Monday 4/29
Z: I have no memory of this day, which is always a good way to start the blog. It is safe to assume that I probably did some school work, applied to jobs, and watched some TV. A thrilling life I lead clearly.
C: I went to school, rehearsed with my friend Lucy, did a first trial of my soccer dance movement archive experiment, saw a cute little inch worm, rehearsed in my straitjacket that night, and went home. I always have intense post-rehearsal munchies, so the girls probably found me on the couch chowing down on a baguette and stuck horizontal on the couch.
Tuesday 4/30
Z: Seeing as it was the truly warm day in ages, Catja and I set off to Regent’s Park in the afternoon to soak up some sun before I had class. Although the sun did promptly disappear behind some clouds right as we sat down, the warmish weather was enough to keep us there for a couple of hours. We planned to do some work and reading, but instead found ourselves discussing the college protests in the U.S. and thinking about our final few months at Conn last year. Before we knew it, it was 4pm and time for me to head off to class. We made our way to Bloomsbury, taking a quick pit stop at Lidl for some dinner necessities and a pre-class sweet treat, before parting ways. I had a great lecture and headed home to meet the group for dinner.
C: While Zoe was studying hard in class, I headed home to start cooking. The boys were going to come over for a chill dinner party to make the most of Ethan’s final days in the city. I listened to A Court of Wings and Ruin while cooking lasagna from scratch for the first time, which was very therapeutic. As I was stirring my bechamel and enraptured by an intense battle scene, Ethan scared the shit out of me by walking into the kitchen. I didn’t realize anyone had come home!
We chatted as the lasagna cooked, recapping Zoe and my conversation about U.S. college protests, discussing opinions on international aid organizations, and agreeing that Flavor Blasted Goldfish are a superior snack. Zoe finally returned from school, and we all sat down for a yummy dinner. Zoe’s biggest dream is to one day own a dining table so we don’t have to eat on the floor by our coffee table. Dream big, girl.
Luke came over after a long day of working on satellites and crashed on the couch to eat. Somehow, we got on the subject of feminist literature, and Hebe brought a large stack of fascinating books from her room for us to peruse. Zoe and I were learning a lot from The Vagina Bible while the boys were intrigued by Vagina: A Reeducation and Femina. I took a fantastic photo of Callum posing as a casual feminist king to practice reading strategically at cafes.
Wednesday 5/1
Z: The boys came back over to ours on Wednesday morning for tea and breakfast. Callum and Ethan kindly stopped at the shops on the way over to get some breakfast food for us all. We chatted about their plans for the day and possibilities for our back garden. The boys mentioned we should get some furniture and Ethan volunteered to help do some weeding. After they left, I scrolled through Facebook Marketplace for some furniture. Having nothing else to do that day, Hebe, Catja, and I decided that we would take the bus to somewhere in Shepherd's Bush and walk home with a table and six chairs. We strapped the chairs to Hebe’s grocery trolley, and Catja and I carried the table above our heads. It took 2.5 hours to walk back, including a pit stop at the boys’ place where Luke helped us carry the table the rest of the way and also very kindly took all the furniture down the steep back staircase. Although it was a trek back, we have made good use of our furniture so far, and we have big plans for the summer.
C: We were exhausted from our adventures, and we all retreated to our rooms to recover. I finished watching Lessons in Chemistry, which actually did the book justice in the adaptation, before eating dinner and heading over to the boys’ house for a movie night. Ethan tasked us with brainstorming movies that had a similar vibe to The American President (1995). Zoe and I pitched the iconic political rom-com Red, White, and Royal Blue, which was received with enthusiastic approval. It was Hebe’s first time watching the film after reading the book ages ago, and I kept looking over to see her reactions to key scenes. The boys laughed at the questionable acting and debated the logistics of sex scenes in depth. Overall, the movie was a success and appealed to both the Americans and the Brits in the room.
Thursday 5/2
C: There was a crazy thunderstorm at 4am that woke me up. My room felt like a club as the lightning shone through my window in quick succession. I took a video to show the girls in the morning and tried to get more sleep before our big morning plans.
Z: Catja and I got ready a bit earlier than usual, ate some breakfast, and headed out the back garden to start weeding and washing furniture. Ethan was eager to join in on this weeding adventure, so he joined us shortly after. Catja washed down the furniture while Ethan and I weeded, discussing the college protests and arguing about names for different bugs (stink bug vs. shield bug and rolly polly vs. woodlouse) and what qualifies something as a marble. Much like the plate/bowl dilemma last post, I was yet again outnumbered in what a marble is.
C: I went on a date tonight. As a result, I have now deleted Hinge and am committed to living my best single life for the time being. I will also not be returning to Westfield Mall anytime soon.
Friday 5/3
Z: Looking for an activity for the day, I asked Catja if she had any baked good requests. After standing in the aisle of Sainsbury’s for a bit too long we finally landed on pop tarts. We gathered the needed supplies and headed home to start baking. We decided to use up the random things we had in the fridge for filling which included the classic brown sugar cinnamon, strawberry jam, and Charoset left over from Passover. After a few hours of baking, watching the oven, and decorating, we had some tasty pop tarts to enjoy for the weekend.
C: The pop tarts were delicious and made the dreary, rainy day so much better. I was in a very sleepy slump of a mood, but I made it to school for a meeting with my dissertation advisor and to see the first of the 2nd year choreography shows. I was really not in the mood to have any attention on me, so it was just my luck when I was brought on stage in an audience participation moment. Although I just wanted to hide in a corner at first, I started to relax and began improvising a small dance with the performer. It turned out to be a beautiful moment, and I was in a much happier mood afterwards.
Saturday 5/4
C: My big sister, Alaia, and her amazing boyfriend, Kevin, arrived early this morning, so I hopped on the Tube to meet them at Heathrow. I hadn’t seen them for nearly a year, and I was so excited to show them my new home. We hugged at the gate and found copious amounts of caffeine, especially since Alaia had been awake for nearly 48 hours after being on call (just doctor things).
We got to my flat where they rested and ate before an impromptu garden party with our friends. The garden furniture was put to good use as we all basked in the warm sun and sipped tea. As I was recounting my eventful Thursday evening, Ethan kept leaning back in his chair and cracking the spindly plastic back. The cracks punctuated my story quite nicely and kept me laughing throughout the harrowing tale (ok I’m being dramatic but it was definitely… memorable).
As we were deciding what to do next with the lovely weather, Callum suggested getting Its Bagels and sitting on Primrose Hill. Ethan got a sly look on his face and said it would be a perfect day for a Lime bike ride, although I think every day is a Lime bike day for him. He turned to us and asked for enthusiastic consent to ride the bikes that only slightly terrified us, and we enthusiastically agreed under the condition that we would take side roads, not go on any roundabouts, and he would lead so we could focus on driving on the left side of the road and not getting hit by cars. This was only minorly successful, but I rode the bike with a stupidly happy smile on my face seeing my family and friends all in a long lime green line together.
Z: After many months of looking forward to and kind of dreading this Lime bike ride, I would like to recount our adventure as Catja smiled the whole way but I did not. It started off okay, but as we started hitting intersections I would watch as Catja flung herself across the road right before a car, only to leave me on the other side hoping the traffic would let up. Catja’s risk-taking became slightly more concerning when Ethan turned to warn us of a roundabout and Catja sped off right in front of a bus, leaving me to either lose the group or sneak in before the bus entered the circle. I somehow landed on the latter, which left me riding in front of a double-decker bus down a highway. Ethan said when he turned back the bus driver looked rather annoyed by me pottering along, but still we continued. We made it alive to Primrose, though I am honestly surprised that Catja is in one piece, and rode through the lovely side streets filled with brightly colored houses.
We grabbed bagels at It’s Bagels before heading up the hill to enjoy our food with a view of the London skyline. It started to get a bit colder, so we headed back to our flat for some afternoon puzzling. Hebe and I both discovered that the other really likes puzzling, and we had both been resisting touching Lucy’s puzzle as we knew we would finish it. However, with Lucy’s permission to puzzle, we sat down and didn’t move for a couple of hours to finish it off.
As Ethan was leaving on Monday, we decided we needed to do one last crafterevening to make some goofy farewell cards. We have been joking that it feels like he is going off to war in the 1800s, so we made notes that looked like they’ve been weathered by time and finished it off with a wax seal made from a melted Babybel cheese wrapper.
Sunday 5/5
Z: Trying to make the most out of our new garden furniture, Catja and I decided to eat breakfast outside. While sitting outside the past couple of days, we befriended our neighbor’s cat who likes to sit with us, so we were also joined by our nameless friend. We discussed our plans for the day before Hebe joined, and we landed on doing a little puzzle hunt in Kilburn. Catja had to meet Alaia and Kevin, so we parted ways at the station. Hebe and I meandered down the high street, popping into all the charity shops looking for the perfect puzzle. After going into four shops, we finally found a collection of three landscape puzzles. We headed back home for the rest of the day to get some work done before Ethan stopped by to say farewell.
C: Alaia and Kevin slept in a bit after our eventful day yesterday, and I met them in Trafalgar Square for a walking tour of central London. While waiting for them, I watched a protest going on and decided to read the signs to learn more. Apparently they were celebrating the inaugural Republic day, the first anniversary of King Charles’s coronation, to protest the monarchy. It was very interesting to read about as an American.
Alaia and Kevin eventually arrived, and we walked 7 miles stopping by Buckingham Palace, St. James Park, the Household Cavalry Museum, 10 Downing Street, Westminster Abbey/Houses of Parliament/Big Ben, across the bridge to Southbank, and down the Thames to Tate Modern and the Millennium Bridge to St. Paul’s Cathedral. We took the bus up to Shoreditch to get a different feel for the city before heading back to mine for dinner. Alaia and Kevin kindly took dinner to go so we could have a final farewell hangout when Ethan and Callum came over. We hugged our future officer goodbye, told him to be safe, and watched the door close behind him. It was very bittersweet.
Monday 5/6
Z: On this fine rainy Monday, I was tasked with doing the shopping and cooking for the week. I boldly decided to make noodle stir fry with homemade dumplings, which I didn’t realize would take all day to make. So, I headed off to Lidl. While there I thought it would also be a good time to go to the drugstore in Kilburn for some toiletries. I took the bus only to find that I could not find anything I needed. As the rain had stopped, I decided to walk home from there. I only got about halfway before it began to rain again, so by the time I arrived home my clothes were rather damp.
It took me two hours and another trip to the grocery store to make the dumplings. I took a quick break and went back to the kitchen to put everything together for dinner. The food is delicious, however, spending two hours making dumplings was not the most fun activity.
C: Alaia, Kevin, and I hopped on a train out to Dover on the coast to explore medieval relics and see some nature. Train strikes were due to hit Tuesday-Thursday, coincidentally when the weather was supposed to be high 60s and sunny, so unfortunately, our adventures were shadowed in lots of rain, fog, and gray skies. Nonetheless, it was eventful from the start! On the train, we overheard a very loud American man saying the most outrageous things about our home country. Alaia was so amused that she started making a list of what she overheard, including:
-100 mph is normal
-"Ford f450 super extra duty", dualies super common, also, inverse proportion to dick size/most basic pick me take ever
-Americans are the most aggressive drivers, ESPECIALLY in Texas
-there are no traffic cameras in the US
-radar detectors super common
-"I'm not super educated on this but I think there is a difference between Mexican and tex Mex"
-"in America, everything is so greasy, my throat just gets coated"
-especially in Texas, we don't have the same level of cultural diversity (because fuck tex Mex am I right)
-the Texas grid is separate from the rest of the country because.....Texas was its own country once..?
When we finally got to Dover, we stopped by Dover Castle first to get some shelter from the downpour. We explored a Roman lighthouse, a church dedicated to British Armed Forces, exhibits about the Plantagenet dynasty, and the main castle decorated with Medieval replicas of furniture, food, and armor. Naturally, Alaia pretended she was in Skyrim looting the castle, and I put on chainmail and picked my favorite shield. I also learned that my childhood icon, Eleanor of Aquitaine, lived at Dover Castle as Henry II’s wife. She later helped her sons rebel against their father and acted as vice regent. All in all, what a girlboss.
After wandering around the castle grounds for a few hours, the rain cleared a little, and we walked to the White Cliffs of Dover. It was very muddy but very worth it. Alaia took more pictures of snails and the intricate ferry dock traffic than the cliffs themselves, which is fair because they were shrouded in fog for the majority of our walk. We almost decided to turn back around so we could head back to town and avoid the steep, muddy elevation changes, but luckily, we decided to forge on. Alaia walked up to a ledge, expecting to see a gradual decline, and shrieked when she saw the shoreline and waves crashing many hundred feet below. We made it! We sat to eat lunch and drink cider from the castle just as the sun began to creep out. It was an auspicious scene. Our dad sent us a“Hit from the Blitz” classic song by Vera Lynn called “The White Cliffs of Dover,” so I listened to it while looking in the general direction of France. We were so close to France across the water that our phones adjusted to French time and tried charging us international roaming fees, resulting in scary texts from AT&T and us not knowing what time it was since our phones each showed different times.
We pub crawled for dinner and drinks when we made it back to Dover, then we hopped back on the next super off peak train to leave. Coincidentally, as we passed a few stops on our way back to London, an American man came on the train and sat in our same car while talking loudly about Oregon. Turns out it was the same man as before, still spouting out unbelievable “facts” about the good ole U.S. of A. Alaia couldn’t stop laughing.
Tuesday 5/7
Z: After completing my work for class that evening, I decided to enjoy the warm and sunny weather by walking to school instead of taking the tube. The walk is really nice as it goes through West Hampstead, Swiss Cottage, Primrose Hill, and Regent’s Park. It only took me a little over an hour to get to Regent’s, so I stopped in the park to read for a bit before class.
C: I left for school at my usual time, 90 minutes before rehearsal, forgetting about the rail strikes until I was already on the Tube. I hit a new record for commuting time as a result: 2.5 HOURS. I ended up at a bus stop in Richmond, dejectedly staring at a Popeyes across the street as I waited ages for one to arrive. I seriously contemplated getting a whole bucket of fried chicken and cajun fries to make myself feel better. Luckily, the weather was gorgeous, so I just enjoyed the springtime and listened to music until I finally made it to campus.
Later, as Alaia and Kevin were frolicking in Kew Gardens, I sat outside of a Gail’s sipping on an iced mocha and hopping on meetings for Gold Standard Arts Foundation, where I just started a part-time admin assistant gig! My first call was with co-founder Phil Chan, who has mentored me since my sophomore year in undergrad when I emailed him out of the blue saying how much I respected his work and asked if I could intern for free. He has been supporting me from afar, and vice versa, ever since!
I made my way home and ordered Indian takeaway for dinner. It arrived in a cardboard treasure chest, and I was so excited to dig in. Alaia and Kevin made their way back to my place, and we scarfed down the delicious curries and naan while recounting our adventures.
Wednesday 5/8
C: Alaia and Kevin swung by my place for a quick breakfast before heading back to Heathrow to fly home. I miss them so much already, but I have Viggo’s visit in 5 days to look forward to! I worked from home for most of the day before heading to the U.S. Embassy for a Fulbright alumni event. I met so many cool people, ate lots of little nibbles, drank a good amount of white wine, and listened to a beautiful string quartet perform. The ambassador gave a speech and that was pretty much it. My friends and I walked across the street to a bar for post-event drinks. I got distracted by the glass pool between two high buildings and by a swing set that was calling my name. I got some fancy chicken nuggets and talked to my friends before heading home for the night.
Z: I sat outside for much of the day. Doing what? I have no idea.
Thursday 5/9
Z: While laying in bed on Thursday morning, I realized that Catja and I had no plans for the day, so I brainstormed some ideas to get us outside. I asked if she wanted to go to a coffee shop in Hampstead for the morning and bring lunch to eat at the Heath in the afternoon. Catja agreed, and we headed on our way. We found a nice coffee shop with outdoor seating to get some work done while also enjoying the warm weather. Callum texted asking if anyone wanted to get coffee, so we invited him to join us for our afternoon in the park.
C: I was supposed to head to school for some rehearsals in the morning, but I was surprised by a nighttime bout of food poisoning that left me queasy when I woke up. Instead of spending three hours on the train to move around nauseously, I decided to go to nearby Hampstead with Zoe to recover. It was much needed, and I felt significantly better by the afternoon, especially with the warm sun and adorable dogs running all around. Zoe, Callum, and I had a lovely, relaxing chat in the sun, then I edited my article for OOF Magazine before we returned home. Zoe and I traded cover letters and soccer stories for proofreading, then we sat down for dinner. Hebe and Lucy stopped by for a quick flat chat before going to the gym, so Zoe and I did a little hair mask and oil session and watched the last gripping episode of Girls on the Bus (10/10 recommend!). Hebe and Luke came over later, and we all watched an episode of Merlin before heading to bed.
Friday 5/10
C: Zoe and I walked over to B&M to pick up some household essentials, including beans and eggs for my breakfast. My craving for Heinz beans, cheddar cheese, and scrambled eggs has only increased since our last blog post, which is mildly concerning. Maybe the British vibes have finally rubbed off on me. But I thoroughly enjoyed my meal, and Hebe smiled in approval at my excitement. Later, Zoe and I sat out in the back garden to blog and say hi to our cat friend.
We hope tomorrow’s continued sunny, warm weather brings better luck to our beloved Spurs, who have been killing us with a losing streak lately. But best of luck to Spurs women in the FA cup final on Sunday!!
Comments