public transport

love to hate it, hate to love it.

it's actually not that bad....i'm starting to get a collection of people that i love to see on a daily basis now. we get on the same route around the same time in the morning, and i kind of get excited to see them get on. no, i'm not creepy. it's just the simple things in life that make me happy.

okay, so there is this mum and her son who get on our bus. He can't be more than 4 years old, and he is the cutest little boy. he asks SOOOOO many questions throughout the trip, and i just absolutely admire this mum for her wellspring of patience. one of our stops is "Beulah Family Church."
in his adorable little British accent, he asked his mum one morning, "mummy, what's a family church?"
Mum: it's just like any other church.
Little boy: But what does the man say at the family church?
Mum: paused probably stuff like the man says at our church.
Little boy: ohhhhh....mummy, what's that over there?
it always makes my morning to hear and watch this little boy and his mum. maybe i should tell her one day that i think she's doing a really good job because obviously in my line of work i don't see that much. maybe that's why it makes me all happy inside...

there's also a guy that Melissa and i refer to as "angry man." now, he's probably not an angry man in reality, but he always just looks super upset. we didn't see him for like two weeks, and we started to wonder where he disappeared to. no worries, he's back now.

everyday i come home from work and am greeted by this view as i walk towards my flat. it reminds me that i actually am living in london. mostly because i actually overlook london's skyline. pretty legit :)

police chases and busted dolls

The other day Melissa and I were walking from work to our bus stop through some neighbourhoods and not the high street way. We just had a couple of blocks left to go; when all of a sudden we hear this thudding hitting the pavement and it was getting louder. Melissa got off of the sidewalk and got onto the pavement on the other side of a car parked there. I then realized that there was some 17 year old booking it, and was on a path that would have sent him colliding into me. So, I sidestepped onto the pavement and literally just waited for him to get past.

A few yards behind him was a cop on foot, running after this guy. He was saying into his radio something like he was chasing the suspect into whatever the neighbourhood is called. Melissa and I stayed in our spots, her on the other side of the car and me waiting right behind the car. As he ran past, the cop kind of looked at us like, "why didn't you do anything?"

Now, if I weighed about 50-100 pounds more I might have. Being that I don't, I think that guy would have ran straight into me and knocked me down. Self-preservation folks. Melissa said she considered trying to trip the kid, but then was afraid that it would potentially break a bone. Again, self-preservation.

After they passed, we got back on the sidewalk, continued walking, and obviously talked about that randomness. I heard across the street some chuckling, and when I looked over there was a lady getting some things out of her car and she caught my eye. She could hear what Melissa and I were saying. She yelled out at us, "That boy wasn't even running that fast! " We laughed, and carried on. Further up the road, there was a lady cop who had detained about 4-5 of this kids' friends. I guess they figured there was no point.

We finally got on the bus, and suddenly it dawned on us that we just experienced our first Thornton Heath police foot chase. Good ol' Thornton Heath. I'm sure there will be more to come.

Now, this isn't the greatest quality picture in the world, but I was trying to take it on the sly. I had to go to this training today since I'm a new employee...it was an induction to Croydon. I could have been doing other things. Oh well! As part of this training we had some out of the room activities. Thus, I got paid to go to the Croydon museum as part of the day. Amazingly enough, this was one of the displays. Naked, busted, broke down dolls...

slightly long, but there are pictures!

Bank Holiday weekends are the best. Really, I don't understand why the States don't invest in having some of their own. It would do a world of good for the entire workforce!

This weekend I went to Scarborough to visit with the fam, and it was glorious; as it always is.

Auntie Mary getting ready to keep pushing her bike across the beach.

Uncle Paul, Auntie Mary, and I went on a 23 mile bike ride/push on Saturday. Yes, you read that correctly, 23 miles. I haven't ever gone that far on a bicycle in one try. There were points where I'm surprised I didn't need to have an oxygen tank wheeling alongside me on the path to make certain I didn't pass out. Now, when I say we pushed our bikes, there literally was no other way to get the bikes to where they needed to be at times since some of the hills were SO steep.

Okay, seriously, only in England would this happen at first sighting of the sun!

We were mighty chuffed with ourselves though (despite not being able to walk properly that night). It was a beautiful day in the English countryside :D

Oh pretty bike ride path!

Also saw my grandparents and the rest of the fam there as well. Honestly, there are times when I just don't understand how I'm so blessed with the family that I landed in. The constant talking, the quick wit, the perpetual laughter, the insane knowledge, the love of God, and the love for each other all just amaze me.

Moving on from sappy things though...Who wants to hear more adventures of riding public transport with Em? That's what I thought...I've got three little golden nuggets for you today. All from this weekend.

• Okay, I took the train up to Scarborough from Gipsy Hill. The long stretch of it I had an assigned seat at a table; meaning there were three other people seated at the table with me. My table had two young girls and their mum, and part of me was slightly dreading this because I just wanted a quiet train ride.
  
  The mum at some point had asked me if I had an American accent after I had asked if I could put my bag under the table; to which I obviously said yes. The girls were amazed and wanted to know where I was from, and they were even more amazed when I said Florida. They both exclaimed, "WE'RE FROM THERE TOO!" Excited doesn't even cover their reaction. Turns out they're from Tampa and living in London for a year.
  
  Through the course of conversation the mum had asked me where I went to uni. When I told them Florida State, the little girl next to me just stopped what she was drawing and stared at me and her sister just gasped. I looked from them to their mum, and she laughed and said, "I work for Florida State's study abroad program in London for the year." One thing led to another, and she was giving me her phone number, email address, etc. and telling me to get in touch with her so that she could take me out for coffee and that she would love to show me around when I get back. Both her girls were so insistent that I get in touch so we can hang out again. It was an absolutely pleasant train ride, and infinitely better than the "quiet" ride I had envisioned. My Auntie Miriam and Uncle Paul told me that it's whole lot better getting that than Nigerian molesters ;)

• I was on the escalators leaving the Underground at London Bridge today to get to the railway bit when from behind me I heard, "Are you from Australia?"
  
  All he would have seen from the back would have been this...No, that is not a prayer mat. It's a floor runner that my aunt sent me home with.
  
  
  Next thing I know there is this guy walking up the steps next to me who then stopped in front of me and turned around. I told him I wasn't, but that I have visited there. He proceeded to talk to me about where I was from, if I was looking for a hostel like he was, etc. He told me all about his time on the Continent (because I had asked in order to keep the flow of convo going as he was going nowhere fast). He walked me to the part in the train station where it shows when all the next trains are leaving, and told me that it was great meeting me. He shook my hand, winked, and left. Now I must say, I didn't mind this at all because he was not a complete creeper at all and he didn't hassle me for my number!

• Today there were obscene amounts of rail works going on, and I had to go completely out of my way in order to get home. It should have been a 20 minute straight shot from London Bridge. Instead, I had to connect two more times. On my last connection, the stop is not sign posted very well. I went into the information area to find out which platform I needed to be on. The guy in there immediately started to pretend that he was asleep, and so I laughed and then asked him which platform I needed. He told me, but also said that I just missed it and the next one wasn't for another half hour. I went outside and grabbed a seat.
  
  I knew I forgot something...my life-size dragon head.
  
  Ten minutes later, I notice out of the corner of my eye this guy with a dust bin and broom sweeping up some rubbish and then he came over near me and swept near my feet. He then proceeded to ask me where I was from, telling me how much he loves my accent, and that he just had to come and find out where it was from. Blahblahblah...It wasn't a real nuance, and I figured I'd never see him again so I'd be nice. His tactic was he wanted me to teach him how to sound like me; which I told him I can't teach anybody how to sound like me. Convo constantly had how much he loved the way I spoke, how friendly I was, and "your smile, you just don't get that around here, your smile is amazing." Awkward for me as I never know what to do in these types of situations as I'm completely not used to them still.
  
  Turns out he's originally from Cameroon. He asked if I've ever been to Africa, and I told him "No, but it's on my list of places to go." He told me, "Ohhhh....if only I had enough money, I would take you to Cameroon myself, we would have a free place to stay, and I could show you around." Let's just say I choose to ignore parts of the conversation, namely that part.
  
  Eventually the train came. He shook my hand, and introduced himself. I can't remember his name anymore though...It was something like Jacob, Jordie, Jacobie, etc. He walked me to the train and carried out his job in letting the conductor know when it was safe to leave. As it started to move away from the platform, he knocked on the window to wave goodbye to me.

Now, please don't get the wrong impression. It's not always men. I've gotten several women who seem to find me an inconvenience when they sit on the aisle seat of the bus next to me, and I have to leave before they do. They like to roll their eyes at me, and it makes me giggle when I finally convince them to swivel around in order to let me squeeze my way past.