It's a Doozy...

Sunday 14 October 2007
As we beg and steal and borrow
Life is hit or miss, and this
I hope, I think, I know
If I ever hear the names you call
And if I stumble, catch me when I fall
Cause baby afterall, You’ll never forget my name
[“I Hope, I Think, I Know,” Oasis]

The guys have me listening to Oasis again. In fact, from seven until nine this morning, music and Oasis is all Adam I talked about. Muse, Queen, Pearl Jam, Nirvana. Oasis. 8:29 The Hindu Times; Acquiese; Step Out. 8:47 Slide Away (great track); Married With Children (“There’s no need for you to say you’re sorry, goodbye, I’m going home”); and 8:56 Rock ‘n’ Roll Star. I still like listening to “All Around the World.” Always takes me back to my semester here in London, junior year. “All around the world, gotta spread the world, tell them what you heard, we’re gonna make a better day... Tell them what you heard, you know it’s gonna be okay.” Finally, bed.

Ugh, the last few weeks. So much to catch up on. Brief synopses of various events since the last full update. As usual, peruse at your own pace.

Saw “Member of the Wedding” at the Young Vic with Adam. Great theatre, interesting use of space. Didn’t care for the pace of the show (first act pulled in at about an hour and half, I think, but the second act was a wonderful twenty or thirty minutes) and had a hard time liking or sympathizing with the main character. She stomped around and shouted a lot, often without much reading of the situation or reacting. An interesting second act, though, with a beautifully designed thunderstorm with really nice, subtle lights and sound. Mmmm, tech.

Had dinner with Michael Oliver and, as always, it was wonderful to see him. We met at a bar in Soho after work one Thursday. While waiting for him to arrive, I had a hard time getting the bartender’s attention – took about 10 minutes from decision to drink in hand, despite the modest number of the after-work crowd. Michael arrives and it takes two seconds to order the next round of g&t and cranberry julip, if you know what I mean. Hell-o So-ho. We chatted there for a while before catching a Thai dinner at a kitschy little place nearby. Michael promised to put my Film Festival tickets in the post, and I promised to send him a CD of all my Porto pictures from our RA trip.

Watched the England vs. Tonga rugby game at The Stage Door pub with Adam and his friend, Kirk, who he met playing football. Fantastic game, and an invitation to fancy dress Halloween party. Lovely dinner with Barbara in Angel at a nice Cuban restaurant, Cuba Libre. (“Vore due cuba libres, per fevore!”). Terrible service, excellent food. Apple strudel and vanilla ice cream at my place for dessert. Went to Bedroom Bar in Hoxton with Courtney, Will and some of their friends, including Nikki, another BUNAC student. (I guess I have to stop referring to myself as a student, don’t I?) The bar was really nice, had excellent music, but I can’t say I was entirely in the going out mood, but it was a fun night overall.

Craziness continues at Blend, where I’m creating lesson plans and worksheets for primary (7-11) and secondary (11-16) school children on Ancient Egypt and climate change. It’s part of a schools programme we’re doing for our client. This project definitely has a lot of potential, but has been thrown together in very little time and this has basically wrecked it. Aspects of planning have unfolded as we’ve gone along, and it’s been an interesting client relationship, to say the least. It’s completely possible that e-mail is killing communication as we once knew it. Anyway, it pays the bills and for some of the down sides of working there, I do enjoy the brand partnerships and, of course, the three people I work with. As an employee, Neil is spoiling me, for sure, but it isn’t without hard work and long hours.

Germany. I left straight from work on Thursday 04 Oct and got in late to Munich. Like Boston, I love flying in and out of London. There’s such a thrill when you’re able to spot a landmark and orient yourself to sections of the city while soaring up and away from it. I used to love flying west from Logan and being able to spot the Citgo sign, Kenmore Square, the three towers of Warren, and follow Commonwealth Ave past the Arena, StuV and Packards Corner before vaguely spotting my block in Allston. For London, the giveaway is always the Thames River and the Millennium Wheel (London Eye), from which point you can then spot Big Ben and parliament, of course, and the Embankment Bridge, the National Theatre, City Hall and the South Bank. Anyway, I arrived to Munich and was greeted by two parents and one aunt.

Friday, Mom and Dad and I walked around downtown Munich, having my first hellis beer and authentic German pretzel. You’d think it was a joke, but like the popularity of Belgian waffles in Belgium, for the Germans it’s pretzels and beer. Okay. Wandered some cool shops, had a great dinner at Bella Italia with the ‘rents, Aunt Kerry and Uncle Bill, and we settled in early to watch season two of LOST at my aunt and uncle’s place.

Saturday we ventured to THE Oktoberfest, arriving around 11:00. I had a completely different expectation than what I saw. Did you know Oktoberfest is like one giant state fair? It’s a huge setup of rides (roller coasters, haunted houses, flip-you-upside down and drop you rides, tilt-a-whirls, etc.), carnival games (shoot a milk can, or something) and junk food (bratwurst, fries, kettle corn). Then, there are these beer halls tucked in between, with large tables of beer-swishing, leiderhosen-wearing, happy, singing, drunk Germans and tourists. A sight, to say the least. We had one beer in the outside section of a beer hall, but it was so crowded we moved on, scoping out the rides and such. By 2:00, walking around became a little more treacherous as blurry-eyed boys and their mates swerved through the crowds, several starting to get rowdy and others starting to get sick. It turns out the big beer tents (perhaps a more typical expectation of Oktoberfest) are usually booked corporately. I can think of a few people back home who would’ve embraced the day at Oktoberfest; the Vest family, however, left early and went to the beer garden near my aunt & uncle’s apartment and enjoyed the quieter atmosphere.

Sunday we took a guided bus tour up the Romantic Road to a medieval town called Rothenburg. Very cute, very quaint. Made a castle stop on the way, if you’re into that, and it was more beer at lunch. I think I’ve impressed my family with my ability to persevere to the bottom of a very large beer glass. Mom and I toured this infamous Christmas shop that’s open year round. She bought a few ornaments and I bought a bag of Haribo gummy bears. (Which, by the way, are sold at Huntington concessions.. Just sayin’.) We also bought schneeballen (or something), which are basically these snowball shaped funnel cakes, in different flavors. Between the five of us, we had plain, cinnamon, chocolate coconut and amaretto flavored schneeballen. Enjoyed these after a Thai/Chinese dinner and during more Lost.

Monday we walked around Munich some more, did a little shopping on the Euro (still expensive for Mom and Dad, a better deal for me than the pound). Bought some black boots, a winter hat and gloves. Proud purchases, each. Uncle Bill and Dad took me to the airport, and it took me about twenty minutes to get through security and find my gate. Made a few purchases at duty free, and was on my way back to London, where I made my way as quickly as possible through the terminal, the customs line, and to the Heathrow Express. Made it home around midnight Monday, and was at work at 8:45 Tuesday.

Wed Oct 10: Pub meet at the Edinboro Castle in Camden with BUNAC. Very, very cool bar; went with Will and Courtney. Met Andrea, who works at the Highbury Barn pub just north of me, and Gene, who works in a pub near Victoria Station. Also met three others, a girl from San Fransisco, her Ukranian friend, and a co-worker of Will’s, all of whose names escape me now, as usual. We ended up taking our party to Belushi’s, a bar down the road, where San Francisco girl works. Oof, £1 vodkas. Onwards to Angel (such a great idea), to the ever popular Nag’s Head, one of the first pub’s on Upper Street from the Angel side. Here, I ordered their finest tap water, and Will and I recovered his phone, which he’d dropped outside the Burger King a half block back. I didn’t stay long before making my way home around midnight.

Thursday I had my first half-day Blend / afternoon at AKA. My co-worker Rachel, who I’ve been working on the schools programme with, is on holiday and I felt bad leaving the project we’ve been managing in Neil and Alex’s (capable) hands. I’ve found, though, that I can still be on email and my mobile while at AKA and still manage my work there. The atmosphere at AKA is really fun, laid back. Haha, it’s good to be with theatre people again. After all, it’s really all I’ve known for the past two years. For now, there are two projects I’m to work on at AKA: establishing partnerships with independent hotels for ad hoc show promotions (basically what I do at Blend but on a different scale), and looking to expand our media promotions to regional publications.

Friday at AKA, the promotions and marketing department (who, it would appear, are the “cool kids” at AKA, much like the marketing dept at BU Law) had the second installment “Rate My Cake,” which I’m told started with someone bringing in treats but turned into a full-fledge competition. Paul, whose last name and department I’m unsure of, brought in a toffee apple tart. I mean, these are the kind of standards we’re talking about. Luckily, with my lack of baking bakeware or culinary skill, I can eat my cake and not have to cook it too. As it were. I think I’m going to like working there, and it looks like I’ll be getting to see a lot of shows from it. Of course, Neil has told me that if I accept a full-time job with them he’ll kill me, which is perfectly understandable at this point. In the meantime, I’m hoping it’ll be a good way to meet some people and test the waters for theatre marketing. It’s an interesting difference between commercial and non-profit theatre, but more on that later.

This weekend, starting Thursday night/Friday afternoon, was mostly lazy. Between trying to make the most of sightseeing in London, the long weekend trip, the intense work, and Wednesday night out at the bars, I realized how exhausted I was. I haven’t really rested in that sort of ‘I live here, it’s not just a vacation way’ at all in the past 5 weeks. I’ve decided it’s time to settle in.

Friday I watched Da Vinci Code on TV, resting up for Saturday, which was the England/Estoria football game and the England/France rugby game. We watched the “footy” game (ha, it’s so funny) here, at the “House of Stag,” with my housemates, and six of their friends. Adam and Charlie wore beach wear for no apparent reason other than their excitement for a day of English sport, which, ironically, made me feel very at home. (Costumes for no reason other than our own amusement?! Yes please!) They even ventured to Tesco, about a 10 minute walk from our place, in their garb to purchase a case of Strongbow. Ridiculous. After a small power nap, we went to the pub – the Nag’s Head again – at seven to watch at 8:00 rugby match. It was packed. We fit 10-12 people in a tiny little corner next to the end of the bar. To my friends’ advantage, they were in prime ordering spot. Sam brought a French flag along to desecrate, and they chanted pro-England and anti-French cheers to the screen and, in general, anyone who paid them mind. Imagine Red Sox/Yankees combined with the World Cup.

I left early, spending the rest of the night on the couch, while the crew (the truer fans) celebrated at length on the town. Of course, neither Charlie nor I had brought keys (I was rushing out the door and they were waiting on me, as usual), so I’d taken Adam’s keys to get home. I fell asleep on the couch around midnight after watching The Departed, and moved to my bed around 4:30. At 6:30 I heard Adam calling out downstairs for me to let him in. Ha, this keys thing was a terrible idea. Actually, he’s lucky I even woke up. Anyway, he made it home safely and Sam called me around 6:45 to make sure Adam had made it in and wasn’t sleeping on the discarded couches in the garden. We watched music videos, played my ipod, and discussed the history of music until nine in the morning, at which point I said I absolutely couldn’t hold up any longer and went to bed.

Today I slept in late, and then went to the laundrette. There’s this fascinating thing about laundry here. First, realize we actually have a washer in our flat, but no dryer. Instead, we have the drying racks, which I loathe because your clothes dry to a crisp, crunchy board. So I head the laundrette. I’ve found that it takes so many coins to keep the dryer going that it is actually cheaper to have them wash and dry your laundry for you. Amazing. At £7, I had my laundry done for me, and I could go to the Internet Café across the street to search out new flats, catch emails and chat online. Brilliant.

I watched Alfie on TV tonight, a great movie and one of my favorite Jude Law films. Now, it’s time for bed (something nice about a freshly made bed after laundry, isn’t there?) before a long day at work tomorrow. I have the ambition to test out the International Student House gym tomorrow after work before a flat viewing in Angel at 8. We’ll see if time and motivation allows. All this laziness. Gotta counterbalance somehow.

JEN

PS: If you haven’t already, download the new Radiohead album “In Rainbows.” Some brilliant stuff. REALLY brilliant stuff. Favorite track so far: “Weird Fishes/Arpeggi.”