Last week I spent Monday and Tuesday finishing my enormous academic paper and then Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday were my last days of work. It was an intense week, let me tell you. I had to work for 10 hours on Thursday because we had the get in for the kids' show and then the dress/tech rehearsal that night. I got to learn how to use the BAC's Ion light board which is beautiful and far more advanced than anything I ever ran at Civic. Though running the lights comes down to the same thing really no matter what: pressing the Go button. The kids were still predictably unfocused, most especially a few of them, but the show went off without too many problems Friday night. I stayed after to have a pint with the director and two other helpers and we had some good laughs about beatboxing and George Lucas. I got more emotional than I thought leaving that night knowing it was the last time. I was sad to not be able to say good-bye to any of my co-workers because none of them were working that day and my manager Luke had already left as well. The BAC wasn't exactly what I had had in mind for my summer but I did learn things and got to work with some fun people.
The Saturday following work was the Arcadia day trip to Brighton. I was really excited to go because Mom and Maddie had a great time there 7 years ago before I arrived and have been raving about it ever since. The day was like all other days on Arcadia planned trips: cloudy, chilly, and wet. Not the best weather for exploring a seaside town but I was determined to to be optimistic. After 1.5 hours in a freezing cold bus, we alighted right by Brighton Pier but made our way to the Brighton Pavilion to collect our group tickets. The Pavilion looks like an Indian palace from the outside with onion domes and such and then is decorated inside in a Chinese style. George IV built it when he was regent as his opulent seaside retreat and continued to use it until his death where it was then used by his two brother successors but Victoria didn't like it and sold it to the city council of Brighton. It really is remarkable inside, though for one who has been to China, it is obviously a very British interpretation of Chinese style. The dragon chandelier was my favorite thing, naturally, as it was very shiny.
We breezed through the Pavilion, seeing every room but not listening to the extensive audio tour commentary (not all of the buttons on my handset worked too), and then went to lunch in The Lanes, Brighton's main shopping area of very narrow alleyways. We ate at this amazing Italian restaurant with 8.95 three course lunch but it took 2 hours to get out of there and we were seated in the family section and thus had screaming children to put up with. My mushrooms cooked in butter, garlic, and parsley made up for it though. Oh my god amazing. After lunch we wandered through The Lanes some more, attempting to shop, but nobody really buying anything. Eventually Nori and I decided we wanted to check out the pier so we left the others to go do that. I love Brighton Pier; it is like King's Island on the Water. Fried food stands, henna tattoos, psychic readings, thrill rides, arcade games, etc all await you on the pier. We had limited time so unfortunately could not partake in any of the trashy chic enjoyment and we also only got to spend about a minute on the pebbly beach before taking off in the coach. I definitely want to return to Brighton someday and do it right, hopefully when the sun is out.
This day was followed by the biggest FML night I may have ever had. Against my better judgment, I decided to get dressed up and go out to a club with people from the house. I hadn't been to one my entire stay so I thought it was about time. We were supposed to leave at 11 but it was actually midnight before we left. This meant we missed the last tube and had to take a cab. Now, 8 people had tickets to the club, meaning they could go straight in without waiting in the line. Three of those girls were in my cab, however when we arrived at the club, it was discovered that three girls in the other cab that arrived before us had taken their tickets. This made the three girls incredibly angry and upset, making them call people inside to rant and talk of going home. I, who was going to have to wait in line anyway, didn't mind but I wanted to get in the line due to it being very chilly and raining. We got in the line and almost immediately got moved to the front of it because we were four girls on our own.
16 pounds (I know, too expensive, but I hadn't gone out before and figured it wouldn't hurt that much) later and we were inside Fabric, apparently London's hottest club. Yeah...it was like being inside an aneurysm. There were strobe lights, flashing lights, and fog, so that you couldn't see anyone around you and always felt somewhat off balance. It was also extremely crowded making dancing an uncomfortable invasion of personal space and the only music playing was very bad techno. I ended up with two girls and our three guys, none of whom really seemed interested in dancing, the whole reason I came,and all of whom were trashed while I was stone cold sober. Needless to say, the night was tedious and I wanted to go home but none of them wanted to come with me. I checked my phone at 3 am and saw I had missed a text from two girls who were leaving at 2 and wanted to know if I wanted to come with them. This made me angry at the world and so when my group moved to change locations again, I refused to come and instead left to go home.
So there I am alone in London at 3 in the morning when its raining and having no idea where I am. An enviable position to be in, I know. Still, I know enough about how to navigate London to not panic and walk until I find a bus stop. Of course, one is just down the road and I hop on the first bus that comes. On that bus, I figure out I need to take the 390 back to Palace Court, so I get off at the first stop where the 390 stops. However, since it is the middle of the night, the 390 wasn't scheduled to come for 20 minutes. This meant I had to hang out at the bus stop freezing cold and wet, tired to the core, surrounded by drunk/creepy people also waiting for early morning buses. Fun. The bus was late, which freaked me out for a bit, but I got on without any trouble and made it home fine. I got in bed at 4:30 and slept until Molly came to get me to go to the market at noon. Needless to say, I have been effectively turned off clubbing and will not be attempting another such night the rest of my sojourn in London.
At last, I am now caught up to this week which really hasn't been all that exciting but that entry will follow this one and then I will be completely caught up. WOO! Let this be a lesson to never get behind on ones blog; it is quite an effort to catch up again and your loyal readers become frustrated with you. I am sure there are many things that I forgot, especially pertaining to work, but I have always been of the mind that if you forget something then it was never really all that important to begin with.
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