casino at the empire, how can i help you?

Hellooooooo or Hiya as they say here. HAPPY THANKSGIVING! except its not so exciting here. Nobody wished me happy thanksgiving today and I guess that makes sense. Last night ellie cooked a vegetarian feast and george, lauren, and gaelle ate it with us. It was very nice but still a little sad to have to go to work the next day and not be able to lay around, full and happy watching the macy's parade with our families. We did take pictures though which Ellie will post later so come back and check!

Also, working at a casino is mind-numbingly boring that all day today I stared at the clock thinking, well my family is pulling the bird out of the oven, my family is making a pie now. I literally answer annoying phone calls about dumb poker games like texas hold'em of which I know nothing about. I direct the calls and pray that the transfer works and then i scan members signatures into the computer ALL DAY. nobody talks to me, i don't get to deal with customers, i just sit at a desk by myself with a stack of ninethousand forms to scan. Also, the lunch they serve us is the same everyday, traditional english breakfast except they serve it at 3. So I eat mass quantities of hash browns and baked beans at 3 in the afternoon and that is the highlight of my day which is pretty pathetic. I think sometimes that I will die before five rolls around. I believe that I will become liquid like Alex Mack or something. I have two more days of that then I am jobless yet again, but id rather eat crackers than waste all my days in there.

We saw Rilo Kiley play a gig the other night. It was very strange because it was in a proper theater and everyone had seats and the theater was beautiful and everyone watched the show like it was an orchestra or a play or something rather than a concert. I wanted to dance but nobody even moved their shoulders, however when you do watch something like that sitting down, its interesting how much you enjoy the actual art of the music and the performance. Anyway, Jenny was brilliant of course and you all know i could go on FOREVER....

Also speaking of music, amy winehouse lives in our neighborhood and george sees her everyday he says from out kitchen walking up the road. I haven't seen her yet, but i've got my eyes open and goerge showed me her favorite spot for dinner in camden.

Strange British thing of the day: people walk like they drive. On the opposite side. So people walk on the left staircase when they are coming down and the right when they are coming up. Whenever I'm about to walk into someone we always do this weird american-british tango where im going to My right and they're going to THEIR right and it's a tangle of arms and legs and bags. I just didn't realize how hard it is to break a habit like which direction you walk in.

I hope everyone is enjoying their turkey and are thinking about us poor unforuntate souls over here who wouldn't eat the turkey anyway but wouldn't mind a second helping of pumpkin pie today!

<3

Ellie just said that if I dropped her computer off our really ridiculously high bed that she would, in turn, jump off after it. I'm a little frightened about her commitment to this device. (don't worry mamas and papas, no one is jumping.)

Anyways, so they sell shrimp chips here. Like literally on the same shelf as cheddar and sour cream, they have "prawn chips." Who wants to eat chips that taste like shrimp? Is that for poor people who can't afford shrimp? Also gena claims they have lamb and garlic chips, and i have also witnessed ham and cheddar. So whoever wants to try some new chips, send us your address and we will send them wrapped up for christmas! nothing like ham and prawns under the tree.

We have settled into our place and we are really feeling at home here which is nice. George is turning out to be just great. Last night we went out for a drink with him and a couple of his friends and he bought us some drinks and was really watching out for us, kept making sure we were safe and having fun and what not.

I have been emailing places like crazy hoping for someone to respond to my resume and agree to hire me, however it is just wishful thinking so far. Ellie and I decided today that we may apply to whole foods and at least get half off amazing groceries. I emailed my resume to someone called beverley underwood the other day and i thought it was a legitimate job and they told me to come in and everything and i took a long shower, got dressed in real business clothes and made ellie dash out to get us some nail polish remover so i didnt have chipped polish. We were so excited and when i got there it turned out to just be an agency. They made me take these stupid tests in microsoft word and you weren't allowed to right-click except sometimes you needed to and it was very confusing, the clicking that is. I don't think i did so hot, even though i've been using that software since fifth grade or something. But apparently I type very very fast and beverley underwood got me a position tomorrow where i am going to a department store and have to listen to cassette tapes of police interviews with employees who have stolen from the store and i have to type the interview up as i hear it. Apparently, i have to use the transcribing machine with a foot pedal and everything. When I told beverley that i had no earthly idea how to do this, she said, "well don't tell them that.'

Then she set me up for tuesday through saturday to be a receptionist at a casino. I hate casinos, i think they're sleazy and gross and now i am going to work in one all week. It's nice to employment but i wish there was something permanent for at least a month so i can get comfortable in one place.

Ellie got a babysitting job for an american family and she will do that two evenings a week until she gets a better job. Tomorrow she is going to see if beverley can get her some work as well.

Yesterday we went to the stables market right next door to our house and we went with gaelle, our french friend. We walked around and ate curry from a stand and then ate fresh donuts that were amazing. The market is really fun and there are so many places and cute things to see there. Today we went to hyde park and walked around, taking in how lovely the seasons are and alternately freezing our butts off as well. We rode the double decker bus home and then got kicked off because we kept riding and didn't realize everyone was supposed to get off.

-Kelly



So since kelly types 70 words per minute, and I type... 35, she does the writing and I'm in charge of the photos. I'm also in charge of the cooking, since we've moved into the new flat we are able to cook and it has been saving us quite a bit of money. We live right across the street from sainsbury's, the local supermarket, and its much more convenient. Last night I made lots of pasta with cream sauce, fresh garlic and tomatoes and bread from the bakery and it cost us less than 5 pounds. It was probably the most we've eaten all week. Plus we get to cook things we can't really get here in the UK, like real omelets. Apparently, breakfast isn't a very big deal here. A traditional english breakfast consists of an omelette (one egg folded over) sausage, toast, and baked beans. Weird.
-Ellie

Here are some pictures of our life:

OUR FLAT:
the outside of our flat (we are the two 2nd floor windows on the right)



the view from our kitchen

we'll put up a photo of our actual room when we finish unpacking and you can see the floor. maybe tomorrow...


kelly and gaelle



Camden Loch. We live one block from the canal

HYDE PARK

more photos from our tourist day

kelly on skype with her mama at Belushi's (the bar attached to the hostel)

the same bar, the one we might be working at...



the london bridge


This one is for Kel's mom in front of a pretty church.





The Tate Modern Museum of Art


beautiful view of the River Thames


kelly took this one.


Christmas lights by the river




The London Eye



Big Ben and Parliament





The Biggest Oldest Nicest McD's ever!


Buckingham Palace




Lauren's Little Flat


Kelly's First Autumn Leaves

HOME SWEET HOME!

The weather has been very nice here. It is so funny how many people claimed how gross it would be yet we've been here for five days and so far today was the first day that we have had questionable weather. It was really really cold today and rainy and windy to the point where i thought our umbrellas would blow in and of course on the day that we had to scuttle around town looking for flats, but the nasty weather only lasted about 20 mins or so which was good.




The last couple of days we have been getting around town everywhere looking for a place to live. We have been in a gazillion neighborhoods and to so many tube stops trying to find places. We have been dealing with a lot of agents that are not very helpful and just want their huge commission. They keep telling us that we can't get a place because they can't get references since we are international and many of them want us to pay a huge fee and also won't give us a flat since we don't have a job yet.

Regardless of how fast we look in the paper, someone has already moved into it and given the deposit within the hour. It was a really frustrating day to the point where we were near tears in the gigantic four story Whole Foods grocery store here as we sat over our tiny tiny ten dollar burrito that we were sharing.

THE GOOD NEWS THOUGH: We randomly called this guy tonight on Craigslist who needed a flatmate and his flat was right near our hostel so we walked down the road and met up with him. He showed us the flat and we decided to go for it. It's the cheapest thing we've come across and in the best area right across from the tube station and in Camden which is one of our favourite neighborhoods. We have a loft bed with a really really tall ladder so if i drink too many pints at the pub i might die, but I'm hoping that's the worst case scenario. The guy's name is George and he has a really annoying jack russell terrier named Cornelius. George is sort of a brooding artist type. He is very quiet but seems nice enough. The apartment has a full kitchen and bathroom that we'll share with george but it seems perfect for the price we're paying. Plus we'll have internet and wireless at that!

He was very relaxed unlike the agents and basically did not make us sign a contract of any kind and told us we can move in tomorrow which is wonderful.

The other day we took a bit of a tourist day and walked along the london bridge and walked along the Thames river. We stopped at a greek restaurant and ate hummus and vegetarian souvlaki that was so so good and we continued walking along the Thames. We got to see the london eye which is the large ferris wheel that was constructed for the millennium. We didn't ride it yet because we don't have a job and it is 30 us dollars but maybe once we find a good job we can celebrate by taking a ride on it. We also went to the Tate Modern museum which has really good modern art and is free to the public. After that museum we kept walking along the river and everything was lit up for christmas and was so gorgeous. Since they don't celebrate Thanksgiving everything is already lit up here for Christmas. We came along to big ben and the parliament building which is just gorgeous against the night sky. We then decided that we might as well walk by Buckingham Palace so we got on the tube and got off at that stop. We walked a long ways and finally came to the palace. It was really pretty. We didn't see the queen but there were some lights on so maybe she was watching TV or maybe she was getting frisky with one of the guards, who knows? The weird thing is there wasn't a guard in sight at night but they have that whole big deal celebration of the changing of the guards during the day. Wouldn't we need guards at night mostly? Then we went over to Lauren's and checked out her flat in kensington and drank really watery hot chocolate which seems to be the trend so far.

We are out of the hostel thursday morning and we are official Camden residents, now all we need is a job. We found a bulletin board at the BUNAC office that has all the jobs that they have been informed of and there was plenty of secretary work for about 10 pounds an hour equivalent to 20 us dollars. I think we'll do that so that we can travel on the weekends. We might go to Brighton this weekend. We've made really good friends with a french girl named Gaelle and we are teaching her english a little bit. She just moved here too and is in the same boat. A lot of people here are in the same boat who are staying at our hostel so we're hoping maybe we can all hang out more once we get settled into our lives.

WE MISS YOU and i miss lettuce wraps at carolines and iced tea and walking on the right side of the stairwell and opening doors inwards rather than outwards, but i wouldn't trade london for anything because we are meeting so many people and learning about so many countries and besides the beer is way better here.

A few things i've learned.noticed about London:
--people with red hair might as well be black in the south in the middle of a KKK meeting. They do not like those with red hair here, they call them ginger in a non-friendly tone.
--Toilet seats are not connected to the toilets, causing you to fly into walls and stall doors.
--the tube is fast and easy and convenient.
--english folk are the most stylish people i've ever seen, even more than nyc.
--the food being bad is just a myth, the food being expensive however, is unfortunately no myth at all. Things are approximately 15 us dollars and we're talking appetizers.
--Another myth dispelled is that there is no ice, i have had ice on a number of occasions, and the beer is NOT warm.
--cell phones are so simple here and cheap.
--the english have a sign that says "humped zebra crossing" which means pedestrian crossing
--the english pronounce zebra instead of zee-bra the way we pronounce it, they say-zeh-bra.

Yesterday we landed in england after flying across the atlantic ocean on virgin atlantic which for the record is the best airline ever. It has television, great movies, travel tips and games on the screen in the seat in front of you. They also serve cockatils for free with dinner and the food is great. I had red wine and vegetable canneloni.

Gena and merlin were waiting at the airport for us and they helped us so much as we moved our luggage into our camden hostel. Camden is the funkiest, coolest area ever. It's got a great market and last night after throwing back a few pints at the bar attached to our hostel, the four of us actually got the pleasure of seeing matt and kim from brookylyn in concert. It was right down the street from our hostel. It was a really good gig and they have a lot of energy and it was so interesting to see them here. We were exhausted and jet lagged and went to bed afterwards but we met lauren and her friends at the show.

Our first shower here was intense. You have to keep turning the shower on for it to work, sort of like a hand dryer in public restrooms. I thought that i would die of freezing temperatures because we didn't have a hair dryer but then gena and merlin showed up and brought us one out of surprise. They were so helpful throughout everything.



Our hostel is pretty nice. We are sleeping in a room with six beds. The first two nights there were two girls, nether were traveling together and we didn't really like them very much. One girl said she was from nothhampton but had a polish accent and was abrupt and plain looking. She wasn't too friendly and seemed a bit of a loner. The other girl was asleep when we got home fron the show at 11:30. This morning she woke up and rustled plastic bags for two hours at seven in the morning. I've never heard someone have as many plastic bags as this girl. It was crazy and super annoying. She also began screaming in shrill french on her cell phone. And tonight when we came back from sightseeing around the shopping district of covent garden with gena and merlin there were three girls who were really full of energy and seemed fun. They were from australia and were drinking huge bottles of alcohol in our room but they seemed cool enough. They invited us to come with them but we too tired.






Today we woke up late and walked around covent garden which has awesome chain stores and small stores. We had pasta for lunch that was about 20.00 a bowl on the low end. And then we wandered around. We found this store that just sells huge hunks of the best smelling gourmet cheeses. It was called neal's dairy yard. They have some really great looking clothes in covent garden but they are about 70 usd at the bare minimum. We passed a store that had these gigantic cupcakes in it that were just gorgeous and looked so gourmet, so we stopped and got one. Ellie ad I split a banana toffee cupcake and it was pretty amazing. It was like a banana muffin with gooey toffee in the middle. Then we met up with one of gena's family friends named kenny. He is this older gay man who just moved to london within the last year and has a pug named olive with a pearl necklace. He bought us a couple of drinks at this pub and then we went to some place kind of similar but not half as good, as cpk. we had a pear cider and it was just delicious. They have so many different kinds of beer here that it is really very exciting.







Two important events that happened today:
--We got a UK cellphone that only cost 20.00 dollars to buy and we put 20.00 dollars of credit on it which should last a month or so. In the UK phone calls and texts that are incoming are free.
--We got offered a job at the hostel and pub that we are staying at. They need to bar girls and we would be bartenders and would only make about eleven us dollars with the odd tip or so from american tourists. But it seems like a really chill environment and it's right on the high street, which means main street in camden. We also probably get free food on shift and we get a discount since our hostel is a chain, on other hostel rooms in places like berlin, bath, brighton, amsterdam etc. I think we are going to accept the position and feel lucky that we got offered a job on our second day here. It's a good start until we find something better.

We miss you guys like crazy but we are having so much fun that is sort of hasn't even registered that we are on another continent yet. Tomorrow we are going to see the london bridge and play tourist and walk around leicester square and piccadilly circus. We are also going to find an apartment as soon as possible. We have four nights left in our hostel.

I think we are going to come back with british accents.