Tuesday, June 13, 2006

From London to Berlin

I am such a typical Scot. Temperatures in London hit 32°C (90°F) yesterday. Waaaaayyyy too hot for little old me. To be fair, as soon as the temperatures start climbing to the early to mid-20s, I'm searching for a shady corner to curl up in with a fan. I'm not cut out for heat. I like bad weather. I like rain and wind and snow and cold. You do get summer weather in Scotland, but it only lasts for about a week.

I watched the first episode of Big Love on channel 5 last night. I was intrigued when Min was talking about it in her Blurty, and then noticed that it was starting over here, so thought I'd give it a go. It's....interesting. I'm not entirely sure what I think about it, but it caught my attention enough to make me want to watch next week, which I guess is the ultimate goal. But Beaver! I miss Beaver!

I've got World Cup fever, as does everyone else in this city. It's pretty good being in London for stuff like this when England do well, even though I'm not English. So far, I've done the Rugby World Cup 2003 and Euro 2004, and the atmosphere is electric. There's also been the cricket, but while the guys in my office get obsessed with it, I can't bring myself to care.

I was in a pub on Saturday watching the England game (supporting England I might add) and it was disappointing for a number of reasons, the main one being the discomfort I felt at being surrounded by drunk England fans. This particular crowd seemed a bit yobbish. I overheard several racist comments about a bunch of Middle Eastern guys standing at the back because they weren't singing along with the songs, despite the fact they were wearing England strips and obviously supporting them. Then the anti-German and Scottish comments and songs started and my discomfort quadrupled. I really couldn't get out of there quick enough. Now, before anyone starts, I know that this happens in Scotland as well. I've been at plenty of Scottish sporting events when anti-English songs have been sung and that's wrong too. But I've heard people say that it's just Scottish fans that are anti-English and it's not the other way round, but that's wrong. It's not all English fans, just like it's not all Scottish fans, but it does happen. And when you're a Scot living in London at a time like this, it can be really exciting, but also a bit disconcerting,

What else? I'm going to see Avenue Q in a couple of weeks! Yay! And then I'm going to see The Rocky Horror Show a couple of weeks after that! Double yay! And I'll throw in a visit home, in between them, for my dad's birthday for good measure. Triple yay!

6 comments:

Simon said...

I'm really sorry that you were subjected to that. Grrr.

Yay for triple yays, though!

Jess said...

Just because it also happens the other way around doesn't make it any more comfortable or excusable. That would piss me off, too! (And I'm English!)

Mindi Scott said...

I first read about BIG LOVE when it aired here. But I didn't have the strong desire to watch it until I found out Beaver was on it. So, there you go. :-)

I watched the first two eps and I think it's a little slow. I get a little bit bored of the cult stuff and the business stuff. Regardless, my friend Matt and I are planning BIG LOVE marathon in a few weeks.

Meghan said...

That sounds like something that would happen in Boston or New York during the World Series.

CosmicAvatar said...

Stupid yobs, spoiling things for other people. You're quite right - the racist/bigoted stuff can come from all sides.

Just focus on the good stuff. And stay away from football altogether. [wink]

Dogeared said...

Maybe it was the pub you were in? I mean some pubs will attract a clientele that's more yobbish and drunken loutish. I dunno. It is sad though, and I'm sorry it spoiled your experience.