XXVII: 99 luft Ballons

[DISCLAIMER: I started writing this blog entry on June 5, 2009. I never finished it. But given that I never actually wrote an official finale to my "life in London" series, I still feel obligated to publish it. Even if it's incomplete. Whatever, I know what happened. And at this point, I've been back in Los Angeles long enough that everyone close to me has already heard all the stories. So who cares? Moving on... ]

As a final hoorah to my 9-month-long British residency, I took advantage this last weekend of London’s proximity to mainland Europe and the semi-cheap EasyJet airfare deals (one last time), to hop over the English Channel and head to the fabulous city of Berlin, Germany.

Ever since I developed a conscious love for traveling (sometime in the last several years), Berlin has been in my top 5 cities to visit before I turn 30. Why before 30? Well, that just means the desire to go to these places is far more urgent than everywhere else in the world for one reason or another. Or maybe just because I want to wreak havoc in these places while I’m still ‘young and limber’. You decide. Anyway, the updated list (in no particular order) is as follows:

London
Berlin
Rome (Italy in general… especially if Venice is sinking, as they say)
Tokyo
Rio de Janeiro

I can’t really say that Berlin was exactly what I expected. Before arriving, I expected to find an uber-industrialized, gritty, somewhat dirty city with smoky skies, streets lined with sauerkraut, obscure dirt paths leading to historical buildings, and 1 in 5 men dressed in green & brown lederhosen. I also assumed that remnants of East and West Berlin would be extremely easy to recognize and that burning effigies of Adolf Hitler would be strewn-about in random tourist locations as an effort to show the rest of the world that Germans are friends, not foes (And yes, I know that Hitler was Austrian, but that’s not the point). Anyway, that must have been my media-saturated subconscious and wild imagination taking over…

Instead what I found was an absolutely lovely city that has easily climbed up to the top of my “favorite cities that I’ve visited” list. I’d say it’s now tied for first place with Amsterdam, and Barcelona is coming in at a close second.

Berlin is great because it’s got everything – art, food, history, modernity, grand architecture, alternative culture, public transportation, bicycles, tourists, residents, sunshine, rain, beautiful people, ugly people, ridiculously tall people, mexicans, flowers, rivers, fountains, bears…. EVERYTHING.

I have a love affair with alternative culture. Even if I don’t agree with it, I think it’s fantastic when there’s a group of people (however much of a minority they are) to

XXVI: What I’m Looking For

“Well I don’t know what I’m looking for, but I know that I just wanna’ look some more. And I won’t be satisfied til there’s nothing left that I haven’t tried…” – Brendan Benson

It’s been a while. I haven’t had any more classes since I’ve been back to the UK, but I suppose I’ve just been trying to absorb as much of London as I possibly can while I’m still here. Since my last update, some things have fallen into place quite nicely. As some of you may know, I landed an internship a couple weeks ago that will fulfill my course requirements. Therefore, I am officially coming back to California on June 13. For good. (At least residentially speaking.)

How’s the internship you ask? Well, boring. To say the least. I spend 8 hours a day, 3 days a week, researching random controversial social issues for a bunch of art-activists. It sounds interesting, I know. And that’s how I felt for the first few days – excited about being controversial and active – but it’s just not as glamorous as it should be.

I work from my own laptop at a kitchen table inside of a converted warehouse, while my “boss”- a bona fide computer hacker from the 80′s who types using the “hunt and peck” method – munches on chocolate biscuits and blasts bjork and electronica from his freedom-loving open-source computer all day. And the staff has meetings at least twice a day. By “meetings,” I mean “pointless chit-chat over tea or coffee for at least an hour at a time.” How am I supposed to concentrate on working, with so many silly distractions?

It turns out I’m not the only one complaining. My 3 closest American girl friends, who are also in the working world seem to be equally unsatisfied.

(This is us during an intermission of Wicked at the Apollo Victoria. Note: 2 out of 4 of us were ditching “optional” work events that evening.)

We’ve resorted to meeting up at the pub more often to bitch and moan about working – and we’ve come to some interesting conclusions about British industries (of course these are just generalizations from four American 20-something grad students):

a.) Nobody in the UK works full days EVER. 10-6 includes the however-long-you-want lunch time and breaks, and there’s no such thing as clocking in and out. I’ve been left alone in the office twice now at around 4:30. Do they really expect me to stay longer when they decide to just up and leave whenever? And sometimes my boss texts me at 9 a.m. telling me to come in at noon instead, because they have things to do in the morning. Uhm, sure!

b.) People schedule meetings needlessly, sometimes just to ask a question. Why don’t they just ask it? They’re sitting right next to eachother. Maybe it’s to feel more business-like.

c.)  Nobody gives anybody any sort of direction. The most we seem to get is “read up on this…” Now what should I do? “Research that again…” For what???? Who knows??? But isn’t that a waste of time? Confused yet? Yeah, me too. It’s all very pointless.

d.) Working for a British company means that you dedicate a large part of your social life to your workmates also. There’s a sense of obligation they instill in you to attend various social events with them (gallery openings on the weekends, work fairs, dinner, drinks, clubbing after work…) all on your alleged “free time” of course. Who wants to party constantly with work people? I don’t. Maybe I’m just being super picky. But there’s a reason why “work” and “leisure” are two different words.

This is precisely why my friends and I have taken a vow to support each other during inessential work-related social activities. It’s also the reason why I went to a graffiti/skater street fair yesterday for Allison’s work – an event that has absolutely NOTHING to do with her archiving internship at a small, independent photography gallery. It was necessary for her to attend so she could shmooze with her boss… but fortunately, there was live music and live artists. At least I got to take some fun photos.

This might sound completely insane, but my friends and I actually miss the American work world. Generally speaking again, it’s efficient, straightforward, and predictable. You might think it sucks. But knowing the difference between there and here completely justifies why America is in charge of the global economy- whether or not we’re all in recession.

It’s funny how being back in the work grind changes your outlook on life. Spare time is an absolute luxury (which I have admittedly been taking for granted while being in school). So, if spare time is a luxury, then we should spend it luxuriously, right? I know that’s easier said than done, especially in these times. But, trust me, if we weren’t being funded to be here by good old Uncle Sam, then things would be much different.

Still, since we’ve all sold our souls to the student loan devil, we might as well enjoy it. When we’re not working, or suffering anxiety attacks from evil dissertation-land, we’re all trying to act like proper Londoners:

We go shopping in the high streets and attend formal gatherings. For the record, the dress I’m wearing below for our graduation ball is by a Japanese designer called Yuki, and I got it on concession from a boutique in Oxford Circus. I’m also wearing vintage shoes. It’s like being in an episode of Sex and the City.

Then we take breaks between shopping sessions by going to afternoon tea at posh west-end places like The Wolseley. Afternoon tea and scones is £9.75, but well worth it for the feeling of very-important-person-ness you get when you’re seated on the balcony closest to the giant chandelier.

We also take numerous strolls in the park and go on weekend day trips. Just this weekend I went to Stratford-Upon-Avon, about 2 hours northwest of London by train, to visit William Shakespeare’s birthplace.

And did I mention the Broadway musicals and plays? Here’s a picture of the backside of James McAvoy in Three Days of Rain, just before one of the ushers caught me with my camera and told me to put it away.

Okay, so I know it all seems extravagant. But what can I do? I live in London for crying out loud. This stuff is what I came out here to do. Isn’t life about experiences? Saying no to doing fun stuff just shouldn’t be an option. Especially, when the countdown to leave is ticking away so quickly… Might as well try everything while I still can.

Brendan Benson – What I’m Looking For video

XXV: Springtime

I’m officially back in London and springtime is in full effect. Which basically means: 14-hour days, sleeveless shirt and cardigan weather, sprawling daffodils (my favorite), Pimm’s cocktails and a bustling outdoors. Seriously, it’s really weird to see people in this country wearing shorts and flip-flops when it’s in the 60s outside, but I suppose they don’t know any better… considering many of them probably don’t even know what 90 feels like. 

For me, the weather is absolutely perfect. Because the sky is blue, the sun is out, fluffy white clouds hover above me and it’s not boiling hot like it would be in California. If only I could devise a plan to spend springtime in the UK and winter in the US, it’d be pretty much ideal. 

 

The first few days after my return on Tuesday were a bit exhausting – due to my severe jetlag (waking up abruptly at 5 am and being unable to go back to sleep… and being extremely sleepy at 3 pm). It wasn’t very fun, but it only lasted a few days and I made use of my early mornings by hitting up some of the markets.

On Thursday, I finally dragged myself to Borough Market (London’s oldest and most popular food market) for the first time… and ‘they’ were right when they said it’s the best place ever to get fresh veggies and exotic foods.

(notice the stand selling wild boar in the background)

Fresh scallops anyone??

And to James, Justin and Aleem – be prepared because I’m taking you guys here in June, if only for the amazing cheesy-oniony-bready goodness that is the £4 toasted cheese sandwich. (The stand is right across from a pub: ultimate grilled cheese + beer = happy us).

I came home from Borough Market with a canister of organic vanilla black tea from Indonesia, a pot of mini-daffodils for my bedroom, some mixed wild mushrooms and a very happy tummy.

So yeah, it’s kind of nice to be back. The first few days were slightly disorienting – because I had to re-adjust to Britain while still feeling the familiarity of my second home. It was kind of confusing, because the last time I landed in London, I was so distraught about leaving the US and I had no idea what to expect. This time around, it was much easier because I knew exactly where I was going and I already had plans to meet people for lunch the following day. If anything, it was comfortable and uncomfortable at the same time – a brand new sensation that I can’t properly explain in words.

It’s been nice reconnecting with friends over here – and we all had a bit of a mini-reunion last night at my friend Anna’s birthday party. A lot of the international students I met at the beginning of the school year came around. A lot of us got split up into smaller groups when classes started, but now that we’re all in dissertation time our schedules aren’t clashing as much.

 

So I guess that’s really it for now. The house on Linthorpe Road is super quiet compared to the chaos constantly ensuing in my Simi home, and I’ve had to resort to drying my clothes on a metal rack again. And not having a car is bittersweet – because it’s still a huge pain in the bum to go grocery shopping, but it feels good to walk off my meals instead of immediately sitting my lazy butt in the driver’s seat.

I have no more formal classes from this point on, just a couple seminars here and there… lots of writing and a continuing search for an internship. I’m still not sure about when exactly I’m coming home for good, but until then – I’m planning to do some more traveling in the next few weeks and possibly try driving on the wrong side of the road through the English countryside. It should be fun.