seriously, we've been through three and a half jars of it since we've been here. and it's only been a month. a literal month. that's right ladies and gents, it was one month ago today that we left AmUrKa. so, happy one month anniversary to us! lets see how we should spend it... hmm... oh i know, i'll get sick, and court can go to work! heh. i need to slow myself down a bit here. lets begin again...
the food is SO much better here. it's so much more flavorful, and it's a lot healthier for you. well, there's a lot more that's healthy for you. even things such as flapjacks, (their cookies. basically) are like 60 percent oats. the point of me saying all of this is that gtfg thinks that the peanut butter here rocks socks. it's not sweet, it's just mashed peanuts, and it has a wonderful texture. it's funny though, because FHE this week was a smoothie night, and there was this peanut butter and chocolate smoothie that was absolutely divine. so you know, gtfg were drinking it all, when a fellow american explained to us that london peanut butter is the worst thing ever, and gtfg BEGGED to disagree. so she asked what kind we buy, and we told her waitrose brand. and then she said 'oh no wonder. that's where the queen shops.' haha. apparently everything with this little crown symbol on the packaging means that the queen purchases that particular item. i thought that was pretty hilarious that they mark that. but, sadly enough, it's pretty true. gtfg court picked up yet another jar of peanut butter last night from this store called tesco, and it's just not very good. it's still good, just not... THAT good. so... peanut butter. deeeelish!
i think i'm getting sick. i mean... i know i am. and i'm pretty disappointed about it, because i was going to head over to wales this weekend with my best friend joff and some girl i don't know. i am also supposed to be at institute tonight, and at our new friend's house afterwards. their names are ashley and amber. they are from arizona, and they are super cute. they just got here last week, and they are searching for jobs until may as well. one was a nanny, and one worked at urban outfitters. they are kinda a hipper version of us. i made a friend at work too. his name is ryan, and he sorta looks like my brother ryan.
umm, i think NCP thinks i'm so fantastic, that they want me to stay and work for them. there's a problem with that called, i'm not sure if i want to. it takes me an hour to get there everyday, because it's on the outskirts of london in a place called east croydon. i get to take the train everyday and see really awesome graffiti, which is neat. but i've seen it for two weeks now, and i tend to take things for granted pretty rapidly. i also get to cross tower bridge everyday. oh, by the way, i think gtfg are officially locals. we even get incredibly annoyed by tourists. seriously, trying to cross that bridge is quite the task. especially since i walk on it during rush hour. it will never stop being breath-taking though. we're also fully capable of giving people accurate directions.
we've discovered something else breath-taking as well. it's called the thames river paths, which are just across the street. i really love this city. there are so many things to look at. i sure wish gtfg qt was home at night, because we have lists and lists of things we want to do.
lets see here... our flat-mate kiling is moving out next week. i'm pretty sad about that. he likes to listen to my ipod and talk about hip hop. and let me borrow his lap top. :) he works in a recording studio, and he wrote a song last night. i love being home.
oh, but more about my job. court's manager said that i could be a hostess at the restaurant, but i'd be making much less than i am now. is it worth it though? it would be a lot more laid back, but i'm not in school or anything right now. i don't know. thoughts anyone? i could also just keep doing this accounting thing until i get another temp job. i'd really like to just go to different offices each week, but the problem with that is what if they can't find me a job for a few weeks? sigh. the job i'm at right now isn't so bad i suppose. it's just far away and boring and stressful.
oh, so that samuel kid that asked court on a date, found me a date as well. it's a blind pity date. the premises of samuel asking court is that a group of his friends wanted to go on a group date with girls they only just met, or haven't met. yeah right. that was just his excuse to ask court. but the thing is, is that court didn't really want to go, so she responded by saying that if any of his friends didn't have a date, that she knew someone who none of them knew... that's right, yours truly. so that's that. the actual date isn't for a couple weeks, and it's a good thing to, since we have SO much to do. so i hope it's fun... otherwise i'm going to wash all of courts clothes in scalding water until they blend into colorless grays. and i'll love every second of it.
bleh. i be illin. illin.
anything else significant? i don't believe so.
thanks for all of your emails everyone. they honestly make me very happy. i'm sorry this post is so lame. i wish i had more exciting things to say. i will soon, i'm sure. or at least i hope. but being a tourist gets old, and having a home is an awesome thing. so, until next time...
-gtfg, Megan
Thursday 29 January 2009
Saturday 24 January 2009
yep.
oh hey again world. it's been a while. quite a long while, really. and do you know why? because i found myself a job. that's right ladies and gents, this is one workin woman speaking. one working woman named megan.
just a quick update, i was hired by a temp agency to do a filing job for a week at NCP. an amazing 80 million pound car parking company. haha. that's what i was told by the temp specialist to get me all pumped for the job. dang, rite? so yeah, i took it. so i started filing papers in their archives. it was this massive underground room full of boxes and shelves of files. i was all alone down there, just listening to my music, and thinking of the slime ghost off of ghostbusters for a few days, but i finished much quicker than anticipated, so they had me move to the office to do some reconciliation work. the office looks almost identical to 'the office' office, only about 10 times as large. but anyways, i was so fast, and they liked me so good, that they've asked me to stay as an accountant of general ledgers for a few weeks. how's that for moving up? i work with a small team. there's 't' from tanzmania, david from ghana, beverly from nigeria, and david from britain. i think. one of the few brits i've actually met. anyways, my manager always makes jokes about me throwing all my work away, or being magic, because i get everything done so efficiently. that makes me really happy. it's like hearing that you got the highest score in the class in elementary or something. it's that same feeling that pushed me to get those 4.0s. you know? it was very much satisfying. so much so, that i was considering perhaps majoring in accounting. until i realized how fast i get bored of it. yeah, i don't really want to go back on monday. i'm a complainer, i know. yesterday i had to stand up in front of everyone to introduce myself as new staff and stuff. i'm getting really good at that sort of thing. i don't get so nervous anymore. i'd say that that's one of the many things that this little excursion is teaching me. but yeah. courtmew is loved at her work as well. she gets crazy tips because everyone here thinks we're cute little southern things. it's pretty funny to hear everyone's opinion on the united states, and specifically utah.
umm, funny story. okay, so. there are these REALLY nasty pictures of jimmy osmond all over the tube stations, and i always grimace at them. so one night, being the cutest friend i have, courtney noticed that same advertisement in the paper, and decided to cut it out to hang over my zac effron calendar for me to find later. so yeah, it was like this ongoing joke of a thing. well that sunday, last sunday, guess who was visiting the britannia ward, but jimmy osmond? oh my word. we almost died. we had to run into the restroom so we could laugh appropriately. what in the world was he doing at the singles ward?! and why on earth did i not think to bring my camera to church that day? wow. honestly. wow. what a hunky star bait of a creature.
umm. so, more of an update. our social lives are picking up a bit as well. last weekend we went to a dance in reading with our friend joff. we rode a train for the first time. (and not the last... since i work in east croydan) umm. we met more friends named ben and .... shoot someone else. we danced so very very hard at the dance, all night. and we made some more friends there. i think one of them, samuel, is going to take us sightseeing in different areas of england. he also asked court on a date! woot! umm. yeah. so then we spent the night at joff's. oh my word joff is the greatest creature on god's green urff. he invited us to the dance, drove a half hour to pick us up from the train station, let us stay at his house, fed us breakfast, took us to a castle to do some more sightseeing, made us lunch, and drove us back to the station. he's seriously the kindest, most accomidating person we've ever met. thank goodness for joff. he also took us to a movie on monday, and we had another sleepover last night, because he took us to do baptisms this morning. he had family names and all. we also met lindsay, ruth, landon, and .... sigh. i've had to remember SO MANY names lately... but yeah. they all came and did baptisms. it was the most wonderful thing. thank heavens for the gospel. and for joff. honestly. we've met some really, really amazing people. it's just that they are all outside of london... sure we socialize at FHE and institute and things, but we always wish we had people to invite over. it gets really lonely sometimes. and i find myself getting a lot more homesick than i ever thought i would. not particularly for a home, since i feel very comfortable where i'm at. but for friends. there's just something about having knowledge that more than one person knows if you're truly alive and well or not. or from getting a text asking what it is you're doing that night. it's that sort of homesick. i really really really really miss my friends. and sunday dinners. i can't believe i've only been here a month. won't it be strange when i get home and have some serious london withdrawals? :) i might not ever be fully satisfied. but i certainly think that we'll both have tears of joy when we see salt lake city again.
lets see here. tonight court is at work, probably making more an hour than i'll ever make. and i think i'll make my room-mates the traditional american treat of peanut butter bars. heh. i've got to run to the store first. but our room-mates are still just incredible. they are always making traditional dishes from their hometowns and sharing them with us. so i think i'll try that out tonight. i think that actually sounds like a perfect way to spend my evening. particularly since i 've been away from home so much this week, and since i love baking.
lets see. anything else that's important enough to blog about? i think i've basically covered it. jimmy osmond, friends, establishing a home, missing home, job, things we do. check. oh, something that maybe someone somewhere might be interested in is that it's been raining much more. court was out in it for about 3 hours the other night, but i'll let her explain that one. i suppose i could write about all of the differences between the two countries and things, or about how obama is the most loved man across the globe, or things of that nature. but i'm quite tired. so if you'd like to hear more, than let me know. but i think you've heard quite enough for tonight.
loves and misses,
good time funny girl, megan
just a quick update, i was hired by a temp agency to do a filing job for a week at NCP. an amazing 80 million pound car parking company. haha. that's what i was told by the temp specialist to get me all pumped for the job. dang, rite? so yeah, i took it. so i started filing papers in their archives. it was this massive underground room full of boxes and shelves of files. i was all alone down there, just listening to my music, and thinking of the slime ghost off of ghostbusters for a few days, but i finished much quicker than anticipated, so they had me move to the office to do some reconciliation work. the office looks almost identical to 'the office' office, only about 10 times as large. but anyways, i was so fast, and they liked me so good, that they've asked me to stay as an accountant of general ledgers for a few weeks. how's that for moving up? i work with a small team. there's 't' from tanzmania, david from ghana, beverly from nigeria, and david from britain. i think. one of the few brits i've actually met. anyways, my manager always makes jokes about me throwing all my work away, or being magic, because i get everything done so efficiently. that makes me really happy. it's like hearing that you got the highest score in the class in elementary or something. it's that same feeling that pushed me to get those 4.0s. you know? it was very much satisfying. so much so, that i was considering perhaps majoring in accounting. until i realized how fast i get bored of it. yeah, i don't really want to go back on monday. i'm a complainer, i know. yesterday i had to stand up in front of everyone to introduce myself as new staff and stuff. i'm getting really good at that sort of thing. i don't get so nervous anymore. i'd say that that's one of the many things that this little excursion is teaching me. but yeah. courtmew is loved at her work as well. she gets crazy tips because everyone here thinks we're cute little southern things. it's pretty funny to hear everyone's opinion on the united states, and specifically utah.
umm, funny story. okay, so. there are these REALLY nasty pictures of jimmy osmond all over the tube stations, and i always grimace at them. so one night, being the cutest friend i have, courtney noticed that same advertisement in the paper, and decided to cut it out to hang over my zac effron calendar for me to find later. so yeah, it was like this ongoing joke of a thing. well that sunday, last sunday, guess who was visiting the britannia ward, but jimmy osmond? oh my word. we almost died. we had to run into the restroom so we could laugh appropriately. what in the world was he doing at the singles ward?! and why on earth did i not think to bring my camera to church that day? wow. honestly. wow. what a hunky star bait of a creature.
umm. so, more of an update. our social lives are picking up a bit as well. last weekend we went to a dance in reading with our friend joff. we rode a train for the first time. (and not the last... since i work in east croydan) umm. we met more friends named ben and .... shoot someone else. we danced so very very hard at the dance, all night. and we made some more friends there. i think one of them, samuel, is going to take us sightseeing in different areas of england. he also asked court on a date! woot! umm. yeah. so then we spent the night at joff's. oh my word joff is the greatest creature on god's green urff. he invited us to the dance, drove a half hour to pick us up from the train station, let us stay at his house, fed us breakfast, took us to a castle to do some more sightseeing, made us lunch, and drove us back to the station. he's seriously the kindest, most accomidating person we've ever met. thank goodness for joff. he also took us to a movie on monday, and we had another sleepover last night, because he took us to do baptisms this morning. he had family names and all. we also met lindsay, ruth, landon, and .... sigh. i've had to remember SO MANY names lately... but yeah. they all came and did baptisms. it was the most wonderful thing. thank heavens for the gospel. and for joff. honestly. we've met some really, really amazing people. it's just that they are all outside of london... sure we socialize at FHE and institute and things, but we always wish we had people to invite over. it gets really lonely sometimes. and i find myself getting a lot more homesick than i ever thought i would. not particularly for a home, since i feel very comfortable where i'm at. but for friends. there's just something about having knowledge that more than one person knows if you're truly alive and well or not. or from getting a text asking what it is you're doing that night. it's that sort of homesick. i really really really really miss my friends. and sunday dinners. i can't believe i've only been here a month. won't it be strange when i get home and have some serious london withdrawals? :) i might not ever be fully satisfied. but i certainly think that we'll both have tears of joy when we see salt lake city again.
lets see here. tonight court is at work, probably making more an hour than i'll ever make. and i think i'll make my room-mates the traditional american treat of peanut butter bars. heh. i've got to run to the store first. but our room-mates are still just incredible. they are always making traditional dishes from their hometowns and sharing them with us. so i think i'll try that out tonight. i think that actually sounds like a perfect way to spend my evening. particularly since i 've been away from home so much this week, and since i love baking.
lets see. anything else that's important enough to blog about? i think i've basically covered it. jimmy osmond, friends, establishing a home, missing home, job, things we do. check. oh, something that maybe someone somewhere might be interested in is that it's been raining much more. court was out in it for about 3 hours the other night, but i'll let her explain that one. i suppose i could write about all of the differences between the two countries and things, or about how obama is the most loved man across the globe, or things of that nature. but i'm quite tired. so if you'd like to hear more, than let me know. but i think you've heard quite enough for tonight.
loves and misses,
good time funny girl, megan
Thursday 15 January 2009
eulogy for an old friend...
dear friends and family. it's a very gloomy day. the only person i really know in this entire country is at work, and i find myself turning to the interwebs to weep with me. (i'm megan. duh.)
dummy, my most recent tamagotchi friend, passed away yesterday. and i'd just like to take a moment or two to mourn for her, and share some of her brightest moments.
dummy was born a few days ago in southeast, central london. she grew up so fast, and did wonderful in her tamagotchi stats. however, she was a bit of a temperamental bih, and didn't get all the attention in the universe, which upset her so good that she died of lonliness. poor, poor dummy.
she did so well, and accomplished all her school tasks with pride. she enjoyed ice cream cones and sushi. she was a bright, and loyal friend, who will be sorely missed. please, if you have any positive experiences with dummy, lets share with the rest of the world, so her influence may never leave us...
we love you dummy
January 11, 2009 - January 14, 2009
3 Years of age.
-sorta glum time funny girl, megan
dummy, my most recent tamagotchi friend, passed away yesterday. and i'd just like to take a moment or two to mourn for her, and share some of her brightest moments.
dummy was born a few days ago in southeast, central london. she grew up so fast, and did wonderful in her tamagotchi stats. however, she was a bit of a temperamental bih, and didn't get all the attention in the universe, which upset her so good that she died of lonliness. poor, poor dummy.
she did so well, and accomplished all her school tasks with pride. she enjoyed ice cream cones and sushi. she was a bright, and loyal friend, who will be sorely missed. please, if you have any positive experiences with dummy, lets share with the rest of the world, so her influence may never leave us...
we love you dummy
January 11, 2009 - January 14, 2009
3 Years of age.
-sorta glum time funny girl, megan
Good Time Funny Lunch Break
Hey there friends and gents. As you have probably already gathered from my signature title-style, this is GTFG Courtney checking in again. It's my lunch break and I've only got about 15 minutes until I ought to get back to work, but I just thought I'd stop in and say hello and tell you about my job and what I've been up to and how the GTFGs are getting along.
We'll start with the job. I work as a waitress at The Commander, which is a really fancy restaurant and oyster bar in the Notting Hill area. It's pretty nice, and the meals are pretty expensive, so I'm assuming I'll do alright with tips. The Commander itself is I think hundreds of years old, but it's been closed for a while to be remodeled and revamped and they're just reopening next week. All of the staff is new, and all week we've just been doing training from 10 to about 5. We haven't really touched on tills or sections or any of those important restaurant things, we've just been learning about alcohol, mostly. We had a whole day of spirit tasting, then cocktail tasting, and today is the second of a three day series on wine. Needless to say, I've smelled a lot of alcohol this week. We learn the history and origin of each pungent little wonder, then they pour me some and I smell it while everyone else drinks it. I take notes on what it smells like, what it might taste good with, and blah blah. There's lots of stuff to study and memorize. It's pretty intense. Tomorrow we've got cheese tasting, though, which I'm excited about. Something I can actually taste! We're working with I guess the fanciest butcher in England and we're going on an all day field trip on Saturday to visit the farm! I'm excited. I'm probably the only employee who didn't grow up on a farm, so everybody's pretty excited for me, too. Then Monday's food tasting, some actual training training, and then we open! Huzzah. I'm excited. I hope I do a good job. Hope I don't get fired.
Megan had an interview yesterday and they're supposed to get back to her today. GTFGs think this job sounds perfect, the pay is phenomenal, and it sounded like Megan did pretty well in the interview. She was optimistic, and you know that when a girl like Megan allows herself to be optimistic, it must really be looking good. I haven't heard from her since this morning, but I'm sure if we get good news you'll hear about it soon. Keep your fingers crossed!
Like Megan mentioned (I think?) we love our flatmates and our home. It's seriously in the most beautiful area. Totally clean and safe and absolutely gorgeous all over. I'm going to try and get some pepper spray for those nights when I come home from a hard night's work at midnight with fists full of Benjamins, but that's just common sense. We're safe and happy and Megan says she doesn't need pepper spray. Working 9-5, I'd say she's probably right.
We got invited by some friends (and by "friends" I mean Joff, the only friend who ever really contacts us) to a ysa dance in Reading tomorrow night, which we'll probably attend. It's a ways away from London, so we'll probably stay at Joff's house afterward and get a train back to London early in the morning. It'll have to be early enough to get me to The Commander in time to visit the Pig Farm! It's like a 4 hour drive and we're taking a big van. I'm so stoked. Megan thinks it's gross, but I'm excited. She's just a vegetarian. And a wuss bag.
Well, despite the fact that I have 18 minutes left on this computer, I'd better get going. It's 1:21 and the wine dudes are supposed to get there around 1:30. Wine tasting is boring for me, because everybody else is all mellow and slightly boozed up, so they have no problem running really late and just shooting the breeze forever, but I get kinda bored and restless. But hey, at least I'm getting paid by the hour, right? And at least it helps me know how to be fancy. I'll be so freaking fancy by the time I get home, I probably won't want to be friends anymore. Sorry, guys.
Until next post,
Good Time Funny Girl Courtney Maria Sophia Thompson
We'll start with the job. I work as a waitress at The Commander, which is a really fancy restaurant and oyster bar in the Notting Hill area. It's pretty nice, and the meals are pretty expensive, so I'm assuming I'll do alright with tips. The Commander itself is I think hundreds of years old, but it's been closed for a while to be remodeled and revamped and they're just reopening next week. All of the staff is new, and all week we've just been doing training from 10 to about 5. We haven't really touched on tills or sections or any of those important restaurant things, we've just been learning about alcohol, mostly. We had a whole day of spirit tasting, then cocktail tasting, and today is the second of a three day series on wine. Needless to say, I've smelled a lot of alcohol this week. We learn the history and origin of each pungent little wonder, then they pour me some and I smell it while everyone else drinks it. I take notes on what it smells like, what it might taste good with, and blah blah. There's lots of stuff to study and memorize. It's pretty intense. Tomorrow we've got cheese tasting, though, which I'm excited about. Something I can actually taste! We're working with I guess the fanciest butcher in England and we're going on an all day field trip on Saturday to visit the farm! I'm excited. I'm probably the only employee who didn't grow up on a farm, so everybody's pretty excited for me, too. Then Monday's food tasting, some actual training training, and then we open! Huzzah. I'm excited. I hope I do a good job. Hope I don't get fired.
Megan had an interview yesterday and they're supposed to get back to her today. GTFGs think this job sounds perfect, the pay is phenomenal, and it sounded like Megan did pretty well in the interview. She was optimistic, and you know that when a girl like Megan allows herself to be optimistic, it must really be looking good. I haven't heard from her since this morning, but I'm sure if we get good news you'll hear about it soon. Keep your fingers crossed!
Like Megan mentioned (I think?) we love our flatmates and our home. It's seriously in the most beautiful area. Totally clean and safe and absolutely gorgeous all over. I'm going to try and get some pepper spray for those nights when I come home from a hard night's work at midnight with fists full of Benjamins, but that's just common sense. We're safe and happy and Megan says she doesn't need pepper spray. Working 9-5, I'd say she's probably right.
We got invited by some friends (and by "friends" I mean Joff, the only friend who ever really contacts us) to a ysa dance in Reading tomorrow night, which we'll probably attend. It's a ways away from London, so we'll probably stay at Joff's house afterward and get a train back to London early in the morning. It'll have to be early enough to get me to The Commander in time to visit the Pig Farm! It's like a 4 hour drive and we're taking a big van. I'm so stoked. Megan thinks it's gross, but I'm excited. She's just a vegetarian. And a wuss bag.
Well, despite the fact that I have 18 minutes left on this computer, I'd better get going. It's 1:21 and the wine dudes are supposed to get there around 1:30. Wine tasting is boring for me, because everybody else is all mellow and slightly boozed up, so they have no problem running really late and just shooting the breeze forever, but I get kinda bored and restless. But hey, at least I'm getting paid by the hour, right? And at least it helps me know how to be fancy. I'll be so freaking fancy by the time I get home, I probably won't want to be friends anymore. Sorry, guys.
Until next post,
Good Time Funny Girl Courtney Maria Sophia Thompson
Tuesday 13 January 2009
she won't discover that it's him, til cchapter threeeeeee!
oh my word! hello london city! it's such a very very lovely day today! p.s. this is good time funny girl megan here, but i'm just about positive you've realized that by now... anyways. it's a seriously lovely day, and all morning i was singing beauty and the beast as i made my way to this foresaken BUNAC building from HELLLLLL! i smiled and said hello to everyone, and took pictures everywhere i went. i played with my tamagotchi on the tube. i'm happy. and do you know what that means? i'm finally comfortable here. and i believe gtfg, courtgnaw is as well.
BIG NEWS! we've found a place to live! and it's absolutely perfect. (even though it's clear on the other side of zone one from courtody's JOB.) that's right folks. courtneeee was able to land a job. right on the bulls eye. even after only searching for a week. impressive. it's some way hoity toity restaurant. she is being trained every day this week, on phunn things like wine and meats. she even has to go meet the animals that she will be serving. the animals that are going to be prepared by the most famous butcher in london. seriously folks, i have no idea how she got this one. and neither does she, actually. she never even applied there, they just called her. and that's why she's a lucky bih. but that's fine. i'll just keep my 10-6 job of searching for a job. that's fine, court.
OH! but this most wonderful place we're staying! i can see the river thames from my window. it's lovely. we're probably a quarter mile (if that) from Charles dickens home. (which is now a pizzaria. lolz.) we're right by a wharf that is home to all these beautiful yachts that no one ever uses. there are sea gulls and ducks and loads of pigeons. i love pigeons. it's about a five minute walk to tower bridge, and a 15 minute walk from that london bride and globe theater. it's really very gorgeous, and pretty central. the garden is quaint. we have three room-mates. first there is chili, or chile, or chilly, they say cheely. he's asian, and probably around our age. he's super funny. he likes to cook, and sing really loud to his music. then there is jakob and mikael. a british man and a japanese woman who are lawfully wed, and fun. the first day we moved in they made us treats and left a note on our bedside table telling us that they'd be more than happy to help us with anything. mikael doesn't really speak english, but she's WAY cute. they like techno a lot. and that's really annoying. but fine. at least they are nice. i feel like i'm living with siblings again, and i really enjoy it. not forever, but for now.
umm... more news. yesterday was historic for two reasons. that soul-mate of mine ate a big mac for the first time. and it was in london, we think that's pretty funny. and it rained for the first time since we've been here. and i thought london was known for it's rain...
umm. some observations that i should note is that nothing runs smoothly here. i've never had my water refilled any time i've been out to eat. every interview i attend says they'll contact me in one to two weeks. it takes people a really long time to register what's going on. seriously. i feel like i'm in a country of incompetants. they are all really wonderful people, but this place is so frustrating. there's not a single outlet in the bathroom, and there's only one in our room. they always have two faucets, one for hot water, and one for cold. it's pretty incredible, actually, that you can have two cultures that are so insanely similar, be so completely different. it's so very laid back here, which is going to take some getting used to.
umm. sometimes we miss home. mostly the conveniences. and sun light. but we have also almost established a home here. so yes all you doubters. of course we're going to make it. we are two head-strong daughters of guns. and nothing, (besides incompetancy) is going to stand in our way. rofl.
i love you guys. well, i'm assuming that if you're interested in reading about how we're doing, then i'm bound to be fairly fond of you. pray for us. kthnx.
loves and misses. f'reeel.
Good time funny girl, Morgutt.
BIG NEWS! we've found a place to live! and it's absolutely perfect. (even though it's clear on the other side of zone one from courtody's JOB.) that's right folks. courtneeee was able to land a job. right on the bulls eye. even after only searching for a week. impressive. it's some way hoity toity restaurant. she is being trained every day this week, on phunn things like wine and meats. she even has to go meet the animals that she will be serving. the animals that are going to be prepared by the most famous butcher in london. seriously folks, i have no idea how she got this one. and neither does she, actually. she never even applied there, they just called her. and that's why she's a lucky bih. but that's fine. i'll just keep my 10-6 job of searching for a job. that's fine, court.
OH! but this most wonderful place we're staying! i can see the river thames from my window. it's lovely. we're probably a quarter mile (if that) from Charles dickens home. (which is now a pizzaria. lolz.) we're right by a wharf that is home to all these beautiful yachts that no one ever uses. there are sea gulls and ducks and loads of pigeons. i love pigeons. it's about a five minute walk to tower bridge, and a 15 minute walk from that london bride and globe theater. it's really very gorgeous, and pretty central. the garden is quaint. we have three room-mates. first there is chili, or chile, or chilly, they say cheely. he's asian, and probably around our age. he's super funny. he likes to cook, and sing really loud to his music. then there is jakob and mikael. a british man and a japanese woman who are lawfully wed, and fun. the first day we moved in they made us treats and left a note on our bedside table telling us that they'd be more than happy to help us with anything. mikael doesn't really speak english, but she's WAY cute. they like techno a lot. and that's really annoying. but fine. at least they are nice. i feel like i'm living with siblings again, and i really enjoy it. not forever, but for now.
umm... more news. yesterday was historic for two reasons. that soul-mate of mine ate a big mac for the first time. and it was in london, we think that's pretty funny. and it rained for the first time since we've been here. and i thought london was known for it's rain...
umm. some observations that i should note is that nothing runs smoothly here. i've never had my water refilled any time i've been out to eat. every interview i attend says they'll contact me in one to two weeks. it takes people a really long time to register what's going on. seriously. i feel like i'm in a country of incompetants. they are all really wonderful people, but this place is so frustrating. there's not a single outlet in the bathroom, and there's only one in our room. they always have two faucets, one for hot water, and one for cold. it's pretty incredible, actually, that you can have two cultures that are so insanely similar, be so completely different. it's so very laid back here, which is going to take some getting used to.
umm. sometimes we miss home. mostly the conveniences. and sun light. but we have also almost established a home here. so yes all you doubters. of course we're going to make it. we are two head-strong daughters of guns. and nothing, (besides incompetancy) is going to stand in our way. rofl.
i love you guys. well, i'm assuming that if you're interested in reading about how we're doing, then i'm bound to be fairly fond of you. pray for us. kthnx.
loves and misses. f'reeel.
Good time funny girl, Morgutt.
Friday 9 January 2009
Good Time Funny Success!
Hello there friends and neighbors, this is Good Time Funny Girl Courtney just checking in. We haven't got too many interesting things going on lately in way of funny stories or sightseeing, because we've mostly been doing more of that straight-faced tube riding and job hunting. Also lots of moaning and groaning and complaining, which usually takes place in shifts. Megan will be whining about wanting to go home because it's hopeless here, and I'll be giving her a proper little pep talk, but things often reverse themselves almost instantly. Without warning, I'll join in on complaining and say that I'd also like to just quit and go home, and Megan will immediately start telling me to put my chin up and that something will come up before we know it. It usually goes back and forth and keeps things pretty balanced, I think.
Anyhow, today is the first time we've allowed ourselves to sleep in for a while. I was woken at almost 10 by the sound of my phone ringing. I missed the call fumbling around for my phone, but called them back and spoke to a really apologetic girl who asked me if I'd be willing to come in for an interview at noon. I reluctantly accepted and got directions. I found my way to this really hoity-toity restaurant that was being remodeled in a really beautiful part of town, where I met with the apologetic girl first, and then the Canadian bossman.
Megan and I have both decided that interviews are weird here. They don't really drill you the same as they do in the States, they mostly just make conversation. There's actually sort of a sense of them seeking your approval. They just told me all about the restaurant and how they're just reopening and what they want to do and kept on saying things like "would that be alright with you?" It's expected and normal here for them to ask your age and nationality in an interview, and most people actually put it on their CV. We even talked about my religion. Megan's interview earlier this week was similar. They're just really laid back, I guess.
But yeah, he said he'd be calling me sometime this weekend to let me know if I was hired, but he was 99% certain I was. I'd be working 40 hours a week, which at a restaurant feels like 80, but heck, it's a job, right?
We also have a flat we're looking at in a few hours that sounds promising. It'd just be the two of us sharing a double bedroom with our own kitchen and bathroom for something like £92 a week, which is quite cheap here. It's right near the church, which is a nice area. That's where the V&A and Royal Albert Hall and all of that is. Oh, we went to the V&A and it was magnificent. The Science Museum was quite neat too. We take lots of great pictures of these things--maybe someday we'll post them. Don't tell Megan, but I'm fairly certain I didn't bring my USB cord for my camera. So I might have to get a memory card reader or something. But that's boring. Sorry all of my blogs are so long and boring, guys.
Oh! My favorite hilarious thing happened yesterday at Institute. I'll just give you a brief condensed version. K, so this guy from some soviet country was talking to us in the church before Institute. Just making conversation, you know? Well, I asked him if he'd converted to the church and he said that his mother was a member, but because she was born premature, she was also an antichrist. This caused her to raise him atheist and commit many terrible sins. She was never excommunicated, though, because the church understood that, being born premature, she couldn't help but be an antichrist. I want you to know that this man's accent was incredibly hard to understand, so while he's telling us this, we're just thinking "is that honestly what he's saying?" He went on for a while about only eating raw fruits and vegetables and then told us about how he sometimes sees visions. Keep in mind that this is a totally normal looking 29 year old dude. His visions are usually gray, though, since he's not pure enough to see white visions because of his mother's transgressions. He told us about a girl in Salt Lake who he's been writing letters to in hopes of marrying her, and about how he finds it therapeutic to confess his sins to women. He then did just that. It was SO uncomfortable. Just your average 29 year-old stranger confessing his sins to us, no big deal. Then he started asking me all of these specific questions about the church's stance on stuff that I don't want to talk about. I'll just tell you that this man made it necessary for me to use the word "sodomy" in a church, something I hope I'll never have to do again.
Well once again, sorry my blogs are always so long. I'd like to commend you if you've actually made it this far. But yes, we possibly have a job and a place to live! We'll keep you posted. Either way, things are looking up. We're even going to go to dinner tonight at a place where we can sit down! Fancy that, right? Oh, and my half-Jamaican boyfriend gave me a high five at Institute. Needless to say, I've got it in the bag.
Until next rant,
GTFG Courtney
Anyhow, today is the first time we've allowed ourselves to sleep in for a while. I was woken at almost 10 by the sound of my phone ringing. I missed the call fumbling around for my phone, but called them back and spoke to a really apologetic girl who asked me if I'd be willing to come in for an interview at noon. I reluctantly accepted and got directions. I found my way to this really hoity-toity restaurant that was being remodeled in a really beautiful part of town, where I met with the apologetic girl first, and then the Canadian bossman.
Megan and I have both decided that interviews are weird here. They don't really drill you the same as they do in the States, they mostly just make conversation. There's actually sort of a sense of them seeking your approval. They just told me all about the restaurant and how they're just reopening and what they want to do and kept on saying things like "would that be alright with you?" It's expected and normal here for them to ask your age and nationality in an interview, and most people actually put it on their CV. We even talked about my religion. Megan's interview earlier this week was similar. They're just really laid back, I guess.
But yeah, he said he'd be calling me sometime this weekend to let me know if I was hired, but he was 99% certain I was. I'd be working 40 hours a week, which at a restaurant feels like 80, but heck, it's a job, right?
We also have a flat we're looking at in a few hours that sounds promising. It'd just be the two of us sharing a double bedroom with our own kitchen and bathroom for something like £92 a week, which is quite cheap here. It's right near the church, which is a nice area. That's where the V&A and Royal Albert Hall and all of that is. Oh, we went to the V&A and it was magnificent. The Science Museum was quite neat too. We take lots of great pictures of these things--maybe someday we'll post them. Don't tell Megan, but I'm fairly certain I didn't bring my USB cord for my camera. So I might have to get a memory card reader or something. But that's boring. Sorry all of my blogs are so long and boring, guys.
Oh! My favorite hilarious thing happened yesterday at Institute. I'll just give you a brief condensed version. K, so this guy from some soviet country was talking to us in the church before Institute. Just making conversation, you know? Well, I asked him if he'd converted to the church and he said that his mother was a member, but because she was born premature, she was also an antichrist. This caused her to raise him atheist and commit many terrible sins. She was never excommunicated, though, because the church understood that, being born premature, she couldn't help but be an antichrist. I want you to know that this man's accent was incredibly hard to understand, so while he's telling us this, we're just thinking "is that honestly what he's saying?" He went on for a while about only eating raw fruits and vegetables and then told us about how he sometimes sees visions. Keep in mind that this is a totally normal looking 29 year old dude. His visions are usually gray, though, since he's not pure enough to see white visions because of his mother's transgressions. He told us about a girl in Salt Lake who he's been writing letters to in hopes of marrying her, and about how he finds it therapeutic to confess his sins to women. He then did just that. It was SO uncomfortable. Just your average 29 year-old stranger confessing his sins to us, no big deal. Then he started asking me all of these specific questions about the church's stance on stuff that I don't want to talk about. I'll just tell you that this man made it necessary for me to use the word "sodomy" in a church, something I hope I'll never have to do again.
Well once again, sorry my blogs are always so long. I'd like to commend you if you've actually made it this far. But yes, we possibly have a job and a place to live! We'll keep you posted. Either way, things are looking up. We're even going to go to dinner tonight at a place where we can sit down! Fancy that, right? Oh, and my half-Jamaican boyfriend gave me a high five at Institute. Needless to say, I've got it in the bag.
Until next rant,
GTFG Courtney
Thursday 8 January 2009
Two Fit Birds - poem.
I've been doing some reading lately, and found that i'm a pretty good poet. I just discovered it. so here's one i'm writing on the spot...
time to get straight to the point...
MAN we are just livin the dream. so what?
I'm way fitter than court.
time to ride the tube.
but first i gotta use the loo.
and find a rubbish bin.
lets find some jobs.
-good time funny girl, megan.
time to get straight to the point...
MAN we are just livin the dream. so what?
I'm way fitter than court.
time to ride the tube.
but first i gotta use the loo.
and find a rubbish bin.
lets find some jobs.
-good time funny girl, megan.
Tuesday 6 January 2009
Good Time Funny Jobs
Hello there, friends and family, this is Good Time Funny Girl Courtney just checking in to let you all know that we are still alive. I'm at that sweet little internet cafe off Oxford Street with webcams faithfully fastened to every grayish Compaq Desktop Pro complete with Windows 2000. It's weird to make jokes about Windows 2000. I think it'll take me another 5 years at least until anything made after 1999 sounds old. 2000 still sounds like the future, y'know?
Anyhow, so today we did more job hunting. Really, the hardcore job hunting only began yesterday. We finally went to our BUNAC orientation and spent all day looking for jobs. Apparently, looking for a job is a 9 to 5 affair in itself. Except you don't get paid for it, which takes virtually all of the benefits out of doing something boring for 8 hours a day. Megan had an interview today with a job placement agency that apparently went well. They basically just had her perform a bunch of tests. She got DOUBLE the national average on the ten-key test, which was particularly impressive. Go Megan! But yeah, that guy said he'd let her know about any openings, so we'll see. We have appointments with a similar agency on Monday morning. So yeah. We'll see about that. Other than that, we've just been calling and emailing our CVs all over town. I've started looking into waitressing stuff too, since I'm a little more qualified for that. We're staying faithful, though, and we know that something good will happen soon. Pray for us, k?
Not a lot of interesting stuff is going on anymore. We're kind of mostly business lately. We walk around dressed all office-y and basically just ride the tube to and fro looking really straight-faced. I guess the honeymoon with London is kinda over. Get back in the kitchen now, London. Only speak when spoken to, y'know? Yeah.
Oh yeah, church was amazing! The ward is phenomenal, everyone is friendly, every boy is cute, and people say some crazy things in testimony meeting. This girl got up and told us all about this big plan she had to win the lottery without it being a sin. Not alongside her testimony or anything--she just talked about it for a while and then sat down, without a single word about the church or God or anything. I laughed pretty loud, but then I felt really embarrassed. Then this guy got up and talked about how he'd visited Salt Lake but couldn't find a church there, so he watched KBYU in his hotel and blessed his own sacrament. He then went on to bear his testimony about how grateful he was that no matter where he was in the world, even in Salt Lake, he could still have his own sacrament meeting (fyi for non-Mormon readers, that's against the rules without proper permission and authority). Wow. We couldn't laugh during that one, though. There was just a collective gasp here and there.
But yes, our ward is amazing, and all I've been able to talk about since then is how we get to go back on Thursday for Institute. I almost cried when church ended because I didn't want to leave. It was so nice to meet so many people and feel so welcomed--we felt at home as soon as we walked through the door. Everyone wants to be friends and tell jokes and ask questions and help us find an apartment and introduce us to everyone else and everything else. It's so amazing to have such a sense of community among a building full of people you've never met. Even more amazing to realize that no matter where we go on the whole planet Earth, we'll have that. The church is pretty great that way, right? They even have employment services that we're going to meet with to see if they know anybody who might hire us.
Well I think that's about it, ladies and gents. We'll keep you posted on how job stuff goes and I'll let you know when I decide which cute boy in our ward is going to be my boyfriend. I'm leaning toward a half Jamaican, but it's still up in the air. GTFG get homesick from time to time, and also a little discouraged, but we're really growing up a lot out here. I guess this is where people stop getting along and start getting real. But we get along better than ever, so probably not. It's mostly just where people go out into the world and learn what it's like to fend for themselves. We make quite the team, though, and are doing quite well. Nobody said it would be easy, but so far it still seems to be worth it. We just can't really rest until we've got some security in the form of jobs and a flat. Until then, keep us in your prayers, and if you know anybody who's hiring in Central London, let us know!
Love you all,
Good Time Funny Girl Courtney
Anyhow, so today we did more job hunting. Really, the hardcore job hunting only began yesterday. We finally went to our BUNAC orientation and spent all day looking for jobs. Apparently, looking for a job is a 9 to 5 affair in itself. Except you don't get paid for it, which takes virtually all of the benefits out of doing something boring for 8 hours a day. Megan had an interview today with a job placement agency that apparently went well. They basically just had her perform a bunch of tests. She got DOUBLE the national average on the ten-key test, which was particularly impressive. Go Megan! But yeah, that guy said he'd let her know about any openings, so we'll see. We have appointments with a similar agency on Monday morning. So yeah. We'll see about that. Other than that, we've just been calling and emailing our CVs all over town. I've started looking into waitressing stuff too, since I'm a little more qualified for that. We're staying faithful, though, and we know that something good will happen soon. Pray for us, k?
Not a lot of interesting stuff is going on anymore. We're kind of mostly business lately. We walk around dressed all office-y and basically just ride the tube to and fro looking really straight-faced. I guess the honeymoon with London is kinda over. Get back in the kitchen now, London. Only speak when spoken to, y'know? Yeah.
Oh yeah, church was amazing! The ward is phenomenal, everyone is friendly, every boy is cute, and people say some crazy things in testimony meeting. This girl got up and told us all about this big plan she had to win the lottery without it being a sin. Not alongside her testimony or anything--she just talked about it for a while and then sat down, without a single word about the church or God or anything. I laughed pretty loud, but then I felt really embarrassed. Then this guy got up and talked about how he'd visited Salt Lake but couldn't find a church there, so he watched KBYU in his hotel and blessed his own sacrament. He then went on to bear his testimony about how grateful he was that no matter where he was in the world, even in Salt Lake, he could still have his own sacrament meeting (fyi for non-Mormon readers, that's against the rules without proper permission and authority). Wow. We couldn't laugh during that one, though. There was just a collective gasp here and there.
But yes, our ward is amazing, and all I've been able to talk about since then is how we get to go back on Thursday for Institute. I almost cried when church ended because I didn't want to leave. It was so nice to meet so many people and feel so welcomed--we felt at home as soon as we walked through the door. Everyone wants to be friends and tell jokes and ask questions and help us find an apartment and introduce us to everyone else and everything else. It's so amazing to have such a sense of community among a building full of people you've never met. Even more amazing to realize that no matter where we go on the whole planet Earth, we'll have that. The church is pretty great that way, right? They even have employment services that we're going to meet with to see if they know anybody who might hire us.
Well I think that's about it, ladies and gents. We'll keep you posted on how job stuff goes and I'll let you know when I decide which cute boy in our ward is going to be my boyfriend. I'm leaning toward a half Jamaican, but it's still up in the air. GTFG get homesick from time to time, and also a little discouraged, but we're really growing up a lot out here. I guess this is where people stop getting along and start getting real. But we get along better than ever, so probably not. It's mostly just where people go out into the world and learn what it's like to fend for themselves. We make quite the team, though, and are doing quite well. Nobody said it would be easy, but so far it still seems to be worth it. We just can't really rest until we've got some security in the form of jobs and a flat. Until then, keep us in your prayers, and if you know anybody who's hiring in Central London, let us know!
Love you all,
Good Time Funny Girl Courtney
Saturday 3 January 2009
Good Time Funny Birthday!
Hello there ladies and gents. This is 20 year-old Good Time Funny Girl Courtney here just saying hello and making you aware of today's special birthday events that weren't really all that special, but enjoyable no less.
We started out our day by strolling out of bed casually at noon because we never get any sort of decent sleep and we didn't have anything to do. We then proceeded to walk down the street to the London Bridge underground station because we've become addicted to cheap organic milk and treats. And because it's my birthday and I do what I want. We ate some chocolate croissant things and then some muffins and had a delicious time. A boy I have a silly crush on from the ysa dance called me while we were there and sang happy birthday to me in an unsuccessful attempt to sing like Marilyn Monroe and, baffled when I told him we had nothing to do on my birthday, asked us if we wanted to hang out with him and his friends. We agreed and went back to our hostel to get looking so fine and then headed over to the Tate Museum of Modern Art to meet up with them.
The group we fond there was a diverse bunch--a Brazilian, a Canadian, two Brits, and a dude from Norway. We looked around there for a bit, but I think they'd been there for a while, and Megan and I had already seen it, so we soon left to dinner. We ate at a really delicious Turkish place, but unfortunately Good Time Funny Girls were still stuffed off of milk and muffins, so Megan just ordered some hummus and I ordered an appetizer that turned out to be a really big lamb pizza thing that I couldn't finish. Luckily James was hungry enough for everybody, so the food did not go to waste.
After that, we just wandered around interesting places and made everybody walk with their arms linked because we're goons. They were good sports about all of it. In fact, at times they might have even thought we were slightly funny. Sometimes not, though. However, I attribute this entirely to the culture gap. Because Good Time Funny Girls are 100% Grade-A hilarious. Duh.
But yes, we had a good birthday party day. It was so incredibly nice to be able to socialize. We (particularly myself) have been starving for some social interaction. I just can't take not having friends around, I guess. It makes London feel pretty boring. When Megan was asking me what I wanted to do this morning, I just kept on saying "I want to hang out with Dan and Drew and Evan and Monica and Lydia...etc..." But in general we're doing quite fine. We're dying to go to church tomorrow and make even more friends. It'll be nice to feel like we've got our feet on the ground someplace. I'm absolutely dying to have a bishop to call my own. Hah, it hasn't even been a week. It turns out that this Good Time Funny Girl's skin isn't all that thick.
Good breakfast, good socializing, good birthday! Little Megan "I'm not tired at all" Christopher is lying on the bench behind me sleeping her heart out and doesn't look so comfortable, so I'd better wake her up and take her to bed. We've got high hopes for making some job connections at church tomorrow. And who knows, maybe even some love connections? Eh? Meh. We'll keep you posted.
Over and out,
GTFG Courtney T.
We started out our day by strolling out of bed casually at noon because we never get any sort of decent sleep and we didn't have anything to do. We then proceeded to walk down the street to the London Bridge underground station because we've become addicted to cheap organic milk and treats. And because it's my birthday and I do what I want. We ate some chocolate croissant things and then some muffins and had a delicious time. A boy I have a silly crush on from the ysa dance called me while we were there and sang happy birthday to me in an unsuccessful attempt to sing like Marilyn Monroe and, baffled when I told him we had nothing to do on my birthday, asked us if we wanted to hang out with him and his friends. We agreed and went back to our hostel to get looking so fine and then headed over to the Tate Museum of Modern Art to meet up with them.
The group we fond there was a diverse bunch--a Brazilian, a Canadian, two Brits, and a dude from Norway. We looked around there for a bit, but I think they'd been there for a while, and Megan and I had already seen it, so we soon left to dinner. We ate at a really delicious Turkish place, but unfortunately Good Time Funny Girls were still stuffed off of milk and muffins, so Megan just ordered some hummus and I ordered an appetizer that turned out to be a really big lamb pizza thing that I couldn't finish. Luckily James was hungry enough for everybody, so the food did not go to waste.
After that, we just wandered around interesting places and made everybody walk with their arms linked because we're goons. They were good sports about all of it. In fact, at times they might have even thought we were slightly funny. Sometimes not, though. However, I attribute this entirely to the culture gap. Because Good Time Funny Girls are 100% Grade-A hilarious. Duh.
But yes, we had a good birthday party day. It was so incredibly nice to be able to socialize. We (particularly myself) have been starving for some social interaction. I just can't take not having friends around, I guess. It makes London feel pretty boring. When Megan was asking me what I wanted to do this morning, I just kept on saying "I want to hang out with Dan and Drew and Evan and Monica and Lydia...etc..." But in general we're doing quite fine. We're dying to go to church tomorrow and make even more friends. It'll be nice to feel like we've got our feet on the ground someplace. I'm absolutely dying to have a bishop to call my own. Hah, it hasn't even been a week. It turns out that this Good Time Funny Girl's skin isn't all that thick.
Good breakfast, good socializing, good birthday! Little Megan "I'm not tired at all" Christopher is lying on the bench behind me sleeping her heart out and doesn't look so comfortable, so I'd better wake her up and take her to bed. We've got high hopes for making some job connections at church tomorrow. And who knows, maybe even some love connections? Eh? Meh. We'll keep you posted.
Over and out,
GTFG Courtney T.
Friday 2 January 2009
RUBBISH!!!
one key portion of new years that gtfg courtbih 4gots is the part where we sang 'god bless america' as loud as we possibly could while watching fireworks. man did we get some strange looks. but we also had some kids join in. that might have been my favorite part of the whole trip. man i love america. shoot. look away every brit that's behind me. i love your country too. but there ain't nowhere like the ol u s of a. know what i mean?
we are in this shady acres usa interwebs room right now. it's right off of oxford street. gtfg thinks that it looks exactly like new york city. minus the skyscrapers. well, there's one skyscraper. but it's hardly scraping anything. right? but seriously. we just walked around for a real long time looking for some salsa dancing lessons that we were planning on going to, but couldn't find. because no one around here knows their address. and there aren't any address numbers anywhere. we're going to try again tomorrow though. gtfgs thinks. but there are great shops here. even an h & m.
today began with a walking tour. where we observed the most ridiculous thing on god's green urff. it was the changing of the guards at buckingham palace. the guards were playing instruments to the tunes of michael jackson's thriller, star wars, 'love lifts us up where we belong,' etc. just really gr8 american crap songs that shouldn't have been played. it was seriously wreaking of hilarity. splitting out those shiney little red seams on their goofy jackets, even. so anyways, we got lost on the tour with our new friend... i think her name was lynn. she looked almost exactly like julie. you know. the spaghettisburg address julie. in fact, i'm pretty sure it was julie. just slightly less funny, and in london. we walked all around the place with her. and then we went to the imperial war museum. where we accidently lost her. she's living in africa, and we told her gtfg would come visit. but we didn't quite exchange contact info. i'm pretty bummed.
we ate at the most delicious cafe today. i had the butternut squash soup with bread and pear juice. holy delish! gtfg's favorite treat is milk and flapjacks. they are these oatmeal treats that are super dense. and the milk is so creamy and scrumptious here. gtfgirls might be the only milk drinkers in london. it's phunn phunn!!!! oh! and these great little indian pastries! with potatoes and peas! and tele booths! and night buses! and litter boxes! and lifts! and man we are some fine birds! it's so fun time good time here. just perfect for good time funny girls. for now at least. until we make our journey back to that blessed amrca!
so... all assumptions and generalizations i've heard about london are false. people are not rude. at all. we've yet to really see it rain. what else... oh. no terrorist is going to harm us. and that's for sure. it's completely safe. i'd reckon it's even much safer than good ol slc. so not to fret. all you fretters out there.
oh! while gtfg courtbamf was napping today, i wandered the most beautiful cathedral. well not the most. but it was so fun just walking around and snapping photos. the city is ginormous. honestly. it never ends. and there's only daylight for a few hours. and everywhere closes incredibly early. umm.. so yeah. there are some observations.
good time funny girls are sick of lollygagging. and ready for the next step of this trip. the step where we find gr8 good phunn jobs. hopefully in wales. but don't tell court, cause i think she likes it here more... oops! idk bout that court. actually, more like idc. as long as we can buy our coats and ride the ride. that one ride. that i've been begging you to ride. there can't be more subliminal messages. lets stop beating around the bush court. you know what i want.
oh. and shout out to nicky. happy burfday baby cakes. i hope it's treating you the right way.
loves and misses from londonian.
-good time funny girl, megan.
we are in this shady acres usa interwebs room right now. it's right off of oxford street. gtfg thinks that it looks exactly like new york city. minus the skyscrapers. well, there's one skyscraper. but it's hardly scraping anything. right? but seriously. we just walked around for a real long time looking for some salsa dancing lessons that we were planning on going to, but couldn't find. because no one around here knows their address. and there aren't any address numbers anywhere. we're going to try again tomorrow though. gtfgs thinks. but there are great shops here. even an h & m.
today began with a walking tour. where we observed the most ridiculous thing on god's green urff. it was the changing of the guards at buckingham palace. the guards were playing instruments to the tunes of michael jackson's thriller, star wars, 'love lifts us up where we belong,' etc. just really gr8 american crap songs that shouldn't have been played. it was seriously wreaking of hilarity. splitting out those shiney little red seams on their goofy jackets, even. so anyways, we got lost on the tour with our new friend... i think her name was lynn. she looked almost exactly like julie. you know. the spaghettisburg address julie. in fact, i'm pretty sure it was julie. just slightly less funny, and in london. we walked all around the place with her. and then we went to the imperial war museum. where we accidently lost her. she's living in africa, and we told her gtfg would come visit. but we didn't quite exchange contact info. i'm pretty bummed.
we ate at the most delicious cafe today. i had the butternut squash soup with bread and pear juice. holy delish! gtfg's favorite treat is milk and flapjacks. they are these oatmeal treats that are super dense. and the milk is so creamy and scrumptious here. gtfgirls might be the only milk drinkers in london. it's phunn phunn!!!! oh! and these great little indian pastries! with potatoes and peas! and tele booths! and night buses! and litter boxes! and lifts! and man we are some fine birds! it's so fun time good time here. just perfect for good time funny girls. for now at least. until we make our journey back to that blessed amrca!
so... all assumptions and generalizations i've heard about london are false. people are not rude. at all. we've yet to really see it rain. what else... oh. no terrorist is going to harm us. and that's for sure. it's completely safe. i'd reckon it's even much safer than good ol slc. so not to fret. all you fretters out there.
oh! while gtfg courtbamf was napping today, i wandered the most beautiful cathedral. well not the most. but it was so fun just walking around and snapping photos. the city is ginormous. honestly. it never ends. and there's only daylight for a few hours. and everywhere closes incredibly early. umm.. so yeah. there are some observations.
good time funny girls are sick of lollygagging. and ready for the next step of this trip. the step where we find gr8 good phunn jobs. hopefully in wales. but don't tell court, cause i think she likes it here more... oops! idk bout that court. actually, more like idc. as long as we can buy our coats and ride the ride. that one ride. that i've been begging you to ride. there can't be more subliminal messages. lets stop beating around the bush court. you know what i want.
oh. and shout out to nicky. happy burfday baby cakes. i hope it's treating you the right way.
loves and misses from londonian.
-good time funny girl, megan.
Thursday 1 January 2009
Oh hey guys.
This is good time funny girl Courtney chewing on a piece of plastic I chewed off of my water bottle as I enter my very first blog post.
Megan just said "We can't look for jobs again 'til Monday then, huh?" and I said "yeah." So that's the news on that. We were late to BUNAC orientation on wednesday by literally two minutes and they wouldn't let us in because they're awful people. So yeah. We contacted about 12,000 people on Wednesday, like Megan said, and basically all we can do now is await replies until Monday. We have an interview tomorrow for live-in jobs at a tavern in Waterloo which we don't really want, but we're going to the interview anyhow. If nothing else, it's an opportunity to go see Waterloo, right?
We had the opportunity last night to stay in a really nice hotel because our hostel was too full on New Year's. This was incredibly nice because we got to sleep in a clean, soft bed, shower in an amazing shower, and actually feel cute and clean. We then went to a big LDS YSA dance, which started out really miserable until we befriended a boy dressed as a flamboyant cha cha dancer with a puffy rainbow shirt and a brazillian/italian with a cute scarf. At that point, things started looking up quite quickly. We danced our little hearts out to Britney Spears and the Jackson Five and went on the roof of this 6 story church to watch the fireworks at midnight over the rooftops of London. Not a bad way to ring in the New Year.
We also saw Big Ben and Buckingham Palace and the County Building and the London Eye. We rather enjoy walking around talking like British people because we are geeks. We also enjoy Indian bread pockets full of vegetable treats and I don't enjoy the robotic public restrooms that cost 20p and are disgusting.
The aforementioned hotel was a dream with one fatal flaw--its location. We were baffled that we could find such a great place for such a reasonable price, but when night fell, we quickly understood just why it was so inexpensive. It took us a whopping two hours of tube and bus rides to get from Central London to our fluffy white dream bed. And on the way there, we encountered quite a few whackos. My personal favorite was a drunk gangster boy who approached us and asked if we could "meet up later tonight" at about 4 in the morning. We told him that he probably didn't want to meet up with us because we were Mormons, to which he quickly replied "so are we!" but then hesitated and asked, "what is that?" He then made me ask him for a lighter about four times, making a big stink about my "beautiful accent" over and over. I don't want you all to worry too much, so I'm going to refrain from recounting any other experiences. Just trust me, guys, it was a bad part of town and a long commute through it. But fear not, we made it out alive and will never look back.
Well I think that's about it, ladies and folks. Farewell until next time.
Sincerely yours,
Good Time Funny Girl Courtney
Megan just said "We can't look for jobs again 'til Monday then, huh?" and I said "yeah." So that's the news on that. We were late to BUNAC orientation on wednesday by literally two minutes and they wouldn't let us in because they're awful people. So yeah. We contacted about 12,000 people on Wednesday, like Megan said, and basically all we can do now is await replies until Monday. We have an interview tomorrow for live-in jobs at a tavern in Waterloo which we don't really want, but we're going to the interview anyhow. If nothing else, it's an opportunity to go see Waterloo, right?
We had the opportunity last night to stay in a really nice hotel because our hostel was too full on New Year's. This was incredibly nice because we got to sleep in a clean, soft bed, shower in an amazing shower, and actually feel cute and clean. We then went to a big LDS YSA dance, which started out really miserable until we befriended a boy dressed as a flamboyant cha cha dancer with a puffy rainbow shirt and a brazillian/italian with a cute scarf. At that point, things started looking up quite quickly. We danced our little hearts out to Britney Spears and the Jackson Five and went on the roof of this 6 story church to watch the fireworks at midnight over the rooftops of London. Not a bad way to ring in the New Year.
We also saw Big Ben and Buckingham Palace and the County Building and the London Eye. We rather enjoy walking around talking like British people because we are geeks. We also enjoy Indian bread pockets full of vegetable treats and I don't enjoy the robotic public restrooms that cost 20p and are disgusting.
The aforementioned hotel was a dream with one fatal flaw--its location. We were baffled that we could find such a great place for such a reasonable price, but when night fell, we quickly understood just why it was so inexpensive. It took us a whopping two hours of tube and bus rides to get from Central London to our fluffy white dream bed. And on the way there, we encountered quite a few whackos. My personal favorite was a drunk gangster boy who approached us and asked if we could "meet up later tonight" at about 4 in the morning. We told him that he probably didn't want to meet up with us because we were Mormons, to which he quickly replied "so are we!" but then hesitated and asked, "what is that?" He then made me ask him for a lighter about four times, making a big stink about my "beautiful accent" over and over. I don't want you all to worry too much, so I'm going to refrain from recounting any other experiences. Just trust me, guys, it was a bad part of town and a long commute through it. But fear not, we made it out alive and will never look back.
Well I think that's about it, ladies and folks. Farewell until next time.
Sincerely yours,
Good Time Funny Girl Courtney
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