Rugby and London and Gingers, oh my!

Since my last post, there have been several major happenings: the Rugby World Cup, my successful navigation of the National Express and the London underground, and a Halloween party at which I dressed up as a Ginger Kid. For those unfamiliar with the South Park episode, just know that there exists a theory involving the satanic, soul-devouring characteristics of redheads. Check http://www.gingerkids.org/ for more details. I'm told that my costume was extremely creepy.

But my romp through the wild realms of "gingervitis" was actually the most recent happening (it was last Saturday night at Collin's London flat, well, it really overtook his entire building) so I'll back up a bit. The Rugby World Cup was quite exciting - England was in the final for the second time in a row (they won in 2003), playing against South Africa. If you remember, my flatmate Caryn is from South Africa, so we had a great time infiltrating a pub down the hill, grabbing a couch seat right in front of the biggest TV screen ever, and cheering ourselves hoarse. I'm sorry to report that England lost, but it was a fantastic time and we did beat France in the semi-finals so there's still a bit of bragging power.

As for London, I took a coach on Friday afternoon in order to spend the weekend visiting Collin at his Maida Vale flat. He lives with a whole crowd of other Americans involved in his internship/MBA programme, who were very nice to meet. On Saturday, Collin and I explored the Borough Market (located underneath rail tracks and stocked with all the cheese, bread, fruit, veg, cupcakes, mulled wine, and dead pheasants you could ever desire), wandered over London Bridge, and ate kebabs for dinner, which are worth mentioning because unlike American shish-kebabs, they don't come on a stick. Imagine a gyro (or a pita) that's very very yummy and very very messy. On Sunday, we visited Collin's work place (UBS) and the Barbican art gallery to see an exhibit on the representation of sex in art. Don't worry parents, it was very informative and tasteful. There was quite a bit of Greek pottery, so I should be able to write the trip off as a university-related expense, right?

That's all for now... halfway to the horizon is a arch/anthro Halloween party in the dorm common room, a field trip to Gloucester on Thursday, and Guy Fawkes next Monday, and on the horizon is a visit from Mom, so there's plenty to anticipate.