~ ANNE! ~

This internet cafe is ridiculous! The girl next to me had to do a sort of limbo move to get the disk out of her computer (the disk drive is under the ledge the keyboards sit on, but we are packed so closely together here that you can't go to the side to reach it, only straight under). Anyway, she was sort of leaning back and reaching her arm under the table with her butt still on the chair when the chair moved backwards and sent her sprawling. Pretty funny, although I tried not to snicker too loud.

TV in Britain is ridiculous as well. In addition to the soaps (which I've seen before, as my old roomie Marc had a secret addiction to Coronation Street) there are mostly old movies and American reality shows that came out months ago in America. In fact, Rob the American can actually recite parts of "The World's Worst Police Chases!" along with the guy that narrates it.

So I was watching some made-for-tv movie about the 60's last night when I heard shouting in the street. I went out on the balcony and watched a loud and very long fight between a long-haired 50ish guy in a leather jacket and a girl huddled on the ground. I could pretend I was making sure I didn't need to call the police or anything, but actually it was just much better than anything on TV. I wasn't the only one who thought so, either. The curtains were pulled back in all the windows across from me and at least one other person was out on the balcony watching the spectacle.

It wasn't violent, just loud. The guy kept saying things like, "I can't handle this anymore, I'm just exhausted. I can't take anymore of your &*$@. Just go home. I don't care anymore.... can I have another swig of that vodka?" It was bizarre and kind of sad. The girl just whimpered and held her arms out to him in a sort of silent appeal. It didn't go over too well, though. The guy managed to dismantle a large part of the neighbor's fence and throw it into the street over the course of the fight. It was actually the wood cracking that brought me out into the street in the first place.

Ah, London.
You do see some interesting things, though.

Been feeling a bit melancholy lately. Most likely a combination of the rain (constant, with intermittent hail today) and listening to a mix made by Stephen! Melancholy is that guy's middle name.

My office is on the 4th floor of the building, by the way (and keep in mind that the ground floor is NOT the first floor in this country: the "first" floor is actually the second) and we have a glass roof just above our heads. It's great for getting natural light, not so great when hail manages to get through the cracks and hit your computer!

I have been practicing my French on Nicolas (the "French of France" roommate). He complains I talk too fast in English, then does the same thing to me in French. He says my accent is not too bad, though! I was asked by my English roommate yesterday how to spell "Edmonton". Apparently when I pronounce it, it sounds like "Aimaton" Maybe there's something in Nicolas' complaints...