London Week in Review: NFL playoffs, Celebrities, Settling In!

The past couple of weeks have been busy and today I am enjoying a day of leisure! So I am using this opportunity to catch-up a bit on the blog!

Lucy and I met-up to watch the NFL playoffs last weekend at a nearby sports pub. The Steelers lost; I wasn't even able to stay up for the entire game but really, did I need to see the entire loss? Probably not. On my way there I snapped up some pics of the St. Pancras Hotel. These pictures don't do it justice - it is an amazing building.

That being said, it's history is quite boring. Check out Wikipedia for the background but I was expecting more! Oh well.

During the halftime for the Giants game there we a stand-up comedy act. He was 100% not funny. Please see the comedian and Lucy's nonplussed facial expression. This is pretty much what we both looked like when we were not cringing. Apparently he is there often? WHY?!

We enjoyed ourselves despite the poor routine!

Two interesting celebrity tidbits - I have seen two celebrities since coming back to London. Corey Feldman walking down Oxford Street sporting sunglasses at night (which is why I was looking closely in the first place) as he is a part of the UK show "Dancing on Ice," and Michael Pitt (Boardwalk Empire - Jimmy) at the airport.

In other celebrity news - I am quite obsessed with dailymail.co.uk for celebrity news. I am still behind on who the famous people are out here and have a tendency to not know references in daily conversation but I am determined to know the references before I leave here!

My new routine these days has me "off the sauce" (that one is for Tori; an inside joke about how no one actually uses that phrase except for people who are trying to hard to be "cool"). Too much drinking when I first got here has made me almost completely disinterested in drinking these days. I have limited it to the weekends only and even then it's usually only one day a week. Maybe that will change at some point but for now I am quite content. My flatmates are all very obsessed with healthy eating and exercising and that includes not drinking. My intention is to run in a half-marathon by summer so this is probably a good thing!

I don't know if I mentioned that I live with 6 other people in a gigantic house in central London. I live on the very top floor which makes for some good step exercises! My house is made up of people from all over the world - Denmark, Poland, France, the States, Belgium, and Canada. No brits to speak of though I am subletting my spot from a girl from England.

2 pancake recipes that are kind of interesting that I have learned by living with this group:

Healthy Pancake: Greek 0% yogurt, 1 egg, oat bran - mix well and spread into a crepe-style pan and cook like a pancake. Eat with sweetener or ketchup (the Ketchup was my addition as the sweetener is a bit too sweet to me).

Pancake wrap: Real pancake layered with ham, celery and mayo and roll (I have no tried this recipe yet but I have been assured it's really good. Not so sure!!)

I usually just do my normal meals of chicken or beef with vegetables and sometimes cheese. I have been cutting out carbs in the afternoon and evening and as mentioned above, alcohol. I have spent weekends running through Hyde Park which I really love. It's so beautiful and though quite a few people are in the park I feel that there is a ton of open areas that are less populated. Hyde Park is connected to Kensington Gardens and Green Park so you could run for quite a long time!

Here is a little map showing the connection of the parks:

Here is a shot that I took on my run last weekend - it's a bit foggy as it usually is here in London but a nice view of the Serpentine.

Current Residence: London, UK

Adjusting to Life

As of Sunday, November 6th, 2011 I am not watching football (or 6/11/11 as they write in the UK). If I was in the states this would be extremely odd and I have been contemplating purchasing the NFL GamePass subscription to keep up with the games. Tonight my team, the Steelers, are playing Baltimore (HUGE rivalry) but the game is at 8PM which means it will be on at 1AM my time. I can watch the re-run via the gamepass but I must admit, watching the game live is really the only way I want to go. Maybe this will change over time.

Other interesting things that I have since learned/adapted to:

• In suburban ville I could drive up to an hour to visit my family and at least an 1.5 hour to go to my client's office. I don't have a car in London and travel by walking or public transportation. My morning route includes waiting at the bus stop for at least 10 minutes and then standing on an overpopulated bus for 25 minutes till my stop. It still beats route 1 in Princeton! Anecdotal story - my first bus was without an audio reference and I basically kept hopping on and off a couple of buses till I arrived at my destination. I was extremely jet-lagged and confused and since then have only encountered one other bus that didn't have audio support on the bus. Audio support = so much easier!
• The UK has significantly better commercials - much more entertaining and amusing
• Everything around you suddenly has an English accent. I remember listening to a couple of videos on Youtube and the commercials were with British-speakers. This was to be expected but suddenly I realized my world completely changed.
• It's not a "line" it is a que
• The Brits use quite a bit of slang - from the news to reality TV
• The UK has all of the same shows and movies (if only a tad delayed)
• Everyone (and every office) has a kettle - tea and instant coffee are automatic. (I love this change!)
• Fountain Soda is pretty much obsolete - I pretty much have eliminated Diet Coke from my diet. I miss it but tea is better!

UK News Items

The EU Budget crisis has been top of mind the last few weeks. Currently trying to determine how Greece will proceed and the impact on the rest of the EU

The other big item in the UK is Armistice day - the 11th hour of the 11th day of November signals remembrance of those who gave their lives in the war. Everyone from reporters to co-workers have been wearing a poppy flower as part of this remembrance. Apparently there is an appropriate etiquette associated with wearing this flower.