1920's, classes, speed dating, marathons, time travel: oh what a two weeks it's been

Yes, it has been two full weeks since last I blogged, and I'm very sorry but I have been somewhat preoccupied. Oh all, right I've been lazy, this whole month it's been like a life sucking leech in my heart, urging me to stay on the sofa and do nothing, NOTHING! Well, here are the highlights in no particular order:

Went to a 1920's party (I do love these themed parties). It was an underground speak easy, so very fun. Absinthe, of course, was free flowing, and the dresses were crazy and spectacular. Judith, Slawa and I ripped through the night, stealing hats, dignity and the dance floor. Much fun :)

Classes have officially ended. I have the month of April off to study, study, study ahead of exams in May. Can't wait for exams to be done, of course, but I really am not ready for them. Very odd to have classes finished, as I may never attend another class again. Strange. Had an end of year party (with muffins!) and I saw my "personal tutor" for the second time since starting uni, and the first time this year. He gave me that "I know you from somewhere, don't I?" look and I smiled. Yes, you do.

Work is lame. They have started doing speed dating there on Saturday nights, run by a special company called "Asian D8" (because Anglo-Saxons are not marriage material). And they all want to buy cocktails. And it adds and extra hour and a half of work onto my night. Tsk. Tsk.

I have signed up to do a half marathon in September to force myself to get fit. 13 miles? NO problemo.

Had a special event at church on Saturday. Lots of young people sitting around, talking about God, which I have to say is pretty epic. I had to leave early for work though. It was an odd night. My friend Judith has been staying with me, because she had some friends from Germany staying with her ("the German posse") and she no longer fitted in her room. So Saturday night, we finish work around one, hit McDonalds for dinner, sit on the street eating McDonals, with people trying to sell us some drugs. Epic win. Then we head on down to meet the German posse, who are grooving at some all night party. Then se head on over to get us some bagels then GO HOME. All sounds like very nice, quiet, not very late night right? Well it would have been. But daylight savings reared it's ugly head, meaning I lost an hour of sleep. And I had no idea it was coming, until one of my customers told me. Why are these things not advertised???

Sunday night, Arabic food. Odd. But nice. And today? Chilling. My sister in law is in labour, so next time you speak to me, I will be Auntie Kat. Scary.

1920

What is that bright light? oh. The sun.

Yes, it's a sunny day in London, but I am stuck sitting inside at university. Tomorrow is my day off and I bet you it will rain. Curses!

In other news, my weekend was extremely tedious. All I did was work, work and work. I also did some sleeping which was nice. Also made the discovery that my flat mate is still alive (I hadn't seen her in many many days) which was good news. Nice to know that she is doing well. Also raised the important question: how long do I need to go not seeing her before I contact the police? Unknown.

In other news, I have spent the last three hours applying for jobs I won't get, waiting for my moot meeting. Yeeesss, mooting is back on, back to thinking. I am extremely unhappy about the prospect of this I must say. I would like to go back to watching Scrubs and chilling for a while longer. Oh well, soon uni will be over, and I will probably be a very well qualified unemployed person, so plenty of time to enjoy JD and Turk then.

I'm tired and my feet hurt but the show keeps rolling

Worst. Night. Ever. Well maybe not ever, and I suppose that saying something like that given that there was a massive earthquake and tsunami in Japan last night, it seems a little trite to refer to MY night as the worst night ever. Oh damn, now I've given myself some perspective, and I'm not sure I can continue complaining about my night, given that I am alive, my family is safe and my life has not been shattered.

Well, last night I was at work, and I was supposed to be finishing at 10, when my arch nemesis came up to me and asked me to close for him, and he had things to do and lives far away etc etc. My instinct was to tell him to SHOVE IT, but I needed hours so I agreed. I would not have agreed if I knew he was going to sit around the bar for two hours after his shift finished having a laugh with his mate. Plans? Really? Bastard. Then it was just so busy, and drinks were taking so long so everyone was annoyed and no one would tip me and then some JACKASS who clearly doesn't understand the phrase "excuse me" stepped into me while I was carrying a tray of drinks, spilling them all over me, meaning I had to clean it up, make new drinks and take them over to my table who had been waiting about 20 minutes, who then complained to my manager, while I'm standing there covered in coke and beer because I took all my spare shirts home. Ok, that was a very long sentence, but I feel better now. Then I missed my last bus by ten minutes, and had to walk 30 minutes home. BAAAAAH!.

In other news, mooting is recommencing on Monday, and I have done ZERO work, so I need to have a serious cram session tomorrow night (working today and having lunch with some of the church girls). So it will be a quiet and boring weekend for me. Bliss.

Here are some funny things I have heard tube drivers saying over the last few weeks which will make you smile I think:

1) We had been waiting at the station for about 5 minutes, and were finally ready to go. "Ok, here we go, doors are closing. No, it's ok, you jump on there fella, there's space. Now we're going!"

2) "Ok, this train is now ready to depart. Mind the closing doors. Have a nice day everyone. Byyyyyyyeeeeee!!!"

3) "Ok everyone, if you jump into a closing door, it will close on you, then reopen, meaning you are in pain and we all have to wait for a bit longer. There's another train in 3 minutes. You can wait. Stop damaging the train."

:)

Fabulous, fabulous ME

Sorry it has been a rather delayed blog this time friends and loved ones.... Unfortunately I have spent the last few days applying non-stop for graduate programs, and have gotten rather sick of writing about myself. How have I shown team work skills lately? How have i displayed analytical skills lately? How do I fit with the ethos of the company? And something tells me that referring to myself as "the epitome of awesomeness" is not quite going to cut it.

Anyway, here is a story to make you smile:

On Saturday night, an extremely exhausted me finished work and was about to head home, when my friend Slawa said "Kathryn, come to a party with me". I said, "hell to the no Slawa." And she said "my friend is meeting me there, but she's not there yet, and I don't want to be alone. So you and Judith come and hang out for an hour or so and keep me company". I acquiesced. So we get to this party which turns out to be a rave in a disused apartment building, with some very dodgy characters standing out the front. I wanted to flee, but hey, it was in Time OUt London. If you can't trust Time Out London, who can you trust? Went in, and it was pretty dodgy, graffiti everywhere, trance music, typical really. So we go upstairs, dance for awhile, before I decide I need to go for to the toilet. So I tell my friends I will be back, and off I go. On the way though, I cleverly decide to go and put my coat in the cloakroom down stairs. So I trot off downstairs, put my coat in (my bag is already there) then go back to the stairs, where I find a police officer blocking the door, who tells me that the party is being SHUT DOWN and I have to get out. But my friends are upstairs! I protest. She shrugs. At this point, I am pretty sure that Judith put her phone into coat check as well, and I don't have Slawa's number. So I spend the next half hour hanging about outside the coat room, waiting for them to appear, which they don't. Then I remember that Judith only put her jumper in, and it was in my bag, so she should have her phone. Hurrah! It turns out to be true, and we were reunited. Turns out they were waiting on the road outside, very upset, thinking I had been kidnapped/arrested/met a guy and was keeping them waiting on the street in the cold for no reason. Happy. Ending.

So my weekend was weird, and I have decided to give up going to parties for lent. But I need to take up something else to fill my time, so any suggestions? I'm thinking knitting. Or a boyfriend? No, knitting. At least it will be productive :)

Fame changes things doesn't it

Ladies and gentlemen, I proffer no apologies for the extended absence from the web. I know you all missed me. But I have been extremely busy, getting ready for the moot, practising stressing, and then WINNING, KICKING ASS, DESTROYING the competition, separating the MEN from the BOYS.

For those of you who missed the subtle sub text there, we won the moot on Saturday. Yes, I am a National Mooting Champion. The is both good and bad, because it means now I get to spend the next two months preparing for the international rounds in the Hague, where we need to win to uphold the universities honour, and bring back the trophy.

Anyway, it was an exhausting weekend, all made better by the win. For one thing, we had to BYO a lectern, which we stole form uni (in a very subtle heist, it's not easy to get those things out) which we were then obliged to share with everyone else. Then at the end, the winner was announced, and I, very loudly, said "YESSSSS!", drawing stares from the rest of my (less enthusiastic) team, who were just clapping politely, choosing to show their excitement in more subtle ways. Either way, it was satisfying.

And now I'm back to my normal life. We have been given two weeks off form the moot, which I plan on spending studying for upcoming exams, before we have to go back to mad practice sessions. I wonder how long it will be until the joy wears off, and I am back to complaining and wishing we had never won? Hmm. We shall see...

In other news, happy first day of spring everyone, and could someone please text Mother Nature and let her know she has her wires crossed because it's still freezing here in Bermondsey?

Lately

Funny things have happened to me that I have forgotten to write on this blog. Here are the one's I can remember right now....

1) Was out with my friend Judith, when the bouncer walked up to us, while we were enjoying a quiet gin and tonic and discussing recent events. "Ladies," he said to us, "you two are easily the youngest in here, so do you mind me asking how old you are?" Glancing around, noting that the pub was indeed peopled by the older set, we told him our ages, then waited for him to ask us for ID. "Ok," he smiled, "have a nice night." And off he walks. Apparently, there is now an honesty system running in London pubs. Or perhaps they are not telling anyone under 18 that once you turn 18 you can drink? Who knows.

2) The other day, while on my way to uni, I was running very late. Turning the corner onto the train platform, I saw my train, took a flying leap, went through the doors just as they were closing. They crashed onto my arm (the doors don't stop closing for ANYTHING here, it's a danger I tells you) causing me to go flying into the carriage. I straightened up, glanced around, looked straight at the woman sitting next to the door, who smiled and said, quite loudly "Don't worry. I'm sure nobody noticed". I strongly suspect she was lying to me.

3) The other day I was at uni, in the bathrooms. I was thinking about the differences between hydroelectric dams and pulp mills (my new favourite topic) and became distracted. I started washing my hands, turned the tap on too full, causing the water to come out with such force that it splashed onto my hands and right into my crotch, making it look like I had wet myself. There was no hand dryer in the bathroom.

It;s very cold, and I;m quite tired. So I'm going to bed now, with my humiliation eased by the act of sharing it with you all, and with my dreams sure to be full of the difference between kinetic energy being converted into electricity and the separation of lignin and cellulose fibres.