Thursday, 3-21-96
8:55 AM London
2:55 AM E-Town
I am sitting at the Notting Hill Gate tube stop, waiting for a Circle Line Train to campus… What better an opportunity to catch up on my week in here?
Tuesday I pretty much spent sitting in front of a computer at 43 Gordon Square typing up my architecture essay on “The Style of Robert Adam.”
That evening I hung out at Pembridge w/ my housemates, mostly Lori.
Yesterday morning Meg arrived! She was here, in London, on a 12-hour layover, en route to a Spring Break trip to South Africa! The trip is in conjunction w/ MIT Sloan School of Business, where she is a first year MBA student.
Her plane was to get in at 7:20 AM, so I got up then to get ready, eat breakfast, & tidy up the room. I gave her directions from Heathrow to Pembridge Gardens using the tube’s Piccadilly & District Lines.
She finally arrived about 9:30 AM! It was so great to see her! She was exhausted when she arrived, which she felt bad about, but could not help understandably…
But, nonetheless, she wanted to hang out w/ me & try to do some “touristy” stuff, since she had never been to London! First off, she came bearing gifts — belated 21st birthday gifts to be exact!
She brought me a fun helium balloon that said “Happy 21st” on it! She had wanted to bring it filled up, but they made her deflate it on the plane over here, for they said at such high pressures flying it could burst… So she & her classmates sucked out the helium & talked like Wizard of Oz munchkins to get a good laugh!
She also brought me a CD! Its is called “The House of Groove” & has lots of great rap/house dance tracks on it! I was able to sample them on room 12’s boombox later last night!
She also brought me 2 boxes of Kraft Mac & Cheese, a bag of Reese’s Pieces, and some anti-diarrhea tablets! Whatta sister…
So after we chatted for a bit & gave her a tour of Pembridge, despite her jet lag, we were off to sight see! We made it to Buckingham Palace!
I have to go to class… So more details of Meg’s visit later!
CHEERS! ☺︎
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Note from Present Day Kathy: Loved this short and sweet entry! The first two lines were so nostalgic, especially since during my recent trip back across the pond in November, where I hadn’t returned since I left in May 1996, my friend (not her real name) Ginny and I visited so many of my fav places/old haunts in London, including where I would have caught the Circle Line at Notting Hill Gate Tube Station that day and Birkbeck College’s 43 Gordon Square in Bloomsbury.
I wish I could find the papers I wrote that semester, including this one about “The Style of Robert Adam.” I am pretty sure I kept them and yet I haven’t come across them, while going through old boxes in recent years. I did dig up an old hard disc for a computer hard drive, that was labeled from that semester in London, and even ordered something I can plug into a USB port, to be able to read it. However, it didn’t work for that disc.
I really enjoyed reading about the beginning of Meg’s visit during her layover in London. Meg was the only family member that visited me that semester and it meant so much/was such an exciting day to get to see and spend time with her, even though she was super jet lagged. It was nice to recall the thoughtful belated 21st birthday gifts Meg got for me. I also got a kick out of the story about the helium balloon, as well as the food/treats she brought, as I did/still do really like Kraft Mac & Cheese, as well as Reese’s Pieces! And the anti-diarrhea tablets are especially hilarious, as I’d probably need them if I ate Mac & Cheese followed by Reese’s Pieces!
I continue to be amused/fascinated by what my housemates and I prioritized spending our money on that semester. As I shared in one or more other entries, I had a walkman with me to play/listen to my tape cassettes/music mixes and my roommate and I bought a radio, that we ended up selling before we left. However, not having a CD player in our room, anytime we got one (which didn’t happen often that semester), we had to visit our friends upstairs (who did) if we wanted to listen!
It’s also fun/timely that this is the entry I am revisiting today, as it happens to be Meg’s 50th Birthday, so I appreciate being able to recall more special memories of our sibling adventures together over the years!
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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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