Friday 7 November 2008

busy times

so much has happened (yet again) since i last blogged..
last weekend, i had a long weekend off work.. which i uesd to briefly go home.. and i also used to go to London with Kelsey, Nicole, and Si.
OMG!
best weekend of my entire life...
we didn't really do a great deal of anything much seeing as we were only there for like 3 days, and it was Nicole's first time in London so we had a whole city of touristy opotunities available to us..
but this is what we did...
FRIDAY.
on friday morning, i got the train from oxford at like 10.30 (i was supposed to be getting the train at like 9.30, but me being stupid me, i left the train tickets at the office in Burton -Dang! so i tried to get them sent home to see if i could get them changed or get money off new ones.. but in the end the post was taking too long to come, so i gave up and just caved in... and bought new tickets.. some stress and £21 later.. i was on the train and on my way to Paddington)
so i arrived in london at 11.20 ish.. i cant really remember the exact time.. and i hung around in paddington station for a little bit because Kelsey and Nicole were getting into Kings Cross later and were meeting me in Paddington...
So Kelsey had arranged (through our YFC buddy Caitlin) to stay with this guy called Jonathan who lived just outside of Wimbledon.. this, at first seemed like a great plan..
and all was well. Kelsey and Nicole met him in Kings Cross and the three of them then came to Paddington to get me before heading on home to his house..
it was ok at first, he was really nice, friendly and chatty and it seemed like a great idea.
so we got back to his house and Kelsey, Nicole, and I were watching TV when he left to pick up his girlfriend who was sick.. so we were left, alone in a random persons house..
we were sitting watching tv and the doorbell rings.. i apparently had to go answer the door, and it turns out to be one of Jonathan's mum's friends with a book to give to her... i didnt do the smoothest job of acting like i should've been in the house.. and i'm surprised that she didn't accuse me of breaking in...
then the parents arrived home...
this was ok.. untill they talked to us.. they didnt know us, and it would appear, had no idea why we were staying in their house.. so we tried to explain our selves, and how we, very obscurely knew Jonathan.
then we had to eat... of all the food in the whole word to serve three strangers who are staying with you...top of my list of what not to serve: Spaghetti!
so it was good spaghetti.. but SO awkward (the one word to sum up our entire time in that house)
then the dad asked me how long i'd been in the UK.. for some reason he thought i was American..
we then returned to the sitting room to watch tv and the other son - Geoff, kept offering to come to London with us in the morning.. we didn't reallty want him to come, but Nicole as good as told him to come with us..
SATURDAY.
we woke up early ish and ate breakfast in a state of awkwardness, just for a change.
we got a lift to the station by the mum and from there.. the awkwardness was put on hold for the day..
we made our way into London on the overground.. then the underground..
first of all we checked out Trafalgar etc. and wandered around for a bit not really doing a lot.. then we went to a little coffee shop for nicole (who LOVES coffee) to buy some coffee for Lunden.
it was a really nice little shop.. and she bought two bags of coffee (one decaf and one regular)
we then wandered our way back into the middle of London in time to go to Buckingham Palace to see the Changing of the Guards
it was really busy.. and we didnt have the best view in the world.. but it was good all the same..
we then wandered back around again and headed towards... HAMLEYS!!!
yay.
so much fun...
i think we probably spent about 30 minutes in the Harry Potter section alone.. it was amazing.. and one thing i can draw from being there - i want a wand.
after Hamleys we made our way towards the theatre ready for WICKED!!!
:D
it was SO good.. i loved it..
i'd seen a film of the play before.. but it just didnt compare.. this was awesome!
after the joys of musicals we met Si and then a little while after.. we met Kelsey's friend from Texas - Chris..
we then walked around and undergrounded around a little more.. we saw the Tower of London in the dark and rain and saw Tower Bridge.. which was lovely..
the 5 of us then got on the tube and headed in the direction of Chris's School (Uni) and Kelsey, Nicole, Si and I got off in Earl's Court.. where we randomly met Jordan (from YFC) so we rode the tube with him for a while.. untill we got to his stop.. then we carried on a little further to Wimbledon where Si turned round and headed back and the remaining three of us were picked back up by Geoff and his dad..
the awkwardness returns...
the entire car journey back was spent with the dad explaining to the car at large the numerous reasons why "soccer" was better than american football, and why it was more popular in this country..
thanks for that.
once we'd got back, Nicole, unable to bare the awkwardness any more.. went for a shower.. and never came back downstairs.. Kelsey and i sat on one half of one sofa in the room watching films... (the lack of advert breaks made the need to talk blissfully unnecessary!)
SUNDAY.
we woke up.. and Nicole and Kelsey joined me in my room / the sitting room soon to be joined by Geoff in a t-shirt and his boxers - nice!
we pretty much ran away as soon as we could after that....
Jonathan gave Nicole and i a lift to the underground station.. and took Kelsey to Heathrow...
where she propmtly ran away home and left me here for what seems like forever...
:'(
i have no idea what i'm going to do with myself came June 26th......
so Nicole and i met up with Si again, and we went to Hillsong Church in London..
it was really good, despite the fact they were pushing us to give them money most the time.. it was really good.. and i really liked the worship..
after this we went to starbucks then did a few slightly more touristy things...
-Parliment
-Big Ben
-London Eye (we walked past, we didnt have the time or money to actually ride it)
-Millenium Bridge
-St. Pauls..
by this time we needed to begin making our way home..
so we wandered and tubed our way to Paddington where we sat and chatted and ate for a while..
then Si took his train, leaving just me and Nicole..
after like an hour of watching one pidgeon with NO FEET be bullied by this fat greedy pigeon.. it was time for me to leave..
Nicole and i then had a reasuring conversation ending in us being positive that the tube was going to break down for weeks, and the only reason that Nicole wouldn't die, would be that she'd spent her last bit of money on loads, and loads of water just in case the tube broke down..
so i went.
and Nicole went.
thus concludes the best weekend in the history of mankind.

wow. longest post ever...
go me..
Kelsey - you better be thankful and proud of me for this..
i expect the spelling and punctuation is awful...
and i love how my flaws bring you so much joy...

ciao.

xx