Oh, the Day Tumbles Like Rain

Oh dear. There have been finer days.

What happened?

• I woke up this morning and learned that I had a typo in my resume. In the journalism world, a typo in your resume can immediately eliminate you from the applicant pool. Unfortunately, I had already applied to a few programs. More unfortunately, I had incorrectly spelled the word “proofread.” Ooh, irony burns.

At least I discovered it now.

• I gave a presentation in class on the romantic reaction to the Industrial Revolution. For some reason, I was more nervous than usual. And sadly, I don’t think my professor agreed with my thesis.

• Every other week, my architecture class goes into the city, and my professor shows us the buildings. I learn so much from this and look forward to it every time. This week, we were visiting the Horseguard Parade. It was rainy and cold, but I made it there alright. And then waited. And waited. And waited. And no one showed up. I tried to call other people from my class, but unfortunately I don’t know many people in it. The few people I did know didn't have their numbers stored in my phone,. I had no idea of where the rest of the class was. I got there at 2 and thought maybe I had the time wrong. So I waited until 2:30. No one. I ran an errand and came back at 3. Still no one. I think as it turns out, they were meeting just across the street from the Horseguard, not at the Horseguard itself—something I had missed because my professor announced it last week while I had to run out to another commitment.

• On one of the trips back to the Horseguard to check for my class, a red doubledecker bus went full speed into a London street puddle. The grey water arched over my head and then fell all over me. A woman walking in the opposite direction looked at me sympathetically, and I tried really hard to smile.

• Apparently, there is some kind of Tube strike going on right now, causing major delays in the trains and completely congesting the stations. It took several minutes of shuffling in the crowds to even get near the turnstiles, but before I could get there a fight broke out over so-and-so shoving so-and-so. I knew that it was only going to be more chaotic inside, so I decided to walk.

• By the end of the day, I had to take the tube home, since it is too far to walk from Central London to where I live in East London, especially at night. I stepped onto the train and immediately smelled something like rotting bananas and urine. I looked down and there was a man sitting on the floor with his bags; I guess he hadn’t showered for a while. The car was packed full, except for a small bubble of space around the man. I thought about rushing to the next car over, but I could see from the windows that those cars were filled to the brim. I was having trouble breathing, so I tried to move to the other side of the train. Seated directly to my left, though, were two men making out passionately. In the end, I needed air, so in desperationI ended up awkwardly stretching my neck out over the couple, as they did their business.

The day wasn’t all bad, though! Here are some highlights:

• Since the day had trudged along so sadly, I decided to indulge in my favorite bowl of soup noodles at Noodle Inn at Tottenham Court Road. Hurrah for hot and sour noodles with pork!

• Frost/Nixon! Frost/Nixon is a play that chronicles the famous four-day interview between talk show host David Frost and Richard Nixon. The play frames the interview as a kind of competition, in which the two men fight for the world's esteem. The acting was top-notch, even if the work as a whole is less empathetic than say, oh, Wicked. I took a class on Nixon last winter, so I walked in more sympathetic to his personal demons than most people.

Since it was student night, we got to stay afterward for a discussion with the actors and the associate director! I got to ask them a question about mediating the tension between the playwright’s Nixon and their own view of Nixon.

The other plus of student night? Student discounts on the tickets--orchestra row seats for 15 pounds! Yay! They also gave us coupons for cheap drinks at the bar next door--but decided we preferred dinner in Chinatown. Mmm boba.

Want to see more of the day? Hit up the pictures. :)

For now, though, I’m ready for a new day.