From One London to Another

Well, I’ve had a nice break from blogging so I think it’s high time that I write something! It has been hard winding down from such an exciting six weeks, but at the same time, it is probably good to be home both in terms of being on call to answer any last minute emails about Japan, and also saying a few “so longs” before the big day arrives. I wouldn’t want to disappear off of the continent without saying goodbye to a few people!

One of my goodbyes was to my old roommate Erin. I traveled out to London (Ontario, of course!) to attend a British Garden Party she had invited me to on the weekend, and also to take a final peek at the Western campus. Her two friends who had stayed for the night made the decision to drag us to Snakes on a Plane – not really my cup of tea as movies go, but entertainment-wise, very amusing. In short, basically every imaginable stereotype boards a plane on which a CIA officer (S.L. Jackson) and a witness to a terrible murder are being transported to testify in court. The murderer discovers that the witness is on the plane and vows to kill him so he cannot testify – even at the expense of hundreds of others. Hence, he devises the wacky idea of putting snakes on a plane! The movie is funny simply because you do not care about any of the passengers that are killed. It is also pretty random; like when a massive boa constrictor falls down from the glass ceiling of the plane. 1) How on earth could anyone smuggle a 20 foot long boa onto a plane in the first place? 2) How could you hide it?? Anyway, it just goes to show that internet fan bases really do have some clout, or else I doubt a movie like this would have ever made it to the big screen!

The British Garden Party was also good fun. The idea began when Erin’s mum tried twice to write in for an invitation to the real Buckingham Palace garden party, and was twice refused. As a result, she said “To hell with Buckingham Palace! I am going to start my own garden party!”…and so she did. This year’s was the fifth annual get together, with 20 members in attendance, and a real character actor of Queen Victoria. (The only dead giveaway that she wasn’t Old Vickie was the blatantly obvious Canadian accent. :P) Although I didn’t know anyone except for Erin and her other friend Jill, it was interesting to participate. I particularly enjoyed the game where everyone receives a Victorian object in a bag, has to figure out what it is, and then act out (without speaking) how it could have been used during the 1800’s. Jill and I picked a stamp for a wax letter seal, probably the easiest to act out of the lot! Sigh…no matter where I go, I can’t escape the influence of England, can I? ;-)

I also went downtown yesterday to apply for my Japanese visa which will apparently be ready in a few days. Thus, on Thursday, I will officially be going with only my plane tickets left to buy. I was actually checking out some flight prices online yesterday and was bowled over to discover that return ticket prices that start this September and end next August cost a whopping $5000! * gags * So my plan is to visit the Flight Centre in the mall and get some much needed advice, because there isn’t a snowman’s chance in hell I am paying that. :P