Iddo in da house

Alot's happened since the last post and for that reason I haven't posted in quite a while. This'll be a quick post -- just need to give a short update of what's been up the past week.
First, on Thursday Iddo came into town. I picked him up from Heathrow Thursday night and he's been here throughout the weekend. We've had lots of fun and he has taken many pictures. Unfortunately I haven't taken any as most of what he took pictures of I have already been to. No big deal as he promises to scan them and forward them to me via e-mail when he comes home.
For our pre-fast meal we went to this Spanish Tapas Bar and Restaurant. It was aweful. Twenty quid for a gross roasted cod dish and raspberry juice. Left me quite bitter going into the Holiday, but once we made it to schul things got better. The service was held at the Friends House on Euston St, and not the West London Synagogue, because the WLS isn't big enough to house all of its congregants. Everything was all good, however, as the Friends House was quite nice and the Rabbi's sermon was quite good. The next morning I went back to the Friends House and stayed there all day. This was my first experience staying at schul the whole day for Yom Kippur, and it wasn't bad at all. It actually made the fast much easier as there were no distractions. In the middle of the service there was a break for a study session with some older Rabbi who read excerpts from a book in commemoration of Daniel Pearl, the Jewish journalist who was killed in Iraq.
For the break-fast, Iddo and I went up to Hampstead to Ms. Howard, an elderly woman who agreed to host us. After some difficulty finding their home we finally made it, and it was everything I wanted out of a break-fast and more. The Howard's were a warm, loving family who took us in as true strangers and made us feel right at home. The food was delicious, plentiful, and I was even invited to go to one of Mrs. Howard's daughter's house for Friday Night dinner.
Thing's only sped up on Sunday when Elkind came into town. I responded promptly to his emergency E-mail by hopping the tube with Iddo down to his dorm housing in the South East end. I showed him around town and got him a bit more acclimated with his new home for the next year. We walked through Regent's Park then up Primrose Hill, the highest point in London that overlooks the entire city. We then hiked down the hill to Camden where we had a pizza dinner that would have been nice had it not taken them so long to get our food ready. A quick sidenote, my experiences with restaurants in London so far have not been to pleasant. When the service isn't slow and subpar it's downright lousy. There's a reason why the tip is automatically included in the bill -- otherwise there would be no waiters in the country. Seriously, if anyone has ever been to a nice restaurant in London with good, quick service and decent food, please let me know! I'm not asking for Lebec Fein service; just someplace where I can enjoy a nice tuna melt and coke without waiting half an hour and feeling like I'm not welcome back.
Well that's all for today. I need to go with Iddo to STA Travel and help him book his train to Brussels tomorrow.

Ali G

It's no secret that London is the most expensive city in the world. For that reason I have spent alot of time chillin in the flat with my 9 American flatmates. However, because we are in a different country, we keep in mind that we are not in America by living the British life.
Living like a Brit comprises many activities: making fries (not frenchfries, but hub fries, where you smear a pan with butter and fry eggs and toast to their greasy greatness), eating jaffa cakes and hobnobs, drinking tea, watching the BBC, and, most importantly watching ALI G.
I know Ali G has cought fire in the States recently, but there is something especially organic about watching the show in its motherland. If you have never heard of or seen Ali G, please do as soon as possible. It's readily available in the States at this point, and it's well worth it -- everyone I've spoken to agrees it is one of the funniest shows they've ever seen. And I'm not just talking about immiture college kids who can't spell like myself; no, I mean even Steven Rose, that rediculously rich bloke who hosted me for Rosh Hashanah, couldn't help bringing up Ali G's crazy antics at the dinner table.
So, if you don't mind, I will go back to watching my Ali G, and wish you all ado.
Boyakasha!!

Shana Tova with the Rich and the RICH

I just got back from one of the glitziest, richest, most posh Rosh Hashana dinner I have ever experienced. Abby and I got hooked up with this family to spend Rosh Hashanah dinner with by the local schul, and we went into it not knowing much about them besides the fact that they would prepare me a special "vegetarian" meal because they don't keep kosher. Of course I expected them to all eat their brisket and potatoes while I eat a bowl of salad, but these expectations were more than exceeded.
Abby and I walk into this enormous house on 3 Grange Rd off the Highgate tube stop, and are escorted by Mr. Steven Rose into his living room and are asked if we'd like anything to drink. I ask what he has and his first offer is champaigne. I accept the kind offer and enjoy the bubbly with great appreciation. The Roses' cousins arrive shortly after, as does their granny and old friend who was going deaf. After about an hour of chit-chat in the living room we are ready for dinner. They don't know the order of the service, so I help them out, telling them to do the kiddish first. The mother, Vivian, says the blessing over the wine, then their cousin Dave does the blessing over apples and honey then the dad says the Motzi. Boom, boom, boom. Ready for the first course. A creamy vegetable based soup is served, with cream mixed in on top. The family has 3 kids, a 19-year-old boy, a 17-year-old girl, and a 14-year-old girl, and all of them were very proper and British. Quite an interesting group. The dinner conversation ranged from local British politics to Ali G to QPR soccer to the American elections, which I stayed quiet about because no one in the house seemed too keen on anything close to liberal. I know that the cousin Dave worked for an American law firm and was an active member of the conservative party. Still, Abby quipped that she is definately voting for Kerry and the rest of the family admitted that they don't feel that Kerry stands much a chance, given the current poll numbers. I made sure to let them know that the poles mean very little, but they quickly made it clear that they although they're not too keen on Kerry, they don't like Bush at all, not even the active conservative.
Anyway, because I told them I kept Kosher, they served salmon for dinner, and it was absolutely delicious. They put this creamy custard sauce over it, and served it with mashed carrots, green beans and potatoes. Absolutely delicious.
Dessert was even better. Poached peaches, apple strudel, ice cream, weird pastries filled with custard, and honey cake--all incredible. I hadn't eaten a meal that nice in a long, long time. We then went back to the living room to eat the chocolates we brought them and drink chamomile.
The hostess' sister offered Abby and I a ride home, which we gladly took up. So we hopped into their new Mercedes and I, sitting shotgun, felt completely out of control and bizzarre sitting in the left side of a moving car without a steering wheel infront of me.
Even though this was a lovely Rosh Hashanah dinner, I can't finnish this blog without saying that it came nowhere near to the Rosh Hashanah dinners at home. The food was amazing, but nothing can compare to Mom's briskit and potatoes, Aunt Amy's Simmis with marshmellows, and that cherry pie we always get. I want to wish everyone a happy and sweet new year...Shana tova!

Stratford and Bath

Sorry I haven't updated in a while but this past weekend was the Ithaca College London Center's subsidized trip to Stratford, Bath, and Stonehenge. So since this weekend I really hadn't had much time to unwind and get back into London mode.
Just a quick little bit on my feelings about Stratford and Bath...I appreciated Stratford for it's historic relevance in Shakespeare's birthplace, and the current home for his tomb,but other than that the town was nothing extraordinary. I stayed in a lovely Bed & Breakfast with an extremely comfy bed and nice decor, but that was probably the only real highlight of the stay. That and walking out on King Lear, where after 2 hours of sleep and boredom I couldn't bring myself to stay for two more.
Bath was much more stimulating. The town reminded me of a real European city, reminiscent of Toledo and Grendada from my Semninar trip to Spain. Entirely built on a hill by the River Avon by the Ancient Romans, Bath really left a nice impression on me. The coach arrived just as the Bath rugby team lost, so there were Bathians all over the streets in their BlackThorn Bath jerseys. We stayed at a dodgey YMCA, but I was with 3 of my good flatmates, Jamie, Rocky, and Gak, so we made the best of it.
Best part of Bath was at night. First we went to the Salamander Bath Ale House, which sold authentic Bath Ales. It is the only pub in the world that sells authentic Bath Ale on tap, and I know because I asked the bartender. After the Salamander, we went to some Irish bar that was quite hopping, but I found my way to a game machine where two Brits were playing video Monopoly. They appreciated my American knowledge, for they had no idea what state Baltimore was in. Jamie came over and we took a crack at the game ourselves, and did rather well. We were rolling until a bouncer escorted Jamie out for bringing his own drink into the house. I did the right thing and left with him. This turned out to be the right decision.
We walked around the town abit and ran into quite a cast of characters, including 2 peacecorpers from Seattle, a loony old hoot who was convinced that the sky is really just a really high ceilling and that the stars are looking at us, two Bathian musicians, and a group of recent HS graduates who are getting ready for their first year of uni. We spent the most time with these kids, as they were absolutely fascinated with the fact that we call knickers "pants" and spell flavour without a "u." We chatted with them about these profound cultural differences until the wee hours of the night, when they walked us back to our YMCA home where we retired for the night.
Next day was Stonehenge. Pretty cool; Kotel was better. I know it's not really fair to compare the 2, but I will anyway.
Well, tomorrow I go to Vivian and Steve Rose's house for Rosh Hashanah dinner. Should be an interesting experience. I talked to thier eldest son, David, on the phone today; he seems nice.
Ok. Gotta come up with questions for Star of the Sea. Too bad I only read a sixth of the book. Oh well, the prof likes me so there shoudln't be much of a problem.

Baroque in Britian

Today, for my music class, I went to a pre-paid trip to see the London Festival Orchastra put on a smashing show, playing a slew of popular Baroque pieces from the likes of Handel, Vivaldi, Bach, and Albanoni, culminating in a stunning performance of Vivaldi's The Four Seasons. Nothing can describe how incredible watching The Four Seasons performed live is. NOTHING. Some things during that performance, notably the 3rd movement of Summer, just really impressed me. For instance, the lead violinist will do an impossible arpeggio, the the rest of the orchastra does this really sharp, deep, bass riff that he lead violinist joins in on. Powerful.
I also loved the first movement of winter. I know it's kinda popular and cliche, but the shrills of violins playing fast and the tinny sound of the harpsichord bonking away still was more than able to melt my butter. Simply stunning. Without at doubt worthy of my standing applause.
Anyway, while I was riding my bike to the show, I noticed to my right on Oxford street a rather noisy crowd of people waving around Palestinian flags in the sidewalk. It intrigued me, but it also stirred me in a sort of reassurance that there is massive anti-semetic movements in this bloody city. But, to my sheer and utter delight, I didn't see gawking passerbyers, but several yards further down the sidewalk, was a similar sized group of similar sounding people waving Israeli and British flags. As I zipped by them on my bike, I raised my left fist into the air, and screamed at the top of my lungs, "Am Yisrael Chai!" The group gave me a hoot and a holler, and a cheer. I felt good.
On a final note, I think I must mention my admittance to Hebrew University in Jerusalem. It's official now; I'll be in Israel this December, and I'll be there till at least June. Awesome.

P.S. I'd like to thank Abby Crim for letting me use her computer for this blog entry. This is sheerly out of a form of laziness, Mom, my computer's fine. No, I don't need a new one. No, please don't yell at Dad for sending me a lemon. I just didn't feel like making the epic trek from the living room, to my room, then back to the living room again. That's all. Goodnight.

National Portrait Gallery

Today, for my Minorities in the UK call we went to the National Portrait Gallery at the front of Trafalgar Square. In the museum, there were many nice pictures and portraits of famous or noteworthy Brits or something related to Britain. For example, George Washington was there.
Other than that, life after school since this weekend has been pretty laid back. I almost went to Les Mis, but we were a little too late to take advantage of the student discount that day. We'll do it soon in the near future though.
I did submit my application to the video store; hopefully they'll call back soon. Would like a job, but slowly deciding to just not spend so much instead of work. I think it's entirelaby doable.
One last thing of interest that I did today was send in my application for an absentee ballot. I was put in the exciting position of not only having this my first presidential election, but also having it one of the most important presidential elections in American history. No way I'm missing out in the action.

England is beachin

The weather here in London the past few days has been absolutely amazing. After 2 weeks of relative blandness--high 60s and low 40s--we got this streak of mid 70s weather that culminated in today's 80 degree day. For that reason, a few of my flatmates and I decided we had no choice but to take a coach to Brighton Beach on the Southcoast of England. Even though it was a pebble beach, meaning no sand, it was a beautiful day and one that was well worth the 1 and a half hour bus ride. We spent most of it lying on the pebbles watching the ocean, but we also made sure to grap some fish n chips for dinner and Brighton Block for dessert.
There was also some pretty cool pier jumping off the 20 foot Brighton Pier, which I got on tape. Unfortunately, it is forbidden, so by the time I got up to go jump myself, the security guard escorted me away. Ahh, maybe next time. I was able to jump off a 10 ft. platform as a bit of a consolation, however. It made things better.
My experience in London has completely changed last Thursday when I rented a bike for the semester. It was only 40 pounds, and is my new favorite toy. I bought it with Jamie in Peckham, a southern part of London that would take almost 2 hrs to walk to from our flat, but we biked all the way back from there in just about an hour through rush hour traffic. It was so sweet--we rode over the Westminster Bridge, past Big Ben, wove in and out of traffic (on the left side!!) and even stopped at Trafalgar Square to watch the fountains. There's nothing quite like biking through London--it truly is an extreme sport. The town was founded over a thousand years ago, and the idea of a grid system wasn't so chic in those days, so figuring out some of the intersections can get suicidal. Still, the rush and fun found in doing it is more than worth it. Maybe, if I ride around enough and get a good enough feel for the city, I can get a job as a bike courrier.

Pictures of my trip to Brighton Beach and of my bike will be up shortly. Until then, you can check the first batch of my London pics here: http://www.pbase.com/berliner6/bens_gallery

Jerry Springer in London

I'm sitting here on this fine late summer's day in my London flat, watching Jerry Springer on the telly visiting a 900 lb woman. My Irish Lit class just ended 2 hours ago, and since then I have taken a shower, sent some e-mails, and waited for the laundry machine to get free. I have been meaning to do my laundry for the past few days, but it is always occupied! So I have made sure that I will not do anything until I get a load of laundry done.
The flat went to this Australian club called Walkabout last night, where admission was free to all students. We all being students eagerly took advantage of this rare opportunity to go somewhere for free after 11 pm, and had a blast; lots of dancing to American music, and plenty of London and Australian cheer to go around for all.
Before we headed out for the evening, Rocky, Gak, Leo and I walked to Hyde Park to play some frisbee. It was a lotta fun, but I grew bored of throwing around a frisbee after around an hour and decided to go for a little walk on my own. Hyde Park is truly a sight to see -- in the middle of one of the biggest and busiest cities in the world, people find a time and place to lay out a blanket under a tree and just relax. Those scenes of people relaxing on a big grass field kinda reminded me of boy's campus at camp on a Shabbas afternoon. This Shabbas, I plan on bringing a blanket and a book out to the park with me to rekindle those memories. I also have lots of reading to do for class, so spending the day reading should do me good.
I unfortunately cannot go to Brussels tonight, for I have the Parliament tour scheduled for tomorrow at 3, so I wouldn't get in until the very late hours of tomorrow night and wouldn't be able to spend much time there. I'll go later on.
Time to check if the laundry machine's open. Cheers!