Alabama Oasis

Yesterday evening I met up with a bunch of other Alabama alumni to watch the Alabama/Arkansas game. It was SO much fun! I found the right apt by the giant UA flag hanging under the window. And everyone inside was wearing crimson. It felt like a little Alabama oasis in the middle of London. It was like a little taste of home for the evening.

And the game, if you kept up with it, was incredible!! It took us all by surprise and we were loving it. So since we were doing so well, it helped the atmosphere and I made a lot of good friends. Plus everyone else had drunk several beers throughout the game. That always helps them make friends more easily. And most of them are married and settled in here and offered their help if I ever need a place to crash or bailing out of jail or anything. The couple that saw me in Edinburgh recognized me, so it was nice to be able to actually hang out with them. One girl graduated in the Spring and is here on the same program I am. But she settled with just a part-time job. She's spending more money than she's making. Another guy is actually living across the street from this hostel I'm staying at. And he offered to have me over for dinner sometime. Sweet!

The way we got to watch the game was the guy whose place we were at has a subscription to ESPN 360. So he got access to the game online and hooked it up to his tv screen. The game started at 5:30 here. For the evening games, they still watch the game at like 1:00 in the morning, and they set up a blow up mattress and have a guest bed for those who just want to crash there for the night. These guys are fun. :) They'll be out of town next week, so we have to skip a week of fun. But we'll pick it up again the week after.

Roll Tide.

Went to church today. It went as well as it has all over the summer. Met new people... because there's always new people to meet in this ward. And most of them seem to be from the states. I met a few people here to get their masters. Most of them from Utah. They always state that fact with the air of 'I know I'm one of the millions from Utah'. School starts for them tomorrow. Maybe I'll consider that someday.

After church was a general priesthood meeting - basically a motivator to do missionary work. Something to do though. ;)

And after that I joined a bunch of others who were having a goodbye party for a girl who just finished her masters and is going back to the states. It was a typical YSA party with the cheesy Mormon games they'd play at BYU on a Sunday evening. And they had food! I've been so lucky when it comes to food. My breakfast is always provided by the hostel, and the past couple days I've always ended up being able to eat a meal somewhere else. So I've only been paying for one meal a day... if that! Man, I just need to keep this up and I'll have nothing to worry about until I get a job. :)