England 2002
Diary Entry 1
Notes: This newsletter is long. I know that. I meant to keep it
light, but it still turned out to be one hearty meal. Read at your
own risk. I can’t promise you wild things like tea with the queen,
or wild car chases down the Chunnel. The summary sums it up though.
You can read just that, or digest the whole thing. Up to you. Soup’s
on!
Summary:
I made it to England. After a warm first day, the weather
has been cold and all clouds. It’s hard to dress for it since it’s
cold outdoors and warm indoors. The people are nice for the most
part. The food is fine, and sometimes quite good. London is full
of things to do and has 5825 pubs. They tell you that on the plane
ride over. I’ve been to pubs and clubs. School is nice but some
chairs are rather hard and it’s tough to sit in place for 1 to 2
hours at a time. No big trips yet.
If you want a postcard, just reply back with your mailing address.
Don’t compare them with your friends though, because I mainly buy
the same postcard picture for everyone. I will however write personal
greetings. Who could ask for anything more?
You’re also more than welcome to send regular post to:
James Koponen
AIFS Student Center
Dilke House
Malet Street
London WC1E 7JN
United Kingdom
And it’s no crime to mail candy or snacks. Really, it’s not. That’s
all of the main news. The full newsletter (September 12-17) follows.
September 12th, 2002 (Pleasanton, CA)
The air was filled with bittersweet emptiness. I sat at my desk
trying to figure out last minute things to do. Not easy. Many things
could be done, but still, nothing HAD to be done. All truly pressing
issues had been wrapped up, and now I sat waiting for the car to
come. The day had arrived. The hour was present, and the minute
was duly approaching.
Then the doorbell rang. Terry came inside. We grabbed the luggage
and headed out to the car. I returned inside and took a final look
around the house. It would be quite different when I returned. I’m
not a huge fan of change. My roots grow deep and I’m pretty well
settled in. Yet sometimes the winds of change are too strong. When
I return in December, my brother will have moved out of the house.
Perhaps new roommates will have moved in. I hope. Renting a house
with two people isn’t cheap.
Driving to the airport was uneventful. I wasn’t just leaving town,
I was leaving summer as well. Sure, summer would end soon anyway.
But this is abrupt. I’m going from 90 plus to cold minus. When I
return, December will be in session. Warm days are over.
Forget comedy; timing is vital in so many other areas of life.
After saying farewell to Terry, I got into the check-in line. The
line was short. Yeah short! Yet things changed a few minutes after
that. As I finished checking in my bags, I turned back to notice
the line had quickly grown from a quick wait to a long one hour
wait. Yikes! That was close.
I waited in the boarding area for around 3 hours. During that time,
I started to make a few friends for the journey ahead. Soon, we
were boarding the plane and sitting down for the long flight. It
was long, but uneventful. Each seat was equipped with a nice 8-inch
monitor in front of it. This provided hours of fun-filled entertained.
Er, that’s dependant on the viewer being a Sandra Bullock fan. Four
of the showing movies were Sandra Bullock movies. While I don’t
dislike her, I’m not a huge fan of her either. My entertainment
cache was therefore instantly halved.
The meals were good and the flight went by sort of fast considering
it was 10 hours long. Sleeping was next to impossible. I was just
too uncomfortable for that. Eventually, we arrived at London. Daylight
was upon us. Back in the U.S., it would have been 2am, but we were
now faced with 10am London time. A 15-minute delay kept us circling
over the airport. But we finally touched down. I was now in England.
September 13th, 2002 (London)
Picking up our luggage was not a problem. But getting through customs
would take a mighty long time. The line just went on and on. It
was like being at an amusement park and waiting in line for the
big ride. Only thing was – we weren’t waiting to get on a cool fun
ride; we had taken the ride, and stood in line to get off.
Once through customs (a one hour line), we met up with the AIFS
(American Institute of Foreign Study) lady, and she took us to busses.
Another hour was spent waiting for everyone to finish passing through
customs. We then boarded the busses and drove out.
One of the girls pointed out that the steering wheel was on the
wrong side of the bus. Yes, it was a tired old joke, but someone
needed to get it out of the way. She was kind enough to do the deed.
Others were kind enough to laugh along. I tried to laugh, but couldn’t.
Really though. I did try.
Nevertheless, when we drove out, it was quite different to watch
traffic from the left side of the road. It takes time to get used
to it, and no matter how much I tell myself to ‘Think Left’, every
time the driver makes a right turn, deep inside my reaction is ‘Augh!
What the @#$# are you doing!?! Trying to get us all killed?’
The roads are very small and filled with tiny cars squeezing about.
I didn’t see any accidents, which was somewhat amazing considering
the gaps between the bus and other cars or people were a matter
of only a few inches. I’ll say one thing about driving in England
-- it’s precise!
In London, we came to our stop – the Dilke House. This is where
our student AIFS center was. I call it Home Base. Next door to that
is the University of London. We unloaded again and after a brief
meeting, most of us had some time to kill. Small groups of people
walked down the streets of London to find food and drink. My group
finally settled down at a small deli shop. A tad full from the airplane
food, I only ordered a coke. It was. 60 pence which equated to about
$.90 of American money. Not a great bargain, but hey, the can’s
label was in German. I found this fact rather neat. Another in our
group pointed out that the can was smaller than US Cokes. I’m no
coke connoisseur so I wasn’t able to tell. I then got the bright
idea to check the can and view the ounces. An American coke is 12
ounces. After inspecting the can, I got the specs -- .33 liters.
Er, well, that didn’t help. I guess I could have tried to figure
out the mathematical equivalent, but I found it easier to just have
a coke and a smile and simply forget about it.
Still, I couldn’t get over my cool new German coke can. I remarked
that maybe I should take it home as my first souvenir. The girl
next to me, Elizabeth, asked why would I do that? I said “Well because
it’s German.” Another girl, Randi, said “I’m German, you can take
me home with you.”
I’m not positive, but I think she may have been flirting with me.
Ah, you just gotta love this city. Come to think of it, she’s American.
Well, you just gotta love what this town does to people. Smashing
baby, smashing.
After lunch, we returned to the Dilke House (Home Base). The lady
there called up my family and they were ready for my presence. A
cab was then called and I waited for it to arrive. 20 minutes later,
I was inside a small taxi heading for my new home. Arriving there
would take some time. It was after 4pm on a Friday and traffic was
thick. London has some 9 million people in it. It doesn’t take a
large percentage of them to fill up the roads. It was stop and go
traffic all the way – and more stop than go. Sure, it could have
been a nice opportunity to see the streets of London, but my eyes
were too heavy to see much of anything. I needed sleep. I needed
sleep fast!
Finally, the cab reached our destination – Lauradale Road. The
houses look very similar in their design, but each one has so much
character to make it unique. The style is fantastic. Flowers and
shrubs grow abundantly and flow over all the fences and gates. It’s
what one would picture old English two story houses to be. Yet,
nothing can describe it like a good picture, so I’ll soon be capturing
my humble abode on film. Well, technically, it’s not film, it would
be an array of 1’s and 0’s on a memory card. Never mind, just view
the picture when I post it.
I exited the cab, grabbed my luggage and tipped the cab driver.
I’m told we don’t tip much here. And we certainly don’t tip cab
drivers. But so far, I’m unable to comply with this rule. I had
to give him a couple of pounds. However, don’t worry. I’ll break
this habit eventually. And I’ll get used to not tipping, come home,
eat out, and have waitresses spill hot coffee all over me and curse
my good name.
I knocked on the door and Dorris answered. She was kind and friendly
leaving me assured from her first hello that I was in a good home.
She invited me inside and gave me a quick tour of the house. After
which, she made us some tea. She offered tea OR coffee and I am
a coffee fiend, but I’m in England now and I should adapt to local
customs and drink tea. During our chat, her husband Martin came
home and I made his acquaintance as well. That was it for introductions.
It is just the two of them. They are a retired couple. She had been
a psychiatrist and he was a probation officer. They’re extremely
friendly people and should be no trouble to live with.
After tea, we all took a walk down a few blocks to see the neighborhood
and they showed me the path to the local Tube stop (the tube is
the London underground subway station). During which time, my stomach
began to twist and turn. It wasn’t fond of being dead empty and
having nothing but strong tea poured into it. A nauseous feeling
came over me, but I had to fight it. I didn’t care to have my first
impression of me be vomiting up their first cup of tea. In time,
the feeling subsided, but I knew I had to eat soon. When we returned
to the apartment, they asked me to join them for dinner. It was
a custom in their household to have the student for dinner on the
first night. Not a problem. It is a custom for me to never turn
down a free dinner.
I went up to my room and unpacked. After that, I sat back and waited
for dinner. But this would be no easy task. I was extremely fatigued
at this point, and 45 more minutes would not be easy to pass. Every
time I shut my eyes, they fought desperately to stay closed. TV
didn’t help either. I was fading fast. In time, the dinner announcement
came and I happily trotted down the stairs to enjoy my first English
dinner.
People my say what they like about English food, but I had absolutely
no trouble with it. The meal was large and contained chicken with
curry, squash and peas, noodles and rice, and bread and butter.
It was large enough to fill me up. During dinner, I received a dose
of another custom. But it’s not primarily English. It’s the kind
host instinct of not feeling there is enough food on the guest’s
plate. “Here, have some more…” is the common phrase and it’s simultaneously
done with a spoonful of something or another being added to my plate.
There’s no denying the offer. There’s no saying “Thank you, but
I’m full…” The food is coming. End of story. Though, it’s not a
bad thing. The dinner was delicious and more peas and squash meant
I was getting more healthy vitamins. I graciously accepted the gesture
and ate everything on my plate. After dinner, I was offered some
plums or ice cream for dessert. As full as I was, I just could not
fathom turning down ice cream. So I accepted the offer and soon
ice cream AND plums were before me. Yeah, I wouldn’t be hungry for
some time. As our meal was winding down, I also happened to notice
that we had no liquids for dinner. Oddly enough, I didn’t happen
to notice that during dinner, just afterwards.
Dinner being done, I retired to my room. I did a small bit of typing,
but I was spent. At that point, I had been up for over 24 hours.
I had caught a few quick and ineffective winks of sleep during the
plane ride over, but the fact remained – I was spent.
At 8pm, I retired for the night.
September 14th, 2002
At 4am, I woke up. No big surprise, eight hours had passed since
I fell asleep. My body was ready to shake rattle and roll. But this
just wouldn’t do. Not much was happening at 4am. I returned to bed.
It was at that point that the real feeling of “what on earth am
I doing here?” occurred. I was thousands of miles from home, sleeping
in a strange new place, and my life was considerably going to be
different for three months. Before leaving for England, I had figured
that I would have no feelings like that at all. Yet, it did occur.
For a moment in the night, I was homesick. I fell back asleep.
Around 8am, I got up refreshed and ready to start the day. Moments
afterwards, Dorris called up and asked if I wanted any coffee. “Yes,
please” I returned. Yes, I realize that I said I’d be drinking tea
while in England, but this was morning and morning doesn’t count.
I needed my coffee. I’ll save ‘being English’ for afternoons and
evenings.
Minutes later, Martin brought a cup of coffee up to my room. “This
is nice.” I thought, “This is mighty nice!” I sipped my coffee,
typed a little and then got ready for my morning meeting. Once out
the door, I headed down to the Tube station and bought a ticket
to Goodge Street. That was where the school was closest.
Once on the train, I noticed a girl whom I thought was in the same
program. Yet, I couldn’t tell. It’s hard to recognize 200 new people
right away. Our train was rapidly approaching Camden station. This
was the final station before the fork in the tracks and the train
would go the wrong direction for the school. In other words, it
was transfer time. I noticed however, that the girl was not making
a move to get off the train. Part of me said, “Say something to
her and let her know.” But another part of me said “Wait, that’s
not her. Don’t look like an idiot. And maybe this is the right train
after all.” A choice needed to made fast. The doors were about to
open. The question was simple: is it worse to allow someone to fall
into a pit, or is it worse to pull someone into a pit? I pondered
it a moment. The doors opened and I exited the train…alone.
I met a few others at the Tube exit and followed them to the University
of London Student Union (ULU). I didn’t bother to memorize the path.
This would return to haunt me later.
We arrived at the UNU and went to the meeting room. It was packed.
200 students were in there. It began at 10am and several speeches
were made. We finished around 1pm and the rest of the day was open.
A few students planned on going to dinner and a club at 8pm. I agreed
to join them. But for the time being, a group was going to the Thames
festival and I joined along. The festival was nice and street performers
were all around. Many of them pretended to be statues. They would
remain still until you tipped them. At which point they would do
crazy movements. One would extend his hand for you to shake, and
he would then refuse to let you go. It was interesting. In America,
the performers harass you and you pay them to leave you be. But
here, they ignore you and you pay to be harassed.
The festival’s main way of grabbing you was in the smells though.
All down the path, wonderful aromas abounded. Things smelled richer
and sweeter than I’d ever smelled before. It was so pleasant to
take in these smells. I was hesitant to eat anything because I knew
that after I had eaten, the smells would not be as strong to me.
See? Starvation has its perks.
When we finished there, it was past 7pm. I had to be at the meeting
place at 8pm, so I raced home and got ready. I made it back to the
Tube around 8pm and headed down town. It was dark when I exited
the Tube and I wasn’t sure where the school was. I took a guess
and began walking. About 20 minutes later, I came to the conclusion
that my guess was wrong and I spent another 15 minutes trying to
find my way back. Once back, I consulted a posted map and headed
out again. I was only lost for 5 minutes this time before I finally
broke down and asked someone for directions. Ack! I was headed 180
degrees in the wrong direction. But a few minutes after that, I
arrived.
The group was small. Only 3 other people showed up. Originally
about 8 or 9 had planned on coming. Interest must have been lost
during the day. But the 4 of us waited around for any possible latecomers.
There were none. We headed off to find a bar. Not a problem though
since 5825 pubs are in London. We were soon seated in a nice pub
with beers in hand. Mine was a Heineken, which I got for a steal
of a price at 2 pounds, 60 pence. If you do the math, the steal
is them taking from me. This stuff ain’t cheap!
From the pub, we walked around London and ended up in some odd,
odd places. After passing the main tourist area, we ventured into
an area, which was probably the gay center of London. It was vastly
apparent by the passerby’s on the street which had no qualms with
expressing their uh, lifestyles. We made it through that district
and then found ourselves in the triple x part of town. Out of one
wild area and into another (London has some very diverse places
inside of it). We exited that area and finally found a club to enter.
We asked about the cover charge. The bouncers and club made us feel
quite at home by enlightening us of a nice little tradition found
in America –sexism. The girls got in for free. Guys had to pay 3
pounds. I didn’t mind too much actually. This kept the ratio about
even.
Inside it was beyond crowded. The place was jam-packed. We ordered
a few drinks. I’m not sure what I had, though I do know it cost
me 5 pounds. That’s over $7.50! It was strawberry vodka or something
like that. I couldn’t taste any alcohol. Randi (one of the girls)
informed me that that was the joy of the drink – you couldn’t taste
the alcohol. But I drank it all down and felt absolutely nothing.
Wait a second. A drink with alcohol that you can’t taste and has
no intoxicating effect?!? That’s not a mixed drink; that’s fruit
punch. And that’s not a great bargain, not at $7.50.
But that’s part of the game. Alcohol isn’t cheap here. After drinks,
we went downstairs where Randi and Goalie took off to the dance
floor. They were never seen again. It was getting late and the Tube
would stop running soon. Alex informed them that it was time to
go, and they opted to stay there and take a taxi home. I found a
nearby Tube station and returned home. It was a fun and busy day.
September 15th, 2002
Sunday was a morning of rest. I slept in until 9:20 and then got
up. Yeah, 9:20 is sleeping in. I don’t know how that is, but I just
felt done sleeping at that point. The morning was quiet and peaceful,
and around 11:30, I headed down town. On the tube, I ran into Nicole.
By the way, Nicole was the same girl I saw on the train the day
before, and yes, she indeed was part of the program and did miss
her stop. I had apologized for that error and helped her understand
the Tube program a little better.
We went over to the school. I was done getting lost for the weekend.
I can now find the school all by myself. I’m so proud. When we arrived,
we noticed that we were the only ones that showed up. A group of
us had agreed to meet there at 12pm and attend the Bodyworks exhibit
at a museum. After an hour’s wait, we concluded that we were the
only ones who had decided to go. This was complicated by the fact
that we had no idea where the museum was and Vanessa had the only
brochure. The day was spent wandering around the streets of London
and exploring things. We found a nice place for lunch that didn’t
charge too much. And we also found a nice bagel shop that would
be a great stop off place before school.
We then stopped by an Internet shop. Nicole bought a 3 month unlimited
Internet use ticket. I paid for an hour of time. The hour went by
quickly but I got a lot done. After that, we headed over to a Bedford
square to rest for an hour or two. The daylight finally began to
wane and we headed back home once again. Nothing huge or spectacular
happened that day, but it was a great day nevertheless.
September 16, 2002
First day of school. My shower went into overtime, and I missed
my chance to eat breakfast. I jogged down to the Tube station and
climbed aboard a train. Morning commute was thick, but no worse
than BART. I went to my first two classes and then had a break.
At 3:30, I attended my last class until 5:30 and was done with school
for the day. There’s not a whole lot to say regarding the classes.
They’re interesting enough, but it’s hard to stay indoors when London
is right outside (I say this as I spend the entire Tuesday morning
working on computer projects and writing).
After class, we had our 6pm social. Our AIFS programs all got together
for free food. In line, I met a girl named Natalie and chatted with
her. She invited Dave and I to sit with her and Carrie. They were
both nice people. After an hour or so, they left to see a show.
Dave took off as well, so I joined a group of people playing pool.
During all this, I ended up drinking a large beer and a large cider.
My world was beginning to spin.
After time, the crowd died down and most people were heading home.
A couple of us wandered the streets for a while. And finally, it
was just down to Heather and myself. We visited an internet café
for an hour and then headed out. I was buzzing still from the drinks
and getting very sleepy. We caught the Tube and headed home. Heather
and I parted ways at the East Finchley Tube station and I returned
home.
At home, I was feeling more sober so I stayed up and chatted with
the home stay folks for an hour. Conversing with them is always
nice since they’re full of information regarding England politics
and issues. We would watch the news and then chat about what it
all meant.
After that, it was bedtime for sure. Yup. I was dead tired and
needed sleep. But I flipped on my TV for a spell. Low and behold…channel
5 had American NFL coverage of the weekend’s games! Yikes! Too good
to be true. I watched an hour of football highlights and enjoyed
every second of it. Paradise found. At 1pm, I rested.
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