Tooting Bec

Thursday - 1/28/10

I can scarcely believe it's been a month since my arrival. Time moves intermittently both fast and slow - giving the illusion that one has more than enough time and yet inspiring concern for it to be done too quickly. A fantastic month it has been. One of the greatest parts has been to meet a few people and to form some acquaintances. And that is how I passed my Thursday in Tooting Bec - getting to know one of my new acquaintances. South of London by about 30 minutes on the tube, Tooting Bec is still quite busy but less exciting than the city - a quaint place with local bars and restaurants. Spent the day with one of my fellow bowling buddies from two weeks past and learned about the trials of an acting career. Frequented a cafe for tea, an italian restaurant for pizza, and spent some time watching Pride and Prejudice. I spent the evening at Bar Viva - their local haunt - and witnessed my first passionate football game. To say that the British are in love with their football seems a gross understatement. They are passionate and loud, and fierce in their loyalty, ready to scorn others, to shout against ridicule, to bare their teeth at opposition...oh the hostility engendered is unbelievable...and quite amusing.

Also amusing was my tube ride back into the city - only the interesting and highly entertaining appear to ride the late hours. I might have thought my fellow riders were going to a costume party, the outfits and face paint appropriate - yet I was mistaken. After obliging a young girl, in a silver leotard with platinum hair and red scarlet lips, to take a picture of her and her friends hanging from the railing in the tube like monkeys, she informed me that they were headed to Leicester Square for some fun. Fun it seems, had already begun many hours before and was to continue into the wee hours of the night!