Comedic Relief

I've been meaning to post this for a while now (definition of procrastination), but after acquiring the last piece of the puzzle, or what I would call the piece d'oevre, posting was imminent.

Before further ado I present to you things that made me laugh in London, and deserved a photo.

T.

Ps. The last picture was the icing on the cake (maybe literally).

Really, my own 'on' camera?

High Streets all over London...

Tesco's latest offering. I'll pass, thanks.

Home sick....

Although this title can be interpreted in two very different ways, it perfectly sums up my current situation. Despite being here for almost 3 months now, there are daily reminders of things I desire from home, and most of all friends and family that I miss seeing and spending time with. Don't get me wrong, our time here so far has been phenomenal, and I am in no way intending to come off as complainy. There is so much that we have available at our fingertips left to explore and experience. The opportunity to hop on a plane for little cost, only to find ourselves in a completely different culture within an hour or two, is simply priceless. To be able to say that we live in London, we live in Europe, feels fantastic. Planning summer trips to France, Portugal, and anywhere else our budget can take us fills me with a giddy sense of euphoria (if that makes sense). Despite this I do miss my family, and the simple pleasures we take for granted sometimes, in terms of being able to spend time with those that mean so much to us. I am happy though that I am spending time with one individual that means so much to me and has made moving to a new country with one suitcase and two carry-ons so much easier and incredibly fulfilling. I am proud of the simple fact that we've been able to accomplish so many amazing goals in such a short amount of time. First off, I never really envisioned myself living in Europe essentially right out of the gate (with the metaphorical gate being university). I had a pipe dream of one day possibly moving to a sun soaked country to spend my days teaching English and my time off traveling and enjoying the "good life". I can say with confidence that I am living the good life, generally speaking, and that I am living in a sun soaked country (minus the sun part for the past month or so, but that's but a minor detail). Secondly, the idea of traveling was one that we both agreed had to be taken advantage of (in the best way one can take advantage of something). We have already visited Ukraine (read about my venture behind the iron curtain), and spent time exploring Britain as well (last minute planning isn't always as glamorous as it's made out to be). Finally, we are both working consistently in a line of work that we are both passionate about (and were trained to do).
When you think about it, there isn't much I should be complaining about. Except maybe the fact that I am currently at home sick (literally), but nobody likes a complainer.

Londinium

Wow.

That is the first thing I say when asked about London living so far. The sights, the crowds, the weather, the architecture, the art, the culture.....one word, Europe. In the week and a half that both V and I have been here, we've taken the opportunity (the non-working variety) to explore as much as we could, and to see as many things as possible before work kicks in to high gear this week. We have also gotten many things accomplished from the time we've arrived, highlighted in V's previous post regarding London. I will not re-hash what has already been made public in terms of what our first days were like, but will instead highlight some interesting observations I have made during our time here so far.

1. Bathroom is called the loo. Why...not sure, it just is.

2. London is not an expensive city....flats can be expensive, but everyday spending in some cases can be even cheaper than back home. (ie. cell phone plan, cheese, wine, etc)

3. Pubs close early...11 pm usually.

4. Sunday nights are dead after 8:30-9 pm, especially when looking for food.

5. Every part of the city is a "bad neighbourhood" (except for maybe central London), depending on who you ask. Exploring and living in areas, are the only ways to know for real.

6. Red tape and paperwork always cause delays....not matter how well you prepared.

7. Coffee is very different from back home...the notion of a filtered coffee (aka regular coffee found anywhere and everywhere) does not exist here. The closest equivalent would be an Americano, a fusion of drip coffee and an espresso.

8. The notion of public wi-fi at cafes and restaurants, is not a common one here.

9. The tube is incredibly efficient, especially when compared to the "rocket" in TO and the Metro in Mtl.

10. Passion for football and £3 pints makes for an interesting atmosphere come game day. 

That's it for now, many more observations will undoubtedly continue to be made throughout our time here. Enjoy!

T.

A Christmas Miracle....

It's 2:00 pm. The invigilators do not have the exam.
Typical.
I wonder why this always happens.
No body knows where the papers are! What to do?
The poor nervous man stands in front of obedient students.
Fidgeting, blinking more than usual. Pacing and looking at his desk.
Re-reading a set of instructions that tell him to first hand out the exam booklets.
I feel like he wants to scream "WHAT @#$%*&! EXAM BOOKLETS?!...
But doesn't.
He walks out of the room.
Walks back in.
Looks out of the small window in the door.
Nothing.
No exams.
We all wait.
Heads are being held up by fists, deforming faces.
Eyes are blankly staring at nothing.
Thinking about nothing even remotely close to the exam.
That is old news now...Minds have drifted.
We should have been writing by now.
The man is still looking out the window onto the empty yellow hallway.
The girl in front of me to my left is picking violently at her finger nails
yuck...they might bleed.
He is good looking though. There is something about his nervous smile. He reminds me of someone.
His glasses are awesome. Big old school frames.
He doesn't even know they are cool. But I'm sure he was cool guy when younger.
Nice cheekbones for an older man.
He leaves again.
He's back with a man that resembles Santa
...and look! Jolly old St.Nick has brought the Christmas miracle.
Out prof, who wears tacky shirts in his online lectures
and who looks like a nervous pedophile is also "dumb"-Santa said so.
"Don't laugh...You have a dumb prof"
- No one laughed except for Mr. Nervous,
look out the window, nice cheekbones man.
Now we wait.
"Don't panic" says Santa.
Why would be panic? Is the room going to blow up?
Are the exams so hard that we won't have time?! Panic?
Who is panicking...
This pen is leaving black marks on my fingers.
Argh.

V.

A little unexpected bed time story find...

So...as we roamed around Chapters on a cold and rainy afternoon, we stumbled upon this wonderfully hysterical/wildly inappropriate children's book titled "Go the Fuck to Sleep" by Adam Mansbach...I could not resit snapping a few shots...Here is a sneak peak to 2011s best selling children's book for adults.

You can also listen to a reading of the whole story by none other than Samuel L. Jackson...enjoy :)

V.