Saying goodbye to some, hello to others

Sigh. Another day, another friend returns to their place of origin for good. Within the next two months, virtually all of the people I've spent the majority of time with here will be out in the world, away from London. On the one hand, it's great to have friends and contacts in places like Acapulco, Miami, Bogota...well, if you're a coke dealer that is. But on the other hand, it's sadly depressing that I will rarely, if ever, see some of these people again. I keep asking myself, why can't it be Real World that's leaving forever?

Speaking of which, I was talking to this guy last night who is the Resident Director (RD) at the dorm on campus. I met him very briefly once before but last night was the first time we chatted. Good guy. But, the point is, Real World texted me and wanted to come out last night. I wasn't having that because it was a party for my Mexican friend and she wasn't going to spoil the mood by crashing it. Good party + insanity + stir = bad scene.

At any rate, I swore loudly and profusely when she texted me. Strong drink does not mix with civility, at least when Real World is concerned. The RD asked me what the deal was. I mentioned Real World. Ten minutes later, when he paused in his rant about how she's essentially the most dishonest, ignorant, and obnoxious woman he's ever met for a breath of oxygen, I was able to get a concurrence in. To me, this is just stunning. He met her less than a month ago and he's already an expert. Someone completely untainted with Real World came to the identical conclusion that I and many others have. Not only that, he said that in a work capacity, if things don't go her way, she plays the race card. I am at a loss for words as to how to further describe her except to say that of all the people I've met in London, she is by far the one I respect the least.

Ok, enough of that. Something's been on my mind re: London Terror for awhile now, so here goes.

The 7/7 bombings, as I've said before, make no sense. The ones at King's Cross and Liverpool Street do make sense. They're major transit points in the system with both tourists and residents being effected. The bus one, well, I think that makes sense in that it was packed and they wanted to hit a bus. The location of the bus probably wasn't terribly important. The one at Edgware Road, however, make no sense at all. And I mean zero.

First and foremost, Edgware Road is known as one of the Muslim corridors in London. So, even though the bomb was targeted at the various commuters going through that station, the long term effect is a grave inconvenience for Muslims that live in that area and would normally commute by Tube.

But even beyond that, Edgware Road has no symbolic value. The true target, the one that I'm utterly shocked was not attacked, is Westminster. Not only is it the seat of government here, but it's a massive tourist destination, probably number 1 in London. The effect of shutting down Westminster would have been tremendous both in terms of tourist money (tourist figures are trending downward already, as in 2 billion pounds lost), but would also have had a greater symbolic effect than Edgware Road. So, for all the extensive planning, we're still dealing with a bunch of nimwits.

Other News

So I quit my job. Wednesday was my last day. I'm pleased about that, I must say. One of the partners took me to a very expensive lunch on Tuesday, which was much appreciated. But, even though everyone asked why I was leaving (and received the "company line"), only the Roving Alcoholic truly knows how much I hated that job - or hate the law in general. It is unfortunate that we won't be working at the same office anymore. For whatever it's worth, he's a good mate and having a friend to chat with can make the time pass easier. But in the end, I needed to put that job (and industry) behind me. So, the plan now is to spend all of next week in various libraries researching my thesis. Assuming that goes as plans, then I will look to begin temping the week after that. I don't desperately need to temp, but having some extra money will be nice.

The bigger picture plan, as it stands at the moment, is to use August to do the thesis and job hunt. I'm moving out of this craphole that I call a residence on the 14th. Eurotrash has kindly offered me his flat for about a month as he's going back to the States and doesn't want it burgled if it's empty. I'm paying him some rent, but not a lot. It's the least I could do since it's truly a win-win.

In September, assuming I don't have a job, I will most likely move into a hostel type setting for a couple weeks. That way I could continue to generate capital, not have to be tied down to a lease, and could ready to bolt at a moments notice. If I'm forced to leave the country, then I'll make travel plans and roll around Europe for a month on my own. There's a ton of places I want to go and see that I haven't made it to yet.

IF (and that's a big if) I get a job and a visa, then obviously all the plans change. I've spent considerable time thinking and talking about this and I really don't think I want to leave here just yet. I'm not so interested in staying forever or anything, but there's just something irreplaceably magical about living in a foreign country in general and the UK in particular. The law partner that took me to lunch asked me what I liked the most about living here in the UK and I really couldn't put my finger on one thing. There are just so many great things about living here (the people, the culture, the diversity, the humor, the reckless partying attitude, the proximity to Europe proper, the politics, etc.) that it's just tough to single out one thing. Plus, not only is it a place I've come to love, I think professionally, it would look quite good to have legit work experience on that resume. Because as of now, the closest I have to International Relations work experience is...uh, yeah, nothing.

At any rate, demonstrating true planning flexibility, I have a standing offer to move to Acapulco and teach English with free accommodation thrown in. I have virtually the same offer for Bogota. And of course, I have the States always there for the taking. It's ultimately up to me to make decisions about what I want. In time, decisions will be made.