Misadventures (7-5)

As my last entry states, we had a tour of the Globe today, which was cool. I'd seen a play at the Globe but never toured it. After the Globe tour we went and saw the Tower and also had lunch there. Then a bunch of people headed off to go on the Eye. I decided that it was a once in a lifetime experience (I would suggest everyone do it once, and it is kind of expensive). I'd had my once, and I wanted to make sure everybody knows I didn't die on the flight from Dublin now that I have a chance to use the web... Then as I was writing this I was thinking about how cool that area around the Eye is and how I should have gone with them and wandered around on my own while they stood in line for an hour. Oh well, plenty of time for wandering on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday (all free days). I may go out to eat or something. It's only 6, but lunch was so recent, and we do have a kitchen here. Maybe I'll just get a frozen pizza from the Tesco down the street. Meal times seem so messed up when the sun doesn't set until 9:30.
(Yes, this first part is in the last post)

Boy, what adventures I had since writing that first part. I couldn't actually get to the room with the internet in it when everybody else was gone and noone could let me in to the Q corridor. I was sitting there feeling alone and bored and a million different other things besides when I decided I'd go out on my own and hopefully I'd meet up with my classmates at the Eye. Well, I only made up my mind after a bit of indecision, calling my boyfriend for a $20/5 minute phone call (we had been keeping in touch via internet and I was just feeling so lonely), and staring at a map of the city and tube system for a bit. So it was already nearly 9 (they said they'd be on the Eye around 8:45). I went ahead and called my professor to try to see if I could meet up with them to go eat after they were done with the Eye. Well, I couldn't get ahold of her even though I tried calling about half a dozen times (they were apparently on the Eye during most of the time I'd been calling, which was after I'd taken the tube down to Waterloo). People kept mentioning that I'd said I hadn't wanted to go on the Eye. Well, the idea was not to go on th Eye but also not to be stuck in this stupid dorm building all by myself. Hopefully I'd get something to eat, see some street performers or something along the way, and meet up with my classmates. I remember that area being pretty cool. The main problem was that I never got ahold of them, but also, daylight was almost gone. I actually had been in the area during the same time that they had, but I had gotten sick of sitting right in front of the Eye watching for people getting on and off when, in all likely hood, I'd probably miss them anyway in the crowd, and they wouldn't have a clue to look for me there because I'd never gotten ahold of Justine. So I walked off to the bridge to take pictures of the cool buildings at sunset, and apparently Justine did call me back right around 9:30 but I'd never gotten the call and never gotten ahold of her the 20 times I'd tried to call her since, not even knowing she'd called. So I was getting hungry and I figured I'd just play it cool, look for some place to eat around there, keep exploring the city on my own, but by this time it was actually getting dark and I wasn't feeling so comfortable being out alone. I'd only seen a bunch of nice sit-down restaurants that I wouldn't feel comfortable going to alone and that arcade my brother liked so much when we went before, which has a McDonald's attached. I pretty much gave up and headed back towards the tube station, still playing it cool, being stoic and striding along as if I was just another Londoner, but as it was getting dark I couldn't remember the way back to the station. I started wandering in that general direction and followed some signs that said Waterloo station, but those signs are so confusing. Half the streets curve around and an arrow that points straight might actually mean around a couple of corners. I made a few wrong turns and ended up in unpleasant looking back streets a couple times, even with directions from people, which, like the pointing arrows, were a little confusing, especially with those platforms in the middle of the street that branch off for pedestrian crossing in different directions. Anyway, I eventually made it and made my way back to Camden Town, although there I made it all the way back to the main cross street before forgetting which way to go to get back to the dorms. So here too, I tried to play it cool and started looking for some place to grab a bite. Unfortunately, It's sunday and everything closes early, so I ended up getting McDonald's anyway, bleh. Fortunately, a really nice couple using the atm on the corner was willing to help me out. They were going in that direction anyway and just walked with me to the bus stop. So here I am, back at the dorms, really tired, been here for a while (it's about quarter after 1 am) and I'm exhausted, but I wanted to get all of this down before I fall asleep. We don't have to meet up until 11, but I believe breakfast stops at 9 around here, so I need to sleep!