Posts Tagged ‘band’

London at night (you can see Big Ben in the background!)

Starting this week I am now on my mid term break, or as Kingston University refers to it, enrichment week. My five American friends left for Barcelona on Sunday morning and will also be traveling to Rome this week. Unfortunately money has been tight and I was unable to go with everyone. Instead I am using this week to catch up on my school work and work a few extra shifts to save up some money for my upcoming trip to Dublin.

I am very thankful to have a week off to catch up on school work because it is starting to pile up very quickly. I think that since I am in London school has taken a back seat to my tourist side and I have been putting off homework to travel into central London and go sightseeing. However, that is going to have to stop for awhile since I have some huge assignments that are due after the break. Since the semesters here are an entire month shorter than they are in the States the workload is a little more demanding and due dates on projects are coming up very quickly.

Kurran and the Wolfnotes

Although I have vowed to try to spend more time on school I have also been trying to get out and experience the London lifestyle as well. I saw an amazing band in Soho a few weeks ago called Kurran and the Wolfnotes, http://www.myspace.com/kurranandthewolfnotes.

I liked the band so much that I also went to their next show in oxford, which was about an hour and a half drive from where I live. The show was sponsored by Levi’s Jeans who is doing a concert series called “Levi’s Ones to Watch.” I met someone while i was working that knew the band so we got on the guest list and I was introduced to everyone (meeting tons of people is the biggest perk of having a bar job).

Getting my album signed

During the show I found myself just smiling at the fact that I was in London, watching an amazing band, and having the time of my life. It was one of those surreal moments that i seem to be having quite often lately. Sometimes the monotony of work and school everyday gets me a little down but then I remember I’m not just working at any bar . . . I am at a trendy late night bar in London, England!!!! . . . and then it’s not so bad anymore. Speaking of work though, I honestly really love my job; it is more having fun than it is actually working and I get to meet new people every single time I work.

This past weekend at my work we had a Halloween party and the bar was so busy we had a line outside to get in and even had to turn some people away. In England Halloween is not celebrated as much as it is in the States. There was not even one trick-or-treater that showed up at my house. I also didn’t notice any trick-or-treaters anywhere else in the neighborhood, so I am not sure if it is very popular. Also, in England when people do dress up it is almost always as something scary. In the US people dress up as anything, it doesn’t have to be scary, so I dressed up as a nerd. I had a lot of people come up to me and ask why I was dressed like that or tell me that I wasn’t scary enough. Once I got to Barcadia though I thought the costume went over well, even though I’m pretty sure one of my managers didn’t know i was dressed up.

Dressed up as a nerd with Richard dressed up as a "victim"

Well that’s about the only excitement for this week, but I’m sure I’ll have plenty of time to go out during my week off. So far I am planning on going to see the Shawshank Redemption at Wyndham’s Theatre in Central London, going to see Buckingham palace, and possibly taking a trip to Brighton which is a few hours from here on the coast.

Most of all though, I will be enjoying some much needed relaxation and doing lots of homework and reading!

Until Then…

Best

Lauren