Ok, now back to the real blogs. Last time we finished up America and talked about how I'm not sure I want to be there right now. Next up is London, another place I'd like to be, but maybe not right now. It's definitely better off than the US, but they've got their fair share of xenophobia and fear mongering and closed-mindedness going on at the moment as well, what with the Brexit and all. But despite that, I managed to have a fantastic long weekend there.
It was just like 4 day on the way back to China, but I stopped over for a wedding. It was a friend from Japan and her (now) husband, who we actually all met when he came to visit her in Japan years ago, and so have been friends with him for many years as well. They actually live in Vietnam now, but as they're both from the UK they came back for the summer and had their wedding there. We had about 8 people from JET who managed to make it to the wedding. It's been 2 years since I was in London, so hadn't seen the Brits since then, others who came from Canada maybe even longer than that. In fact, the most recent was probably James and Lauren who I saw last August in Philly. But otherwise it's been 2+ years since I'd seen most of them. And since it's been 2 years since I was in the UK, I was also busy trying to see other friends who live there.
The first couple days were pretty quiet. I was staying at my friend Joyce's place, but actually had it to myself because she and her boyfriend were in Shanghai. I have to admit, most mornings were spent laying in bed watching TV. You'd think I'd be running around trying to see everyone and to see London, and I kind of was, but most people were either working (the locals) or traveling around until the night before the wedding (the out-of-towners). So I spent my mornings catching up on lazy time being alone, something I'd missed for the last month and a half while the family was in China and I was home. I did do a bit of exploring also, but I've been to London a half a dozen times already so I wasn't that bothered with exploring just for the sake of exploring. I was much more interested in just relaxing. But then in the evenings I was able to meet up with people and see all my friends once they were off of work. The touristy thing I did do was go to the British Museum. And it was only for like 45 minutes because it was so packed with people I had to get out. I couldn't take it, I just was not able to enjoy it. But in my time there I did get to see the Rosetta Stone, which was pretty awesome. They also had a great section of ancient Assyrian carvings which were amazing and kind of made me want to go to Syria and Iraq, which I definitely won't be doing anytime soon, sadly. So for now the museum will have to suffice. Also that section was pretty empty, so I was actually able to enjoy it.
Non wedding friend time mostly consisted of eating and drinking, as you might guess. We had pints, we had curries, we had brunches... all the good things. Then there was the wedding time. The wedding was in Islington Town Hall, which was basically a city council building. It was really pretty though, and we were sort of sitting in the round, which was interesting. This was my first British wedding, and it was a totally secular one. To me the interesting part was how procedural it was. The women who came to officiate were sent by the local government, and they did a great job, but they had absolutely no connection to the couple at all. And there was a lot of "now it's time to do this, and now it's time to do that" going on. I guess even in other types of weddings I've been to, religious or otherwise, it's quite procedural, but this really felt like bureaucratic at some points. The women who were running it did manage to put some life into it though, and really did a great job. Then we were off to a super hipster micro brewery in a warehouse for the reception. It was much cooler than I am. Like really cool. The beer was great, the food was great (BBQ! Made me happy since I'd missed BBQ in the US), the friends, both new and old, were great. The speeches were really great. It was such a good time. I got to spend quite a good amount of time with this guy Rob, who's marrying my friend Emma this Saturday. I've met him before, and I'm actually headed back later this week for their wedding, but this was the first time I got to spend quality time with him. I also got to meet a bunch of the people I've been hearing about for years from these Brits but had never actually met. And this amazing guy Andy, who's a friend of the groom, and one of my new favorite people. There was much drinking, much dancing, and many good times had. I'm so glad I was able to make it. Also there was a heatwave and everyone was a sweaty mess. It was absolutely nuts for London. I was in all linen and still disgusting.
Then the next day it was just brunch, followed by the pub to say goodbye to everyone, and off to the airport. But I'm heading back on Thursday night so I'll see most of these friends again. And that was the end of the long trip! Then I came back to China and I've just stuck around here since then. Nothing too exciting. But I'll update you on the China events in the next blog.
Now it's music time, and today's music is Farao. I don't remember where I heard her, but I first heard her new single, The Hours (Rework), which I really enjoyed. I went to listen to more, and as it turns out that's the first single off of her forthcoming album, but she put out her debut album, Till It's All Forgotten, in 2015, and after a few listens I realized I really, really enjoy it. It's been on repeat for a couple weeks now, actually. There's a ton of great tracks on there, but Bodies is high up on the list for me.
So Farao is a Norwegian multi-instrumentalist who, as you can hear from Bodies, makes some really interesting music with all kinds of complex instrumentation and rhythm and tempos that are kind of all over the place. It's lovely. But then she's also got songs like Fragments, which are much more straightforward but just so great. This song is so chilled out. I absolutely love it. I am very much looking forward to the upcoming album. Also she's on Arts & Crafts, the same album as Broken Social Scene and Stars and Feist, which is always a good sign.
It was just like 4 day on the way back to China, but I stopped over for a wedding. It was a friend from Japan and her (now) husband, who we actually all met when he came to visit her in Japan years ago, and so have been friends with him for many years as well. They actually live in Vietnam now, but as they're both from the UK they came back for the summer and had their wedding there. We had about 8 people from JET who managed to make it to the wedding. It's been 2 years since I was in London, so hadn't seen the Brits since then, others who came from Canada maybe even longer than that. In fact, the most recent was probably James and Lauren who I saw last August in Philly. But otherwise it's been 2+ years since I'd seen most of them. And since it's been 2 years since I was in the UK, I was also busy trying to see other friends who live there.
The first couple days were pretty quiet. I was staying at my friend Joyce's place, but actually had it to myself because she and her boyfriend were in Shanghai. I have to admit, most mornings were spent laying in bed watching TV. You'd think I'd be running around trying to see everyone and to see London, and I kind of was, but most people were either working (the locals) or traveling around until the night before the wedding (the out-of-towners). So I spent my mornings catching up on lazy time being alone, something I'd missed for the last month and a half while the family was in China and I was home. I did do a bit of exploring also, but I've been to London a half a dozen times already so I wasn't that bothered with exploring just for the sake of exploring. I was much more interested in just relaxing. But then in the evenings I was able to meet up with people and see all my friends once they were off of work. The touristy thing I did do was go to the British Museum. And it was only for like 45 minutes because it was so packed with people I had to get out. I couldn't take it, I just was not able to enjoy it. But in my time there I did get to see the Rosetta Stone, which was pretty awesome. They also had a great section of ancient Assyrian carvings which were amazing and kind of made me want to go to Syria and Iraq, which I definitely won't be doing anytime soon, sadly. So for now the museum will have to suffice. Also that section was pretty empty, so I was actually able to enjoy it.
Non wedding friend time mostly consisted of eating and drinking, as you might guess. We had pints, we had curries, we had brunches... all the good things. Then there was the wedding time. The wedding was in Islington Town Hall, which was basically a city council building. It was really pretty though, and we were sort of sitting in the round, which was interesting. This was my first British wedding, and it was a totally secular one. To me the interesting part was how procedural it was. The women who came to officiate were sent by the local government, and they did a great job, but they had absolutely no connection to the couple at all. And there was a lot of "now it's time to do this, and now it's time to do that" going on. I guess even in other types of weddings I've been to, religious or otherwise, it's quite procedural, but this really felt like bureaucratic at some points. The women who were running it did manage to put some life into it though, and really did a great job. Then we were off to a super hipster micro brewery in a warehouse for the reception. It was much cooler than I am. Like really cool. The beer was great, the food was great (BBQ! Made me happy since I'd missed BBQ in the US), the friends, both new and old, were great. The speeches were really great. It was such a good time. I got to spend quite a good amount of time with this guy Rob, who's marrying my friend Emma this Saturday. I've met him before, and I'm actually headed back later this week for their wedding, but this was the first time I got to spend quality time with him. I also got to meet a bunch of the people I've been hearing about for years from these Brits but had never actually met. And this amazing guy Andy, who's a friend of the groom, and one of my new favorite people. There was much drinking, much dancing, and many good times had. I'm so glad I was able to make it. Also there was a heatwave and everyone was a sweaty mess. It was absolutely nuts for London. I was in all linen and still disgusting.
Then the next day it was just brunch, followed by the pub to say goodbye to everyone, and off to the airport. But I'm heading back on Thursday night so I'll see most of these friends again. And that was the end of the long trip! Then I came back to China and I've just stuck around here since then. Nothing too exciting. But I'll update you on the China events in the next blog.
Now it's music time, and today's music is Farao. I don't remember where I heard her, but I first heard her new single, The Hours (Rework), which I really enjoyed. I went to listen to more, and as it turns out that's the first single off of her forthcoming album, but she put out her debut album, Till It's All Forgotten, in 2015, and after a few listens I realized I really, really enjoy it. It's been on repeat for a couple weeks now, actually. There's a ton of great tracks on there, but Bodies is high up on the list for me.
So Farao is a Norwegian multi-instrumentalist who, as you can hear from Bodies, makes some really interesting music with all kinds of complex instrumentation and rhythm and tempos that are kind of all over the place. It's lovely. But then she's also got songs like Fragments, which are much more straightforward but just so great. This song is so chilled out. I absolutely love it. I am very much looking forward to the upcoming album. Also she's on Arts & Crafts, the same album as Broken Social Scene and Stars and Feist, which is always a good sign.
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