Walking home from class, I got my headphones in, when a man stops me.
Man: Excuse me.... uh, I (pointing at self), am American.... and I was... wondering, um, if there is somewhere i can go (pause), to buy some (pause) li-quor (preforms a gesture where he pretends to drink out of an imaginary bottle)?
Me: Yeah, there is a grocery store right there- to the left.
Ah... What? Did he think that I didn't speak English?
Or possibly, did he think I was a moron?
27 January 2009
Have you accepted Jesus into your life?
Sainsbury's: The local grocery store.
Last place you would expect a conversion right?
Well, apparently not for the guy behind the cigarette counter.
I'm ordering my Mayfairs, and he asks how my day has been. Great, I say.
What? (His accent is thick. Sounds a bit Northern African maybe. ?)
I said it was great.
Good. Well, I have good news for you. Jesus, (he nods at me), loves you.
aha... what?? is this happening? I am buying cigarettes, not looking for salvation.
Thanks! Jesus loves you too!! And of course this came out in a mocking tone. I felt a little bad about it, I was just too shocked to respond somewhat appropriately. We shortly finish our cigarettes for money exchange and I start to walk away, but apparently he wasn't done yet. Have you accepted him into your life?
WhAT!? I shout because I am walking away from this scene as fast as my legs can carry me.
He asks again, Um, yea! (thumbs up).
Did that just happen?
Selling Jesus at the grocery store. Who knew?
Last place you would expect a conversion right?
Well, apparently not for the guy behind the cigarette counter.
I'm ordering my Mayfairs, and he asks how my day has been. Great, I say.
What? (His accent is thick. Sounds a bit Northern African maybe. ?)
I said it was great.
Good. Well, I have good news for you. Jesus, (he nods at me), loves you.
aha... what?? is this happening? I am buying cigarettes, not looking for salvation.
Thanks! Jesus loves you too!! And of course this came out in a mocking tone. I felt a little bad about it, I was just too shocked to respond somewhat appropriately. We shortly finish our cigarettes for money exchange and I start to walk away, but apparently he wasn't done yet. Have you accepted him into your life?
WhAT!? I shout because I am walking away from this scene as fast as my legs can carry me.
He asks again, Um, yea! (thumbs up).
Did that just happen?
Selling Jesus at the grocery store. Who knew?
19 January 2009
Pub Crawl
An event that encourages socialization. Normally I hate these types of events... but since this event includes beer- why the hell not?
We split into small groups and headed out in different directions. The first pub was cramped. there was a futbol game going on... It was very strange having a group of fifteen walk into this place that seemed like a place to go and kick back a few beers with friends. We were a bit out of place... I guess this teaches you to go on a pub crawl with 15+ people.
The next pub was stuffy. Had a very lofty feel, people had a lot of arrogance and pomp. I was telling all of this to the RA, only to find out this was his favorite place to kick it.... I think I insulted him.
We went somewhere else that night before hitting the Union pub... I do not remember much of it though on account of how much I had to drink at the previous bars in order to have a good time...
so we end up at Da Vinci's. AKA the Union. It is the pub on campus.
As I make my way to the bar, the girls I was with tell me they were headed back.... Well, I say, I still want to drink, so have a nice walk home.
Being left at this pub I have never been to, at my school which I did not get that afternoon's tour of, I had no idea where I was at, nor do I remember the way we came.... however, I saw a bunch of Americans left over that I figured were in my group, so it would be fine.
I talked to Andy for a bit to try and get directions back to the flats. The last time I ask him for directions. So then I found some girls that were going home. They lived in a different building then I did so I had to wait still. Finaly, a curly-headed lady said she lived in my building and she was ready to go.... well she wasn't. I had lost sight of her, and was just like fuck it... I'll figure it out later. I've already been lost in this city, why not make it twice in one day. It'll be a fun adventure.
So instead of finding this girl that I was supposed to walk home with, I got another drink and headed outside to smoke--- by the way, most pubs and restaurants here are smoke free. Weird- Right? Especially because most Londoners seem to smoke--Anyways, I'm outside, I realize that there is no one left here... by "no one" I mean there are no Americans. So, at this point I do what anyone else with no friends would do, I make new ones.
A couple of French guys to my left, or the group of Brits standing behind me. I opted for the Brits behind me because one of the chaps was actually a jolly-looking Irish ginger. I spun around on the bench I was sitting on and strolled on up to them and asked if they care if I joined. They all welcomed me and started chatting right away. Kim, Joe, and Callum. These are my first British friends.
I stayed with them until the pub closed, which was for another hour. They even bought me a beer. And who says they don't buy drinks over here? A pretty girl can always find someone to buy her drinks. Right? They were fun people, the big Irish bloke kept trying to put on his American accent. It was quite hilarious, because apparently everyone from the States is a Texan.
After the bar shut down and they were moving people out I had to reopen my search for Americans. My new mates were helping me and eventually Kim spotted one. I said my thanks and said my goodbyes and made it home with 3 very drunk, very dumb blonde girls, one American boy, and 2 English boys- who I guess were helping us find home(?).
At least I made it one piece.
We split into small groups and headed out in different directions. The first pub was cramped. there was a futbol game going on... It was very strange having a group of fifteen walk into this place that seemed like a place to go and kick back a few beers with friends. We were a bit out of place... I guess this teaches you to go on a pub crawl with 15+ people.
The next pub was stuffy. Had a very lofty feel, people had a lot of arrogance and pomp. I was telling all of this to the RA, only to find out this was his favorite place to kick it.... I think I insulted him.
We went somewhere else that night before hitting the Union pub... I do not remember much of it though on account of how much I had to drink at the previous bars in order to have a good time...
so we end up at Da Vinci's. AKA the Union. It is the pub on campus.
As I make my way to the bar, the girls I was with tell me they were headed back.... Well, I say, I still want to drink, so have a nice walk home.
Being left at this pub I have never been to, at my school which I did not get that afternoon's tour of, I had no idea where I was at, nor do I remember the way we came.... however, I saw a bunch of Americans left over that I figured were in my group, so it would be fine.
I talked to Andy for a bit to try and get directions back to the flats. The last time I ask him for directions. So then I found some girls that were going home. They lived in a different building then I did so I had to wait still. Finaly, a curly-headed lady said she lived in my building and she was ready to go.... well she wasn't. I had lost sight of her, and was just like fuck it... I'll figure it out later. I've already been lost in this city, why not make it twice in one day. It'll be a fun adventure.
So instead of finding this girl that I was supposed to walk home with, I got another drink and headed outside to smoke--- by the way, most pubs and restaurants here are smoke free. Weird- Right? Especially because most Londoners seem to smoke--Anyways, I'm outside, I realize that there is no one left here... by "no one" I mean there are no Americans. So, at this point I do what anyone else with no friends would do, I make new ones.
A couple of French guys to my left, or the group of Brits standing behind me. I opted for the Brits behind me because one of the chaps was actually a jolly-looking Irish ginger. I spun around on the bench I was sitting on and strolled on up to them and asked if they care if I joined. They all welcomed me and started chatting right away. Kim, Joe, and Callum. These are my first British friends.
I stayed with them until the pub closed, which was for another hour. They even bought me a beer. And who says they don't buy drinks over here? A pretty girl can always find someone to buy her drinks. Right? They were fun people, the big Irish bloke kept trying to put on his American accent. It was quite hilarious, because apparently everyone from the States is a Texan.
After the bar shut down and they were moving people out I had to reopen my search for Americans. My new mates were helping me and eventually Kim spotted one. I said my thanks and said my goodbyes and made it home with 3 very drunk, very dumb blonde girls, one American boy, and 2 English boys- who I guess were helping us find home(?).
At least I made it one piece.
18 January 2009
Musings from day 1
I don't know why I get myself into these things... I'm leaving.
I'm leaving on a big fucking jet plane.
I have no idea what time it is. I have no idea which way is north. I have no idea where it is that I need to go.
Knaresborough Place.
After asking directions, because I see no street signs, I am finally walking up to Knaresborough Place. There is one man standing outside the building and he puts my luggage inside then
directed me in the way the group was head to for lunch.
He didn't give me any street names. He didn't give me a name for where they were going. Only said that i would run into them....couldn't miss 'em. They had just left a minute or so earlier and were on foot.
Well... I didn't run into them, and apparently I can miss them, so i turned around to head back to the flats. The man had disappeared. There wasn't anyone inside. I rang all of the buzzers, no one anywhere. There is no front desk, so if you don't have a key and there is nobody in there.... there is no way you can get in.
I have no key to get in. I can see all of my luggage with the contact numbers inside.
Super.... so i found a Starbucks, thank god.
It is good to know that coffee is the same. Prices too. So I drank coffee and read for about 2 hours. It was darker, so i figured everyone would be back from lunch. I was wrong.
It is dark and it is cold, and nobody has returned yet, so I ran to the hotel right down the road to ask to use their phone. After explaining for ten minutes that i just got into the UK, never been here before, studying abroad, and couldn't get in touch with the people i needed to talk with..... he didn't let me use the phone, the jackass.
Luckily as I was coming out of the hotel, I saw a man coming out of the flats. He was someone's dad (I am assuming the girl was daddy's princess, a spoiled brat because her dad had to come over here to see her off, they rented a car, and he went to the store to buy her and her roommates a shit load of crap for their flat while they were all at lunch). He let me in and I just had to wait.
Wells Court.
At least I am here.
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