Autumn in London '06

Weekend Madness

Oy!

So it’s been an interesting weekend so far, as for the first time Kevin and I decided to go out and experience gay life in London. Friday night, we met up with two guys called Lee and Mathieu whom Kevin had been talking to via MSN Messenger before we left the States. We met up around 8:30 pm by the High Street Kensington tube stop near the hotel that they were staying at. From there, we took a taxi to Soho.

From what I had heard, Soho is supposed to be London’s equivalent to the South End, but we discovered that there really wasn’t a lot there. Despite having been in London since April, Matt (who’s from Canada) didn’t really know a lot about London or where to go. Lee, despite being British had only recently moved into London, so he didn’t really know much either. We were then joined by another guy from Goldsmiths’, who was also new to London, and together the five of us wandered around Soho looking for something to do. Eventually, we ended up at an Indian restaurant that had a bar. After spending a few awkward minutes drinking there, we decided to just hail a taxi to take us to Club Heaven, a famous gay club somewhere in London. But when no taxi immediately presented itself, we decided to take a rickshaw instead. For those of you who may not know what a rickshaw is, like me before I boarded one, it’s basically a bicycle-drawn, open-air taxi. And let me tell you, riding a rickshaw at night through the streets of Central London is an experience not quite like anything else. Half amusement park ride and half death trap, that sort of thing.

Anyway, we made it to the club after a bit of searching and nearly hitting a bus, but not long after we went inside we realized that all the trouble was worth it. Club Heaven is a massive venue, with a sizeable dance floor and several lounge areas with ample seating. The bar is situated away from the dance floor and was quite long as to accommodate many customers at once. The music selection was good as well, with a good mix of house, techno, and some R & B.

At first, Matt wouldn’t dance (he has a bit of a patronizing attitude toward a lot of things), but Kevin, Lee, Justin and I all had quite a bit of fun dancing (and drinking) the night away. At about 3:00 am, after quite a fun evening, we all left and went back to Matt and Lee’s hotel room, where we all shortly fell asleep. Unfortunately, the room had to be vacated by noon the next day, but c’est la vies.

Saturday night was a bit more toned down, as Kevin and I went to see the film “Children of Men,” starring Clive Owen, with Lee. Matt didn’t come, but we met him afterward when we all went back to their new abode to watch the first half of the movie “Eurotrip”. At that, Kevin and I were tired so we went back to South Kensington and retired for the evening.

Sunday provided a bit of a reprieve from extreme action, so to speak, as I pretty much spent the whole day doing laundry or shopping for next week’s food. Also included below are some photos that I’ve accumulated so far, despite having little to do with this post in particular.

After now having spent a little over a week here in London, I think I’m finally starting to feel a bit at home here. I’m now quite good at navigating the Underground and I know my way pretty well around New Cross and the area near Kevin’s place. But this next week is going to present some interesting challenges for me. Kevin and the rest of the Hansard Scholars are going to be taking a trip to Scotland this coming Tuesday through Friday, so for the first time I’ll be almost totally on my own. While I do have quite a lot of friends here now, nobody can bring me more emotional and psychological comfort than Kevin can, and with him being so far away it’ll be interesting to see how I react. I’m sure I’ll be fine.

This coming week is also the first week of classes for me, so I also have a bit of a mixed bag of excitement and anxiety to deal with on that front. One of my classes doesn’t meet the first week, so it’ll only be the two, but I’m very eager to find out first hand what the differences are between British university classes and American ones. I guess only time will tell!

posted by Zachary Nicholson @ 1:45 PM