I left my comfort zone to try something new...being a life long skier it was time to snowboard! Sadly I had an epic fall which appears to have broken a wrist & tail bone! I mostly feel bad for my instructor I think he feels partially to blame (but isn't- hey I be clumsy).

Anyway since one handed typing isnt so fabulous I wont be blogging for a while!

x
kate

I got upgraded to first class on my flight from London to NYC...Hurray!

What I don't understand however is the chairs can rotate so you can have an office, have a bed, do what ever....yet for some reason the bathrooms are still the same size and gross level they are in economy. What is up with that?

Hmm

I have not blogged in a while...however being a graduate student a large portion of my life is just reading and writing papers so you can understand my aversion to even more writing and spending more time thinking!

It is the last week of courses (how you can learn anything of substance in ten weeks is beyond me) so my resolution has been to do something around the city I have been meaning to do every day. Monday I wandered to Carnaby St where there are some vintage shops and boutiques I like. Sadly that was all a miss (the one boutique still had all the clothes from when I was there in sept.) I did buy a bad ass pair of shoes though.

Today I wandered around this area behind the Tate Modern that is up and coming with shops and restaurants...looks like some good places to eat but all the shops just seem to be inventing their own version of urban outfitters.

Tomorrow I shall finally do a pub quiz and Thursday I am shopping with my bartender (perhaps I spend too much time at my pub).

I do have a really lovely post about gay/straight... straight/gay men but I am going to be a guest blog so gotta save it for later.


Other than that my current mood is that London is cold and rainy...perhaps Boston should be my next city. After the events of this weekend Emma and I have concluded that 95% of men are pretty much poo.


Hurray for returning to America soon!

The thing I miss most about America

The thing I miss most about America.... toilets that flush with conviction!

Over here you have to really warm them up to get them to do anything, back home you can do it all in one swoosh!

Smile you're on candid camera...kind of

Wednesday was not a kind day to me.

I got on the bus like ya do and began reading my anti-cooperation book because I am a tree hugging hippie. At one stop four guys got on with a toilet (yes a real live toilet) I did not think much of it because well this is public transport in London. The toilet had a picture of Gordon Brown on it (PM of England) and they were trying to sell it to the guys in front of me saying it had just been shown at the Tate etc. They also were obnoxiously taking camera phone pictures of them. So after they failed to sell it to them they moved onto me. I politely said no and attempted to continue to read. Of course they would not be stopped that easily...they began to ask me what type of art l liked "abstract" ...'no", "modern"...."no", "do you like urban"..."no" Which prompted the response "oooo you don't like urban people so are you like racists" At this point I am like o crap I am going to get a beat down..so I attempted to explain that I wasn't actually paying attention, just saying no so they would move on, and that I did not know what the term actually meant. They then proceeded to ask me if I voted for Barack Ossama, I told them it was Obama which prompted another racist accusation (this time that I don't like muslims). They bothered a few other people on the bus and then got off, but first urged us to buy their cd. Once they got off two airhead girls proudly announced they were with MTV who was filming a new reality show that we had all just been filmed on (o dear). They explained it was a show tracking these "rappers" rise to stardom (they are a made up group) and that the whole thing was shot via camera phones. They encouraged all of to sign the paper so that they could use the footage....not a single person on the bus signed. Thankfully I don't like MTV that much to be allowed to be painted as racist on their new reality show (which being shot with camera phones will probably just make people feel ill watching).


Anyway that was my encounter with stardom this week....guess I just don't want my 5 minutes of fame.

Learning to be naked

I remembered the first time I realized Europe was WAY more open then America. A friend brought be back a spanish version of vogue from her trip abroad and in the back of the bus I realized to my horror that they had naked women in the adverts. Just going into a Victoria Secret store was scandalous for me at this point.

I would like to preface this entry by saying that I am aware we have all encountered a naked lady in the locker room- she is normally old and saggy and the only naked one in there. America is well equipped so you dont actually have to be naked in the locker room. There are towel hangers right outside the showers and in most cases a changing space attached to the shower or additional changing dividers. This is not the case in my gym locker room. Just to get your towel after getting out of the shower you must reach across the walkway to the opposite wall... no hangers near the shower door for you! More importantly people in Europe are just more ok with being naked in front of others. The naked people in the locker room are not just the crazy old ladies who don't give a hoot anymore it is everyone. In fact I am pretty sure you call more attention to yourself by trying to be modest. So I must somehow learn to ignore my prudish American sentiements and get naked in the locker room..... This should be interesting!

A new breed of people... orange people

British people are pale. End of story. They see the sun about five times a year and it is a very weak sun (I have yet to get burned in the UK only on Jersey Island which is close enough to France that it doesn't count). Anyway perhaps because I had never lived in a country of whiteness I just may not have noticed that there is a new breed of people before. Orange people. Now before I continue I will admit I have hopped into a tanning bed three times in my life, and I do use a lotion with tint about three times a week. I am not talking about the people who by using moderation, add a little color to their skin, I am talking full on orange people. Everyone knows an orange person, they either go to the tanning bed on an all too regular basis (and later in life will form yet another new breed of people- leather people) or they just haven't learned how to properly apply tan in a can. I actually know someone who does such a bad job applying tan in a can that her face has brown pores now. I don't know who these people think they are fooling as no one looks good orange but they just keep doing it. Now in America because 95% of the population is tan to some degree I just may not have noticed this new breed as easily. However here in a country where people embrace having healthy skin, the self conscious, American wannabes (who sometimes are American) stand out like a sore thumb. You are walking down the street and in a sea of white there it is BAM orange lady (or sometimes man). Needless to say, surrounded by all these pale people, orange people look even more hilarious and unnatural than normal.

Anyone else noticed this lately?