Dear Diary, London

(Excerpt from my travel journal; 18 years old; London to Greek; if you see == within parenthesis, they are comments I'm making while typing this up. I recommend starting here, but feel free to check out the intro.):

2008 June 10

USA

Well, here I am, on the move again. It sucks I have to use my To-Do List Book as a journal >_< But, compromising is the key to a successful trip, especially a long, far-away one. So, where am I headed to this time? Europe. And the only person I really know is Alyse. I can't spell her name right. I kind of know Jimmy, Christian, and kind of Mrs. Richey. It's been forever since I've written in a journal, so I guess I should catch myself up. I may not have enough paper, but I sure have plenty of time. The plane ride is about nine hours. I'm 18 and I just graduated two Fridays ago. Well, I was supposed to. I could have. See, my senior year has been... interesting. (<== I go on to describe school, my dating life, and friendships.)

2008 June 11

England

The flight wasn't too bad. Should have got more sleep. The woman beside me was bi-lingual... and knew how to talk... a lot. Anyway, it's around 9:30am in London (about 3:30 am in Texas) and we are on a 45 to 60-minute ride to our hotel. Tour director, Patrick, says there are about 8 million people here. I get this strange feeling London is kind of big. (<== side note, I remember the girls were crushing on Patrick so hard. They asked me if I felt the same. I said no, but also, it doesn't matter either way. He's gay. They were like no, he's not, he's just British. By the end of the tour, someone did confirm that he was, in fact, gay. I had no reason to suspect he was, just assumed it. Either way, it was funny and cute. Picture of him will be shown on a later date!)

This is Erin, Mrs. Richey, and Alyse in front of the Tower Bridge

Driving really is backward down here. You even get in on the wrong side of the bus! I look beside me (I'm sitting on the right) and I see drivers' hands on the stick or a passenger... not the driver! So freaky.) Even the traffic flow is flowing the wrong way. Mrs. Richey walked by and said "Travel journal?" I looked up and realized she was looking at me. I told her I saw an advertisement of it, thinking she meant the EF tours online travel journal. I wonder if she only meant what I'm writing now. (<== we were on an EF Tour.) Well, yes, technically, it is. Reverse it and you also have my To-Do List. She told me I was going to be one of her favorite kids and mentioned me never having been in her class. If she teaches World History, I took that in Virginia in 9th grade. Anyway, at the airport, she had half a steak sandwich and was trying to give it away. I was hungry, so I took it. She talked about trying new foods and giving most away. Yeah, my family loves doing that. It helps that I only brought a bag and a backpack.

It's in the 60's here. It's slightly hilly and, granted, there are about 25 people, it's pretty peaceful, quiet. They mentioned taking a nap, but I want to see the world around me!

2008 June 12

This morning is not starting off so well. I woke up with a headache feeling thirsty. By the time I got to the breakfast table, I thought I was about to throw up. I want to just stay in bed, but I needed something besides milk and orange juice to drink. I feel horrible. I got a sports drink from the store for 1 quid, 25 pence. I woke up to my first real voicemail! I wanted to cry. I'm glad no one noticed me tearing up. I bought three postcards yesterday for my three days in London.

People dress really nice. I wasn't the only one to notice. And students actually have uniforms for school. So far, I've seen two different kinds. A black and a blue.

I really do wish I wasn't feeling so crappy. It sucks even more that I started my period a few days ago. Ugh.

(A little bit later)

The drink helped. The Ibuprofen Erin gave me also helped. I saw a red uniform as I got on the charring, which is where I am now. I see an anxious man standing at the door. He looks around. Others look happy, sleepy, or content. But he stands out in the crowd. The only one in a suit worth writing about. He's different and observant. And he just got off. I wonder where he was going, why. I don't mean where does he work, either.

Everybody, or at least a lot of people, seem to like reading the paper. Yesterday, it was free. "Life," it was called, I think. I thought it was funny when the man said, "Get your free Life."

I don't know where we're headed, but I thank the Lord I feel well, now. Bring it, hehe.

(A little later)

I'm sitting at Starbucks. I'm not getting my frap, it's too cold! I saw a red uniform at the station and grey ones around town (school girls). Yesterday, we took a walking tour with our Tour Director, Patrick. Today, we went to The London Tower or something, and some castle, I guess. (<== I could just slap past me for not respecting where I was at.)

(==> I am inserting this excerpt of my journal from 2008 June 18 for consistency, since the event I described actually happened on this date.)

Andy was picked on in London at the London Tower or whatever it was called. It was the amusement thing, mentioned earlier. There were "trials" being held, and for one of them, Andy was chosen. He was on trial for cross-dressing and trying to get some from the sailors under the name Susie Swallows. They got the poor guy to pose as a girl and say something like, "Hey, sailor boys, lo-oky, co-ey." And something else with his right hand on his hip and his left arm up with the hand hanging sassily down. It was pretty funny.

One of the spokespersons at the palace in the place of silverware and such was very informative and had a good sense of humor. It was Alyse, Erin, Mrs. Bonds and me and Erin was checking out some Indian crown thing for the Emperor or something. We were all moving our heads back and forth (except Mrs. Bonds) and Erin asked if he was amused when people swayed back and forth to see the sparkled diamonds. He said yes. Then she was talking about how if she had one, she would never take it off. He asked if she wanted to try it on. he had her get on the other side (<== the crown was displayed in a glass box in the middle of the floor, so you could walk around it) and got her to bend in front of the case. We could see her "wearing" the reflection of the crown. That was pretty clever.

Now we're at an Italian restaurant. We had curry. It wasn't too bad. I figured out where pizzas came from. Anyway, skipping around a bit, before we went to the tower (not the castle), they were checking backpacks. I put my purse on the table. The security guy said, "Don't worry, darling, you're okay." I thought that was so cool. Being called 'darling' so casually by an English dude. I think I was about to say something about it afterward, but I've forgotten.

After we got off the train, Jessica (there's three of us, one's a mom) couldn't find the right pass, so I waited for her. We were the last ones, and Andy was just going through. He was waiting, also. I told him to tell the group, but they had already disappeared. We looked out of both exits, but we couldn't find them. Finally, either Andy or Jessica (I think Jessica) decided to get on this higher platform to look for them. We saw them at least a quarter mile and across the road from us. Time for Wicked, I guess.

There's Patick! He's the one with the beard and man bun, sticking out in front of the trees. Also, notice these hilarious EF Tours backpacks we had to wear.

(Wicked Intermission)

I'm getting to miss Andrew more and more. When I was looking at the diamonds of Queen Elizabeth's crown, I just couldn't help but wish I had an engagement ring on from him. This play is boring me. The girl playing the Wicked Witch as a teen has a beautiful voice. I'm just really tired and want to go to bed.

(==> I can't believe I wrote this, because I remember loving this play! I thought it was absolutely brilliant. And yet my journal suggests otherwise! Crazy.)

Well, I guess it's near the end of day 3. A lot, maybe all, the kids here despise smoking. A lot of people to do it here in London. I even saw a guy working (painting a pipe) while he was smoking. There was a cigarette vending machine. It's the only place so far I've seen that sells them. Marlboro seems to be really popular here, too. Apparently, they're a different smoke, though.

2008 June 13

I'm reading (again) Mr. & Mrs. Smith at the pub where we're eating lunch. I am attracted to this line: "Maybe we could lasso the moon and ride it forever through the stars, so the dream would never end."

(==> So much happened on this day, which may be why I didn't write much. But I'll do my best to remember. The pictures help. This was the day Maya was taking photos with one of the Queen's Guards. I so wish I had that photo! He actually bent down and let her pose like she was kissing him on the cheek. It was hilarious! And against the rules, I'm sure.)

London Eye; there's Andy in the corner, with his hand to his chin. I mention him a few times on this trip.

The old man in the blue shirt is Jim, someone I mention later. And the guy with a camera in the air is Aaron.

Another pic from The London Eye. I remember we were all part of group photo, but I was blocked from it! It was slightly upsetting to me at the time.

Alyse, me with a camera, Christian, Aaron, Erin, Mrs. Richey, Maya. 

Mrs. Richey mentioned all the women here were generations, ie, daughters and mothers. One is by marriage.

Here is where a woman tried to pickpocket me. She felt me up, I looked back, confused, she had the nastiest expression on her face, it took me a few hours to realize what had happened. My pockets were empty and I am sensitive touch. So, thief was unsuccessful.

2008 June 14

It's just like me to find a corner to form my security blanket in when surrounded by people I normally wouldn't hang out with. Ha, go figure. Jessica came and sat beside me, then Alysa, then Ashley. So, it's a full breakfast table.

Mrs. Richey is the one standing. In front of her is Ashely. I'm across from her, though you can barely see me. Alyse is wearing the hat and whose face you can see. And Jessica Perez is furthest on the right whose backpack you see.

I sent postcards off.

A couple of days ago, we went to some historical haunted house thing. It was pretty cool.

Ok, quick note, Christian suddenly reminds me of Matt in Virginia. Why didn't I see this before?

It was like a show with rides and stuff. (<== the historical haunted house thing.) I thought we were going to pick what we rode, like at a carnival, but it all went in order and we rode all the stuff. Not that it was much. For the Sweeny Todd thing, it reminded me of the 4D shows at Seaworld, except it was in the dark. It felt like Sweeny Todd was actually there, there was no water involved, and the chairs moved. There was a water ride, it was pretty cool. I ended up in the front with Alyse. She's pretty awesome. I liked the riding backward part. There was a mirror maze. I loved that. The funny part was... there was no exit until they opened the door. At the end, there was a drop. I probably wouldn't have gone had I known, but it wasn't high, so it wasn't bad. Yeah, I've been skydiving, but in my defense, skydiving is a sport.

My eyes want to close. I barely go to sleep last night.

Yesterday, we went on some Eye thing. That was boring. I experimented with the different settings on my camera. Last night, we had huge hamburgers. Jessica and Ashley sat with me. They're pretty cool. And nice. They both know James, and apparently that I dated him. I need to get him a postcard. I just haven't decided from which country.

Next stop is Paris!! I can't wait to go to a place where IDK the language and where I could try my Spanish.

Mrs. Richey's caption for this was about waiting for the Chunnel train.

(==> End of excerpt. I am "publishing" this around the date I wrote it, but the real date is 2019 June 18. Other locations of the trip: France which is the next post, Italy, Greece.)