heyhey so Berlin has come and gone and we're now in Moscow, which is big and expensive and full of people who don't speak English and don't seem too bothered about this fact. I keep trying to tell them the Cold War is over and they don't need to fear me anymore but they don't seem to want to listen. Ah well. So ya got in last night and despite the lonely planet estimated cost of a taxi being 100R ($4) the first guy was gonna charge us $50 so we pursued the metro situation where we found a queue of literally 100+ people. So back out onto the street we finally found a taxi to take us for the amazing bargain of $20 + 200R. Though there were at least 3 moments during the trip I could've sworn we were going to die which would probably have made the $20+200R poor value since I don't think funeral services were included ;-)
Saw the cool cathedrals and soviet govt buildings in the Kremlin this morning which was good fun. I wanted to ask a guard if he would pose with me for a photo but I wasn't sure the US Embassy was open on weekends to bail me out of jail so thought better not. In general things here seem to be geared towards the very top echelons of society (not unlike NY or London I suppose) and people aren't particularly friendly but I'm hoping the 5 and a half days on the Trans-Siberian will hold for us nicer Russians :-) the hardest thing I would say is navigating since my map has the street names in the roman alphabet whereas all the street signs are in cyrillic ;-(
anyway, will post photos and stuff soon! xx
Saturday, September 23, 2006
Saturday, September 16, 2006
...and we're back!
So in light of the whole going away thing it seemed about right to do some more of this blogging malarky. Itinerary is as follows for your convenience:
(9/18) London->Berlin (9/19)
(9/21) Berlin->Moscow (9/22)
(9/26) Moscow -> Beijing (10/2)
(10/5) Beijing -> Hanoi (10/7)
-- Hanoi for 2 months with trips (hopefully) to Hong Kong, Kuala Lampur, surrounding Northern Vietnamese countryside, etc.--
(12/7) Hanoi -> not quite sure yet (Southern Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, possibly Burma?)
So yeah! In those sorts of respects I think we're almost ready to go. Should probably pack first though. (p.s. this is mostly to reaffirm I can still post on this thingie).
Cool people:
(9/18) London->Berlin (9/19)
(9/21) Berlin->Moscow (9/22)
(9/26) Moscow -> Beijing (10/2)
(10/5) Beijing -> Hanoi (10/7)
-- Hanoi for 2 months with trips (hopefully) to Hong Kong, Kuala Lampur, surrounding Northern Vietnamese countryside, etc.--
(12/7) Hanoi -> not quite sure yet (Southern Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, possibly Burma?)
So yeah! In those sorts of respects I think we're almost ready to go. Should probably pack first though. (p.s. this is mostly to reaffirm I can still post on this thingie).
Cool people:
Monday, May 02, 2005
no i'm still 19
thats right. we're doing things differently here in paul's world of fantasy. i'm holding off on 20 and am going straight to 21 next year upon which i will remain until i'm 25 upon which i will no longer age. it's all quite convenient actually that way i don't have to get old.
no but seriously i feel like i should be eligible for disability benefits or something-- 20 is ooooold like past your peak old. i can no longer act like a fool and have as my excuse i'm a teenager. very disconcerting.
so last night had a breu haha/shindig with some of the peeps at mine was good fun. got some cool pressies (english for presents). only two sick men but man they were sick.
doing a little bit of studying for exams but im so horribly inefficient i hate myself. i need to just work for 3 hours in ultra-efficient mode and id be so happy. ah well. got a cool wagamama t-shirt from ems i'll wear in the shop this summer.
which brings me to smoothie shop summer 2005-- if you're reading this you probably know about it already but yea, we're (bruce and I) pretty much sorted out except for insurance which we'll figure out soon. in an effort to prevent myself from doing any studying ive been looking for blenders online and am now coveting this crazy 249mph, 3horsepower blender thats used in starbucks and jamba juice because i'm paranoid our shit is going to break and this would just be so pimp even though its $300. shit can turn wheat into flour though. thats kinda obscene shit. i think im going to chow down on some chicken meatballs and spin some joss stone to get me in the mood for some how public opinion affects foreign policy.
lotsa love
paul
no but seriously i feel like i should be eligible for disability benefits or something-- 20 is ooooold like past your peak old. i can no longer act like a fool and have as my excuse i'm a teenager. very disconcerting.
so last night had a breu haha/shindig with some of the peeps at mine was good fun. got some cool pressies (english for presents). only two sick men but man they were sick.
doing a little bit of studying for exams but im so horribly inefficient i hate myself. i need to just work for 3 hours in ultra-efficient mode and id be so happy. ah well. got a cool wagamama t-shirt from ems i'll wear in the shop this summer.
which brings me to smoothie shop summer 2005-- if you're reading this you probably know about it already but yea, we're (bruce and I) pretty much sorted out except for insurance which we'll figure out soon. in an effort to prevent myself from doing any studying ive been looking for blenders online and am now coveting this crazy 249mph, 3horsepower blender thats used in starbucks and jamba juice because i'm paranoid our shit is going to break and this would just be so pimp even though its $300. shit can turn wheat into flour though. thats kinda obscene shit. i think im going to chow down on some chicken meatballs and spin some joss stone to get me in the mood for some how public opinion affects foreign policy.
lotsa love
paul
Tuesday, March 15, 2005
none of this
upstaging by lina will be tolerated. gonna blog twice in a month, whats that about? ok it will be permitted if only because we need to carry the dead wood of everyone else's lack of having interesting lives to post on the internet (yes thats meant to provoke you non-bloggers out there)
soo right. just got 3 texts from peoples all saying 'why arent you out getting hammered with us?' in case i forgot i was in england.
so half-bro robert came down to london this weekend from rugby (yes the town where the sport was invented) where hes working on a project for a few months so that was really cool to see him. saw some cool african dancing at royal festival hall on saturday and mixed up some oxford street shopping which is always a favourite. i had a birthday party to go to in covent garden so i managed to sort out this play at the old vic theatre with him and his girlfriend (cristina) to go to called national anthems. it was one of those crazy 3 actor plays and kevin spacey's one of em- i should check it out apparently its really good.
really looking forward to being back in new york!!! i can't want to see you lot. i'm also psyched about the rome affair this weekend but i need to get into the proper schools out vibe. also my cold better be done by then. also roman girls are rumoured to be stunning so we'll be taking careful notes and reporting back don't you worry.
extricated myself today from the sticky situation that was this romanian girl i was seeing, which is good because i ended up being a bit of a prick to her since i wasnt really into it and she kept sort of pressing me for time and affection and i was like i think mommy's calling me.
i promise i don't watch desperate housewives. ok that was a lie. shit is kinda crazy!! why did she burn his passport?!? (yes i know we're 38 episodes behind). also have you all heard the new jack johnson album?!? its REALLY good. like hardcore. doves came out with a new album too which is quite good as well but not as impressive as my man JJ. international political theory (IPT) class is funny cause every week now whatever we cover i end up being the ambassador for neo-marxism which is awesome cuz it really does give a far superior description of the international system than this western-obsessed orthodox theory nonce.
lindt chocolates are REALLY good. no joke. how cool is the disney story? you walk in and all your problems go away. really! go sometime if you dont believe me.
whats everyone doing this summer by the way? if you're interested in positions at ChandlerBlackstone LLC drop me a line so we can talk about the opportunities available for comrades. did i mention i had a brief stint as a vegetarian in the supermarket for about 20 minutes when i was deciding if it would be economical? needless to say i concluded the 400% increase in my food budget could not be justified by "eating cows is icky" (my original thesis for being a vegetarian). also, that new iMac shit is so pretty!! the computer IS the monitor!!! but its ok cause material possessions are useless and private property will soon be abolished. oh wait i dont think i was supposed to send that stuff out.
don't you miss the pretzel shop across from stuy from frosh year?? how good was that place? SO good. i miss it. i saw lord hannay of chiswick today who spoke about UN reform-- he was the UK seat on the High-level Panel which came out with its report in december of prescriptions for reform (lina i'm sure you know all about this) so it was cool hearing him say shit like 'so on this issue we all booed down the US, but once in a while we let them have their way.' speaking of which you know the EU contributed 42% of the UN budget? for reference the US gives (or rathr is assigned to give but doesnt give the full) 25%. in conclusion the US sucks big donkey scrotum and the EU is pretty fly for a white guy. oh and there was this loudass protest going on cuz the Turkish foreign minister was speaking across houghton street at the same time. theres this weird sound coming from my desk and its kinda creepy. i hope its not something alive.
so to conclude i will advertise my dates in NY once more
March 25 (evening) --> April 23rd (evening).
Much loveeeeee
paul
soo right. just got 3 texts from peoples all saying 'why arent you out getting hammered with us?' in case i forgot i was in england.
so half-bro robert came down to london this weekend from rugby (yes the town where the sport was invented) where hes working on a project for a few months so that was really cool to see him. saw some cool african dancing at royal festival hall on saturday and mixed up some oxford street shopping which is always a favourite. i had a birthday party to go to in covent garden so i managed to sort out this play at the old vic theatre with him and his girlfriend (cristina) to go to called national anthems. it was one of those crazy 3 actor plays and kevin spacey's one of em- i should check it out apparently its really good.
really looking forward to being back in new york!!! i can't want to see you lot. i'm also psyched about the rome affair this weekend but i need to get into the proper schools out vibe. also my cold better be done by then. also roman girls are rumoured to be stunning so we'll be taking careful notes and reporting back don't you worry.
extricated myself today from the sticky situation that was this romanian girl i was seeing, which is good because i ended up being a bit of a prick to her since i wasnt really into it and she kept sort of pressing me for time and affection and i was like i think mommy's calling me.
i promise i don't watch desperate housewives. ok that was a lie. shit is kinda crazy!! why did she burn his passport?!? (yes i know we're 38 episodes behind). also have you all heard the new jack johnson album?!? its REALLY good. like hardcore. doves came out with a new album too which is quite good as well but not as impressive as my man JJ. international political theory (IPT) class is funny cause every week now whatever we cover i end up being the ambassador for neo-marxism which is awesome cuz it really does give a far superior description of the international system than this western-obsessed orthodox theory nonce.
lindt chocolates are REALLY good. no joke. how cool is the disney story? you walk in and all your problems go away. really! go sometime if you dont believe me.
whats everyone doing this summer by the way? if you're interested in positions at ChandlerBlackstone LLC drop me a line so we can talk about the opportunities available for comrades. did i mention i had a brief stint as a vegetarian in the supermarket for about 20 minutes when i was deciding if it would be economical? needless to say i concluded the 400% increase in my food budget could not be justified by "eating cows is icky" (my original thesis for being a vegetarian). also, that new iMac shit is so pretty!! the computer IS the monitor!!! but its ok cause material possessions are useless and private property will soon be abolished. oh wait i dont think i was supposed to send that stuff out.
don't you miss the pretzel shop across from stuy from frosh year?? how good was that place? SO good. i miss it. i saw lord hannay of chiswick today who spoke about UN reform-- he was the UK seat on the High-level Panel which came out with its report in december of prescriptions for reform (lina i'm sure you know all about this) so it was cool hearing him say shit like 'so on this issue we all booed down the US, but once in a while we let them have their way.' speaking of which you know the EU contributed 42% of the UN budget? for reference the US gives (or rathr is assigned to give but doesnt give the full) 25%. in conclusion the US sucks big donkey scrotum and the EU is pretty fly for a white guy. oh and there was this loudass protest going on cuz the Turkish foreign minister was speaking across houghton street at the same time. theres this weird sound coming from my desk and its kinda creepy. i hope its not something alive.
so to conclude i will advertise my dates in NY once more
March 25 (evening) --> April 23rd (evening).
Much loveeeeee
paul
Sunday, February 20, 2005
most productive thing i did today was go to tesco's
so i am officially sad.
not in the literal sense of course, :-) had a nice party last night, people are crazy im taking out the bottles today and I counted them as I pushed them into the recycling doobie and shit was 23 bottles of wine. and tom took out a fair amount last night too. and 5 bottles of spirits and about 40 cans/bottles of beer. so what the hell? unless people somehow dropped off empty bottles i have no idea how we accumulated so much of that shit there couldnt have been more than like 50 people here.
so the last of 'em left at 4 which translated into a 2pm rising which means 3 hours of sunlight was experienced by me today-- those days can never be good. but i managed to fit it a £30 tesco run including such highlights as 2kg clementines, 800g of beef, and a litre of channel island milk (aka heavy cream) which tastes amazing.
friday was half term aka didnt have to wake up at 7.30 to tutor at my nice bermondsey secondary school of charming young ladies who like to call me gringo and ask me where i'm from. instead i got to finish off this wonderful application to a fellowship with the state department and paid the same amount of money to send 2 pieces of paper (the recs) to new jersey as cost me for a week's worth of groceries (shit is wack).
there must be something exciting to talk about.. oo! got a 73 on an essay this week which was very exciting!! 70+ is a "1st Class Honours" for those not familiar with the looney english university system, and about 3% of foolios get dat shit. the coolest part was the essay was on UN reform and it was 1945 words!!! i am the man.
ugh so its 2am and i have nothing to show for myself today. don't you hate it when that happens? it would be perfectly fine if it was say july 9th when theres no need to do anything productive but on february 19? there was the need. and that my friend was an essay on something relating to foreign policy analysis. currently talking to this kid (american of course) on my degree who thinks hes going to be president (obviously at the wrong college) and is working out some internship in the white house which he thinks will get him connections to be the republican nominee in 2034.
so tom refused to clean up this morning cos he "did the setting up" which is true but wtf he stayed up half the night talking alan then struts out not doing a damn thing and the place is in a proper state. broken glass=not my friend.
ah something of remote interest, i'm going to rome after term ends! very exciting, we still have to book accomodation but im thinking we may get a flat cos there will be 7 of us or so. oh i'm also seeing a romanian chick, she's nice but i dunno im totally incapable of demonstrating any affection and i feel bad but i dunno. i cant work out if its me being a total weirdo or if its her being... capitalist. shes from 'public school' (private school) and has this posh british accent and talks about how cool aston martins are and im like can we sing la vie boheme please?
lemon yogurt is really good. you should try it sometime. oo and i made chicken tonight and i had the inventive idea to put onions and lemon juice in it and it was good cos the onions soaked up the lemony flavour and it was actually quite yummy. roasted potatoes with rosemary accompanied. i should be a chef like in spanglish (and cos that woman was HOT).
so bruce will be in europe in 2 weeks but thanks to his waiting a month to tell me when i should book eurostar shit is now twice the price.
oh, and facebook added lse which makes for an interesting observation of british culture.
i really miss you guys. you're growing up without me! what if you become assholes or conservative or something that would be really shitty. oh i have a really scary big black neighbour who tells us we close our door too loudly and threatens to break down our door. and nelson mandela spoke in trafalgar square a couple weeks ago, was very cool. i want to see this play called his dark materials, nat saw it when he came last year and said it was super amazing and the primary reason he came but its sold out but luckily the NT (national theatre) keeps some seats on reserve for those who come to the box office on the day (but u gotta queue for like 2 hours in the morning!!! but i wanna do it anyway). so thats something cool. and im looking into retail space downtown manhattan to launch chandlerblackstone this summer--very exciting. i still need those bikini-clad brand reps girls... much love and i'll see you over my spring break ill be in new york from march 24 to april 23 mark your calendars!!!
not in the literal sense of course, :-) had a nice party last night, people are crazy im taking out the bottles today and I counted them as I pushed them into the recycling doobie and shit was 23 bottles of wine. and tom took out a fair amount last night too. and 5 bottles of spirits and about 40 cans/bottles of beer. so what the hell? unless people somehow dropped off empty bottles i have no idea how we accumulated so much of that shit there couldnt have been more than like 50 people here.
so the last of 'em left at 4 which translated into a 2pm rising which means 3 hours of sunlight was experienced by me today-- those days can never be good. but i managed to fit it a £30 tesco run including such highlights as 2kg clementines, 800g of beef, and a litre of channel island milk (aka heavy cream) which tastes amazing.
friday was half term aka didnt have to wake up at 7.30 to tutor at my nice bermondsey secondary school of charming young ladies who like to call me gringo and ask me where i'm from. instead i got to finish off this wonderful application to a fellowship with the state department and paid the same amount of money to send 2 pieces of paper (the recs) to new jersey as cost me for a week's worth of groceries (shit is wack).
there must be something exciting to talk about.. oo! got a 73 on an essay this week which was very exciting!! 70+ is a "1st Class Honours" for those not familiar with the looney english university system, and about 3% of foolios get dat shit. the coolest part was the essay was on UN reform and it was 1945 words!!! i am the man.
ugh so its 2am and i have nothing to show for myself today. don't you hate it when that happens? it would be perfectly fine if it was say july 9th when theres no need to do anything productive but on february 19? there was the need. and that my friend was an essay on something relating to foreign policy analysis. currently talking to this kid (american of course) on my degree who thinks hes going to be president (obviously at the wrong college) and is working out some internship in the white house which he thinks will get him connections to be the republican nominee in 2034.
so tom refused to clean up this morning cos he "did the setting up" which is true but wtf he stayed up half the night talking alan then struts out not doing a damn thing and the place is in a proper state. broken glass=not my friend.
ah something of remote interest, i'm going to rome after term ends! very exciting, we still have to book accomodation but im thinking we may get a flat cos there will be 7 of us or so. oh i'm also seeing a romanian chick, she's nice but i dunno im totally incapable of demonstrating any affection and i feel bad but i dunno. i cant work out if its me being a total weirdo or if its her being... capitalist. shes from 'public school' (private school) and has this posh british accent and talks about how cool aston martins are and im like can we sing la vie boheme please?
lemon yogurt is really good. you should try it sometime. oo and i made chicken tonight and i had the inventive idea to put onions and lemon juice in it and it was good cos the onions soaked up the lemony flavour and it was actually quite yummy. roasted potatoes with rosemary accompanied. i should be a chef like in spanglish (and cos that woman was HOT).
so bruce will be in europe in 2 weeks but thanks to his waiting a month to tell me when i should book eurostar shit is now twice the price.
oh, and facebook added lse which makes for an interesting observation of british culture.
i really miss you guys. you're growing up without me! what if you become assholes or conservative or something that would be really shitty. oh i have a really scary big black neighbour who tells us we close our door too loudly and threatens to break down our door. and nelson mandela spoke in trafalgar square a couple weeks ago, was very cool. i want to see this play called his dark materials, nat saw it when he came last year and said it was super amazing and the primary reason he came but its sold out but luckily the NT (national theatre) keeps some seats on reserve for those who come to the box office on the day (but u gotta queue for like 2 hours in the morning!!! but i wanna do it anyway). so thats something cool. and im looking into retail space downtown manhattan to launch chandlerblackstone this summer--very exciting. i still need those bikini-clad brand reps girls... much love and i'll see you over my spring break ill be in new york from march 24 to april 23 mark your calendars!!!
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