Friday, January 16, 2009

16/1/09

Let's start with another update in my quest to become an internationally published writer.

Hi Scott,
Thanks for your message. I am hoping we will publish your article next week. I just need to get it approved by my editor first.
Many thanks,
Mark


I have to say, this is looking pretty good. I imagine they don't have too many people that have actually seen Obama, let alone the number of times I have, so it would sort of make sense for this to happen. I figured all along I had a pretty good chance. But I never expected all this to come together so quickly.

Today was another productive day. I figured out where my classes are. They're about a 20-25 minute walk down on Regent Street, a block or two away from Oxford Street, so there are just tons of places to eat and visit between classes. I went all the way down to Piccadilly Circus today (not many animals, more Time's Squarey.)

From there I went to Theaterland and Leicester (pronounced Lester) Square where I was the other night. Most notably now, is that I know how to get nearly anywhere in the West End, a big step that will lead to me using my GPS far less. Trafalgar Square and Parliament aren't that much further from Leicester Square, so I can get to nearly everything in London by foot now.

I stopped in Starbucks down by Piccadilly Square to kill some time. I got a Chocolate Cream this time. I think I'm sticking with Strawberry Cream.

From there I wandered about Chinatown (or maybe it was just a random area where they decided to hang a lot of Chinese Lanterns), which was bigger than I was expecting. It's not particularly great, but there are a lot of shops and restaurants there, and it's right next to a number of other landmarks.


I then went and sat in Leicester Square (it's a big hangout by the theaters, Will Smith was here two days ago for a movie premiere) and finished my drink.

There was a statue of Charlie Chaplin next to me, I forgot he was British. Probably because he never talks.

From there I had a little bit more time so I went to the National Portrait Gallery, which was pretty incredible. They have things dating from Henry VII to the present (including a cool Paul McCartney portrait.) I didn't get to spend that much time there, but I'm sure I'll be back.

From there I headed back to 309 Regent Street where my classes are for orientation.

The building (on the right) has to date from the 1850s, it's incredibly ornate inside, like walking into a fancy New York hotel. The auditorium I was in was the first place where moving pictures were shown in England, kinda cool.


Orientation was worthless except that I found out I didn't need to register with a GP (general practitioner) so that just saves me some time. I also didn't win the project quiz thing, but I didn't expect to.

From there I walked back to my place and on Marylebone Street, I saw a plaque that said Charles Dickens lived on a site about two blocks from me. Out of all the cool history things I've seen so far, this was probably the coolest, I'd because because it hit so close to home, literally. It's pretty exciting to think that I'm walking the same streets Dickens did.


I left for the boat, which was at the Monument stop on the Circle Line. It took about 40 minutes to get there. I ran into a girl from my floor (oh man, I think her name is Brittany? I should probably know that) and we both headed down there.

There were a bunch of people waiting by the Monument (to commemorate the 1666 Fire) and soon the leaders came and we left for the boat (people in charge don't seem to be too prompt.)

Unfortunately, the boat was docked. It was right next to (lame) London Bridge, and most people stayed in the lower deck and sat around. Brittany? and I went to the top deck and hung out. She spent the last four months in Spain studying (she's from Missouri but got an awesome study abroad scholarship) so we talked about Spain quite a bit, since I plan on visiting there. She said to go to Barcelona for sure, not so big on Madrid, but I probably will anyways.

A couple other people came over and hung out with us on the top, and everyone here has been very nice. They were talking about The London Paper and I told them that it looks like I was going to be in it and they were pretty impressed.

After about two hours we went inside and stayed around listening to more American music (it's everywhere) and then decided to leave. I took the tube to the Westminster stop and walked from Parliament to Trafalgar Square to Leicester Square to Piccadilly Square to Regent Street to Oxford Street to Baker Street and back home. It is basically the same route I took earlier, but now I can get all the way to Parliament for sure. It's also a lot prettier at night.




I looked around for a cafe to get some desert in, and I found one on Regent Street but I decided I wanted to get closer to my room first, so I chanced it and lost. All the cafes were closed when I got back. Oh well, guess maybe tomorrow.

Tomorrow I'm going to Stonehenge and Bath, which I'm pretty excited about. Stonehenge is just one of those sites you hear about your entire life and think it'd be cool to see. Bath sounds interesting as well. We leave at 8, and I'm not excited about that. I struggled to get up before 11 still.

But on a good note, my student Oyster card came, which was incredibly fast. I'm pumped, now it's 30% off fares, and they seem to stretch pretty far as it is.

3 comments:

  1. Thats cool they are publishing your article. Also, I misunderstood your bathroom size. Your picture is somewhat smaller than I was imagining.

    Luke

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  2. Scott Bolohan - Internationally Published Journalist...sounds pretty good.

    You should have thrown them a real curve and used Canadian spellings. Sorry...that might be offensive.

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  3. Luke - Yeah, my bathroom, definitely tiny. Think like a bathroom on an airplane, except with a shower crammed in there too.

    Patrick - I think Canadian and British spellings are the same. And that is very offensive. To someone probably.

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