Monday, May 22, 2006

The Weekend welcome to the UK

The weekend was very welcoming to returning travelers albeit it viewed perhaps a little skewed by the amount of alcohol that was consumed at different parties.

Friday saw the adventure of using public transport again - Thameslink has changed to First Capital Connect but the trains still look the same just with new logo on them. The underground had a number of tube lines down due to engineering works etc etc - those of you who have experienced this phenomena will know what I'm talking about.

Friday nights party was a 40th Birthday held in the city at City Limits bar right by Liverpool street station. The only order of the day was to drink champagne. As famously quoted in Cocktail - "Champagne is perfume going in, sewerage coming out"

The new hours for bar opening make a huge difference in the UK. We were able to stay safe and sound in our new found local until 1am and then the staff kindly called taxis for all the hard core people left over. Emerging into the night there were no large crowds, no hassles and no taxi!

The black cabs have obviously not caught onto the new state of the nation.

Saturday morning was greeted with copious amounts of tea and nurofen. Gingerly moving around for a period of time before heading to the local market to buy some Chav gear for a Chav party on Saturday.

Whats a Chav - well here is the offical word from wikipedia

Chav (pronunciation: /tʃæv/) (also Chavette (female chav), Charv or Charva) is a slang term in wide use throughout the United Kingdom since 2004. It refers to a subcultural stereotype of a person with fashions such as flashy "bling" jewellery, Burberry clothing items and counterfeit designer clothing; an uneducated and uncultured background; a tendency to congregate around places such as fast-food outlets, bus stops, or other shopping areas; and a culture of antisocial behaviour and violence. Chavs often listen to dance/trance, RnB, rap, and hip hop music. Response to the term has ranged from amusement to criticism that it is a new manifestation of classism.

Generally you will know them as Soccer louts and burberry cap wearing shell suiters usually from Essex

The most amazing thing about being a chav - its possible to buy a complete outfit for £20.00

The Chav party was a complete hit - the prodigious amounts of bottles and glass in the morning testamont to a excellent night.

Sunday was a day of puffy eyes and de toxing with Tea and Orange juice and a large dinner of the freshest veges possible - beware as they may contain some GM after all we are in he land of GM and irradiated foods.

So onto the working week. Monday will be a day of inventoring household effects and then Tuesay to Friday will be spent in Serbia helping out a friend with some project work.

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