Double Whammy

Alright folks.  You get a double-whopper today because the Internet was screwy last night and I couldn't post pictures.  This wasn't going to be blogged without pictures.  The first day is yesterday, Sunday, and the day after was today, Monday.

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10 Oct -- Today, I woke up, I ate, I talked with my mom, I blogged, I took a shower, and then I put on the last outfit available to me:  my nice dress.  You know, the black one with the white and blue and green pattern.  The empire waist and the square neckline?  Mom, you know.  I've worn it before.  Good thing was: I got lots of compliments on it.  Second good thing: I wore it to St. Paul's Cathedral for a service.

That's right.  I actually went to church on a Sunday.  Good for me.

Also, St. Paul's Cathedral.  Unfortunately, no pictures could be taken while inside the cathedral, and I made no attempt to do so because it just seemed rude.  Also, I was with a group of others who weren't sneaking cameras out of their bags, so I would have felt mean and bad doing so myself.  They're really nice people.


The service was beautiful.  We went to hear the choir sing.  The choir was beautiful and amazing and I wish I could have recorded it to post it here but that wasn't allowed.  The ushers were really nice and asked if everyone was from the same place in Denmark, and we said "Yes, we are."  (I, of course, blended in perfectly with my Scandinavian skin and wonderful fashion sense so I at least passed as a real Dane).  I got a program for the service, and it's going in my souvenirs folder along with a couple postcards of note, maps of museums, and other miscellanae from all over.

The group we met up with all study psychology at a University in Denmark.  This is the same university Marianne, Syrie, Camina, and Nina study at.  So of course all of them were there plus about seven to ten other girls.  (The boy:girl ratio at the university isn't very good.  In a class of 75, only 11 are male.)  We went in, we sat, we admired the fancy walls and the dome, we listened to the choir, I fell in love with how the sermons and readings were read by the priests.  They were seriously good readers.  Articulated every word and spoke slowly.  They were probably trained for audiobooks or something.

We decided to walk back (after taking the tube over there). Unfortunately, the Internet isn't allowing me to post the pictures here.  But I do have pictures of the following:
- A funky street robot that gave a thumbs up when you gave it money:
- The Tate Modern from a distance:
- The London Bridge from the Millennium Bridge:
- St. Paul's from across the bridge:

Got home, ate pizza on a baguette, did laundry, talked to Sarah, and then realized that lease-signing season in Madison is coming up and I don't have a roommate for next year.  I sent a mass message to a lot of people I know in Madison, so hopefully I find someone.  If not, I'll just have to bum sublets my entire 4th year.  Which would be a bummer.  But I'll figure something out.  If I don't, I'll bug people so they'll never hear the end of it.  Mwahahaha!

Edinburgh news:  Devon brought to my attention that it'll be cheaper to go on a later weekend.  I had already switched my hours at Blackdog, but I hope I can do it again.  I, personally, don't see a reason why it would be a problem, but I don't know everything about Blackdog just yet.  Devon and I are going to sit down and seriously plan this tomorrow before class.  Hopefully, I'll come home with solid travel plans not only for Edinburgh but also for this weekend.  I wanted to start traveling earlier than this, but I guess the only thing to do is adjust.  Talking with Devon tomorrow about travel plans.  I'll update you how it goes.

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11 Oct -- This morning, I went to work as per usual.  Something happened on the bus line so I could only travel 2/3 of the journey by bus, so I walked the rest of the way to Blackdog.  It was a nice walk.  I learned a bit more about London getting-around.

Got to work and sent an email to Marianne asking about possibly switching hours for more weekends, hinting that it wouldn't happen often.  She replied "Talk to Phoebe and Tom before submitting a request.  Give us a few weeks notice.  Also, don't make this a habit" in nicer terms but the general idea is still there.  This means I won't be bringing up the subject until November.  Indeed.

Went straight to Harrow after the half day at work and ate lunch and waited for Devon by mostly completing the newspaper sudoku and crossword.  Our plans include taking a bus on Friday to Oxford, spending the night there, taking a bus to Bath, spending the night there, and then going to Stonehenge on Sunday and finding our way back to London from there.  I hope it's cheap.  We'll be booking the bus to Oxford and hostels in a few minutes.  I'm waiting for her to get online. 

Watched North by Northwest in class today.  Also got rid of my left contact today.  It was being a pain so I rubbed it and it came out.  And I wasn't going to put it back in because it's at the last of its life.  So I watched the movie half-blind.  Still understood it, though.  Came out of the theater feeling chirper than the average lecture.

At home, made sweet and sour beef with the sweet and sour sauce I bought last grocery run.  Tomorrow, I need to buy more bread.  I really am out. 

Devon and I finished booking buses as I ate.  We're booking hostels tomorrow after our internship class.  So I'm going to have to remember my computer again tomorrow as I go out into the city.  Also have to remember to return the book I borrowed from the Regent library too.  Perhaps I'll return one book, and read what I gotta read for class while still there.  Sounds like a plan.

Will also have to check out Charing Cross really soon.  I Googled bookstores in London and there are a LOT on Charing Cross (props to Mr. Bowen for the tip -- THANK YOU). 

Weekend plans:
-Friday, Oxford
-Saturday/Sunday, Bath and Stonehenge

Will talk about weekend to Edinburgh.  Still looking for buddies for Prague and Brussels.  But I'll get there.