Peace up, A town down!

So I'm fully recovered from new years. It was loads of fun to see everyone. Marc's parents warmed up to us (Tom & I) and offered for us to stay another night be we politely declined. Marc took us to a nice Caribbean Jerk restaurant where we got a quick bite to eat. We didn't want to stay too long because there was a football (soccer for all you yanks tuning in at home) match going on that was just about to get out and once it ends, the roads become crazy.

Tom and I are going to spend the night back in London with Luke. He's got a full house so we're gonna have to rough it a bit on the couch and that is more than okay with us. For those of you who don't know of Luke & Jenna, they are legends at Camp Harlam. Luke had gone to camp in '03, '04, and '05 while Jenna was there '04 and '05. Lynn Cowie also lives with them but shes been MIA for some reason.

I think it's Lynn's birthday on the 4th. So Lynn, if you're reading this, Happy Birthday and get your arse back home!

Today was relatively uneventful, Tom and I got off the tube at Blackwall (Luke's stop) and decided to get some drinks and bring them back for our fabulous hosts. No luck though. I found the curry place that destroyed me when I first got there, Tandori Nights, and even the Papa John's pizza place but no liquor store. So we just stopped off and picked up some soft drinks. Couldn't help but notice a Ginger beer. Didn't try it but it looked...interesting.

I told Luke that I knew the way back to his house so not to worry about it but for those of you who know me and my great sense of direction, I obviously got lost. I called Luke and he's like "STAY WHERE YOU ARE! WE'RE COMING TO GET YOU! DON'T MOVE!" ...uhhh, ok. Does he know something we don't? Turns out we were over a street from his place and he was just 5 bottles of wine in (Not just for him, shared amongst Jenna, Matt, Luke, & Luke's friend, Natasha). So Luke and Matt found us and brought us back, joined in the wine festivities. Hung out for a few hours and watched Jenna just freak the F*@)$ out (video will be posted shortly). Then her and Luke had some sort of singalong (mainly Jenna, but Luke had some nice falsettos - and it wasn't even Tuesday!) meanwhile Tom, Natasha (who was so much fun, but is an absolute nutter!), and I took pictures and laughed at the duo. Matt just hid. It was all good fun.

Finally everyone decided to call it a night and watched Powerthirst 1, 2, & 3 (yea Blue!! shout out to 950 awesome-gate) and then Don't Mess with the Zohan. All in all, a quality low key night.

(I got a camera but haven't uploaded any pictures, maybe tomorrow)

The Aftermath

Phew. What a night! So I was one of the first ones to wake up but was too freakin cold to move. Sophie's house was quite nice but apparently the Welsh have never heard of a novelty called...heat. Jesus. I woke up on the couch (somehow the ham and cheese paste magically disappeared, apparently i cleaned it off at some point).

Anyway, after everyone woke up, Marc went to the store around the corner and picked up some eggs, sausages, pork roll, and bread and proceeded to make a breakfast made for a king for all of us. Legend! We all just kinda hung around for most of the day and recovered. Retold stories of last night to find out exactly what happened last night to fill in the blanks. Reminisced about camp. Tom decided to knit (kinda funny for an Israeli who was in the army to knit). Told embarrassing camp stories. Made fun of McBride a bit.

After all was said and done, we left Sophie's place and tom joined the group. Back for the long haul back to London. about 3 hours. About a third of the way there, we stopped for food at a KFC. I must say, i've never really had fast food in the States that much but it isn't nearly as greasy and gross as in the States. I had my heart set on one of their Twista Wraps but they were out. Heart broken.

After we got back to London, Hannah dropped us off at Marc's place and Tom joined us. We hung out for a bit and Marc, Tom, & I went down the street to meet up with some of his mates. They were really cool. A bit gangsta (understatement) but it was fun. Drank a little, came back late and Tom and I watched Role Models and finally passed out to call it a night. 

Happy New Years everyone. Wish you all the best!

This is why I'm hot

*WARNING: THE FOLLOWING PHOTOS ARE INCRIMINATING EVIDENCE OF AN INCREDIBLE NEW YEARS IN WALES.*

note: in no particular order between new years eve and new years day

                        
             

Crem de la crem

After a bit of a drinkup, I find out we're going out to a club called the Cardiff University, Student Union Club...that's a mouthful. Anyway, its tickets only and luckily one person who was supposed to show up for the party in Cardiff didn't end up coming so there was an extra ticket. So I took the extra ticket. Didn't really think that one out. Would have sucked if I'm like "Surprise! Oh, a ticket? well uhh...I'll wait till you get back. boo" so it all worked out. I just threw on a nice button down, my snazzy watch, and a dash of Cool Water. Game time.

Around 11ish, we head to the club which was only like a 10 min walk, tops. Huge line and with a decently-sized group, it was a bit of a challenge to keep all the ducks in a row. Eventually we make it in, head over to a place to stash our coats, I go and get a round for everyone. Me being the silly yank that I am, ask for 8 glasses of champagne...none to be found. So I hear the dude next to me order some stuff called VK vodka. Sure, I'll take 8 of them. It was kinda like Smirnoff Ice - Sour Apple Do you know how freakin hard it is to carry 8 bottles by yourself?! Good god. My hands were wrenched. Well worth it though.

I pass out the rounds, we head over to the dance floor for a bit and i get my whiteboy groove on. Do some more dancing. Now I gotta pee. I tell Jake and he gave me a brilliant idea: I go outside and pretend I'm on the phone (obviously with an English accent...to the best of my ability, which is poor at its best) and as I'm talking to a fictitious person, I do my thing on some out-of-the-way wall. No name spelling or anything fancy, strictly business. Finish up, end my phone call politely, and rejoin the group.

20 min till New Years. One last round for the group. I head over to the bar thinking I can get in and out real quick, apparently others had the same idea. Of course. So to be honest, I spent the majority of the remaining time in line for drinks. Wished the lad next tome a Happy New Year, took a shot with him, and bought my VK Vodka Apples back to the group. Handed them out and we go into another room of the club where apparently they missed the New Years memo and we had the countdown yet again. So I'll count that one as the official New Year.

Anyway, toward the end of the night, Jake, in his incredible creativity of ideas, placed the idea in my head that dancing on the tables without my shirt would be a grand idea. Before he even finished the idea, I was already on the table, doing my thing. I've got pictures that I need to get from Sophie's camera that I'll post later. I'm gonna pick up a cheap digital camera in London later. So yea, lost my shirt, found my shirt, lost the group, found the group, bought another round which my hands just couldn't take it anymore and in the process of finding the group, dropped like 5 or 6 of them. Meh. (speaking of meh, did you know it was recently adopted into the dictionary)

Finally, we go back to Sophie's place for the night, Marc being unsuccessful in his lady attempts, heads back as well. Back at the house, we hang out for a bit and I'm just dead tired. I am the first to pass out (mind you its around 3:30 or 4 a.m. at this point) but I make the dreaded mistake of leaving my shoes on. What a rookie mistake. I'm normally SOOOO careful about this at parties even in the worst cases of inebriation. Jake, being the only other American, obviously knew about this rule and went looking for a Sharpe marker. With no Sharpe to be had, the next best thing was (5 points if you guessed it), yes, the Ham & Cheese paste in the tube. Lucky boy. Obviously pictures to come. After me being the center of humiliation for a bit, everyone got tired and passed out in a respective bed/couch.

I hope everyone had a fantastic new years. Email/comment and tell me what you guys did for new years. I'd love to hear it. Speak to you all soon.

SURPRISE!

New Years in Wales! How freakin sweet does that sound?! I'm so excited. We got out of the car and were immediately greeted with all the "Oh my god!" and "I can't believe you're here" shouts of excitement. They guessed right. Musta been the "smile like sunshine" that tipped them off. (Actually, they said my facebook gave it away. Thanks Alizza) oh well.

It was so nice to see them all. Met up with Sophie & Jake who are still together after camp, Danielle Andre, and Tom David (security '08). Needless to say, the night was destined to be an absolute blasty blast.

Anyway, we got there and of course cracked open a few to celebrate this joyous occasion. After playing some catch-up, Marc tried teaching us a drinking game called Snaps. It was a bit complicated for our simple little heads, so then Kerry (Marc's cousin) tried teaching a game called Ping Pang Pong which I just couldn't get the hang of for the life of me even though the rules were simple: Going in a clockwise direction, one person starts off and says "Ping", the person to their left says "Pang", the next-left person says "Pong"  and has to look at somebody in the circle. Whoever they look at has to start it up again with "Ping" and then it repeats. Obviously if you fail to "ping", "pang" or "pong" on cue, you have to drink. Quite simple...for everyone else.

So me being the sly dog that I am, I change the direction of the game and suggest another game...with nothing in mind, Jake suggested the well-known card game of "Kings", "Ring of Fire", or "Circle of Death" (all the same game, different names). Sophie being the excellent host she is, gets the required deck of cards. Except these cards are special to say the least. Each card is a different sexual position. An interesting choice Sophie. I had trouble focusing on the game at hand with such vulgar images in front of my virgin eyes. But I obligingly played the game.

We didn't make it a full game before all our ADD kicked in after the double-double rule (courtesy of yours truly), Kerry's thumb rule, the classic "in my pants" rule, and some other rule which eludes me right now. I'm not sure how but then I noticed a tube (yes, a tube!) of Ham & Cheese. Silly Welsh. So Tom takes a bunch of pictures of him eating this amorphous ham and cheese...paste. I put a bit on my finger to try and needless to say, absolutely awful. As if I expected otherwise. I still blame it on the Welsh.

On the road...forever

Met up with Marc, Hannah, & Marc's cousin, Kerry (a dude), in the coffee shop. Had a bit of a chin wag for a little bit and now I'm in the car on the way to Cardiff. It's about a 2.5-3 hour drive. Marc is getting texts left and right from Sophie & Jake trying to figure out who is his "mystery guest" is (for those who don't know who that is, that's me). We're trying to give them dodgy answers but Jake is a smart one. Marc, being the genius he is, gave the clue that his guest is "5.5, brown eyes, and a smile like sunshine" ...i think the sunshine part was a giveaway. They guessed it was me, but he brushed it off. We'll see.

Even if they figure it out, it doesn't matter. It's going to be an effin awesome time. I haven't seen any of them since camp (with the exception of Jake Brown). I'll post some pictures of the aftermath after new years. For those who wish to give me a call, feel free, my number is still the same while in the UK but keep in mind that there is a 5 hr time difference (ahead of the US). So I may very well be passed the *#@)%$ out. If so, either post a comment on here, shoot me an email, or I'll phone you tomorrow. Miss you all.

BM: corn!

Patiently waiting

So its new year's eve and I'm still in London. I just got off the tube and am waiting in a coffee shop in Mordon waiting for Marc and Hanna to pick me up. They're running a bit late. Cafe mocha please!

I'm bored and killing time playing on my iPod touch. Luke said that he wants to go to the UK Apple store next weekend. Should be oodles of fun.

While I'm waiting for them, I might as well give you all the picture I promised before of Jenna in her prime with her ugly ass fake tan shite. (see below)

More to come soon.

movie time

So Luke and I just finished watching Cloverfield. never seen it before. it was pretty good. It was kinda Blair Witch meets Stargate Atlantis. Doesn't get much better for a low key night.

Snagged a solid picture of Jenna with her dirt-face-makeup-stuff on that is absolutely brilliant, I'll post it as soon as I get my hands on Luke's camera. so good!

I also spoke to Marc and him and I are going to be meeting up tomorrow at...uhh...well i don't remember the station to be honest, Luke does. good thing. alls i know is that I'm meeting him and Hanna Browne at 2 and then we're heading west to Cardiff for new years!!

not 100% sure what the game plan is after Cardiff. not really worried about it. Marc is probably going to head out after new years. i may either tag along, stay in Cardiff for a few days, or meet up with Jimbo (athletics '07). and then after all is said and done, come back to London and stay with Luke & mams for a day or two before i leave on the 9th. we'll see how it goes.

I'm gonna pass out for now. long day tomorrow. I'll try to write something before the party tomorrow but with all the "oh my god, i can't believe you're actually here" things, it'll be a stretch, maybe an inebriated post will be in order. 

comment and let me know what you think or if you have any suggestions as to what i should do on my adventures.

stay tuned

p.s. i think my power converter is either dying or broken...gotta pick up another one. it keeps turning off for awhile and then popping back on. its old and feels like a brick. rather play it safe than have it burn out my computer or something.

an interesting quip

this just in: jenna looks like an utter mess as she decided to put on fake tan shit to look good for new years tomorrow. kinda looks like she wrestled a pig in a pigpen...and the pig won. absolutely awful. i'll see if i can grab a picture...unlikely though. shes an odd one...and tone def.

also, i think luke and i are completely recovered from the curry, gonna lay low tonight so our bodies are in top form tomorrow. looks like its just gonna be a movie tonight. i'm okay with it.

Day 1, in the books.

So I wake up around noon from a fantastic night with john, gin, Luke, & Leonie (Luke & Jenna's 4th roommate). John is jumping on the bed like a little schoolgirl yelling for me to get up (apparently Luke and john spent a solid 10 min trying to get me up). i blame it on the jetlag, not the gin.

after tinkering around for a bit, John, Luke, & I head over to the tube and Luke and i part our ways with john. from there, Luke and i meet up with Jenna at her workplace and go to a nice place for lunch, called Alibi. Got a Lamb Burger. Interesting choice which turned out to be quite nice. Interesting thing to note: burgers are not eaten with the hands, just a fork and knife. kinda an interesting change from the barbaric trends of the US. (an not-so-interesting-sidenote: the curry from last night was fantastic, but has quite a post-bite to it where Luke and i were less than comfy) :P (another not-so-interesting-sidenote: apparently "yogurt" in england is spelt "yoghurt"...what the hell is that all about?)

From lunch, Luke and i said our goodbyes to Jenna and then decided to head to the south bank (central England) for some touristy shite. First, we went to see The Clink which was a really interesting and slightly disturbing museum on torture in England. really neat stuff. I'll try and post some pictures when i can (silly yank didn't think about bringing a camera). after the clink, we wandered around the south bank area, saw some really neat stuff. one thing that stood out was a giant WW II cruiser called the HMS Belfast that was docked and was all camo-coloUred. According to wikipedia, the "dazzle camo" or "razzle dazzle" color was actually pretty common. weird brits.

also saw the tower of london and a few other things in the area then went back to luke's place to chill a bit, order a pizza and more or less, lay low tonight in prep for tomorrow.

speaking of tomorrow, i don't think i mentioned my plans yet. this whole england trip is based around sneaking to cardiff with Marc Kirby (adventure '08) to surprise all the internationals who are partying there. should be wicked fun! so i'm meeting up with marc tomorrow around 2ish and then going to cardiff for the big surprise.

luke and i just ordered some pizza that is "quite nice" says mr. windsor. interesting enough, its papa johns. which is apparently significantly better  quality than its sibling chain in the US. anyway, that'll do it for now. leave comments!

Kaufy