Thanksgiving - Americans Give Thanks and Educate the English

This was the first Thanksgiving I spent without my family, and it was a little rough. But as there were a number of us poor, family-less Americans in London we banded together to try to make the most of what we had. We all pitched in a couple pounds and bought the fixin's for a proper Thanksgiving feast and away we went. Unfortunately, because Thanksgiving is an American Holiday, no one else celebrates it. So the majority of us still had to attend our internships. While many of us spent our first (and hopefully last) Thanksgiving ever working, Ross, our incredible flatmate, took the day off and spent the day at the flat cooking up our feast. We were smart enough to realize that we should get some cooking done the day before, and thus, all the desserts were baked and ready to go on Wednesday night. We had 2 pumpkin pies and loads of cookies. We also peeled the potatoes and yams and made the cranberry sauce. Once we all arrived home we sat down to a proper Thanksgiving feast. 13 Americans doing what they can to celebrate. We had mashed potatoes, gravy, mixed veggies, cranberry sauce, yams, stuffing, bread, little bit of turkey, and chicken. We also had Strongbow to drink. We were only able to get a little bit of turkey because of the Avian Flu here, which has been driving the price of turkey through the roof. Chicken has been going up as well, but not nearly as much, because this is the season that everyone starts buying turkey for their Christmas dinners. For dessert we had pumpkin pie, vanilla ice cream, cookies, and some candy. We also did a post-dinner tea and coffee time. We were very classy. As we enjoyed our desserts we went around the room and said what we were thankful for. Many of us said that we were thankful for Ross, who cooked the wonderful meal, and for the fact that 13 of us have been able to live together in such a tiny space for so long and not kill each other. After eating many of the kids decided to head for the pub, but I went to lay down and talk to my family on Skype because I missed them and had a post-Thanksgiving food coma.

Friday I returned to my internship and then left after a half day because I had to catch my bus out of the city and up to Leeds for my Thanksgiving weekend with a British family. While at work I explained Thanksgiving 2 or 3 times to different co-workers. Personally, I think Thanksgiving is a really great holiday because it was created with the sole purpose of giving thanks for all you have. And its about family, and when lots of people get together lots of food follows. Its great. I also gave my boss tips about what to do and not to do Thanksgiving weekend because she was headed for New York for a few days also starting on Friday. I educated her on Black Friday and things, and even learned something about it myself. I always thought the reason it was called Black Friday was because it was so horrible in the stores. Tons of people rushing about trying to get the best deals, messy displays from people pawing through everything looking for what they want but not caring that they're leaving it a mess for the next person, and the total lack of parking spaces. Well I'm sure thats what a lot of other people associate with the day as well. But the term is used because it is the official start of the holiday shopping season, and since so many people shop and buy things it is traditionally the weekend when many businesses start turning a profit for the year and move out of the red, and into the black. Thus, Black Friday.
The bus left at 3:30 on the nose (something I was incredibly surprised and impressed to see) and arrived in Leeds at 8:05. 4 1/2 hours on a coach was more than enough I can assure you, particularly because the whole thing was full. Not one seat was empty and I had a broken chair on the aisle. So not only could I not use my pillow to sleep on, I couldn't even recline a little to get more comfortable. And to make it even more miserable the coach driver was a complete jerk and wouldn't allow me to take my backpack with me on the coach. He said there wasn't room for it in the over head bin, and I would have to place it in the luggage hold. I tried to argue with him, but he just yelled at me and told me to do what he said or he'd leave it behind. So I was uncomfortable and bored for 4 1/2 hours. Also we made one stop about halfway to our destination to pick up more people (not sure how we did this, as all the seats were full) and one man got off really quick for some reason. He got off with no jacket or anything, not even his cell phone. And then the driver left without him. His wife tried to call him, but found his phone in the seat, and told the bus driver he had left him behind. The driver being the throughly miserable person he is told her he couldn't do anything about it and continued to drive. Even though we were still in the round-about and able to turn around for him. Total jerk.

When I arrived at the bus station in Leeds I met my homestay family, Eric and Marie (pronounced Mary) Songhurst and the other two girls I was to share my experience with. There was Katie, who is from Colorado and attends University of Hawaii, and Sarah who is from South Dakota and goes to South Dakota State. They were both really nice girls and I liked them quite a bit. Before we got into the car to head for the Songhursts’s house we walked around the main shopping area of Leeds because it was all decorated for Christmas and the lights were incredible. I was in love within minutes because it was so pretty. I just love the Christmas season. It makes me so happy. After walking around for a bit we headed for their home and once there they heated up some dinner for me and I ate some really yummy turkey pie and veggies. And then they gave me some apple crumble with vanilla ice cream and I was a happy, happy camper. I went upstairs to my room and found that I had been given my own room and had a big bed (I think it was a full) and the other two girls were sharing a different room with twin beds. I was like “Wooooo, I’ve got my own room, and a big bed!” The bed also had an electric blanket to keep me nice and roasty-toasty and I totally spread myself out across the bed and slept diagonally with my arms all spread out.

Saturday morning we were roused out of bed at 6:45am and out the door by 7:20 so we could be to the BBC Radio station by 7:45. The 5 of us were interviewed on ShowJo’s Saturday morning show on our experiences in England, being in the country for Thanksgiving, and sharing it with a British family. It was really cool, and our homestay dad, Eric, made sure it was recorded (he made his son, Eric, wake up really early to record it) and made cd’s for us. He didn’t get it done before we had to leave, so he is mailing them to us. After our radio appearance we went back to their house and had an old-fashioned American pancake breakfast. It was so yummy. I had 5 pancakes and a Clementine and milk and it was grrrrreat. We then went to Scarborough and Filey on the East coast of England on the North Sea. It was perfectly picturesque and lovely, and completely overcast and misty and freezing, and the quintessential English day. We took lots of pictures and stuck our hands in the North Sea…so I can officially say I’ve been in the North Sea. We also played in the surf, because as we were trying to get pictures of us sticking our hands in the waves we had to keep running out of the way of the next one because we didn’t want to get our feet soaking wet. Haha it was lots of fun. Filey and Scarborough are both towns on the coast, and we walked around the sea-side and cliffs and had a picnic lunch in the car at the top of the cliffs and walked around at the top. Surprisingly, there aren’t railings at the top of the cliff, so if you aren’t careful you could tumble down onto the rocks in the sea below. We were careful though, and made sure to stay away from the very edge. After our lunch we made the journey back to Leeds (about an hour and a half on the motorway) and were home by about 3. We then started preparing for our Thanksgiving dinner (the turkey was in the oven while we were out). We had so much food and a dinner party with the Songhursts and their son and his wife. His wife’s sister, and two of their work friends. There were 10 of us total and we had a lovely time, with happy hour before dinner, dinner, alcoholic desserts, and then post-dinner drinks. And then they tried to convince us American kids that they weren’t alcoholics. Haha yeah right. By the end of dinner it was really late and we went to bed.

Sunday we slept in a bit…and by slept in I mean we slept until about 8:30. We then had breakfast and went out to the Pennines. We saw Malham’s Cove and Janett’s Foss. They were absolutely gorgeous and sooo green, which I thought was totally different because it was the end of November, and at home everything is brown and mostly dead. Here its just rainy constantly and doesn’t get bitterly cold until January or so, so its really green until then. It was also nice to be able to be up close and personal to everything without any safety railings in the way. We actually had to walk through fields with cows and sheep to get to Malham’s Cove. It was really great, and I was rather tempted to go pet a cow, but in the end I thought better of it and didn’t try it. After our tour of the Pennines we headed back to Leeds and said good-bye to Sarah and Katie, as they had trains home Sunday evening. We then returned home for some dinner and a quiet evening in and some television. We watched Antiques Roadshow and ­­­­­­­­­­­Heartbeat. It is set around Goathland and Whitby and on the North Yorkshire Moors. The North Yorkshire Moors Railway is a railway that is shot in the show and it runs from Pickering to Goathland and from this year on to Whitby. The Music played is basically chart hits from the 60's and its been running for about 17 years. Watching tele was really nice and relaxing, and I headed for bed around 11. The next morning I slept in until about 9:45ish and then Marie and I went around Leeds and did a bit of a tour of downtown and a really neat Christmas Fair. We returned back to their house for lunch and then I packed up and headed for the bus station and returned back to London on Monday evening.

As always, my pictures are better at telling the story, and I'll put them up...I swear!! For now, you guys will just have to entertain yourselves with the links I've provided.

Cheers!

Also, I find the subject of Avian Flu incredibly interesting, because its not something Americans tend to worry about, but here its a big ticket item and people are concerned and preparing for a pandemic. So I've provided a link or two on some further readings, if you're as interested as I am.
How Well Can Wall Street Handle Pandemic Flu?

World Health Organization

CDC

"You're radiant, I can't take my eyes off of you"

My last post was little more than a week ago, but it feels like so much longer because it was about Paris, and that was in fact forever ago. Nearly a month now. And I feel like a slacker, and I promise that for the last 17 days (yes, I admit that I'm counting down) I will do much better.

Since I've been back from Paris I've done a few things other than go to my internship. I hang out on the weekends, and go do and see things, and one weekend my darling Joanna was here to play with and show off London to, and last weekend I went to Leeds and stayed with a family for Thanksgiving weekend. So lets go back, and see what we can do about relaying all my experiences in the correct order.

Tuesday right after I returned from Paris I had a short meeting with Vas, a man who works in the Metropolitan Police Department who just finished a London First Secondment program with us. He gave me an overview of the Met and offered to put me in touch with some other officers within the Met. It was really useful, and after my meeting with him, I spoke with Stuart Wratten, an officer in the homicide division and he invited me out to the station in Barking to get an overview of what the homicide division does. So I went out there on the following Tuesday and got a really great rundown on how things work out there. I spent a good 4 hours in the station that day. They told me how they run their cases, showed me clips of Nightline, and showed me crime scene pictures and autopsy pictures of victims. It was a bit gory, but lets be honest, it's the kind of thing I live for. I learned a lot, and hope to have a chance to get back out there, and what would be really cool, is Stuart said that if he got a call for a homicide and I was around, he would let me come along. I think that would be incredibly cool and interesting to see something like that, but I feel weird saying something like, "I hope it happens" because then I would be saying that I hope someone gets murdered for my own benefit. That's pretty awful.

That thought actually inspires a memory I have of that following Friday (we're up to Nov. 16^th now). Some people from the office were going out for an after work drink and I was invited along as well, so I went. I needed some cash, so I set off in search of a Barclays, and found one on the far side of Leicester square. On my way there a man asked me for directions and I couldn't really help him. But he noticed my accent and started asking me about myself. He was kinda dirty and older, and I'm not certain if he was a bum or just a dirty European (am I allowed to say that?) but I wasn't too keen on prolonging the conversation. Anyhow here is roughly what followed:

Him: Are you American? (he also had an accent which made him hard to understand)

Me: Yes

Him: Why are you here, are you visiting?

Me: No, I'm studying for my university. I'm just here for the term.

Him: Oh, what are you studying?

Me: Justice (he looked a little less enthused at talking to me at this point..hmm wonder why, creepster)

Him: Oh that's cool. Want to be a lawyer?

Me: No, I want to be a cop or in the FBI or something. (looks even less enthused, but carries on all the same)

Him: Why do you want to be a cop, do you like putting handcuffs on people (and I am certain he was going for a dirty and less appropriate meaning).

Me: No. I like protecting people.

Him: Oh, that's nice.

Me: Yeah. I have to go, bye.

Yes, this actually happened. It was interesting to say the least. As for the rest of my night that night, my co-workers were very interested in the differences in our cultures and the different things and things. They were particularly interested in my drinking habits, because I said that my limit is usually 2 or 3 drinks, because I don't really enjoy drinking beyond being social these days. I've gotten over the being drunk thing already and I haven't even reached legal drinking age in the states. So backwards.

Also on Friday I got to see my BIG!! She had a 5-6 hour layover in Heathrow on her way to Cairo to see Timmy, and we met up and had lunch. It was so amazingly good to see her. I also met up with Joanna on the way because she was in town that weekend visiting. The three of us did lunch in a pub and had fish and chips (Joanna had sausage and mash though, I think) and Melissa brought me peanut butter m&m's. I was in HEAVEN because you can't get those over here, and I missed them so much. She brought me 2 big bags, and I just finished them this past weekend. I need more!!! She also brought Hershey's chocolate for Angelica. We were soooo thankful. We had a really great lunch, and it was really sad to say goodbye, but I'm very glad for the time I did get with her.

Friday evening after I had drinks with my co-workers I met Joanna and Justin (her friend she was visiting) and we went to a club called AKA, that was really neat. Well, the club itself was kinda lame and a bit expensive, but there was some really good entertainment. They had like, floor shows and one woman ate fire, and another did an act on a rope. You know the ones they made you try to climb in gym class? One of those. She did all sorts of acrobatics on it. So impressive, especially considering I couldn't even get halfway up the damn rope in high school when I was in the best shape of my life (so far).

Saturday morning I headed for Borough Market, and met up with Joanna and Justin once again to show it off to them. It was my third trip to the market and Justin hadn't been yet, so I got to show it off to them a bit. I went hungry and prepared to gorge myself on the delights that the market had to offer, and I was not disappointed one bit. Joanna and I started off with Nutella crepes, one of my new favorite things to eat. We then walked around a bit to get a lay of the land and choose what we were going to have for lunch. We tried loads of cheese samples (not all of them were good..blech) and a few chocolate samples, and even a bacon sample and a gin sample!! Joanna ended up choosing a bratwurst from a German stall, and I helped her eat it, the end that was sour kraut free that is. Then got myself a falafel, that was mmm mmmm good, but I had trouble eating it all because of the brat. After the market we took a tour around London School of Economics, where Justin goes to school, and played in the leaves and had a good time. We walked through the strand, to Trafalgar Square and then up to Piccadilly where I finally left them to head for South Kensington once again for basketball practice. Practice was intense because my legs were tired from walking all day and my feet were already sore. So then I ran around for 2 hours and we scrimmaged for quite a while and basically I was dead. After practice I got back to the flat, did a quick rinse-off and then got ready for another night out. I met up with Joanna and Justin again, this time in Leicester Square and we went to a club called the Zoo Lounge. Apparently this place is kind of famous? Or at the very least, very popular. The place was packed. The upstairs was fairly small, but once we ventured downstairs we found that the place was absolutely huge. And still packed. There were 6 big rooms downstairs and 3 bars and the place was jumpin'. I was really glad we had Justin with us because guys were hitting on me and Jo left and right, and Justin protected us from the more sketchy of them. Until he decided his objective of the evening was going to be, and I quote, "I'm gonna get you some ass, Sarah." I'm not sure why he decided this must happen, and why he thought I needed ass, but apparently I needed it, so he tossed as much at me as he could. Which is a weird thought if you think about it. Usually people only talk about getting guys girls, but this time it was the other way around. I was just interested in dancing with the least sketchy people possible because the more sketchy they are, the more likely it is that you'll be touched and fondled, and I was not ok with that. Clearly. I do not want random men to touch me, and I don't know why they think its ok. I don't know them, they don't know me. What if I was a mass murderer picking out my next target. They have no idea who I am (I'm ranting, sorry). So the best story I've got from that night is the Christiano story. This guy claims he was 23 (I'm sure he was older) and he's half Turkish half Italian (I think, I don't remember). He told me I was 'radiant' and he couldn't stop looking at me. Hmm..creepster. I decided he was polite though, and said I would dance with him. We had to have a few hand checks, but nothing too bad. He offered to buy me a drink, which I turned down because I had decided to be sober that night (and I was having loads of fun). He was a little disappointed at that, and then said, "Sarah, may I kiss you." At this point I laughed in his face (and said no), because, really, you think after 5 minutes I'm going to let you kiss me? I don't think so. About a minute after that the song was over and he said he would leave me alone. Fine by me. A few minutes later I heard something that made me laugh and very glad I told this guy no. He was talking to another girl and I distinctly heard the phrase, "you're radiant, I can't take my eyes off of you." It was a really fun night, as you can tell. Haha.

Sunday Joanna and I played in the leaves in Hyde Park (for a total of 5 minutes because it was FREEZING) and then went and explored Harrod's. We then went to Ben's Cookies and got cookies and milk and had a really lovely snack. Then it was time to put Jo on the train so she could head for the airport. For the rest of the day I did homework and other things and hung around the flat.

Monday my BLC class went to the British Museum, and this time around I did get to see the mummies!! They were really neat, and so incredibly well preserved. It was kind of weird to stand there and look at them through the glass and just know, that inside those wrappings was a human body that is hundreds and hundreds of years old. And I kind of had the weird thought of, "I wonder if it smells." Haha, I'm so gross.

Tuesday night we had tickets to the London Eye, and it was really cool. It takes about 20 minutes to go all the way around and is really neat. Our tickets were for 6:30pm, so it was dark when we went and everything was all lit up. Very impressive. I have loads of pictures, and I’m behind on those and I’m sorry. I’ll work on it.

That’s all for this blog, more to come on my internship, and then my Thanksgiving weekend and this week.

Cheers!