Saturday, 1-13-96
4:35 AM London
10:35 PM E-Town & Chambana (1-12-96)
WHOA! WHATTA NIGHT!… And day too! Just got in w/ Lori from our first night of clubbing! We went to a club called “Plastic People” & had a super time! We dressed in up in our best Euro-clubbing outfits & took the tube to Tottenham Court Road. We then found Oxford Street & had to wait in line for a bit till it opened…
Earlier we had bought some beer (my first legal over the counter purchase ☺︎) & drank in the T.V. room w/ our buddies at Pembridge! Though we didn’t think so at the time… lucky for us, we couldn’t persuade anyone to come out w/ us!
We got in the club & decided to sit for a little while & check out the scene while we had a bottle each of beer! Then we were ready to boogie! ☺︎ We hadn’t been on the floor long when a cute guy wearing a white t-shirt, plaid pants, & a golf cap caught my eye! He was an incredible dancer & grooved like Joe Cooper. I was noticing him & trying to avoid some weird guys while Lori started talking to a guy named Andrew. Next thing I know, the guy I had my eye on came over & asked me my name, where I was from, what I was doing in London etc. His name is Nathan & he is a gentleman & a real sweetheart! ☺︎
We danced, chatted, & flirted a lot! At one point we all took a break & sat down & talked. He introduced me to all his friends & they were so fun & nice & made us (Lori & me) feel welcome! At one point I ended up sitting on Nathan’s lap & he would have his arm around me & then we would at times even hold hands! ☺︎ Wow!
I can’t believe only 24 hrs. ago I felt doomed to be single in the presence of my 2 engaged friends (Lori & Adam)! ☺︎
Well, about 3 AM Andrew had to go home because he had to work, deliver papers to Parliament at 7 AM. So he said good bye & told Nathan & their friends to make sure Lori gets his number & calls him! He really likes her, and she him… But not quite in the same way… Hopefully they can be good friends…
So then Nathan gave us a little tour of Soho, Chinatown, & even took us through the gay & sex center of London! He brought us to a great little coffee shop in Soho & it was so crowded that we ordered hot cocoa & tea & drank it & chatted outside. I was cold, so Nathan let me wear his coat! What a gentleman… Then he had us help him find a connivence store for a pen… In the 2nd store we tried he finally had to actually buy one for 50p! Then he wrote Andrew’s name & # down for Lori. He then asked if I wanted my own copy! (Even though we are roommates & they are too!) So he gave me a copy w/ his name on! ☺︎
Then he walked us to Trafalgar Square to catch the 52 Night Bus to Nottinghill Gate! He waited w/ us till our bus arrived… I gave him back his coat. He shook Lori’s hand & reminded her to call Andrew!
Then he shook my hand & held it while giving me a kiss on my right cheek! ☺︎ He asked if I would call him. I said would he like me to call him tomorrow & he said yes!
Then we said goodbye & Lori & I got on the bus! UNBELIEVABLE! I AM SO INFATUATED WITH THIS GREAT SWEET MAN & CAN’T WAIT TO SEE WHAT COMES OF THIS…
Lori & I couldn’t have dreamed up a more awesome evening & this is most definitely a “British Experience” if I ever heard of one… ☺︎ WAHOO!
Well, time will tell & we do plan to call them tomorrow for plans maybe & to thank them for a super night & their hospitality… ☺︎
I am still blown away by this… WOW! Whatta movie plot! Oh, Nathan is Welsh, not British! Simon & Helen, my host family, would be so proud! ☺︎
Okay, it is past 5 AM now & the morning birds are chirping & singing… I should get some sleep now & I can dream of my new friends hopefully! ☺︎ ❤︎
Also, today I went w/ Adam to the British Museum! It was amazing! We saw the “Rosetta Stone” which is what helped the English to being to be able to decipher hieroglyphics! We also saw remains of the Parthenon, including parts of the pediment & frieze! We took lots of cheesy touristy pictures of each other! I took a bunch of him so he can send them to his fiancé, Annie! ☺︎ He is a real nice guy & I hope we stay good friends. I can’t wait to tell him about this evening’s adventures & meeting my new “male interest” Nathan! ☺︎ ❤︎
— Later
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Note from Present Day Kathy: I continue find it funny how much I used “…” and exclamation points back then in my writing, even though it was in a personal journal and not a paper I was turning in for school.
It was fun to revisit this awesome night that my roommate and I had clubbing, especially with the two guys we met. I will share more in subsequent entries about what happened with them after that.
I wanted to share a picture of both my roommate and my outfits that night, as she was majoring in fashion design and I always got a kick out of the combos she’d put together for herself and help me with.
I also liked remembering how much I enjoyed my friendship with (not his real name) Adam during my semester in London. I didn’t have a lot of guy friends before college and not growing up with a brother I appreciated getting male perspectives on things, at times, and not always from my dad or those I was interested in romantically (which obviously adds additional dynamics to relationships).
Also, I shared a picture of my scrapbook page from that, my first, trip to the British Museum in my last post.
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Reminder: Unless I’ve been given permission to use people’s actual names, in most cases I’ve removed or replaced the names of the real people who were part of my journey/experience there, in effort to protect and respect their identities/privacy in my London Semester Journal entries. I will also not share details that I think and feel are too personal for anyone I interacted with, my loved ones, and me.
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Here’s the back story of My London Semester Journals from 1996, including what prompted me to revisit and decide to share them here in 2018. And here’s a list a list of the entries, which I will update as I share them.
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