Update October 2nd!!!
Pinner, England.
As you may have already noticed from the pictures, I spent Rosh Hashanah at the Lipmans in Pinner, England.
There, I was warmly welcomed with food, drink, and hospitality that was greatly appreciated.
On Friday afternoon, following a meeting with my personal course tutor, I boarded the Central
Underground line headed for West London. I changed trains at Bond Station (not sure if any
relation to the superhero), and then again at Finchley. In Pinner, I had lunch at my first
foreign McDonalds, and let me tell you, it was not much different.
There is a Burger King near my residence hall, but I am trying to stay away from fast food for a while, which would also explain
my lack of desire to try Fish and Chips. I am waiting for the best possible opportunity to eat the
dish, a place that is not too nice, and not too rat infested. I have been drinking a lot of tea, but
not because I am trying to fit in (I hope) but more because I have a sore throat. I have been
offered a trip to Cardiff, Wales, to see a Rugby match in one of England's finest stadiums, and I think
I will take advantage of that at some point. The one thing that I think is worth mentioning about
the English culinary tradition, if it can be called as such, is that they douse everything in mayonnaise.
Those who knew me as a child will recall that I chose to use mayo with my french fries instead of
ketchup, but the way that they use this condiment is ridiculous. I am beginning to order my food with
light mayo, but if you aren't careful and watch, differences in definitions can get bloody sticky (as
they say around here).
I start school on Monday, and I am looking forward to that for a couple of reasons. One is that college
at LSE for the first few weeks is not like school back home. At home I might have a paper due as early as
2nd or 3rd week of the quarter, whereas here, I will not finalize my class selections until that time.
In fact, I have until the end of the fifth week (halfway throught the first term) to make my course
selections. The second reason that I am looking forward to it is that I would like to get truly settled here
and I know that going to campus on a regular basis will help me do that.
The last thing I will note is that I am trying out for the LSE basketball team. At an event labeled
Fresher's Fair, I paid 5 Pounds to sign up for tryouts which will take place on Wednesday. Needless to say, soccer and rugby are the
most popular English sports, and though I am not completely sure how competitive basketball is
over here, there were 75 people trying out for 24 spots on two teams at the time I signed up. There could be many more who show up. However,
when I asked the representive manning the registration desk about the level of competition, he
said, "Well, the Americans and the French usually make up the majority of the teams, but there
are some people who will come to tryouts and cannot even make a lay-up."
One more reason to check the website at the end of the week.
Well, if you made it this far...
Read That Too!!!
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Part Two
Well the dorm network which I use to check email and update the website is down, so I will write
some more instead of doing those things. Today was eventful, but I will start with the happenings
of last night. I got home from the Lipmans' around 7:30 PM and spent most of the night in the
Rosebery Hall Pub, which is run and maintained by students. In fact, I am thinking about applying for a
part-time job tending bar. But last night I relegated myself to foosball and billards, which I
am not too stellar at, but getting better at every day. They also have a dart board, but I prefer the
other games. I ended up playing pool with two French girls and a Welshman, which was entertaining
on its own, to say the least. Aside from the stereotypical cajolings that the two parties exchanged,
it was interesting to speak with each about their respective backgrounds. I found the Welshman, whose name is Rhys,
to be quite interested in American lifestyle, particularly the high school prom, which he
seems to yearn for in replication. The French girls, on the other hand, didn't find this lowly
American anything to speak of, instead conversing primarily in their native tongue. At the end of the evening,
we all parted ways, but not before I met two more Germans, a Swede, and someone from Belgium.
This morning I awoke at half-noon, which translated means very late. I ate breakfast in the cafeteria, and
then the dormitory council took everyone to a park on the Thames for a picnic and football. The match
featured the United Kingdom versus the world, and though none of the players were remarkable, the
American contingent was the worst. I gave up two goals while playing goalie, and then I quit after
ten minutes of frustration in the field. All in all, it was an amusing afternoon, and the evening was just as nice.
I left the park with three other guys, Fergus, Andy, and Ian, all Englishman, and so I figured that
this was an ample opportunity to eat my first plate of Fish and Chips. So we headed West along the river, and we found
an English pub which looked to be clean enough, and I did the English deed. Of course, England is primarily famous for pubs, not its
food, and so far I have noticed that where two pubs will be normal for each English block, you won't
find three healthclubs or gymnasiums in a ten-mile radius.
On the way to the Underground Station, we dodged taxis and bikers, and Ian made an astute observation
of the London pedestrian climate, noting that "it's like English Roulette out here."
more to come...
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