Hello, this might sound weird but I wanted to let you know you are one of my fave blogs. I check it every night before going to sleep. It is fun and educative and everything! Ok, that's it, bye :)
Omg <3 <3 This really mean a lot to me Thank you so so much!
monkeydroo said: It’s ok Menu. You can always take a shower. I don’t like clubs either… I haven’t gone to a club where I feel comfortable at least with the music.
Clubs are the sum of everything i find annoying: it's hot, with loud music i don't like, full of drunk people and above all expensive. And it might make me sound old, but it's no place for socialization. You go in, you can't hear anybody and after like 2am you can't even see anybody because of the lights and if i have to sit somewhere staring at the void or contemplating the wasted generation i can do it for free on facebook from my very bed. XD Granted, you go there if you wanna dance but those places are so small you can't even dance properly. It's a place to get wasted or harass others or show off because don't even get me started on the outfits these eyes saw last night. Just. No.
monkeydroo replied to your post“Remember when Al most Paaaaa radiseeeee and the F4 walked in and...”
THE FACT THAT YOU BRING THIS UP IS FUNNY CUZ YESTERDAY I STARTED TO WATCH IT AGAIN X'D KDSJHFKLSDHFSLKDFHSLDFHSLDKFHLSDFHSLDKF I AM SCREAMING!!!!
Omg me too XD I went to bed at 2am to watch as many episodes as i could. And i went to bed just because my laptop died and i was too lazy to connect the charger XDD
After one week of mere frustration with the children, i took my first day off and made a wish come true: 6 hours and 22 minutes in the city that inspired this adventure i'm living.
Reasons to go: be in King's Cross at 11am on the 1st September (it should ring a bell, and if it doesn't then you missed a big chop of our generation) and meeting Maya (details about this part will probably be Annie's interest only because she introduced her to me. If you don't care, please skip to the fourth paragraph from the last XD).
So, this is how things went.
I arrived in London Victoria and the first thing i did was to take a deep breath. There. On the platform.
Guys, i can feel London. I can't explain it. It's under my skin, like DBSK said. You can love that place as much as you want but i have a connection with it. I'm sorry.
Anyway, i had one hour to get to King's Cross where i had to meet Maya. I cursed myself for forgetting to check her Facebook picture again because i realised i had no idea how to recognize her.
And again, i felt so at ease on the tube. Not only because London's tube is dumb-proof, but because for the first time after two weeks that was something i knew how to handle.
Maya was a few minutes late because 10 am was too early for her, so we agreed to meet in front of Starbucks. Yes, of course i got myself some coffee. Though, you know how they ask for your name so they can call you when your order is ready? Well, the girl who took my order looked like she wanted to quit her job on the spot when i told her my name. XD
When Maya finally arrived she texted "I'm here!" and i had to reply "Omg which one?" (apparently everyone meets in front of Starbucks XD)
Now, there was this girl a few meters away from me who was checking her phone and giggled, but you know...what if i went there and then she wasn't the right person? I mean, ok. I've been making a fool of myself since i learned how to speak, but if you can avoid it then it's wiser.
In the end she told me what she was wearing, so i just put my phone away, dragged my feet in her direction (just in case she was still not the right one and someone else just approached her before me) and went "Hi!"
General impression: Maya laughs so much. And it's so easy to talk to her.
We went to the wall where the plaque "Platform 9 3/4" is and we saw a crowd of people raising their wands. They were singing or saying something, but the station was too noisy for me to hear it.
I also wanted to take another picture with the plaque, but the line of people with the same wish was just as long as the station itself. So we just turned on the spot and went out.
We walked and walked and walked while we talked and talked and talked. About Italy, about London, about why we're here, where she lives, where i live, my host family's habits, her going to Italy next week for a few days and so many other things i can't and shouldn't list 'cause i assume you don't really care.
Annie, we agreed you're crazy though. XD
Then we went to KFC for lunch (Chicken!! Onew!!) and i think i scared her.
I basically ordered a box that's supposed to be shared among several people. XD Though, to be honest, if even only Maya and i shared that...she wouldn't have eaten too much. It wasn't that big.
And i had this urge to pee, when i told her she just laughed so loud i wasn't even expecting that.
Our plan was to go to the Olympic Park but the tube broke when we were riding it. After 10 minutes the train still didn't move so we decided to take another one in the opposite direction and then try again. And when i arrived on the opposite platform i said "i swear if that train moves now i don't know what i'm gonna do".
"Din din din", the doors closed and the train left.
We still took the train in the opposite direction, but for some reason it didn't take us to where we were planning to go. It could have taken us to Tower Hill though, so we just gave up on the Olympic Park and went to my favorite place in London.
It felt like i'd been there only three days ago or something.
We went to Starbucks because we were thirsty and while Maya waited for her order, i tried to connect my phone to the wifi because i needed to check the railway timetables.
It took me 10 minutes only to open the browser, when Maya took her phone, touched a couple of spots on the screen and a huge "National Rail" logo appeared.
"How did you do that? I've been trying to make this thing work since you were standing by the counter!!"
"But you could have asked me!!"
Seriously, i still laugh if i think about that moment. XDD
Ah yeah, we looked so stupid when we had to go out of Starbucks. There are two doors and at first each of us went in a different direction, then we both followed each other so we were still going in two different directions. Then i said "Ok, let's go this way" but she was already going out from the other door. In the end i just followed her because everyone was staring at us. XDD
We took a picture otherwise Annie would have killed us, then we tried to go to the Tower Bridge but apparently there were some people hanging from i don't know where therefore the bridge was closed. We mentioned Gandalf there. "You shall not pass".
So we just went the other way and walked and walked and walked again until it was time for me to go back to the station, so she walked me to Temple and then we said bye. We agreed to meet again on my birthday or whenever i go back to London anyway. The tone she used when saying "yes" makes me think she doesn't think i'm completely weird or crazy, so that's good. XD
No, wait. Near St Paul's we must have had a huge "Information point" sign on our head, because two people stopped us to ask us a) if the Tate Modern was that way (and that lady was lucky because i actually knew where we were so i could give detailed instructions. \o/ So much London pride) b) if Cloud was free (that's a wifi connection but Maya said it doesn't always work)
And anyway i don't stop people to ask them if a wifi connection is free. I mean. XD
Among all the things we talked about, i described Rochester to Maya a little bit and she said she would find it really hard to live in a place where you can't go out and see things. Basically the countryside. It reminded me of all the times Anhela and i discussed the difference between living in my town and Bogotà.
It actually felt weird to realise that girl next to me knows two of my dearest people in the world. It's one of those things that make your online friends so much more real.
And while i was walking i just found myself wishing my plan could really go as i'd wished it, that i could really be living in London right now. Because as my return time approached, i started feeling a sort of sadness for having to leave that city again, even only for a couple of weeks, even if i'm still so close to it.
Like i said, "Rochester is pretty, but London is my home".
If i felt lost in Rochester when i arrived, if sometimes i still find it hard to consider it my town, London feels like a shell to me. A place where i would never get hurt, that would never hurt me, that will always know how to help me just like it helped me when i needed a plan for my life, when the plans and people i'd been working on faded away.
I'm not saying i regret being in Rochester. I love the UK in its entirety, therefore it's still a nice place to be at. But London has a power over me and i pity all those people who have been there and said they couldn't find some personality in the city. Because i can see magic in every street and building and without that magic i would probably still in my bedroom, crying over life disappointments and worrying about getting older without a path to follow.
It's not just about liking a city and wanting to be able to say "i live abroad". London has fixed me. That builds a kind of bond that goes behind your geographic residence and that could never change, if not to become deeper.
