ninety-two days

Day 33..."The ball is round. The game lasts 90 minutes. That's a fact. Everything else is pure theory."

Hello again! It's been a while since I've updated you. That's a bad thing for you, since you're missing out on all my news; but it's a good thing for me, because it means I've been ever so busy! Let's see...what can I tell you? Last time I posted, I had just had a night on the town at Kensington Roof Gardens. (Seems like such a long, long time ago...) The weekend after that, I spent Saturday with a couple of associate friends wandering around Greenwich as it was a beautiful day (the first nice day since I'd been in London, but the beginning of what was a full week of sunshine). Later that night, I had dinner with a couple of fellow summers and some associates at a spanish tapas place and then went out dancing. I've started to enjoy a music genre called Drum & Bass, and we ended up at a place where that was playing. Two late nights in a row, though, meant that Sunday was mostly spent relaxing, with one excursion out for a walk in Hyde Park.

Highlights of the following week are as follows: several yummy lunches, including Cicada for asian tapas, Shanghai Blues also for asian tapas, Smiths on Smithfield where I had my first pork belly (have since been back for my second pork belly!), and a lunch here at the office with 10 of the partners. Very informative...but I shan't bore you with work details. On Thursday evening, we went for a ride on the London Eye, which is the world's largest ferris wheel and which distinguishes the London skyline. You can see EVERYTHING from up there! You don't sit, but rather ride in a large glass pod-like enclosure that holds lots of people, so it was kind of like a party in the sky. Our hostess (who poured the champagne) told us about kind of a funny thing that happens frequently on the Eye: couples will reserve a whole pod just for themselves (Cupid's Capsule), and guys spring marriage proposals on their (sometimes unsuspecting) girlfriends. The girls, of course, are TRAPPED in a big glass enclosure, with some stranger standing within earshot pouring champagne. And sometimes, they say no! How awkward! After our trip on the Eye, we went for dinner at Oxo Tower, and were the happy observers of some impromptu fireworks (which, of course, the firm suggested they had planned just for we special summers! ;o) ) . It was great fun.

The next weekend was the firm's annual European Outing, which takes place at a resort in the English countryside with all the attorneys from each of our European offices. Don't want to get into too many details here...but suffice to say it was a really fun time, and if you want to hear amusing stories, we can chat in a less public domain. Saturday morning, we went on a tour of Windsor Castle (where the queen lives) which was just beautiful. So much history there. Strangely, also, so much commercialism. There's a gift shop around every corner and a veritable shopping mall on the way into the grounds. Apart from that, it was three days of lounging in the sun, clay pigeon shooting, ferret racing, tennis, and (for those who could provide proof of their handicap) golf. Further solidified my belief that I'm going to have to at least learn to lose convincingly at golf if I'm going to survive in the legal world. Sunday, upon my return, I went for another walk in Hyde Park, as I've come to enjoy doing. This time I saw the Peter Pan statue and the Italian Fountains. (Warning: That last link will make you dizzy!) Really neat.

This week has been action-packed already. On Monday afternoon, I had lunch at a place called the Bleeding Heart, which is named after a horrific event that happened near its location many years ago, having to do with a brutal murder by a scorned lover of some princess or other. The story ends with her mangled and dismembered body lying in pieces all over the courtyard, and her *bleeding heart* still pumping blood onto the cobblestone. Creepy. Amazing food, just the same. I had venison with a spiced chocolate sauce. Mmmmmmmm. Later that night, I went out to see a play with a friend (Enemies by Gorky...pre-Russian Revolution drama...very, very good) and then out to eat at a Turkish place. Very nice evening.

And, now for the title of today's blog. Today was the England v. Trinidad & Tobago World Cup match. Now, I assume that if you're reading this you know me, and if you know me, you know that I don't like sports. At all. Not even a little. While at Cornell, I embraced Big Red Hockey, but Lynah Rink is more about rink culture than about hockey (or at least it was for me). For much the same reason, while in England, I've been persuaded by the rather compelling argument that, should I NOT take part in World Cup culture, I will be the only one in all of England missing out. So, along with everyone else in my office, I packed into our big conference room today to catch the match (taking work with me, like most of my colleagues). We won. I cheered at all the right times. That's really all I have to say about that.

Tomorrow I'm off to a Ladies' High Tea at the Savoy, and this weekend I'm going to the opera. I'll update sooner rather than later this time...but please comment! I love hearing from you!

posted by jess. @ 2:27 PM