Friends and Friendliness in London

“INSERT CHURCHILL OR BEATLES QUOTE HERE”

London’s been quite the ride.  And I thought I was burnt out after Amsterdam.  I have never expended so much energy over such a small amount of time.  From the time I touched down in London town, I kept meeting up with friends, old and new, and the fun never stopped.  I am so happy that I have had the opportunity to connect with friends from back home; it’s definitely helped ease the transition of traveling to foreign lands.

 

Some of the things that surprised me about London:

• the genial and honest air about the London natives
• the wealth!
• the amount of alcohol regularly consumed by people in London
• how easy it is to fall in love with British girls
• its size and assorted beauty

the long weekend

Danny Schufreider showed me around to a pub and club for the first night of surprises.  the night started out that I was nearly tackled by Brendan O’Neil when I walked in the club, and the last surprise was that I ended up in a bed.  I spent Thursday playing a sport for the first time since I’ve been here and although I played like crud, it was great to get out and shoot some hoops.  For dinner, we met up with Nick Kool and the Gang and after some very long-awaited greetings we frequented an American diner look-alike that makes me laugh when I think about it.  After, we went to O’Neills and I’m pretty sure that I had the time of my life.  A lot of my closest friends and I went out and sang, shot plenty of shit, and danced like we’ve never danced before.  Thinkjockeys.  Also, I had my first cigarette break, where I met a bunch of British guys and got a crash course in Black Humour 101.  It’s getting harder and harder to have ‘the best night of my trip’, but I think this was it.  It’s nights like these that make me glad to be here and really miss a lot about home at the same time.  Also, dancing with friends to (I Would Walk) 500 Miles can make for a very happy place.

The next morning, Nick led a tour of sightseeing and catching up that started with Big Ben and ended with Admiral Nelson.  In between, Parliament was AMAZING! and Westminster Abbey was just as cool.  I’ve seen some Duomo’s and cathedrals in my day but the Abbey surpassed any religious building I’ve seen thus far.  We were supposed to meet back up at Nick and Mal’s living quarters, but they left without me and Matt, so it was up to us to find our way to a place called Walkabout without cell phones.  Unfortunately for us, there are two Walkabouts in London and we chose the wrong one.  We got there, Matt and I got separated, and it turned out to be a loooong night getting back to Brendan’s.

I woke up the next morning (afternoon) and we went straight to The Crabtree, a pub just down the lane from Fulham Stadium.  My friends all had tickets to the game and I didn’t, but I figured I’d be able to scalp some close to gametime.  I was right – I ended up paying around 40 USD for front row seats to a quarterfinal match between two London rivals. The game ended in a tie, and after hanging at the pub for a little while afterwards, we grabbed some food and cider drink and went back to Brendo’s for some much needed catching up.  We told ghost stories, made some shitty food, and had a pretty great end to a pretty great day.  I wrapped up the weekend by spending the next day seeing more things and meeting up with my U of I friends for one last night.  If you ever read this, thanks Moni, Mal, Emily, Nick, Kyle, Max, Matt, Jake, and Chad for sharing an unbelievable weekend with me.

friends

London wasn’t the most different, eye-opening place that I’ve been to so far during my stay in Europe.  Having said this, my five nights in London were the wildest, funnest that I’ve ever had.  It was me and Matt pretty much all weekend, but we ran into friends from each stage of my life.  I could have written a lot about the ironies and joys that occurred during this trip, but I think it’s better for you readers if I just say that I appreciate everything that my friends have done and will do in the future.  Much love to all my homies out there.

 

Post #4 | 3.12.2010: This is going to be stoopid.

Here is my attempt at writing-as-I-go in Amsterdam.

Day 1

13:30 –  So I just made it to my hostel after my first encounter with legal prostitution and public urination.  We have about seven hours to kill before we can check our stuff into the hostel, so here goes nuffin.

21:00 – Those guys down there said all the weirdest stuff and it made complte sense to them and almost no stuff to me. Barney kinda looked like Horstmann! And said a lot of retarded stuff, too.  In fact, I bet The Parent Trap was based on them and Barney’s the British one.  Oh and what an amazing game of chess I’ve just had!  I concentrated so hard that I would lose concentration.  I wonder if there are prostitutes for delivery?  Nap-time and then friend Mitch will be here and we will see the world.

Sex Monster at the Sex Museum

Day 2

09:00 – Yesterday = suck-sess.  Success in the sense that I had a great time but suck-sess in the sense that I literally did nothing for about eight hours.  I guess it comes with the territory.  I never woke up from that nap so I figure that must have expended a lot of energy on that chess match.  Time to go eat a hearty breakfast and then junk food all day!

20:00 – That sex museum was amazing.  I know I shouldn’t judge because I know little about them, but I feel like everyone associated with that building is going to hell.  Kyle, Mitch, Katie, Catherine, BAJORSK, and Chow are here now and we’re straight strawberry jamming right now.  Finna be a party tonight.  That guy who was swingin’ for the fences today was amazing.

Day 3

08:30 – I don’t want to raise kids here.  Not mine, anyway.  No way, no how.

27:30 – Today I saw the Van Gogh Museum, Heineken Experience, and some other very cool things.  Van Gogh was awesome but I really wish I could have seen Starry Night and the flower one.  Heineken was pretty cool but I think it would have been better had I not been spoiled by the Guinness Factory last week.  Tonight I went to Paradiso which was a real funky place.  I watched a whole floor of people dance for a while and I felt strange standing by the side, so I decided to go in and start dancing by myself. I figured that of all places, a former church turned disco-club in Amsterdam was the last place to judge me.  Then, I realized that it’s weird anywhere for guys to dance by themselves.  Goodnight, and good luck.

From Amsterland, the land of 1000 hamsters.

Day 4

I’m on my way out of Amsterdam and it was quite the trip.  I’m not sure it was everything I was looking for, but then again, I had no idea what I was looking for.  If I had to do it again, I suppose I would stay for a shorter time…who needs to sit in a coffeeshop for four days?  It was fun and eye-opening but I feel a little burnt out.

 

Post #3 | 3.12.2010: IRELAND – here. we go.

The Cliffs of Moher

I can’t believe I’m startin off wif dis lame sentence, but Dublin was jess plain spectacular.   Fom the historical sites like Trinity College and St. Patrick’s Cathedral to funner places like the Guinness Factory and Temple Bar, the place was studded with culture.  I loved being there because it helped me realize the incredible differences in culture, history, and personality that are present in different parts of the world.  For instance, while it’s a mortal sin to grab your crotch for any reason in Italy, you’ll find people pissing all over the busiest parts of Dublin at night.  My Italian roommates would have been out of place, to say the least.  It was awesome to see that like the Italians, though, the Irish have so much national pride and have such a unique identity.  They’re kind of like the Elven-folk of Middle Earth in the sense that they have fair skin and their own secret language that they use only when they want to tell secrets or tell stories about fallen warriors and stuff.

We spent one night in Dublin, where we went on a pub crawl that was full of cool English-speaking people from all over the world (England, Australia, America, Canada, South Africa, Ireland, and New Zealand, to name a few).  My favorite stop was at Legend’s, where they had traditional Irish dancing and folk singing **.  We then travelled to Galway from Friday evening to Sunday afternoon.  The city itself reminded me of Verona because it’s a medium –sized city with a ton of history and few tourists.  We went out a little that first night to a pub with a KoL cover band playing and woke up early the next morning to meet up with Amy K for our bus tour around the area.  During this short but absolutely necessary trip, I went in a cave where bears once lived, saw the breathtaking Cliffs of Moher, the Burren, and a bunch of old castles among the Irish countryside.  I’ve seen some pretty beautiful natural landscapes in my day, but I don’t think any of them compare with the cliffs.  If you’re thinking of yourself, “Isn’t that the place where Harry and Dumbledore go in The Half-Blood Prince to find the locket Horcrux?”– you’re right.

That night, I went to dinner with Mary Alice Acton from good ole ICGS.  It was fitting to see her there: she’s got red hair with freckles, Irish danced into college, and is studying abroad in Ireland for the year.  We ate fish and chips and Guinness for dinner.  My fondest memory then occurred as I met and spent the night with an Irish dude named Sean.  He treated me to a couple drinks (side note: do not ask for Irish Car Bombs or Black & Tans in the UK) because he appreciated that I was American and not a douschebag.  We met his cousins (who ranged in age from 18-60), danced to an awesome band, and talked a little The Wire and other stuff.  The Irish nightlife was so much fun – there was always music to dance to, the natives were outgoing and friendly as hell, and it never got so crazy that you couldn’t find a place to go and chat over a pint.  Such was the experience in both Galway and Dublin, where I can’t believe that I spent my Sunday night hanging out with Taylor Spaulding.  Literally everywhere I’ve gone in Europe so far, I’ve seen someone from Elmhurst on accident.  It’s a small world after all when you’re as sweet and outgoing and likeable as me  😉 

My friend Sean and me.

in conclusion,

I will go back to Ireland at some point in my life.  The country itself is really pretty and the girls would make perfect housewives.  I will find my mate there in the future. I pierced my ear.

Sláinte

RANDOM THOUGHTS FOR THE MASSES

So far, I’ve done a lot of new things while abroad.  I don’t think it’s possible for me to do justice to my feelings and experiences by trying to describe them on some internet site.  However, one thing that I have learned that I can articulate is that in order to learn, you must do.  Whether it’s talking to new people or climbing to new heights, do something new every day.  See a new movie, phone an old friend, read a new book, walk a new path, try a new food, start to a new club…anything as long as you’re learning.  It’s easy to go through the motions and call it a day after an unsatisfying day of class, work, or going out, but it doesn’t have to be that way.  Find out more about yourself by doing more with yourself. “I can’t wake you up.  Only you can wake you up.” – John Winston Lennon