinner, Vivek, Vijay, Hannah, Erin and I went to Brick Lane again. It was so good. I think I had chicken tikka masala and vegetable pilau rice, all so delicious. That dinner was much spicier than my food the night before, so I loved it. I even ate some of Vijay's chili nan. 

We all walked Hannah to the bus stop so she could go back to QM because she was leaving the next morning. Then Vijay, Vivek, Erin and I tried to find Anna because we were all going to go to Shoreditch.


Before I saw it spelled out, I thought Shoreditch was Shortage. I also thought it was a place, like a bar or a club, but actually it's a neighborhood. It's somewhere near Bethnal Green and Brick Lane, but I couldn't tell you how to get there because we got lost. The four of us walked to the end of Brick Lane and ended up turning the wrong way on the perpendicular street. Anna had no idea where we were or how to tell us to get there, so we called Talhah, who was at home. While we were on the phone, we walked down Rhoada Road.

Rhoada Road may have been the creepiest place I've been to in Europe. The area around Brick Lane has some unsavory characters, to say the least, and we felt like we had stumbled upon their homes. I felt like I was walking through the projects that are in Dravosburg/West Mifflin by Kennywood. It was dark, no one was around, and we were lost. It was so creepy that Vijay and Vivek started discussing how they would respond if someone tried to attack us.


We made a left turn and walked back toward the main street. A cab driver offered us a ride, but we just kept walking. Talhah was barely any help, so we figured it out on our own. We went the opposite way down the street and then Vijay recognized where we were. We passed a few bars and clubs, definitely the area where the hipsters hang out which is probably why Anna was there so much. We ran into Anna and two of her friends on the street. One of her friends was extremely drunk and talked to me and Vivek about how he hears voices in his head.

We walked across the street to a club called "Mother." The drunk friend was in front of me to get in and the bouncer gave him a hard time, so I was stuck outside in the cold for about five minutes. I finally went around him and Vijay and I walked up the stairs into the club.


The atmosphere was something that I've never experienced before. There was a Christmas tree in the corner of the room and big couches surrounded coffee tables. The furniture and wallpaper looked antique, something that I'd imagine was in a grandma's dining room.

We put our coats on a couch near the Christmas tree and went to the bar to get drinks. There was an adjacent room that had music and dancing. It reminded me of walking from a living room to a dining room because of the doorway and the decorations. The walls had similar, antique looking wallpaper and there were strange paintings and photos hanging on the walls in picture frames. The dj was in a booth raised up on one side of the room and all I could see was their hands waving around. The music was good, it was different. I recognized all of it, but it wasn't the everyday top 25 that you hear in other clubs. It was a really strange assortment of people also. There was a Jewish man with a really long beard, a lot of drunk British kids, a few Indians and a bunch of black people. At one point a circle formed in the middle of the room and a few people were break dancing and doing all kinds of stuff like that. There was a girl that reminded me of my sister with her dancing, and some pretty skilled break dancers. It was a great find that night and a good way to end London.

Although I was the resident picture taker that week because Erin's camera didn't work, it didn't feel right to take any pictures in Mother. It was one of those moments that only belongs in your memory, almost as if you could've made it up in your head.

Oh and the bathrooms were interesting...some of the stalls didn't have doors, none of them had locks. They were small and crampt and there were signs all over the place that Mother didn't tolerate drugs, however Vijay was offered coke (or something like that) when he was in the bathroom. It was very fitting for that place though, I wouldn't have expected anything else.

Even though we only got there around 12:30 we were still planning on leaving at 1:30. We ended up having so much fun that we stayed until it closed at 3 and then took the 25 home.

M

[Day -19] Reality ?

For these posts that I'm doing about reverse culture shock, or whatever it is that I'm experiencing now that I'm back in the States, I'm going to number them but put a - sign with it...meaning that the day I left London, Dec 23, was day 0. I've been in the States for 19 days now and it's still super weird.

19 days isn't very long, it's hard to believe that three weeks ago I was, well I think that was the day that I went to Hyde Park's Winter Wonderland. I miss London.

Anyway, I may or may not be losing my mind. Anyone that knows me knows that I have very strange habits when it comes to writing. I finished one of my essays for my London classes but I kind of forgot/have been putting off the other one. I have been so tired the past week that it was basically impossible to write it. The point of the story is, I meant to write it yesterday afternoon but I didn't and then I had to go hang up Pi Phi posters for the new babies and after that we threw Mo a surprise birthday party, so I didn't get to write it. This is where my weird writing habits come in. I can't write a paper when I'm tired, it just doesn't work. That's why I've never pulled an all nighter. I also procrastinate, but not enough so that I need to pull an all nighter. I went to bed around midnight and woke up at 6:30 this morning to finish the paper. I turned it in and as soon as I submit my second one tonight, I'll be all done. I guess that will be the end of my London connection for now.


I don't know if that's making me lose my mind (the paper) or if I'm just not used to Villanova yet. It's really disturbing that I don't recognize anyone at the Pit when I go there for lunch, and I only recognized about 5 names of the 80 or 90 people playing on the co ed intramural basketball teams this year. Do I even go to this school anymore? Also now that I'm taking more English classes and no PoliSci classes, I don't really know anyone in class either.


This morning I wandered around Tolentine for a good ten minutes trying to find my Junior English Research Seminar. I was convinced it was on the third floor and my Spanish class later in the day was on the fourth floor. Finally I ended up running into my friend and looked it up on his computer, and sure enough 427B was my classroom. Luckily I know the professor and she actually asked me if I got lost.


This afternoon I went to the store and came back in time for my 3pm Spanish class. When I walked by the room at 2:52 however, the classroom was packed and the professor was already teaching. I must be losing my mind. I sat outside the room and texted my sister and my friend to check my schedule for me. The class is at 4pm. I'm not sure what my problem is. Oh and I had my computer in my bag so I could've looked myself I didn't need to ask anyone, I just forgot.


I feel like I should be carrying around a little note with me for the next two weeks that's my excuse for doing stupid things and forgetting stuff, because it's really a problem.


Something else I forgot to mention when I was writing yesterday is that when I was at Hidden Valley last week teaching a lesson, I kept trying to say 'Mile Long' which is a trail on the mountain. Instead I kept saying 'Mile End' and I couldn't correct myself. It was like I had totally lost the phrase 'Mile Long' and all I could think of was 'Mile End.' The parents thought I was crazy. I am crazy. Also the same day I taught a little boy, about 3, from Manchester. He had the cutest accent. We played redlight-greenlight and luckily I knew that in England, yellow light means 'get ready' so I didn't think he was goofy when I asked him what it meant and he didn't say 'slow down.'


Anyway, I'm going to go browse some blogs before class so I can get an idea for my new blog :) Also Talhah is now following me yayyy


M

Villanova, Pa

Some of my avid readers (Erin, I'm talking to you) have commented that I haven't posted recently. This is true, I need to edit a few pages and add some more about my last few days in London. Hopefully I can do that tomorrow because they're definitely worth noting. Especially my trip to Shoreditch with Vijay, Erin, Anna and Vivek and the cab ride to the airport. 

Since I've been back to America, I'm experiencing this really weird thing where I'm confused and don't know what's going on a lot of the time. For example, I drove to my grandma's house on Christmas Eve and I forgot how to get there. My sister and I ended up driving a round about way to get there. Originally I was looking the British way to cross the street, which is looking right, and now at this point I'm just confused which way to look. Caitlin has had to pull me back from walking across the street a few times. I say 'proper' all the time and always have the urge to say 'top up,' 'cheers,' and 'queue,' but of course no one knows what I'm talking about.

I've talked to a few people that've been to London and strangely enough they've all commented on how nice and friendly British people are. Clearly they did not live in London. Or ride the tube during rush hour. They obviously were only in the touristy parts and never experience the fierceness of a British business man throwing 'bows to get on the tube. Also there are people who will say, 'Oh I lived in London for x amount of time, where were you?' I respond with, 'You don't know where it is.' They pursue until I tell them Mile End and I get a blank stare back. I continue on with Whitechapel, near Brick Lane, Aldgate, and then just quit and the person gives me a defeated look and walks away.

Speaking of not knowing what's going on, maybe it's because I refuse to change my current location on Facebook from London, UK to Pa. Or because the time on my computer is still London time, currently 5:09 pm when it's actually 12:09 pm here. When driving to Hidden Valley last week, I totally missed the Donegal exit and on the turnpike and had to drive 15 miles to the Somerset exit. I've been making that drive for the past six years and I just missed it like that. I have no idea what's going on but I'm really confused.

Luckily I didn't have bad jet lag, but that's probably because I didn't sleep the entire night before my flight.

Mostly everything reminds me of London in some way or another, and of my friends there. I saw both Smarties and Nando's yesterday (depressing) and Tinnie Tempah came on shuffle on my iTunes. 


Today was my first day of 'real class.' It wasn't even real class and my day isn't over, but it's so different from my classes in London. There's actually more than two papers/tests for the class and the professor doesn't have a British accent. Unfortunately I still have to complete two papers for two English classes that I took in London. One is due tomorrow and one is due Wednesday, but I'm mostly done with each of them. About 1,000 more words to one and proofreading the other. It's going to be weird having class so many days each week.


Living in England did get me kind of addicted to coffee, which I'm drinking right now. Every time I went to Salusbury World, Nadine and Irena would offer me a cup at least two times and it was really good for some reason so I always had it. I didn't even think I liked coffee that much though. I'm glad to be back in the land of iced-chai lattes though, I missed those. Also it took me at least 10 days before I made it to Panera or Chipotle, and I have yet to have a snack wrap from McDonald's. It'll happen though.


I'm thinking of starting another blog, to post random things on. One of my New Year's Resolutions is to write at least one sentence on a piece of paper everyday. Maybe I'll keep track of them on my new blog? But I'm also going to compile them in a notebook because I'm looking for someway to get an idea for a novel. I need to get my writing on!


Anyway, if you're still reading, thanks. I'm not sure when I'm going to be done with this blog, but that will be a sad, sad day.

M

[Day 98] U S A

Yay I'm in America!!!

I just landed in Charlotte, NC an hour and a half ago and I'm waiting for my flight to Pittsburgh at 6:15pm. I'm going to the Steelers game tonight with Caitlin :)

M

[Day 97] The end is near

I didn't really do anything today. I lounged around and hung out until two when I went to the library to print my boarding pass. Then I hung out some more, packed, went to Budgens with Erin. Then Erin and I made dinner for the two of us, Vijay and Vivek.

Hannah left this morning. It's only the four of us and Anna left.

Last night me Erin, Vijay, and Vivek went to Shoreditch to meet Anna after going to dinner at Brick Lane. We went to this awesome hipster club called "Mother." It looked like an old dining room with a fire place and paintings and flowery wall paper. There was such an ecclectic mix of people there...a hardcore Jewish man, business men, drunk people, old ladies, and a ton of people break dancing.

I have to go do the dishes and finish packing but I'll post more when I can. Tomorrow morning my cab is coming to pick me up at 6 am and my flight is at 11:30. I'll arrive in Charlotte at 3:30pm and leave for Pittsburgh at 6pm.

M

[Day 96] Vaca

I feel like this is an alternate reality...a very strange vacation. It's kind of weird because I feel like I know what my life would be like if I were in America right now, but I'm not, I'm here. I love it.

Today Erin and I slept in pretty late. I woke up at noon and couldn't fall asleep after that, so I got together some of my stuff and then I decided to make mac and cheese for myself and Erin around 2. I had to go get butter and milk and right before I made it, Hannah called and told us that she, Vijay and Vivek were done at Tower of London and so we were going to meet them at Camden. Erin and I decided to make ramen really quickly instead, so we did that and then Erin checked her flight for tomorrow. It was the last thing that either of us expected, but her flight was canceled! We both couldn't believe it because it hadn't snowed in hours and it really wasn't that cold anymore.

Erin and I waited on the phone at least an hour trying to contact someone from British Airways. She finally got to talk to someone and eventually the only flight she could get on is a flight to DC on Thursday and then she had to buy her own connecting flight to Boston. So we're both flying out Thursday night and we'll be home for Christmas Eve!

Eventually after we figured out Erin's flight, we met the other three at Hyde Park. We were going to go ice skating but I didn't realize that they were special prices for the holidays and so we decided not to go because they were cold and it was expensive. Hyde Park's Winter Wonderland was really cool though, it was the biggest fair that I've been to in London yet. There were rides, food, games, and all kinds of things to buy.

Erin talked us all into going on rides. I can't remember what the one that I went on was called, but I went on it twice, once with Erin and once with Vijay and Vivek. It was kind of like the Swing Shot at Kennywood, except sideways. It was fun :) We walked around for a while longer before we left because it was cold.

We went to Whitechapel and went into the White Hart for a drink and to warm up. We watched a football game and played cards for a while before leaving.

We took the tube to Aldgate East and went to Brick Lane for dinner. It was so good! We stopped at the first restaurant on the street and Vijay talked them into 8 pounds per person with four courses and two rounds of drinks. I got chicken vindaloo, it was yummy. For some reason every time I ask for spicy they always raise their eyes and make sure I want spicy, as if I can't handle it. This place was spicy but not too spicy. I got vegetable pilau rice also, which actually wasn't awful considering I don't like rice.

We took a bus home and went to Flat 4 to hang out for a while before going to sleep. I'm having so much fun and even though I can't wait to get home, I don't want to leave.

M

[Day 95] Heart of Life

"I know it won't all go the way it should but I know the heart of life is good."

-John Mayer

Yesterday Vijay put his iTunes on my computer because I needed music, and now I have 4000 songs. "Heart of Life" by John Mayer was the first one to come on, I like that song. It describes this past week; mostly everyone's flights were canceled but we were all together at least and we all got to spend some extra time in London.

I'm personally having a good time. Yesterday all I did was go to Wetherspoon's and ate delicious lasagna and profiteroles. After dinner Erin and I helped Kate pack and then went to flat 4 with Anna to say bye to Sammie. Sammie's flight was scheduled to leave at 8am this morning so she was taking a cab at 3am. We got to her flat around 1:30 and all the lights were out in the hallways so me, Sammie, Anna, Erin, Kate, Vijay and Hannah played hide n go seek in the stairway. We walked Sammie out to her cab at 3 and then Erin, Kate and I sat on Kate's bed for an hour talking.

This morning Erin and I walked Kate to her cab at 8 and she went to the airport. I've talked to Sammie today and her flight was delayed at least 3 hours. I'm not sure about Kate, she should be on her plane right now. Today Erin and I are going to meet Vijay, Vivek and Hannah in central and go to the Imperial War Museum and then go ice skating. I'm supposed to figure out where we're going ice skating...there's the Natural History Museum, Hyde Park, Tower of London and the London Eye.

The most unfortunate part of this situation is my suitcases. They're all packed to the limit full of stuff and I kind of need clothes for the next three days. I also need my camera cord to upload pictures so I can find one to send in for my "Snowed in" article. Here is one picture that Sammie took of me on Westminster Bridge that I'm going to send to The X website.

Yesterday at Wetherspoon's the bartender started randomly talking to me when I was ordering dessert. She must have been really bored because she had me like awkwardly away from the rest of the group for 20 minutes. She started asking me about accents and where all of us are from and then she started explaining English accents and how everyone is very protective and proud of their accent because it says where you're from. She also asked about Christmas in America and said that England doesn't make as much of a big deal out of it as we seem to (decorating houses and such) because England is supposed to be "multicultural" and they don't want to offend anyone or be "racist." She said this is especially true in the East End because there are so many Muslims. She told me that during the World Cup this summer some people complained about the English flag being flown everywhere. (I'm not sure if I believe that, but who knows.) She said everyone here has to be really careful of what they do and say so that they're not "racist." She seemed angry about it since it was England in the first place they  should be allowed to fly the English flag and Christmas should be respected.

I find this all very interesting, maybe that's why I listened to her for so long, because all of that stuff she told me relates to my Villanova class. Basically what I learned in class is because of the UN Convention of 1951 Relating to the Status of Refugees, Britain has an international obligation to accept refugees. Beginning in the 1960's with the hippy peace loving age and everything, "multiculturalism" was the mindset of the government and the people, meaning that you could come to England as an immigrant or refugee and basically continue your life as if you were in your native country. After July 7, 2005 when the there were tube bombings, Britain changed its policy to "integration," meaning when you're here you should be integrated into British society (i.e. accept British values, learn English, etc). According to that bartender, integration hasn't hit yet, at least wherever she's been. I mean, I don't really see how it's hit the East End...but he was one of those professors that you couldn't argue with. He thought he knew so much that whatever you said was wrong, so there was no point in arguing with him. We were having a discussion about the makeup of the population of England and such and I tried to explain to him how Mile End is and he wasn't accepting it for some reason. It's not like I've lived here for three months or anything...of course he knows more.

Anyway the point is it was such a strange coincidence to have just written a paper about that and then randomly talk to a bartender about basically the same topic.

Now I need to write my article, wake up Erin and find clothes for today.

M