More Rugby...

A correction from my last post. I am "knackered," not "knickered," seeing that knickers are underwear. I'm tired, not getting "underweared." Dang it!

Anyway...

So tonight’s big match is France/New Zealand. I start going for New Zealand for the following reasons: England doesn’t like France, and I’m in England. I want to move to New Zealand after next summer, if it’s possible. The French are pansies and I don’t want to go for the team that will surely lose. Well, I’m sitting in a little bar near my hostel nursing a Guinness (of course), smiling as New Zealand scores a tri (a touchdown for us who love American football) and I give a little congratulatory “alright!” Go figure: the guy who has been standing next to me for the last 15 minutes is French, and I didn’t even realize it. So, I’ve already pissed off the French, and that’s not a good start, seeing that I’m not even in France.

My next job here is to learn about rugby: what the rules are, who is good and who is bad, ad how this tournament is going to go. England beat Australia earlier today. New Zealand is ahead 16-13 with about 15:30 to go in the second half. I don’t’ know if the winner will play England, but I do know that for my own sake, I hope England wins. That way I’ll have a bunch of happy British around that won’t be mad when I ask them directions.

Before my Guinness, I was walking around Russell Square – where my hostel is – looking for something to eat. I walked by a guy selling giant “hot dogs” which turned out to be sausages for about £2.50. I’ve never had a better sausage, especially with the onions. After that, I found the bar to wash it down, and to wash down the second course (the Guinness), I decided to try what everybody seemed to be getting: Magner’s. Magner’s is an Irish cidre (yeah, that’s spelled correctly), and the bottle contained a lot more than I thought it did. When she said it cost £3.70, I was kind of appalled. Then I opened the bottle, and it didn’t seem to end. It’s neat because they give you this bottle, which is basically two pints, and a glass with ice in it. So after the French missed what we would consider a field goal, the French guy left, and I enjoyed my Magner’s to the end. Now it’s 9:36pm, and I’m going to watch the last nine minutes of the match with some Chinese guy with long hair yelling and pounding the table, who is obviously a fan of France. Tomorrow I hope to be able to tell you what a Russian Orthodox Liturgy in London is like, as well as what it’s like watching American football, although not the Colts since they don’t play until 10pm here. So, goodnight everyone, and Cheers!