8 Mile (Part II): The Afternoon

Following the ceremony, EN and I made our way down the Mall, passed the Horse Guards Parade, and on to Big Ben and the Palace of Westminster. (EN had yet to capture any photos of either of these places, hence the stop-over—rumor has it, I may have snagged another photo or two myself!)

Clark Kent says: "Boy, the way you blowin' up my phone won't make me leave no faster, put my cape on faster, leave my gays no faster!"

 From there, EN and I crossed the Westminster Bridge, and proceeded to head northeast along the Thames, passing such things as the Millennium Eye and the National Theatre. It was a fun little walk (albeit a touch cold). We shared a cup of roasted peanuts from a street-vendor (couldn't help it--they smelled so good!), and visited an open-air book market stationed under the Waterloo Bridge, before making our way back across the bridge and on to Covent Gardens.

Covent Gardens is a charming little neighborhood! One website described it as follows:

"Covent Garden, London is famous for its shops, street performers, bars, restaurants, theatres and the Royal Opera House. Covent Garden is an Italian-style piazza packed with restaurants, bars and fashionable boutiques. Surrounded by Theatreland, in the heart of London's West End, the area is recognised as the capital's premier entertainment and leisure destination." ~  Covent Garden Life

Now, I wish I could say that we hung around to enjoy the shopping and take in some street-performances or theatre but, alas, my growling stomach protested too loudly. So, we tried to find a reasonably-priced, not-too-busy pub in which to get our chow on. What we instead found was a place on New Row. This place was about the size of mine and Nic’s studio apartment, had ‘Italian’ décor, paintings of Paris on their menu, and items on said-menu that were all prefixed with ‘Texas-.’ It wasn't quite the atmosphere we were looking for, but we settled in out of necessity. (For the record, I had a ‘Texas-Egg Burger’ and an unnamed German lager because they didn’t serve Guinness.)

 It…sufficed.

From Covent Garden we moved into Soho, which is somewhat like the Boystown equivalent in London. It was the middle of the day, though, so there wasn’t much to see or do. But I can say I was there! (And I was there again on Monday—hence yesterday’s hangover and the story for later.)

Brief stopovers in Piccadilly Circus—in certain respects the Time Square of London—and along Regent Street were next. Not too much to say about that bit, though EN and I did work on our ‘Texas oilmen’ personae as a means of gaining access to some of the exclusive, overly-priced stores on Regent Street (e.g., one shop wanted £12,000 for a silver spoon). I mean, seriously, these were the kinds of shops where you couldn’t enter unless someone buzzed you in. Something tells me that no matter how well-perfected our ‘Hello, m’am, we’re wealthy oil men from Texas’ spiels were, they still wouldn’t have allowed EN and I entrance…

Mind the...Gap?

The shops of Regent Street

Most of this time was spent in-transit, walking around. Following our visit to the shops on Regent Street, dusk was nearly upon us...

TO BE CONTINUED...

UEL Orientation (Day 1 of 3)

Well, today was the big day: orientation at UEL (part 1 of 3); and, it went very well! Now sit right back and allow me to regale you (bore you?) with the day’s adventures…

It all started, as no morning ever should, at 4:58 AM GMT, when I woke up for no freakin’ reason. I mean, seriously, I had another hour-and-a-half in which I could have rested. Alas, it was not meant to be. So, I tossed and turned for a bit, until, finally, I just said, ‘Screw it!’ and went over to the computer…

And who had just posted on my FB wall their well-wishes for my day? The divine Mr Ruley, that’s who. Turns out he was just about to go to bed as I was getting up. So we chatted it up for a bit online before I finally resigned myself to the fact that it was time to go. That was Great Start Event #1.

Great Start Event #2 happened as I was making my trek toward the tube stop: first, my iPod randomly selected Eartha Kitt’s “An Englishman Needs Time.” Why was this so great? Well, lemme tell ya: it’s awesome on one level simply because it was Heavenly Eartha herself, on another because it was a recording taken from the concert that Nic and I saw her perform live, and on a third level because it was about an Englishman and I’m in, well, England.

And then (Great Event #3), my iPod started playing “It’s Getting Better” by Mama Cass Eliot (Mamas and the Papas). Again, you may wonder why I’m classifying this as something great. You see I fell in love with the song (and the group) through their inclusion in one of the most romantic gay films I’ve ever seen: “Beautiful Thing.” (The flick in question was one of the few things that kept me sane in the early days of my coming to terms with my sexual identity—try as I might to find positive, happy representations of gayness, queer filmmakers of the ’90s were seemingly eager to paint a picture of gayness equaling misery, suffering, death, drugs, and infidelity. Damn it, I wanted more—and found exactly what I was looking for in the sweet love story of Jamie and Ste.) At any rate, the song was awesome/fitting because the film is set in Thamesmead, about 2.69 miles away from UEL. (Hmm….a day trip might be happening soon…)

Eventually, I made my way to the tube and began my journey proper. The entire trip took me about 1.5 hours—first I had to transfer from the District to the Jubilee line, and then I had to switch again to the Docklands Light Rail (DLR). Shockingly, it wasn’t bad!

Part of My Journey

Orientation itself was a bit overwhelming! Lots of information coming our way about everything from library services, to visa no-no’s, to trips around London and elsewhere. It was all a bit much, but after I’ve had some time to digest it all, it should (hopefully) make sense.

At 12:30 PM GMT we were given £5 vouchers to any of the multiple eating establishments on-campus. I wasn’t interested in much, so I just grabbed an egg sandwich and a coffee*—except, the grandmotherly cashier wouldn’t let me get away with just that. She kept insisting that it was a waste of money (as the two items only came to £2.65, or thereabouts), and forcing food on me! First, she told me to take an apple, which I did so as to be polite. Next, she told me to take a banana—I protested that it was too much, but she insisted…and then she insisted again, telling me to take a second banana! Finally, to top it all off, she told me to pick up a pack of belVita Breakfast Biscuits! It was all a bit absurd, but I did as I was told—guess I have dessert and breakfast for tomorrow.

Grandmotherly Cashier, or Nabisco Enforcer?

Following my sandwich and coffee, I wandered around the campus a bit. It really is a unique place—between the adjoining Thames and the occasional fishy breeze, one definitely feels as if they’re near docks, and the colorful, rounded dorms blend in almost perfectly with that nautical setting. Then there’s the London city airport, which is directly across the river—the large(ish) planes landing and taking off within seeming arm-reach is really cool. In some ways, UEL is very reminiscent of Columbia, but in other ways it’s just different enough that (at least at this point) it makes me feel a touch homesick. 

UEL/Docklands Dorms on the Thames

London City Airport and the Thames (Behind the Big Giant Head)

At 2:00 PM GMT, a group of us headed over to the Gallions Reach shopping center. There wasn’t too much there, but it was fun to go along on my first excursion with my London peers.

Around 5:30 PM GMT, I finally left campus and started the long trek home. I did make one final detour though: when it came time to transfer from the Jubilee to the District line, I left the tube and made my way to the street-level. You see, I was at the Westminster Stop, and one of my biggest regrets from the last time Nic and I were here was that I never got decent photos of the Palace of Westminster (the parliament building) at night. Tonight I rectified that, as can be seen from the photos below. And while I was there, I was able to actually hear Big Ben toll the 6:00 hour.

The Millennium Eye

Brett, "Big Ben," and Palace of Westminster

Westminster Abbey

After wandering for a bit, I returned home and chatted briefly, once more, with Nic as he prepared for tonight’s show. Then I enjoyed a yummy dinner of chicken and rice with KG and MM while watching “Coronation Street.” (I’m sure I’ll talk more about it later, but I’ve had a great time discussing British soaps and audience interaction with KG and MM while I’ve been here—I think the fact that they’re such a phenomenon over here is awesome, and I really want to get at that difference between British and USAmerican culture. I also think it’s interesting that British soaps are ongoing narratives like our own, despite the fact that so many other British television programs are self-contained narratives.)

Anyway, I’ve blathered on enough for one night—time to close shop.  Till the bell tolls again...

* I haven’t mentioned it here yet, but I’m trying to curb my coffee addiction while I’m here. I’ve done really well the last two days, having a single, small cup both days. No more. Quite the change from my multi-pot/day habit!