Thursday, May 04, 2006

Feelin' hotte! hotte! hotte!

We've been in London since March 31, when two ladies from UK Immigration at Heathrow admitted us after taking our passports and wrinkling their brows. We didn't have entry clearance, so we were admitted for 6 months with no recourse to public funds, instead of 9 as planned. At this point I probably will have to fly to Los Angeles to get the right visa.

It was surprisingly cold for most of our first month, but right now it's 79 degrees. The students, who were on holiday for much of April, have reappeared and are drinking beer in the plaza between the Maths building and the Student Center. On my way back from the library, I was delighted to see an ice cream truck selling Emmie's Super Soft. To my surprise, I was able to put together a pound from 5, 10, and 20p coins, and enjoyed the cone 'with sauce' immensely.

My officemate has a visitor from Oxford today, and I had a telecon with my awesome French colleagues this morning. This is by far the most activity this office has seen during my stay. As I was warned it would be, it's unbearably hot in the office, so I turned on the small, noisy fan. It is sitting on an archaic workstation, which has finally found a use.

Christine finally got to see a play last night - Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf, with Kathleen Turner as Martha and Bill Irwin as George. Christine said they were both great, with Irwin being particularly mesmerizing.

Be sure to check out Geoffrey Chaucer's pickup lines.