Long Overdue Post

These satyrs were said to have been the inspiration for
Mr. Tumnus in 'The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe'

I’m sorry for not updating this is a while, I’ve been pretty busy and tired lately. I’ll give a brief description of as many days as I can remember since I’ve been back from Istanbul. I think I’ve been a bit too thorough so updating the blog with every single day’s events has become a bit of a chore for me. So from now on I’ll just be covering the more interesting or important days and events.

~Bowling with Rez~

On the first Tuesday (5^th) since I’ve been back Rez and I met in Chinatown after my internship and then went bowling. We got 3 games for the price of 2 so that was a good deal but by the end of the third game both of our hands were sore, but we had a good time. I made up for missing my internship on the previous Friday by going in on Wednesday since my class was cancelled. I ended up going in 4 days in a row (and needing to be up at 7:30 each day) so by the end of the week I was very tired. I did 28 hours at my internship instead of my normal 20 during that week. I didn’t get to see too much of Rez on the first week back but on that Thursday (7^th) I had a fun conversation with Rez and her little 5 year old cousin Zahra on the phone.

University Church of St. Mary the Virgin

On Saturday the 9^th we got up bright and early to go to Oxford. We were given a while to just roam around the town and get some lunch. Then at 1pm we all gathered together, split into 2 groups and took a tour of the town and many of the colleges. I don’t remember the specific college but one was holding fresher’s week events and a couple of us got bubbles and ‘fun snaps’ for free. We had a fun time playing with the bubbles. (Also I noticed that Oxford students are quite heavy drinkers, some of the people who were working at the events had already downed 2-3 drinks and it wasn’t even 2pm yet). After the tour I headed back to London and the station the train came in at was really close to Rezzy’s work and she was working an odd Saturday so I popped in to buy a few things from her.

Panlogic's office.

The following day was my first chance to sleep in all month so I took full advantage of that and didn’t get up until afternoon. Rez and I went to see the movie ‘Life As We Know It.’ We also saw a fox! I was a bit surprised to see one in the middle of London and tried to get a picture but it was too dark. I missed the last tube back and had to take buses so I didn’t get back until around 2am or so.

Shakespeare's Globe Theater.

Instead of having class on Monday the 11^th we went to the Globe Theater for a tour instead. This Monday was one of the best days I’ve had in a long time. The day started off by waking up to Mustakrakish, and reading the paper on the way to the Globe. The weather was just gorgeous on this day too, it was sunny but still a bit brisk. We took our tour and we were free to go around 11:30am. Mutian and I went to get some sandwiches for ‘brunch’ and then did some grocery shopping before going back to the flat. Later on when cooking lunch (a mix of veggies and beef) Mutian added some Korean BBQ sauce to my dish and it was delicious so when I met up with Rez that evening we went to Chinatown to pick some of that up (she was a copycat and got some too) and do some other shopping as well. We also got some chicken buns and a strangle waffle-like treat that I can’t remember the name of. I napped a bit and woke up at 2am for the Vikings Monday night game at the Jets.

A view of St. Paul's Cathedral from across the Thames. (Just outside the Globe)

The rest of the week was fairly normal, except on Tuesday Rez surprised me and came to meet me after my internship in Richmond. I cooked her dinner at the flat that night. Late Saturday (16^th) afternoon I met Rez at Canada Water station and we went to a sporting goods store. We didn’t buy anything but we had a lot of fun just playing with the equipment there. I got her to try skateboarding and these odd skateboard-like things with only one wheel on each end. We also did some rollerblading, putting, cricket batting, and ping pong. Afterwards we saw Despicable Me in 3-D at the IMAX. It was a really cute film.

Greenwich Park behind the National Maritime Museum.

On Sunday Will, AJ, and I all overslept and missed the boat to Greenwich (note: we’re all roommates). Steven had even come into our room but didn’t bother waking any of us. So we took the tube and DLR to Greenwich a bit late and ate at a subpar restaurant before going to the National Maritime Museum where we were able to check in with Arnott. After the museum and Greenwich park we headed back. Monday after class I went shopping for a scarf for Rez since she was bummed that she lost hers last week. 

A silly sculpture at Oxford.

On Wednesday I met up with Rez for a little while after our classes and before she had to work. We went to Kensington Gardens for a while then to her work. After she started working I did some shopping there and at a tea store before going to head back home but when I got to Bayswater Station I couldn't find my oyster card. I went back to everywhere I'd been since the last time I'd used it and asked employees at all the stores but it never turned up. My FIE ID is in the case with it, so if a good person found it they would have no trouble contacting FIE and returning it, however I doubt that I'll ever see it again. I have a 1 week oyster right now and will likely spend over $200 for the remaining 2 months of travel.