Friday started out well. I went to 'The Space', which is a pub that is no more than a 5 minute walk from school. It was good to hang out with people you spend every day with in a more relaxed and social setting. It was also nice because we were able to vent about work stuff, which I'm not always able to do with people that know what I'm talking about, since my Canadian friends all work at different schools. Learned that one teacher is/was a palm reader (she hasn't 'read' in 5 years), so we were all examining each others hands. Also found out that our deputy head is turning 38 this year, and has a list of '38 new things' to do before her birthday. After 3 pints with them, I went up to North London, and meet my friends Jess and Jordan in a pub near Angel station for some more drinks. We talked about how glad we were that it was Friday, and how annoying work is. We also spent a significant amount of time discussing whether Michael Jackson is talented or just more of a freak now. Either way it was unanimous that we'd all love to see him live (just announced 10 dates in London in July). After 3 more pints (!!) I made my way to Angel station and caught the last train home.
Saturday started out a little rough, no surprise there. It was nice to relax and veg out for a bit though. I managed to catch some 'Scrubs' on t.v. which was nice, because there can be some pretty horrendous daytime t.v. programming here (think Snooker, horse races and Antiques Road Show, a show that I will never understand the appeal of). Then I got myself together and met up with friends for a bbq in Canada Water (area of London, where a lot of Aussies, and South Africans live, oddly enough). It was great to hang out with people in a house party setting, which I'm used to from back home. We ate some great food (I was missing yellow mustard on my burger, but survived), and played a great game that I know from home as 'The Bowl Game', but the person who was teaching it calls is 'Names in a Hat'. Either way, it's awesome. It was a bit tricky for him to get the instructions out though, as some members were already a few drinks in. The game has 3 rounds, and we barely made it through the first. I'm looking forward to playing again, in a more 'serious' setting. I'm also a bit psycho when it comes to games, and not playing them properly. I realized that about myself Saturday night. We had an interesting bus ride home, where we were on the top level of the bus, at the front, trying to show the whole bus we were having way more fun than them by cheering and laughing, pretending the bus was a roller coaster, and lifting our arms up and then not talking and shushing each other at red lights. Not sure how that came about. Then the bus broke down (not the first time, thanks for the reliable transport London) right outside London Bridge station, and I hopped on the second last train again. Whew!
Sunday, I went to Clapham, which is an area more south of the river than where I live. It was nice to wander around a new neighbourhood, and see what's there. There is a huge park/green space/open field area there, and when I was there, the sun was shining and the sky was blue and everyone was taking advantage. One of the great things about London is the frequency and size of parks and also in how they're used. In Toronto I would gladly walk through the parks in the downtown area, but would never really spend any significant amount of time in them. Here, people pack lunches, bring blankets and frisbees and make a whole day of it. Then, I met up with Jess and Jordan again in Shoreditch which is a trendy area in East London. We had some drinks at a bar called 'Ziggy von Underbelly'. Really cool bar in a neat square, with lots of other cool bars around. About 2 pints in we renamed Sunday, Funday.
So thats about it. Exciting things coming up include visits from Kyla and Brent, and Linsday from back home, who are visiting over March break and my long weekend in Paris at the end of the month. Looks like Cousin Jeff will be visiting over the Easter break in April, and we're thinking of hitting up Ireland while he's here as well. I'm having a hard time believing that after this week, there is only 4 full weeks left until the Easter holiday.
Until next time!
~h
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