Crazy weekend in the U.K.

Hello all! A lot has happened since the last time I wrote on this. Well, I had two interviews on Friday, one with an agency who picks people who they think they can place in temp jobs, and one for a receptionist job at a gym. Both went well, the woman at the agency who called me for the interview told me she thinks she can get me a job by this week sometime, which is fantastic. The other interview went good, but the hours and pay are not as good as what the agency can offer me, so I'll probably go with whatever the agency gets me. So, everything is starting to look up and hopefully I'll have some cash flow coming in so I can plan some trips!

After all the running around on Friday with the two interviews, it was nice to hear that my friend Jamie got us half priced tickets to the show Wicked. I've been wanting to see it for years now at home, so when I got the chance to see it here I was ecstatic. It was even better than I thought and Kerry Ellis played the wicked witch, who is also the voice on the Wicked CD (which my mom has and I recognized immediately) and played the role on Broadway. The story and music were beautiful...and I have to admit, I liked it better than the Wizard of Oz.

On Saturday I woke up early to take a day trip with BUNAC to Dover and Canterbury. Our first stop was to Dover, which is about an hour and half away from London, where I saw Dover Castle and the White Cliffs. Dover Castle sits at the top of a large cliff in the middle of Dover, where on a clear day you can supposedly see France. It actually turned out to be a really nice day...but although I tried, I couldn't see France. :( We got a chance when we got there to explore the castle, which is like any other castle with a moat and stone walls, except for the fact that you could look out onto the English Channel which was nice. We also got a tour underneath the castle of secret WWII tunnels used by the British forces. The tour actually became quite amusing after we found out how much our tour guide Colin loved dramatic pauses between every sentence... "And here we are at the switch board rooms where women worked...(pause)...and it was cold...(pause)....and damp...(dramatic pause)...and the mold would sometimes make conditions unbearable...(even more dramatic pause as he looked around the room)...and the women would sometimes faint at the lack of ventilation" And imagine it all in a British accent. Sometimes I couldn't help but giggle a little. But, the tunnels were actually pretty interesting. They consisted of command rooms, barracks, a whole hospital, cinema, and anything else needed for all three forces to plan attacks. We even were shown the tunnel Churchill would come in and out of when he was there. I guess the main battle planned there was the excavation of Dunkirk. After Hitler had taken over parts of France the Allied forces were split, part were in Britain and the other in Dunkirk, France. So, British Admiral Ramsay ordered the excavation of Dunkirk to hopefully save 50,000 British troops and it ended up saving 350,000 troops which was a huge success. After the tour, we climbed a little higher to see the white cliffs that they are so famous for, and since it was such a beautiful day my pictures turned out great. (And I made a little video for you to enjoy!)
From there we made our way to Canterbury. Its a really nice town with a mix of medieval times and modern architecture. When we got there, we had lunch at a nice cafe (where I had fish and chips) and then explored the town. We saw the Canterbury Cathedral where Archbishop Thomas Becket was beheaded by the king's guards and now stands a statue of him where its said that some who have stood next to it have had miracles happen to them. I'm not sure why though..The town also has a lot of nice little shops that we went in and out of, one coffee and tea shop we went in was going out of business and I got about four tall things of English tea for a pound. We also found ourselves in a fudge shop, for those of you who know me know it wasn't me pushing to go in there, but my friend Ellen persisted. They actually make the fudge in front of you and let us try some, and for someone like me who doesn't like fudge this was probably the best I've ever tasted. We actually hung around and talked to the workers there who had an uncanny fascination with the fact that we were Americans. The one girl kept telling us how much she wanted to go to America and asked if we had Lucky Charms there because supposedly they took them off the shelves in the U.K. a long time ago and they were her favorite. Another one of them asked us what a Twinkie was, which was funny to describe. But, then it was time to head back and by then we were exhausted.

Today, Jamie and I headed to the Camden markets. Pretty much they are just a line of stands with anything from clothes, shoes, bags, sport gear, etc. along the length of a street in Camden in London. I ended up getting a purse and hat for cheap...since I couldn't fit a purse in my suitcase on the way here and desperately needed. But, once I get a job I might go back and buy myself a pair of cheap shoes or clothes...but not until I get a job.

Anyways, tomorrow hopefully I'll hear from the agency or other jobs. Tuesday, as you know is inauguration day for Obama and London is actually having a lot of parties for it. Madame Tussauds, the wax museum, is unveiling their Barak Obama figure and any American who can prove it gets in free..so we might do it for the heck of it. Besides that, no plans for the rest of the week. I'll keep you updated! Keep the emails coming!