Six Month Anniversary

Today is my six month anniversary in London. How am I spending it? By fleeing the city to head up to Leeds with my dad. My very first visitor had finally arrived. We thankfully had loads of sun and warmth on the Sunday because now he's forced to live in the cloudy, gloomy weather that often plagues England. Yesterday we went to the Natural History Museum and walked around Trafalgar Square. Today we're going to a Leeds United game and checking out the city in general. This is my first proper trip outside of London since October so I'm very excited. I've already seen horses and platform 9 3/4 today so I'm pretty much already having an amazing day.

I'm Still Alive

I'm pretty sure most people know I'm not dead, but it had been awhile since my last post. My Australian housemate had to move back home on Wednesday, which was really weird and sad. Now it's just me and one other housemate. It's crazy having so much space to ourselves, but we've made good use of it by lying on the couch and watching Dance Moms. Apart from that I've been very busy at work. Thankfully I have my dad visiting next weekend so I get a bit of a break. In case you're wondering what I'm doing on a Friday night, I'm watching Airplane and realizing that as an adult I'm far more aware of how bananas it is than when I was a kid.

Sunday Morninging It

Well, I finally made it to church this morning. Most Sundays I'm too lazy for it, but since I wasn't hungover and I went to bed at midnight I figured I'd go. The service was a bit boring and they tried to recruit me to the creepy night service again, but the weather is gorgeous today. The sun is shining, it's relatively warm out, and so I went for a walk through the Common and went grocery shopping. After a bleak couple of weeks it was a good reminder that spring is just around the corner, despite the groundhog's cruel prediction of six more weeks of winter. So, happy almost spring everyone!

Five Month Anniversary

Normally I'm terrible at anniversaries, but since I arrived on the ominous day of September 11 is an easy one to remember. I'm finding at this stage is weird to be here because I've forgotten that I sound different. It's not until I met someone new and have to one again explain where I'm from and why I'm here. Apart from that things are sinking into a normal routine of waiting for weekends, complaining about the weather, and constantly reminding myself that I desperately need rain boots. Oddly enough a chick on The Bachelor kind of summed it up best. She said something like the hardest part about moving was missing the culture of home. That was total paraphrasing, but you get the idea. I love it here and it's so amazing, but I'm always aware that nothing's as good as home. I also want to point out that The Bach chick was a Canadian living in Germany, so way more intense than my move. Anyway, happy anniversary to me. At this time next month I'll be hanging out with my first visitor!

Waitangi Day and McDonald's Brawls

I promise I'm not dead.  My lack of posting mainly has to do with the laziness that goes hand in hand with winter.  My motivation to do anything is at a low point.  It's not even cold here.  It's just raining constantly and that means that my main motivation is to stay warm and dry, which involves hanging out in my sweats and staying indoors as much as possible.  However, I went against this instinct on Saturday for a "pub crawl."  It turns out that Kiwis are the most outrageous of people and when it's Waitangi Day they go balls out and dress up in animal costumes or doctors (something to do with a TV program there).  What's Waitangi Day you ask?  That's a good question.  At the time I had no idea.  I actually didn't even know that the pub crawl was in honour of a New Zealand day.  I just showed up because I thought I should get out of the house.

Waitangi Day (/waɪˈtʌŋi/,^[1] named after Waitangi, where the Treaty of Waitangi was signed) commemorates a significant day in the history of New Zealand. It is a public holiday^[2] held each year on 6 February to celebrate the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, New Zealand's founding document, on that date in 1840.

Copied straight from Wikipedia, so you know it's true.  Anyway, the pub crawl is meant to go along the Central Line and you're supposed to hit up 28 pubs along the way.  Obviously going into this I had no intention of completing it because I would be dead by the end of it.  Thankfully the pub crawl was actually just going into off license shops and walking around with beer.  It was crazy though.  There were like thousands of people there and all so loud and so drunk.

The best part of my night was at the end when my housemate and I went to McDonald's (obviously).  Three girls were berating the workers at McDonald's because they were drunk and mean and my housemate ripped into them and because I'm afraid of confrontation I apologized and told them they should just leave, but.....WE GOT FREE FOOD!!!  That's right, free McDonald's.  Basically one of my dreams come true.  It was aamazing!!!!  Best part of the day for sure.

As a side note, just watched Charles Hamelin win the gold in speed skating!  I love the Olympics and I'm proud of Canada because we're currently in first place for medals.  It's weird watching the Olympics here because it's obviously British coverage and therefore they don't care as much about Canada, which is a shame because the Brits aren't great at winter sports.  Now on to the moguls!

How to Go to the Dentist: British Stylez

So about a week, maybe two weeks ago my gums started to hemorrhage blood when I brushed my teeth.  At first I wasn't stressed about it.  I figured that this was overdue since I've been eating loads of candy and never flossing.  Then I got a nasty toothache last Friday and acted as if it was the worst pain life had to offer.  I have a low pain threshold and I don't even pretend to be able to be able to handle pain.  I just whine about it until it goes away.  My poor coworker found this out the hard way.  Although this week she said I barely complained, so maybe I was having an internal conversation with myself.  Anyway, at this point I started to panic, especially since I could feel the swelling in my gums.  So I asked how to book a dentist appointment.  It's a magical experience.  You go on the NHS site and tell them to find locations near you.  Then you get to read up on reviews and pick your dentist based on what the site tells you they offer.  So I picked one and booked online....ONLINE!  Then I got an email reminder and then two days before a text asking me to confirm.  AMAZING!  So today I rock up and I'm like "Yo, I'm here for my appointment."  They handed me an easy form to fill out.  I didn't have to prove that I belong in this country or anything.  Then I saw the dentist.  She took some x-rays and was like "Don't sweat it.  It's just some gingivitis.  Just keep flossing.  Book an appointment with me in six months for a check up and a hygienist appointment in between to get the plaque build up off."  Then I went downstairs, paid my £18, and got out of there.  It was ridiculously easy and required very little human contact, which I loved.  I love my dentist in Canada.  Love him, which actually made me even more nervous for this experience because I thought there was no way they could beat Zietsma and they didn't.  I would pick Zietsma over this lady any day, but making everything happen was a breeze.  I'm usually terrible at this stuff, so if I can do it and find it easy then it is easy for all mankind.  Next time you're in England check it out.  It will be life altering.  Although I will say that I got no free toothbrush and floss.  What's that about?  Maybe when I go for my cleaning they'll spoil me with such luxuries.

Ashursting

I started my week off by going to Ashurst Forest for some training.  I'll admit that I was grumpy and horrible last week.  I was just not into the week and everything was just getting to me.  I'm amazed no one commented on my lack of enthusiasm since everyone here seems to think I'm the happiest person ever.  Thankfully this week started off better.  I had to catch a train at 7:45am, so that wasn't the best ever, but Ashurst Forest was beautiful.  To get to the office you have to go through a forest that actually looked like a swamp because of all the flooding.  I saw sheep and donkeys and horses and pigs and unicorns, okay that one was before the caffeine kicked in.  May not have been real.  It was a nice break though.

I've also gotten into a routine of watching The Simpsons and Geordie Shore everyday after work, which is basically the best combo ever.  I just spend my evenings laughing and being happy I don't live in Newcastle where people are slutty and overly tanned despite the fact that it rains all the time there.  Today I've just been wasting time on Buzz Feed, which led me to this.........

http://www.buzzfeed.com/tabathaleggett/the-harry-potter-guide-to-the-u-k

Needless to say this is my new UK goal.  I want to see every place on here.  I don't care how long it takes or how in debt I get doing it.  It's happening.