Football

Turns out- I'm a not so horrible Center Back in football. Yesterday was the first try-out for the mens football clubs here at Goldsmiths. We met up to take a bus ride an hour long to the Goldsmith football pitches. It was amazing. We ran a lot- and I had no idea what position to play. But all the guys were super nice and helped me along the way. We ended up playing four different games in the time span of about four hours. Holy Jesus in Heaven I was tired.

After a quick nap in the afternoon, I met up with some peoples at a local pub called the Hobglobin. I mentioned to them how much play time I had today. I asked them if they noticed how much game time I got? and they all did notice. Most people only played two out of the four games. I played three games full time and one game with a seven minute break.

I woke up this morning @ 11:00 and I haven't felt this sore since my DTU workouts in Winter of 2006.

Nonetheless, I had tons of fun playing yesterday and I am looking forward to next week.

Tomorrow school officially starts for everyone. I however do not have any classes until next week because we have what's called music week where all the music students participate in nothing but rehearsals and master classes and then put on a huge performance at the end of the week. This will be epic!!!!!!!

Cheers

New Cross

I had a thought today, as I was watching World Trade Center with a flatmate of mine.

New Cross- the area where my current university is located, is a very diverse area. And its truly diverse. It is an amazing blend of all types of nationalities from all the continents all bonded together only by choice. There is a large middle eastern population in this area. If you stuck New Cross in the middle of suburban town USA, would it be as easily mixed together.

I had a rather unpleasanr experience with a friend of mine today who "jokingly" called me an n-word. He figured because of the inter connection between people who are jewish and blacks as historically misrepresented it was a mutual understanding that he didn't really mean it "that way."

Look, I'm not naive I know these racial slurs exist everywhere, but I wanted to fly across 3,o00 miles of water just so I could possibly get a break from the "didn't mean it that way" factor. I've felt at Capital and just in general that I've always had to explain race and race relations. I am tired of explanations.

Luckily, I am studying in a place where most people look past general judgments that are inevidible in my life. And of course this derogatory statement came from an American- not a Brit.

Enough on that. Football...Football...Football

Tomorrow are the football try-outs and my gear is all ready!

I got some pointers from a couple of people today so I think I'll be ok. Luckily, I go to an art school. Its 1:08 AM and I will now retire

Cheers

Avenue Q

Well, my auditions are over and for the rest of the week I am free. So, today I had one goal in mind. No, it was not sightseeing, no it was not a day trip to Paris. Indeed it was LAUNDRY.

I have been so busy that I ran down to the bare minimum of underclothing. So I found the laundry place on campus and began immediately with the laundry process.

After laundry I met up with a friend at Leicester Square (pronounced Lester) and we randowmly purchased tickets to see Avenue Q. Let me just tell you that was two full hours of nothing but hilariousness. I loved every minute and all I paid was 20 quid or roughly 40 dollars. All kinds of awesome.

Well tomorrow is a big big big day with Freshies Fayre (Freshman organizational fair) and Greenwich (pronounced grinich).

Cheers!

Football!

Today i had my audition with my vocal tutor Nan christie. She seemes extremely demanding and that's exactly what I need. Jackie back at Capital always pushes me to work harder so I need that same push right here.

Its amazing how buying something as simply as mustart can make you feel. I realized today that I had no condiments for my ham and swiss sandwich which made me really sad.

Today After my audition at 14.00 (2PM) I had a free day so some of my flat mates went off into Central London to sightsee. I got to go back to Big Ben and the Westminster area. We went to the national gallery today as well. This museum is amazing. The art here is so beautiful. My favorites had to be from Guardi and from Monet. I love romantic era art so much.

After being in the museum we all traveled to chinatown. Really fun. Mel (one of my flat mates) knew a great place to eat so of course we followed her lead. It turned out to be one of the greatest chinese dinners I have ever had. bar none. Five of us split sweet and sour chicken, some veggie dish that looked like spinach, half of a duck, a fried noodle dish with beef and rice. It was all sorts of delicious.

Unfortunately I couldn't say and chat because I had a football game to attend. If you didn't know, I've always loved soccer (football).I took the underground to Craven Cottage, home of the Fulham football club. This game was great! Sadly, Fulham lost 2-1. But they kept the momentum going. Tonight, I felt like a true European!

I love the people I came here with. The CIEE Goldsmiths students are all really great people. We all offer something different.

Unfortunately this wil be the end of my post because I am in the midst of a cold and the nyquil is starting to kick in.

Cheers!

Dinner

Today, my flatmates got together and we cooked dinner. It was incredibly fun realizing that I had people to joke around with all the time. I enjoy listening to their life stories and where they come from. Our dinner tonight consisted of Stir-fry, spring rolls, mini-quiche, barbeue rib appetizers, red potatoes, pasta with tomato sauce and chips ahoy cookies provided by yours truly. While I didn't actually do any cooking I was certainly ready to because of my adventures today.

You would all be so proud. My first couple of days, I felt isolated because I wasn't really comfortable with the public transit system quite yet. But now my friends, I am all good! I, by my self, took the #321 bus to Lewisham to shop for forks and stuff along with get some more cheap clothing, plus get a cell phone. I was like a pro. It felt so good that I no longer feel bound by my travel unsaviness. My flat mates even commented on my small smerk as I came into the flat. I felt really proud of myself.

Music department enrollment and we got a tour of the music area of the schoolo. unlike Capital, the music school is placed in the main school building along with theatre and visual art. So the music kids are less isolated.

I would have to say that the best part about goldsmiths is that there is no feeling of elitism. Everyone at Goldsmith is creative. Its college for the arts. So there aren't major differences in terms of having jocks, and nerds and the "artsy people" etc. Here you can join in on a conversation with anyone and you'd feel welcome. Friendship and conversation is much easier at Goldsmiths says the older students.

Its amazing... the picture that accompanies this entry is a couple days old. It tells a great story. We were coming back from a comedian act and we found ourselves lost in the big tube system. We were all getting worried and a little hectic so we calmed ourselves down and began to walk up some stairs outside of the tube station. As we were walking I turn around to say something and realize that the tower of london is directly behind us. It was amazing! We were all like WOH!!!!!!! It certainly turned a scary situation into an adventurous evening. The beauties of London

Cheese Sandwich

I don’t think I’ve heard anything more funny than a Brits impersonation of a Yank. We went to a comedian on Sunday Night and he made it a point to speak in Scottish, German, Polish and of course American accents. Apparently we all sound like we are working at an amusement park or on a car commercial. I got a chance to give my family a second phone call just to let them know I’m having a great time. My grandfather isn’t too keen the alcohol. But he doesn’t understand that alcohol is just one single part of the culture here in Europe. Its almost an after thought. Of course I am trying different drinks in moderation. My favorite turns out to be a beer called Strongbow- it’s a cider apparently. That certainly puts a different spin on the delicious cider drinks like apple cider. On Saturday we moved into our dorms and I must say that I am extremely impressed. I live in Loring Hall and I have a corner room with a single bed, shower, sink and toilet! Excellent. And a plus, its totally clean!

Saturday night was a huge international student get together in the student union. I met so many people yet only remembered some names. But that’s ok. I’ve met some people with some pretty interesting names- all based upon where they come from. Just tonight I met a flat mate that was from Japan. I wish I could tell you the name or even better spell it but he seems like a nice kid. All in all Saturday consisted of a lot of beer and smiling faces all around. Truly a state of homeostasis J.

I don’t have many pants- excuse me trousers. So I had to buy some here (darn). Three of my friends and I traveled to Lewisham (Lieu-shum) to visit a mall there. We found a TK Maxx- which is jut like the American TJ Maxx. We bought some good stuff but I know I have to go back because I missed a vital chance to get some much needed kitchenware.

Monday I went food shopping for myself for the first time here in London. I started small with Peanut butter and jam, Uncle Ben instant rice and some European equivalent to Ramen noodles. Those ramen noodles follow you everywhere even across an entire ocean. So after getting a great amount of stuff to start out with, I realized I had no plates to eat on, forks to eat with, knives to spread with or spoons to slurp with. So, Frantically looking for some plastic utensils I realized it was a failed attempt. So I decided that the next day I would travel back to the mall and get some kitchen ware. Oops. So Sunday night before heading over to karaoke, I enjoyed a lovely combo of laughing cow cheese and multigrain bread. I love this town

More on Guy Fawkes Day and Black History Month later…
Cheers!

Waiting to Exhale

For the sake of fun I put two days worth of belongs in one!

20 September 2007 Thursday

Hi Hi Hi!!!!!! I'm alive and survived the plane ride over the Atlantic. It seem that the only time turbulence happens is when there are miles and miles of cold salt water 30,000 feet below you. But nevertheless it was a nice trip. The person I sat next too happened to be another study abroad student studying at the Universtiy College of London (UCL)- what odds!

The only way I can desacribe my landing day in London is through the majesty of numerics:

5:05AM- The time we arrived in London air space
6:00AM- the permitted time by London law that we can land
500,000,000,000- the amount of circles the airplane made around london
7- the kiosk number of the immigration lady that I did not want. She was incredibly mean. She told old men to start at the back of the line which had a 2 1/2 hour wait.
2- my eyes looking at the entrance into London
5- the amount of times i almost got runover by a car because I failed to realize that londoners drive opposite of americans
1- my taxi driver who picked me u after "queing up" and waiting
65- mph that the driver was doing down Cromwell Road
1- Smiling Mario because he loved every minute
4- obscenities that Mario heard his cabby say to other fast drivers on the "correct side" of the street
3- the number of Ambassador Hotels in London.
0- the amount of knowledge I had in order to find the right Ambassador Hotel
1- the amount of guesses it took for my cabby to find the right hotel
infinity- How much I love in city

I must say that everyone I've run into is super nice and sometimes super sloched! I came to London via a study abroad program CIEE. As soon as I got in and settled in my Hotel room, I started roaming about to see what I could see. I met my program coordinators James and Elizabeth- they are sweet! They showed me the way to the free museums. So in one day I got a glipse of the natural history museum, and the Victoria and Albert museum as well. But I was so exhausted after the long plane trip and the walking that I went back to my hotel- just in time for my room not to be ready.

So I asked the receptionist if she had another room and she said " I can't give you a different room until your roommate gets here." I said, "roommate" she said, "roommate"

Just my luck that my roomate happened to be sitting in the lobby at that time. He lives in Miami and is a pretty cool kid.

When all the student in my program arrived we all went out to dinner at this sweet restaurant called Wagamama. It was a healthy japanese food place and it was all sort of delicious. I call it the London Japanese chipotle because there is one on every corner. It was at this restaurant that I realized why Americans have such a high obsceity rate. Our portions are always huge and we fry all of our food. This place was the perfect health food eatery and it is one of the most popular restaurants in London.

So Thursday September 20, 2007, excuse me Thursday 20 September 2007 :) ended up being the longest I've been awake counting at a full 26 hours being wide awake. But it also ended up being the first of many best days of my life!

Cheers:)

Friday September 21 2007

Today was my CIEE orientation. We had two people come in and talk to us about live in London. the first guy talked about cultural misperceptions in London and the US. We as Americans all have a picture of what a Brit acts like (stereotyping) and Brits have a picture of what Americans act like. We are said to be taller, louder, more aggressive, louder, rude, and uncultures oh yeah and louder.

I admit that I am a very loud person and the quant british way of talking in a restaurant setting was a challenge my first morning eating breakfast (which was delicious btw)

The man at the orientation described London as a very diverse place to be. He truly means diverse in all types of ways. And what's great is that the social perceptions of Americans in terms of how people dress and sound and orientate towards in thems of sexual orientation and the ethnicities people represent are not overall frowned upon. James the coordinator told us, " People do not come to London to become English the way people come to New York to become Americans, people come to London to be themselves." This is truly a mecca for all people who feel the need to express their true inner selves without feeling like they are being judged.

Friday afternoon we took a tour of London and Westminster and Friday evening we went clubbing. Of course Mr. Clopton had to find a place to shake it up a bit. This was a crazy night. Me and my roommate left the club at 1:45 AM the Underground closes down at 11 or 12 midnight. So we tried to find a correct bus to take us across town to our hotel. Of course we had no idea what we were doing so we got on a random bus and it happened to be the correct bus. Lucky 14 for us!

The driver told us where to get off the bus and we began to make our way back to the hotel. Still not knowing where we were going, we decided to ask random people where Cromwell Road was located. Not the most intelligent thing to be doing at 2:30 in the AM. We met alot of interesting people. All in all by the time we had gotten back to the hotel we had been invited to an after after party by a random group of londoners (whom I thought wanted to kill m and my roommate :), we had discovered two drunks flicking cars off on the sides of streets and we had been petitioned for sex in a lift by a dude(elevator). I felt like Senator Craig :) Of course we deadbolted the door and remained real quiet, but no one ended up coming to our door.

Today, we moved into our dorms. I have a single room to myself on a corner, with my own shower an sink and toilet. I share a kitchen in a common area.

The other international kids are really cool I've met a couple of my flat mates (translation floor residents) nd everyone immediately says knows I', from the US because of my accent. I find that quite entertaining.

Well that was a lot of writing. I have to be back on campus soon- so I will be typing to you later.

Cheers- (rough translation, bye, see ya, thanks, hold on, to health, ok, i agree, hmm)

10 days and counting

Its amazing to think that my trip to London which shall from now on be known as Londontown, L-town, Down Low or LDT is 10 days away. The mass preparation starting with finding this damn program, all the way to completing my application and mailing it has been quite the adventure. What is so amazing is that the journey is only beginning (not to sound too trite). This week will be full of of stuff to do... I hope whoever is reading this thing will continue to keep tabs on me as I go Live in Londontown!!!!!!!! Right oh :)

~Mario