Oh, What a Week! Part One... Monday 1/18/10

After the complete and utter slothness of my first week back in England (due in part to jet lag and lotslotslots of work), I decided to reverse the trend and do lots of stuff over my second week.

BOY DID I EVER!

Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures to post because I haven't charged Robert the Bruce (my camera) in several weeks, but I figured that my loyal readers could enjoy a narrative post (posts?) instead.

On Monday I was still shaking off the cobwebs from last week. I don't have any classes, so I met up with an old friend from American University who is also studying here this term. *Sidenote--- it's crazy how many AU kids are here. There's probably 40-50 of us in London alone...* I met up with him at the British Museum, and we tooled around for a while. Even though I live about 5 minutes away, this is only my 3rd or 4th time going to the BM. I've stopped doing the touristy things in London, because I figure I have all the time in the world! In reality, the clock is always ticking... Since my friend was unfamiliar with the West End, I dragged him through Covent Garden and down St. Martins lane to Trafalgar Square. Every time I get used to London, every time it feels like just another city, I see Nelson's column and remember just how lucky I am to be here.

I put my friend on a bus back to his dorm, but my walk wasn't over. I love wandering around, letting my feet carry me through back streets and unknown neighborhoods. It's the best way to learn a city. I know my stomping ground pretty well, so I decided to cover some new territory out by Coram's Fields. It's a cool area, especially down by Lamb's Conduit Street--- lots of international restaurants, boutique shops, and unique pubs. I stumbled across something that I never knew existed, even though I walk past it almost every day. Red Lion Square is a little patch of green, hidden between two major roads. Funny what you can find...

Later I hooked up with some of my LSE friends for yoga and dinner. We're all members of the LSE yoga club, but none of us did it over the Christmas holiday. Bad news bears... What started as a beginner's class last term has now graduated up to intermediate. Needless to say, we were all a little intimidated by that. Our teacher loves to put us through our paces, and she really brought out the stops. She tried to teach us how to put our feet behind our heads--- maybe in a few months. LOL.

We were starving, so we trekked to Covent Garden for Ben's Cookies... a perfectly marvelous post-yoga snack! 6 cookies for £6 ain't bad. After regaining our strength from the crumbly goodness that is Ben's cookies, we went to one of my favorite restaurants in London--- East Thai on Drury Lane.

Excellent Thai food for great prices! This is my favorite local place because it's right around the corner. Especially recommend the Pad Thai!

Thus commenced the busiest week EVER.

Thanksgiving!

Ah, Thanksgiving. A time honored American tradition...

So how do the Brits do it?

Not quite as good as Mom's, but not too shabby either. My study abroad program put together a nice little spread (out of the 300 people in the General Course, the overwhelming majority of us are American), which was great because it meant that I didn't have to try and cook a turkey by myself. That would have exhausted my cooking skills and would probably result in me burning my dorm down.

The catering staff got most of it right, but a few things struck me as odd:

1) They put orange juice on the table. ???? I wasn't aware that orange juice was a traditional Thanksgiving drink! Thanks for the enlightenment!

2) They posted a sign of words associated with the holiday, and included "jesus". I realize that Thanksgiving has religious elements for a lot of Americans, but what about the pilgrims? Thanksgiving is a secular holiday about family and realizing what's good in life, not Jesus.

3) They had something called nut loaf instead of stuffing. I'm a big fan of stuffing, so this annoyed me a bit. You can kind of see it peeking out from behind the sweet potatoes. Someone thought it was a giblet... thankfully it wasn't!

The girls! When people told me that they were getting dressed up, I thought they mean dressed up. Here I come in wearing fancy makeup, nice curly hair (although you can't really tell from this picture), and a sparkly dress... and find that I'm WAY overdressed. OOPS!
Barbara's mulled wine. SOOOOO GOOD! I'd give you the recipe, but then I'd have to kill you. I nearly died myself!
Ah, the bakers victorious! This is right before the moment of truth...
Sitting around, watching the football game. People wandered in, slightly confused, before we told them it was Thanksgiving. Some people even tried some pie!

OK, OFFICIALLY OFFICIALLY BACK. I MEAN IT THIS TIME.

Most of my computer bugs have been sorted out now. Aside from losing a few docs and photos, I'm now completely operational! I finally uploaded all my photos from the past two months now that I'm positive they won't disappear into the ether.

And now, as promised...