On The Move…

Yipes, between work (which is only 7.5 hours a day), errands, commuting, grocery shopping, contemplation and settling travel plans for the summer, I’m left with barely any time at all each day.  *whew*

In other news, I finally have a London cell phone number.  I can be reached at:

+44 079 1368 8138  (You don’t need the first zero if calling from outside the UK.)

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I’ll be in Luxembourg from June 22 to June 26 and in Paris from July 13 to July 17.  I’ll also probably be visiting Amsterdam from July 2 – July 6.  Exciting!

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Tomorrow I shall try and visit one of the museums.  Maybe the Tate Modern.  Or perhaps I’ll just go to the British Library again.  Or Borders.  We’ll see 🙂

Taken by the bouncer, outside the cryptically named Yauatcha, a hip fusion tea-house/deserterie/restaurant (photography is not allowed inside).  Sort of like Finale meets PF Chang’s with really edgy décor.  The food was good and the company better – Laurel and I went to meet Linqi and her boyfriend Victor (they’re both finishing up their elective studies here in London) and Wanyi (who was absurdly late).  We spent hours there snacking on the delicious dim sum, tea smoothies and cake.

The weekend’s here!  The sun only sets at 9pm, and there’re endless barbeques to go to.  It’s great seeing freinds from home again.  Amazing that we’ve known each other since we were teenagers.

Edit: My London address (chez Laurel):
31 Eleanor Close, London SE16 6PE, UK

I’ll eventually get my own phone number, but untill then… I can be reached by phone on either Laurel’s mobile or at the office:
+44 (0) 78 8074 1553 (Laurel)
+44 (0) 20 7613 3061 (Office)

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I like London very much so far.  As I remarked to Naabia today while walking to lunch, the city is not afraid to be both really historic and yet also very colourful, literally.  Whereas (in my mind) Boston is mostly the one brick-red hue, and New York is kind of mostly grey, London is all sorts of blues and pinks and yellows.  It may just be that it’s spring and the sun is out (rising at about 4am and not setting till like 9pm?!), but still, I like it here.

Another thing that London has got right is the Tube system, which is clean and beautiful.  Admittedly it is not very reliable – it seems that every day some line will suffer “severe delays” due to “signalling problems”.  Which is pretty bizarre, since Boston, New York and Paris seem to get along just fine with equally old and extensive underground systems.  Despite that, I’d still take the Tube any day over the grimy, smelly, cracked-tile-and-exposed-concrete warren that is the New York subway.

But one thing the Americans have over Europeans in general is the no smoking rule in pubs, bars and nightclubs.  I hate having my clothes become unwearable because they’re stinky with cigarette smoke.  Especially here where people go from the office to the pub and back to the office, practically.

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The Frontier office is really cool, not just the physical space, but also the people there.  All marine biologists and zoologists who’ve lived everywhere studying biodiversity and conservation related issues.  Australian reefs, South African sharks, Peruvian primates, Madagascan spiny forests.  A laid back, good-hearted, optimistic bunch.

And the work they’re having me do is both interesting and useful too.  Amongst other things, Paul has planned for us to write a PADI grant proposal each.  And today I compiled copies of academic papers requested by the scientists in Tanzania and Nicaragua writing papers in the field – many productive hours of using OVID and JSTOR to search for keyterms like “predator urine”, “columbrid regurgitation” and “elephant pheromones”.  It was quite amusing.

*happy*

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PS: Must stop overeating.  Yesterday I think I was at 3,000 kcals, including many many sour wine gums from Frankfurt duty free.  And today, although I’d decided not to eat a substantial lunch, and no dinner, I went with Naabia to get cod & chips (mmm), and then Laurel and Kenneth took me to a cute Indian place for dinner, from which I am *still* stuffed.

Taken on the long walk from the gate where we landed at Heathrow.  When I arrived, I told such an incoherent story at customs, since I’d been travelling continuously from Boston to New York to Frankfurt to London.  Ask me about it sometime.

Well then, I’m here in London, currently staying with my good friend Laurel.  Getting here in/with many pieces was not completely unmanageable, though it had its tough moments.  It’s been two days since I left Ryan’s summer apartment, but I’ve only *just* arrived – haven’t even spent a single night here yet…

Taken on a beautiful day during the REP end of year party held at the Quincy House Masters’ loft.

I know it’s early, but I miss people from school.

View from the top.  I so want to be a House Master someday.  That’s Old Quincy in the foreground, the Lowell bell tower and the Holyoke Center.

And overall I kind of miss the semester already.

I’m done!  Done!  *does jubilant danse*  I mean dance.  The French paper is done, it’s barely 18 pages (rather underweight), and quite unconventional (read: might receive a failing grade), but then is free-association-interpretive-dance on paper ever conventional?  I think not.

Must pack up fast.  Today is the last day storage is open, I believe.

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Added: I wrote an addendum to my French paper, in an effort to shore it up against a failing grade.  *worry*