Hello!

Had a much better day today, thanks Collin. First of all last night was so funny. I ate at the Black Lion and was surprised to hear Nirvana in the background. Followed by blur and britney. Odd. Then wandered over to the Highbury & Islington station. Got a bit lost in Highbury but it was intentional. Had lots of time to kill before the famed Nerf Herder show. That, i think is my favorite part of town so far. Freaks like (and way beyond) myself. Then walked to the Garage to see Nerf Herder. THE LINE WAS OUT THE DOOR. It very nearly sold out! Three stage divers (four if you count the lead singer) in three songs! I was amazed. But then again if 1 out of every 20,000 people is a die-hard Nerf Herder fan...times the millions of people that live in London...equals a packed crowd. That was funny. And, haha chris keep your comments to yourself, I got to talk to the bass player for awhile. Got autographs from him and guitarist in my diary. Left early b/c of hardcore style pit and tiredness.

Today: Slept in. Lovely, although sleeping in is now 9 o'clock. Ate breakfast at leisure, watched insane saturday morning cartoon/variety/game show. Then walked around Hyde Park. The day was absolutely stunning and the park is beautiful. Took pictures. Then I hopped on the bakerloo line and went to the Imperial War Museum. Their Holocaust Exhibit was so amazing. I actually cried at two points. I don't have words to describe it, the exhibit is just fantastic. The lighting, the design...not to mention the artifacts. Primary documents. Diaries, shoes, pictures, first hand accounts, a trolley they used to wheel out the dead in the Warsaw ghetto, one of the train cars that went into aushwitz (sp?). It was so good and covered every aspect from 1923-1948. Not biased, either...they weren't afraid to offer more than one side to stories. It took my breath away.

Then (thanks to dumb luck) i stumbled upon the london eye, westminster bridge, big ben, houses of parliament, and westminster abbey. I wasn't looking for them. The day has turned colder and the air is brisk. It was a lovely walk around all of those amazing buildings. Then rode tube here. And that's my day. Mom, i am 24 pictures down on a roll of 36. will send soon.

Might go to "indie rock night" at some clubby thing. It's cheaper than a movie. Then, I pick up Lauren tomorrow at the airport! Yay. I have two flats to look at and job-service places to go to monday.

Boys: may i suggest continuing the car park scheme to pick up the slack in bills since i'm not there? You could have a garage sale and sell everything in the garage. broken microwave, spare lumber, etc.

Adios, friends. PS, collin, where are cool places to meet locals? and know anyone to show me around? Lenny?

Er today was no fun. The interview went well but I didn't get the job. So, I've spoken with two employment services and i have an appointment monday. I spent all day worrying about something or another. SUCKED. but at least i had a crappy day in london instead of hattiesburg.

so now i am going to notting hill. to eat dinner and bum around. i might go to the cinema or to see....nerf herder. just to meet people! i don't even know if i've heard nerf herder. yes, the dillinger escape plan is playing tonight but i am not in the mood for anything of substance/heavy.

saturday=the great tourist outing. i am going to do something big, like westminster or buckingham palace or something. and a river tour. big day, lots of pictures. i went out with my roommates last night to "the pride of paddington" pub for dinner. had tomato and cheese fallini (sp?). and two pints. man, they know how to make it here. err, vegetarians: are veggie burgers supposed to resemble burgers? mine resembled poorly mixed frozen vegetables battered and fried.

i feel battered and fried. errr... more tomorrow.

john, please. this is absolutely not how i wanted to start my day. i let you know that my family reads this. and you had no respect for that. this is not your livejournal. save it. no more posts for you. if you have a problem with it, email me. this is absolutely the last thing that i am going to say about this, period. now, i have a job interview to go to. i hope everyone's day started with such delight as mine did.

I HAVE A JOB INTERVIEW TOMORROW AT 10 AM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ha ha. Thanks guys. Wanna hear something lame? Well, GW has decided to go headlong into a war that no one else on earth supports (saving Tony Blair but it could cost him his political career if he does...everyone here is veeeeery anti-war), that 56% of americans give their wavering support to, and that would further stress our economy and military resources. Don't believe me? Yesterday I went to a Bureaux de Change and traded in $47.00 for £23 (yes i understand they charged a commission but get online haha you are online...and check out the exchange rates). Hmmm...when GW made his announcements this week, the stock market plunged and American currency lost ground worldwide. BECAUSE NO ONE THINKS THIS IS A GOOD IDEA. You know what else sucks? Stuff here has the same price tag (gap jeans aprox. $43, hamburger $2 or so, etc.) but it's in £££££. So they really cost so much more. I have to buy a hair dryer.

Felt kinda crappy yesterday so i went to see a supreme crap-o quasi-punk band in Islington. I wanted to check out the venue for GBV. They sucked! No direction was their name and they played the kind of crap that would get them signed to Fat Wreck Chords in America. Only less punk (does that make sense?). Very 2002 west coast pop-punk but with less annoying vocals. Anyway there were some hard-core London punks at this gig! And they were really digging the show! Especially this drunk Italian who was slobbering all over the place and half-yelling along to the vocals. It was funny. I looked very "emo" too. Well, it was fun. It made me laugh and I made friends with the Italian. Alex (not very Italian, eh?) was his name. I got complimented on my hair by a homeless man. Then he asked me for £100. I like bums with a sense of humor. Anyway, have much to do today yet. I am going to take a boat tour on the Thames. About £5. FUN!

my telephone (and for heaven's sake, do not call it unless you absolutely have to!) is 07816974671 I think the country code is 44, but I'm not sure. There you go, internet freaks, call me in London. Thanks for the advice heather, but i was sure to delete that from the bottom of my email. Although, it would be hilarious if I didn't. Love, dudes.

Hi Grandma!

"Just put this on your resume...."I've seen a million faces and I've Rocked them all". Employers will think you are not only qualifiedand experienced, but awesome."

God, I don't think I've heard better advice in my entire life.

lamentations! "I have already offered the position to someone else." Thus the job search begins anew tomorrow. ah.

Good luck on the GBV show, but they some old men with a huge brittish following (i.e. british Bob). But more importnatly good luck with the job hunt, hopefully you can find something to sustain your imagination for the next few months in a new land.

Hello. KEEP TO THE LEFT. Every time walk in front of a car stopped at a traffic light I feel a moment of panic. THAT CAR HAS NO DRIVER. Mind the gap, they say, because you have to step over a big (sometimes six inches wide) gap to board the trains. I can handle the drivers on the wrong side of the road but I just cannot manage to stay to the left hand side of the sidewalk. The tube is fun. Everyone here has been so extremely nice! I guess they all must think I'm mildly retarded but everyone I've talked to has offered advice/questions about America/help and are pretty interesting. I have been so busy looking for jobs/flats that I don't get much time to go out and do touristy things. I will later this week (assuming i don't have a job which i think i will!!!!!!) or this weekend.

Made friends with my hostel mates and ate breakfast together. I am so sore from carrying luggage and walking everywhere but it's so invigourating (sp?). I love it. I don't want to leave. Public transit is where it's at. Well, I'm off to get a used mobile phone now. Then lunch, vegetarian style. I did eat pizza last night. In London, eating at Pizza Hut. Everything else was closed. Ate 'chips' as well. Going to try to see GBV this sunday. Still feel dumb trying to sort through the change. Who on earth needs 2p (=2 cents) pieces??

Will write tomorrow with news on the job front. The prospect is a legal firm (the same that i spoke with before i left) and the secretary sounded thrilled to hear from me. Wish me luck! Thanks for writing back, it makes me not so homesick. Mom, if you're reading this, spread the word. And if anyone else wants to be able to respond, email me. love.

good to see you made it in multiple pieces. BUNAC sounds fun, interesting, exciting, etc. etc. MIND THE GAP?! why and how? have fun.

Glad you made it, I didn't want to tell you but I had my doubts. They didn't do the strip search at customs? That was my favorite part. Jacques had such strong, yet gentle hands. Gently probing my anus in search of illicit drugs.

In search of passion.

Cheerio mate, party your arse off, and MIND THE GAP!!!

Hello. Here I am. The shift button is all in the wrong place. Okay, since my mom is reading this I am going to give a play-by-play of what's going on so far. The plane ride was an eternity. Seriously. I watched Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya blah blah. Great book, terrible movie. Turns out that the plane is over-run with BUNAC students. I was cornered in the window by a snoring businessman for the majority of the seven hours and couldn't make friends. We arrived at about 11pm. The last Heathrow express train left at 11:23. There were no luggage storage places. I comandeered a luggage thingey and raced around Heathrow with aprox. 150 lbs of luggage. The fun part was racing around the express train (customs? where? no one seemed to notice that I was entering a new country...did get my passport stamped but...I always expect these boarder crossings to be more complicated than they actually are). Yay. Express. WELCOME TO LONDON. MIND THE GAP. Very soothing automated voices to give you directions.

Me + 2 fellow BUNACers were on train together. They helped and made it not so scary. One actually split a cab with me since I was unable to carry all of my luggage. Nice people abound. The hostel owners think I'm nuts. After travel and no sleep in Dallas (!) I was speaking gibberish. Got to my room. Full of sleeping girls. Managed to find alarm clock, find c.d. player, remove batteries from c.d. player, place into alarm clock, set time, set alarm, change, and get into bed without any light and without waking anyone up. Slept like the dead. I woke up at 7:30 clutching the alarm in my hands with some vague memory of it going off.

Went to BUNAC orientation with new friends and loads of others. BUNAC is a very nice organization. I highly reccomend it. Am now going to see abt getting a cell phone (evidently everyone has one and they are quite necessary) and will soon be calling abt jobs and places to live (ugh). Am hanging out in street market full of people who are obviously way cooler than me. Excepting the woman in the pink polka-dot dress and nude fishnet stockings, of course.

Number of times lost, going wrong direction: 5
Number of successful navigations of famed Underground: 1
Number of times regretted not bringing shower shoes: 37
Weather: Beautiful, cool, humid but nice.

love, updates (more exciting, i promise i know you're all on the edge of your seats). everyone wears tight pants, not hats.

my room had better be pristine although you might want to run through and check for civilizations of mold in glasses for health's sake.

John is a big fat jerk. I am in Dallas. Barn raisin' was a booming success. Got molested by wandering guitar player (complete with garth brooks/michael jackson style microphone). Leave for London @ 6:05 AM. Will be in Chicago for 1 hour. One hour too many.

I heard about the N.O. trip, Chris. No more puking on the sidewalk, right?

LBIII-You're always the only one who knows what is going on. or something. Remember in Mexico you said "Well, I would like to see you navigate the London Underground by yourself." ??? Hide and watch, bro.

Peace out till LONDON.

uh, another 9am morning, walking out of harrah's casino, with bags full of money