London- Random Update

My good friend Judith from Missouri State is also studying in England this semester. We decided, along with my 2 friends here, Jamie and Kristin, to head down to London for the weekend. It was amazing. Not only was it nice to get away for the weekend, but the city itself was awesomely intense. The people were much more friendly than I expected and really interested in learning about the "American Culture".

We arrived on Friday afternoon which meant figuring out the London transit system. The London underground can literally get you anywhere in London with just a few stops. We took a few wrong turns but soon after found our Hostel in Lambeth. After grabbing some food and meeting up with Judith we went back to the hostel in hopes to book a show for the night, we failed. Hopefully we'll be able to see both Wicked and Mama Mia while in London next month. Anyway, instead of a show we took the underground into Piccadilly circus and bought tickets for a comedy club that evening. This comedian was absolutely hilarious- I had such a good time. We met a few different groups of people at the show who offered to show us around the nightlife a little bit. After stopping at a few different pubs we ended up at a reggae club- different, but I'm glad we attended. The British men were so curious about americans- cost of living, "red cup parties", and laws etc.

The next day was spent wondering around and visiting big London sites; ex Big Ben, Parliment, Buckingham Palace. We went to the Saint James park and did the Princess Diana Memorial Walk. The park was beautiful and the view of Buckingham Palace was breathtaking. I hope to go back and relax for hours in the park- not all parts of London are fast paced. It was both difficult and surprisingly easy at times to take in the city. I'll put up some pictures soon when I extract them from my camera. That evening was the highlight of my trip so far- we took a petty cab which was a small carriage operated by a biker. I had a blast. He drove us around Leister Square and Soho- the location of the "world-renowned london nightlife". Then we danced.

It was also really good to see Judith. I have been pretty awful at keeping in touch with people from Missouri State/Springfield/debate folk. She updated me and reminded me about my first 2 years in college. Anyway, I've been doing some volunteering around Alnwick at The Playhouse in town and hope to get involved with hospice. Justine and I are volunteering this evening during a showing at The Playhouse which also means watching a free show :). This week is not nearly as busy as last week which will be refreshing.

Just a note to myself- I hope to remember my performance of Michael for a very long time.