It's About Time

FINALLY!! So did anybody really expect me to make it to Liturgy and be able to relate anything to you? Good, I hope not. I couldn’t get to sleep till about 2 again, so waking up and actually being able to find the church wasn’t going to happen. Instead, I woke up around 11:30am, threw on some clothes and went to find the church, that way I won’t miss it next time. Well, I walked around trying to find breakfast beforehand, and decided to just have McDonald’s because it is much more affordable to pay £4 for that than £10 at a pub. McDonald’s also has free wi-fi so that was a bonus. Now I have really don’t need to pay for internet at all. I’m so ready to get my own place so I can just have internet through the phone line or something!!!

I took the tube to Knightsbridge, which is basically the Carmel of London. Harrod’s is there, which is a huge mall, basically like the Magnificent Mile of Chicago. Anyway, I started walking in what I thought was the right direction out of the station. Luckily I did, because I found the phone store that I had been looking for and it was actually open. So I went in and got a phone. Now that I’m back and looking at it, I realized that I actually paid £10 worth of a phone. This thing looks like the Motorola SLVR back home, but works like Dad’s first cell phone in 1996. After I get a job and start making some money, I’ll have to get a new one because this barely has a phonebook. The screen and pixilation is so old-school that when I put Hadley in my phone book, it comes out like HAdLEy. Pretty funny really. But you know what? I’m going to have this phone for a small time and it’s going to serve it’s purpose just fine. So I’m happy.

Anyway, after I bought the phone, I continued heading in the wrong direction. When I realized I had gotten to Hyde Park, which was the opposite direction from where I wanted to go, I turned around and eventually found the church. It’s a nice looking church, tucked away in a very ritzy part of Knightsbridge. Only the best for the Russians. I got there and it didn’t look like an Orthodox church so I had to ask somebody, and it was. There was a wedding getting ready to start, so I didn’t go in.

I don’t have anything to do for a little while now, so I’m going to charge my computer while I take a nap, then I’m heading to meet Hadley to watch the Colt’s. The Cubs didn’t win a playoff game, so that’s no fun. But at least they didn’t win the World Series when I wasn’t around. So good day everyone, and cheers…

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!

British Stores are Closed on Saturdays

I wanted to buy a phone today, but I forgot that most British stores like that will close on the weekends. Yay.

Today’s internal clock seems to still be on American time. I couldn’t go to sleep for the life of me until around 2ish – which would be about 10:00pm back home –even though I had been walking and was exhausted. But that makes sense, seeing that if I had been walking all day back home, I’d have been just as knickered and would have crashed around 10:00 anyway. So, I eventually fell asleep whilst the party in my hostel continued (they had an Oktoberfest till 4am, apparently), and I woke up today around 1pm.

I went to get a shower, had to change my card for the luggage room because mine didn’t work, again, and found I had to dry my towel because there’s no safe place to hang it. So, 50p ($1) and ten minutes later, my towel was dry and I got a shower. I walked around Bloomsbury and Holborn a little, just trying to figure out which was north and south, so maybe next time I won’t get lost. I stopped in a Café Nero for some food, got a caffe mocha and an egg and sprout sandwich, and was on my way. Yeah, and as small as that food was, it cost me £3.50. So $7 for what should cost about $2. Yeah. So I continued on my walk around, trying to learn the way, and continued getting my legs sore. I found a small corner pub called the Cawthorne Arms where the rugby match between England and Australia was on. Australia ahead 10-6 (and no, I don’t know what that means), and I grabbed a £3.10 Guinness (still delicious though), and tried to map out some sights to see today. I decided on Westminster Abbey and London Tower, which are only a couple of stops down the tube, so about 10 minutes away. I could walk there in about 20, but what the hey, right? While I was there, a couple of older chaps sat down behind me and watched the game, criticizing both teams as they watched. A group of young lads and girls watched the game with their bitters, Bulmers’, and Guinness’s and some plates of food, and they reminded me of the group from Indy back home, except only a couple of them were married. But they were laughing and joking and watching the game with as much enthusiasm as we watch our beloved Colts.

I didn’t go to London Bridge or Westminster Abbey yet, although I might have enough time before Vespers. I’m going to try to get to Vespers around 5:30 at the Russian Cathedral of the Dormition of the Mother of God and All Saints in Knightsbridge. I certainly hope it’s in English, but even if it’s not, it will be nice to have a piece of home here. Last night, for the first time so far, I wanted to be home, mainly because of Men’s Group and some JBC’s from Wendy’s. But today, sitting in that pub, I really think I’m going to enjoy myself here. Once I get my job and actually get settled in, this is going to be an amazing place. If my only worry is whether or not I should get Guinness or a bitter, I should be in good shape. And any decent paying job - £7ish/hr for 35hr/week, which is almost all of them in London – will assure me that is my only worry.

I’m looking forward to the days ahead, but trying to stay in the moment, here and now, and not thinking about the past. I want to be able to come home in May and say I had an amazing time, saw everything I wanted to see, experienced the best, drank good wine and good beer, had good food, and made good friends. Because if I come home wishing or thinking ‘what if,’ then what am I doing at all? So here’s to the next few months. Here’s to finding a job. Here’s to Vespers tonight and Liturgy tomorrow being in English. Here’s to England just winning the match and advancing in the Rugby World Cup (that should make for a few good parties later tonight). Here’s to my next password to get onto the wireless internet in my hostel being “turdle” – I guess the British can’t spell “turtle” Here’s to my next pint and to your new comments.

Cheers everyone!