Update on All Things

It's been over a week since I last posted, but it certainly doesn't feel that long! Only a couple of things have been keeping me busy, but first, a summary of my weekend in England.

I got into London's Stansted airport at around 11pm on Friday night. Bought tickets for the express bus into the city. Once I got to the city, it was around midnight. I was (un)pleasantly welcomed by throngs of drunk people staggering in the streets, party-goers galore, lots of traffic, and no tube (underground/subway), because apparently, they close by midnight. So there I was, with no idea which way to go to get to my hostel. I didn't want to take a cab because, although they were really cool-looking cabs, I wasn't in the mood for paying loads of cash. In sterling, of all currencies. So I wandered around, asking different people, mainly security guards at the tube station and some bus drivers as well. I finally found the right bus, but didn't have exact change for the fare! AHH! I was just about to get off when the bus driver called out to me and said I could get on anyway. YAY, I saved two pounds! I got to my hostel at around 2:30am, no kidding! It was a loooong bus ride. I chatted up with this girl who was on the bus with me, since I asked her for directions and she was getting off at the same stop as I. It was nice. Once I arrived in the hostel, I had no interest in going out anymore. So I stayed in and looked at some brochures, deciding on what I should do the next day. I saw a brochure for a *free* walking tour, so after chatting it up with one guy in the hostel, I went to bed. Time: 3:45am.

I got up the next morning in time for the complimentary breakfast, and it was a pretty damn good breakfast. I was full by the time I left to catch the tube to get to the proposed meeting spot of the walking tour. The tour itself was pretty fun. And, okay, this is the odd bit: You'd think going all the way to Ireland to hang out with kids from UW is crazy, I went on this walking tour, on that particular day, on that particular weekend, and in my tour group, I met 3 girls, all from Laurier. AND they are in my year, but just graduated in the summer. Crazy or what?! Anyway... it was a good time. We (the tour group) stopped by this small restaurant/pub for lunch, where the tour company had special deals with that particular place, so we got a nice big burger and a pint of beer for only £5!! What a deal!! After the tour, the 3 Laurier girls and I decided to go on the London Eye, arguably the biggest ferris wheel in the world. It cost £15 and wasn't even thaaaat great. I mean, it was good, we saw a lot, but I think it would've been better if the day wasn't so cloudy. It was okay, though, because I won't do it again. Just something fun and touristy. After the London Eye, I went to Chinatown to meet up with Kenric and Gavin and their parents. They are some guys I grew up playing violin with. It was good seeing them again, although it was only for a short time. Dinner was fantastic. After the dinner, I took the tube again to a pub crawl, that was organized by the people in the walking tour that day, so it was great seeing them again and hanging out. I met some Australians, two English girls, and a couple of Americans. Didn't get too drunk, and called it a night by 11:30pm, because I had to catch the tube back to my hostel before it closes at midnight, and I definitely did not want to take the bus again. The tube is WAY faster!

Next morning, I got up at 6:30am, took the tube to the city center where the express bus to Stansted airport left. It was sooo early, and I was zoned out for most of the day. At the airport, I had about 2.5 hours to kill, and I suddenly craved the full American breakfast (eggs, bacon, sausages, etc) so I splurged and got a breakfast at one of thier airport restaurants. It was by far the best almost £10 I spent that weekend, followed closely by the day pass for public transportation.

Although I really only spent one full day in London, I really liked it and now that I have a general idea of where everything is and how the public transport system works, I definitely plan on going back, hopefully for longer than a weekend!

Work at DDDA has been going well, I finished my first week! The first day was pretty overwhelming. David, my boss, is incredibly nice, and pretty easy to talk to. It's been frustrating at times, with the booking of several meetings, calling up people I don't know to set up meetings with David, and covering reception at times. It's fairly busy, but not too busy! I'm slowly getting the hang of it, so that's good.

In other news, I've been lately occupied with the Dublin Fringe Festival! It's really great, and there are looooads of good shows! The most frustrating thing about this is that there are just too many good shows I want to go see, but they are on at the same time! I've been to 3 so far, and got 2 more to go. Well, two for sure, but I something might come up during the week, and I'll decide to go, we'll see. Dublin Docklands is a supporter of the events that go on in the Spiegaltent, so we get free tickets! I've ordered two, and they're happening on Monday and Sunday of next week, yay! I'm looking forward to those very much. :)

Other than that... there's nothing much else to say. The weather has been better, and today was actually sunny and warm ALL DAY. Whoa. That doesn't happen often, that's for sure. Anyway... nothing else to write, so.... bye!