MCM London Comic-Con

Well, I have a lot to catch up on. Having a visitor for a little over a week and then just laziness in general has kept me from updating the blog. So first up - London Comic-con!! 

By the time I got around to purchasing a ticket only Sunday was left. I went ahead and got the priority ticket which allowed entry at 9:30 instead of 11am. NEED ALL THE COMIC CON TIME.

It was nice being there early - look how much space there is! Waaaaaay different from San Diego Comic-Con where you are basically at the mercy of the crowds as you make your way around the convention floor. Since I knew I wouldn't be dressing up for actual Halloween, I was pretty pumped to dress up for this. I had just finished a marathon of iZombie on Netflix (highly recommend that show) and figured it'd be a relatively easy last minute costume. 

Basically I just needed to be pale (check) and have a lab coat. I bought the lab coat on Amazon. It was huge so I had to do a little hemming with some safety pins and double sided hemming tape. 

Luckily Sainsbury's had a bunch of halloween makeup so I got some white face paint and white hairspray. I woke up at 7 to start getting ready. Painting my face white brought me back to the time I dressed as the Wicked Witch of the West and painted my body green. White is way easier to wash off. 

I even had these sweet blood splattered Espionage nail wraps that i think really completed the outfit. They don't sell this particular print anymore - it was one of the random sets I got as a kickstarter backer when the company first started making them. I love their nail wraps - they are really easy to apply and stay on for about 2 weeks, so I kept them through halloween as well! I'm not sure that iZombie has played in the UK yet, but I did have one person recognize me! And another girl told me she liked my makeup. So I'm counting it as a win. I saw so many amazing costumes there. 

And my favorite:

Cutest princess Leia ever!! I swear about 80% of the reason I want children someday is so I can dress them up in costumes. The only other con I've been to besides SDCC is AwesomeCon in DC. I really like going to these smaller cons - easier to walk around and see things and the costumes are just as amazing. There seemed to be much more Anime/Japanese culture at MCM. They even had an area with booths cooking different Japanese foods on the convention floor which was cool. I wasn't sure if I'd stay the whole day since I went by myself, but there was a ton to look at. I was good and didn't buy anything (being a poor grad student plus having just had to purge so many things moving out of my house really helped) but I enjoyed looking at all the merchandise. I sat down next to a woman in the cafeteria while I ate lunch and we had a fun conversation for about an hour and a half about all the TV shows we watch, different cons we've been to, and of course costumes. She had a great Portal costume and made her portal gun herself. I'm kicking myself now for not having taken a picture of it because it was awesome. I also sat in on a Game of Thrones panel. It was just a Q&A but the actors were all very funny and entertaining. 

All in all it was a great first experience at MCM. They have another in May so hopefully I'll be able to get tickets for the whole weekend then. 

Markets and Rugby

This past Saturday my flatmate James took me around to a couple of different markets in London. The first stop was our own West Hampstead Market. There's all kinds of fresh cheeses, meats, flowers, vegetables, baked pies, tarts, brownies... the list goes on. 

We got cheesy rolls to tide us over while we headed to the second market. They were lovely. Since they were a little more crispy than normal, the man threw in 2 extra free of charge. They reminded me a lot of the cheddar biscuits from Red Lobster. mmmmmmm. 

Next we took the train to the Queen's Park Farmer's Market, which actually ended up not being there. (I think maybe it's only open on Sunday's?) Luckily we had the second cheesy roll to eat as we walked back. On the way we passed a stuffed panda that somebody bungee'd to a tree. PANDA WATCH.

We hopped the underground to Waterloo for the Southbank Centre food market. Our friend Henry met us there and the three of us tried a lot of samples and got fruit smoothies. I had one with apple, pear, and mint which was delicious.

As you can see from the above picture the market also sold a lot of sweets. SO MANY COOKIES. This particular stand also sold cronuts - we got chocolate and s'more - both had chocolate filling and were AMAZING.

I just love how large these pans are. It's like they're made for giants! After eating our weight in food, we walked around South Bank for a while, grabbed a few pints at a restaurant and then continued walking around central London. 

Foggy Londontown!

Walking across the Golden Jubilee Bridge.

When we crossed the Thames I noticed a lot of people wandering around in American football Jerseys. It was bizarre. As we came closer to Trafalgar Square, it was like I was back in the States. I forgot that the NFL has international games. They were throwing a large fan rally for the Jets v Dolphins game the following day. Who knew London had so many American football fans!? The most exciting part for me was probably seeing all the Bud Light cans. You can't find those anywhere here! Only bud heavy - gross. I didn't actually go in or drink any bud light *tear* but it was very entertaining to watch all the hype. 

As we walked further along, we passed a cigar shop and stopped in. James and I had the man who worked at the counter recommend a different cigar for each of us. It was so fancy. 

It was a beautiful day and I had never actually been in the back garden before so it was fun to sit back there and smoke our cigars. 

After a little rest, James and I went to a party some friends of friends of his were throwing. It was an Oktoberfest party but the England v Australia Rugby world cup game was on so it also turned into a viewing party for that.

I had no idea what was going on. This was the first rugby game I've ever watched. People asked if I was rooting for the US to which I replied, "We're in the world cup?" Seriously, I didn't even know they had a rugby world cup. (I do however know they have a Quidditch World Cup) After the game was over (it did not end well for England) they moved the furniture around for a dance floor and had foosball and beer pong. It was hilarious to watch them play beer pong with really bizarre slash wrong rules. There were no water cups, they played with one ball, and there were no bouncing rules. One guy I talked to told me nobody ever really knows the rules, they just go off what they've seen in movies and on TV. ha. After a while I got everyone to play flip cup which was much more fun. It did make me miss my bocce team though. All in all, it was a very full and very fun Saturday!

Running Around Kilburn

I've gone running a few times since I've arrived. I figured it's a cheap way to exercise and it'll help me discover my 'hood. Also I've been running with the Zombies Run! app which is amazing and I highly recommend. It's part radio show, part game, and incorporates your own music. It's definitely motivating.

The first day I jogged up and down streets near my house then I looked at google maps to find parks that might be good to run through. Kilburn Grange park is just around the corner from my house and it is delightful.

I found this tent set up in the middle of the park. At first I thought it was a circus, but soon realized it was an Oktoberfest party! As I said in my last post, after my run I went home, showered, and then headed back to the fest.

Kilburn grange is really cool. There's a rose garden and a free exercise area! There are tons of people with dogs walking around and some cool playgrounds as well. From the park I ran over to Paddington Old Cemetery.

I've always loved cemeteries. This one has a mixture of older and newer graves. Some are over 100 years old. (Which I guess isn't that old considering its London) After a little research I discovered it was opened in 1855. There's a really nice path that circles around and through the property. There's also a chapel in the middle though it's fenced off now for renovation. My research also revealed that an episode of Doctor Who was filmed here! (The Remembrance of the Daleks with the 7th Doctor, so I haven't seen it) I've done this run 3 times now, it's nice not having to constantly consult google maps to make sure I'm heading the right way. I've also gone when its been slightly rainy. There's just something so calming about a cemetery in the rain.

For an aerial view:

Week 1 in Review

So I've officially been in the UK for 1 week now. Here are some highlights.

Day 1: 

I rode my first motorcycle! (or motorbike as they call them here). My friend drove us over to the mall on his bike so I could get a sim card. You don't have to pay for parking on a motorbike and you're allowed to drive in between lanes (which you are definitely not allowed to do in the states) so it makes for a much faster/easier/terrifying mode of transportation. Once I got used to it, it was kind of fun driving between the cars. And the gloves I wore are made from kangaroo. KANGAROO. 

Day 2:

Monday mostly consisted of me waiting in lines - went to the post office to get my residency permit which took over an hour. Then I went to school to register and get my student ID which took about 2 hours. Though while in line I did make my very first friend! Felicia from Singapore. She even let me use her portable charger since my phone was dying from using it for navigation all day. TRUE FRIENDSHIP. They had a little tea reception but by the time we got through the registration line most of the good stuff was gone. Also my student ID picture is horrendous. My hair looks straight up yellow. Keeping that one in the depths of my wallet forever and ever. Then I came home to set up my bed. 

After a few mishaps I finally got the frame together and then it was just a matter of locking in all the support boards. The mattress came rolled up in the red bag. I thought it must be a skinny mattress, but as soon as I got it out of the red bag it started to suck in air and I could hear springs popping. It was basically inflating. I had to work quickly to get it positioned on the bed and cut off the second sheet of plastic it was wrapped in before it was too bulky for me to move. Luckily it all came together well and after 8 years of sleeping in a twin, I finally have a big girl bed!

Day 3:

We had our program's welcome talk and then they brought us to a bar afterwards to mingle. I met a lot of people and I probably remember 10% of their names. We are all foreign. I think there were 2 people who lived in the UK in my program and neither of them are English. It's about 80% Chinese, a fair amount of people from the EU, and then me! the only American.

Day 4: 

Wednesday I had 2 classes at Cass. One was to show us how to access financial databases (thrilling!) and the other was a 3 hour overview on the Financial Services industry. I thought 3 hours of this would surely kill me but it ended up being really awesome! When the class began our instructor asked for 2 volunteers to come up and act out a scenario. Nobody wanted to volunteer. I never volunteered in undergrad. Fly under the radar. That was my motto. However this time I felt a weird urge to raise my hand. Maybe because I don't know anybody yet, so what do I have to lose. Or maybe because I did actually talk to the instructor some before class and felt like I should help her out. (she complimented me on my preparedness for the English weather as I was the only one in rain boots and it was pouring out) Either way, I found myself up on stage reading lines for "Amy," a misguided girl at a career fair. I'm fairly certain half of the people in that room now think my actual name is Amy. It ended up being a really fun and interactive 3 hours to prepare us for the Career Fair. Afterwards I successfully took a city bus for the first time by myself!! I was so nervous about having to push the stop button and making sure I was at the right stop. I was heading to a bar for a Nerdist meet up but after I arrived I discovered it had been moved to Thursday. Womp. At least I know how to take the bus now. 

Day 5:

I had a refresher course on Quants. The class was so full I ended up having to sit on the floor. The professor thought there was going to be 20-25 people, there were over 100. It was 2 hours of math. But not like fun, lets solve this problem together math. It was more like - remember when you learned this pre-calc stuff over a decade ago? To be fair, for a lot of the students it was probably only like 4 years ago. Thursday evening I returned to Meltdown for the Nerdist meetup with Jessica Chobot. 

She hosts their news channel and also has a podcast on weird supernatural things. I told her I am going to Romania to see Dracula's castles for Halloween and she gave me her business card to email her pictures! Her Insta gets way more likes than mine. 

Day 6:

I went on my first run and discovered an Oktoberfest in a nearby park. So I went there to throwback a liter and listen to the craziest German band ever. 

They were so fun! I knew some of the songs thanks to Busch Gardens. And then there were a lot of interactive songs that required large and ridiculous hand motions. Right up my alley. 

Day 7:

Saturday I took the tube one stop to a giant Sainsbury's to grocery shop and get the rest of the toiletries I needed. Then realized it was a 10 minute walk back to my flat so skipped the tube home. #poorplanning. Later I headed south of the Thames to meet up with my Australian friend Jo and her Canadian coworker Amanda for drinks. It was 2 for 1 cocktails so we had a fun time. The Rugby World Cup is going on and we watched Canada lose horribly to Ireland which was also fun because I know nothing about Rugby. 

All in all it was a good first week. Had some ups and downs but I am feeling relatively settled and am starting to make some friends. I also no longer need to use my phone for navigation 24/7! Longer battery life FTW!