carefree, wherever we may be..

Yesterday was so intense that it needs to be told in chronological order. and in multiple parts. 

We got up kind of late with no reals plans in mind besides wanting to go to a pub to watch the Chelsea football match. After dressing in the appropriate blue, we set out on our mission. I randomly decided which way we should go and off we went. Luckily for us, we quickly happened upon two guys wearing blue Chelsea jerseys. Instead of asking them where to go to watch the game, I instead decided it would be a good idea to just follow them. Catrina quickly agreed with the stalker plan. After trailing them for a couple streets, we hit gold. There in front of us was the Chelsea Football Club. We wandered in and found the megastore (and that's actually what it was called). Our finds included a shirt that was on sale, a striped scarf, and four pins. Armed with our team merchandise, we headed back outside where we discovered we could pretend to pose with a giant mural of the team. 

Directly across from the CFC was the SO Bar and it was PACKED. People covered in blue had spilled out into the street. Beers in hand, they were singing, waving flags, and pretty much just going crazy. We had found the perfect place to watch the game. We forced our way through the crowd and inside to buy two beers. Given the madhouse inside we decided it would be in our best interest to head back out in order to drink our beers without having to worry about getting hit in the head with celery (more on that later). In fact, at this point I'm going to pass the story on to Catrina. 

hate myself.

So I bought a dress. And no, I'm not going to tell you how much I spent on it. Let it just be said that we were at a designer sample sale and that it is a Diane von Furstenburg. So in essence, it's not my fault. I came to the conclusion I would hate myself if I didn't buy it and that I would hate myself if I did by it but at least I'd have the dress.

After buying said dress, Catrina, our flatmate Caitlyn, and I found a whole bunch of other really sweet shops on Bond Street where I, like a good girl, did not buy anything. Then we went and laid down in the middle of Hyde Park. It's like the Oval times twenty.

Oh, I forgot to mention I had my interview this morning (technically yesterday, I suppose). I kind of overslept, forgot about the evil shower, couldn't find my hairbrush, sprinted to the Tube, got lost, and overall, think it went pretty well. One problem though. Apparently my magazine is a lot more business and financially oriented than I thought. Throughout the interview, which was more like me and my Kelsey Grammer-like boss chatting, I pretended that the business part did not worry me at all. After I left, I promptly went and bought the Financial Times Newspaper. I'm thinking that's going to have to be a regular occurrence. Looks like I've got some studying to do.

shop until you drop

things to be proud of myself for:

1. i have only had 3 cups of coffee since landing in the uk. ok, well technically 4. but one of them sucked so badly i took one sip and threw it away, whittling it down to 3.

2. i didn't buy a luella bag at a sample sale today, thanks to ana.

3. i have been eating 3 healthy meals a day.

4. i bought practical shoes. when faced with the decision between light pink heels with a bow on the heel and flats, i chose flats. flats that were not ridiculously expensive and that i can wear anywhere.

5. i finished our multimedia project and submitted it to mike mcleod.

6. i am being semi-successful at making friends, not panicking in groups and not trying too hard while talking to people.

to london! to london!

it's official. i'm in london.

pickpocketing adventure

I am a certified idiot. But before we get into that, let's zoom back to yesterday. Now I don't want to shock anyone, but (brace yourselves) it rained. again. Despite that and the lecture on the European Union that we had to go to, it still ended nicely with a trip to the theatre to see Wicked. At first I was upset because we couldn't watch the Manchester United game against Barcelona. Of course since ManU ended up losing, I'm not so upset about missing it anymore. Back to Wicked. It was crazy hearing it with British accents. I saw it when it was in Cincinnati and for some reason the song "dancing through life" sounds ridiculous when it's pronounced "daaancing".

We had class this morning about the UK and politics, but I wisely chose to spend my time writing a 2 1/2 page paper about the thwarted terrorist attack in NY. Oh national security class, so much fun. I can't wait until all my papers are finished and I'm actually done with OSU for the summer. Since I had to email my paper, we all went looking for someplace with free WiFi. We tried Starbucks and the guy there told me you had to pay for it but it was free next door at Pret. After successfully sending off my paper, we headed out to buy a cell phone for my flatmate Caitlyn.  Unfortunately the first store was sold out of the cheap phone so we had to hike to another one. It was there, when Caitlyn asked to borrow 5 pounds, that I reached into my purse and found myself walletless. 

Needless to say, I freaked.  I quickly abandoned my friends and practically ran back to Pret praying that I had left it there and that I hadn't been pickpocketed. Total distance from school to phone store and then backtracking to Pret was about 7 1/2 km or close to 5 miles and damn did I speedwalk. Thankfully I can tell everyone that I was not in fact pickpocketed, I'm just an idiot who left her wallet sitting on the table. Crisis averted. After all that fun I decided a tube ride home was in order so I could come home and take a nap and that is exactly what I plan to do.

still raining, still pouring

Due to the constant rain, everything is much chillier than we were expecting. Apparently it was quite warm last weekend. Many people we see are sporting sunburns which look bizarre in the dreary weather. We're hoping the weather, and therefore temperature, take a turn for the better tomorrow. 

In between the rain yesterday we did manage to go shopping. In addition to our very european assortment of foods and Catrina's much-beloved hair products, we also tracked down a SIM card for my ancient cell phone. I'm assuming it's my sister Annie's based off of all the really cool pictures on it. And by cool I mean ones of Annie wearing a princess hat.  If you're calling from the states, it's 0044 7503 744645. Fun, I know. 

After our meal of the most delicious little apples ever, down to the old pub we went. Admittedly, there was an awkward tipping moment, where I really just didn't know what to do so therefore chose to do nothing. Good strategy. Also, when we were cornered by the very British men, I thought I had got the better end of the deal. I was talking books, my forte, with Dave, maybe?, while Catrina had the British/Indian man who kept speaking about how respect was the most important thing. However, then things took a turn for the worst and the conversation somehow switched to politics. This somehow switched to conspiracy theory and how the economic collapse is all planned out by the Illuminati, very Dan Brown and Nicholas Cage, and how they are the ones really running the world. The Illuminati, apparently, are also to blame for the assassinations of Lincoln and Kennedy, and the collapse of the World Trade Center. Right. 

We're hoping to go back to the bar as it was very laid back and cozy, minus the self-proclaimed artists. Maybe we'll have better luck next time. If not, Catrina found some really sweet looking places to go, including a speakeasy. However, we'll have to wait until this weekend to try and track it down since tonight we're going to see Wicked. We're real excited. Only problem: we're going to have to shower again. Normally that wouldn't be an issue, but our shower is cramped, the water hurts, and it sprays all over our bathroom when you turn it on. Oh what fun. 

it's raining, it's pouring

hi, my name is catrina and my hair is huge. so, the constant on and off rain + lack of hair product has led to my already poofy hair taking on a new level of epic poofy-ness. it's pretty cute. and by cute, i mean huge. but, claire and i had a successful outing yesterday which resulted in bread, cheese, wine, apples, and hair-product. after arriving back to our flat, we enjoyed all of these items on the floor of our tiny bedroom.

yesterday was also our first shot at going to a pub.

we found, perhaps, the most typical london pub in all of london. it's set back from the street, behind a gate and everything inside is old. like, antique shop old. people sit in arm-chairs and you have to walk down steps to get to a tiny toilet area. only pictures can do this place justice, but i feel like we may be drawn and quartered if we took pictures there.

after an awkward tipping situation, which claire watched and giggled at as i blindly and very awkwardly tried to tip the bartender using extensive hand motions and an awkward stare, we ventured toward an open bench to enjoy our beer. we were then accosted for approximately an hour by two very drunk 'artists'. one had an indian/drunk/english accent. he kept telling me how much he respected me as a person, but really, my lack of artistic-ness meant he didn't respect my ideas. how did he know i wasn't an artist? his tiny eyes magnified by giant glasses could just see it coming. he repeated himself several times and kept stating that the important thing was "that we were all here, at this place". his slurring and accent combination caused me to block out most of the conversation. claire talked to a seemingly normal conspiracy theory enthusiast, but i'll leave that to her.

we ended the night at a kebob shop, which is basically a gyro shop. the british do not understand the importance of having food directly next to bars since the gyro shop was a hike up our street and into the main part of town. i've learned you have to ask for any sauce that isn't mayo, as mayo will ALWAYS be standard.

Hello.

Hello, my name is Claire Racine and my feet hurt. 

My roommate Catrina and I are interning in London this summer and have decided to chronicle our experiences and adventures here. 

So far, I have had my hands tested for bomb explosives, switched airlines because my plane to Chicago was delayed and I would have missed my connection, attempted to eat tiny prawns covered in mayonnaise, successfully ridden the tube, been rained on (it is England), and eaten a traditional cornish pastry. And it's only my first full day here in London.