Here’s a picture I took this weekend. If you get it, give yourself a high-five.

Well, the big updates of things that have happened the past few days have revolved around sports.

My flatmate and I found a sports bar in Central London that shows (American) football games. There’s nothing quite like traveling 1/4 of the way around the world only to end up hanging out with a bunch of New Yorkers while the Jets and Mets blow their games.

In other football news, I won a ticket on eBay to the Giants/Dolphins game on October 28th. It cost me an arm and half a leg, but it will be great saying my first ever Giants game will be in London.

Now, onto rest-of-world football (soccer). Tonight, I went to a Brentford football match, a local club within walking distance of my flat. I would be lying to you if I said I was a soccer far, however tonight’s match was enjoyable. The Brentford offense didn’t show up for the first 60 minutes of the game and they were down 3-0. However, a goal in the 62nd and another beautiful header in the 75th put some fire into the teams and into the crowd. Brentford couldn’t convert in the final minutes though, and ended up losing. Still, I had a good time. I also enjoyed my first experience with fanatic soccer fans. The other club (Dagenham & Redbridge, from the other side of London) brought a lot of people, and both the home and away stands were doing all sorts of crazy chants (the away team more so because they were winning the whole time) and it was a festive atmosphere.

Also, two fun things of note:  The teams came out onto the pitch to the “NFL on Fox” theme song, and at halftime they played “Born in the U.S.A.”

Now, for those of you who care, a quick lesson on league soccer structure here in the UK.

The team I saw tonight is a part of League Two. Let’s make a baseball analogy here.
Premiere League = Major League Baseball
Football League Championship = AAA
League One = AA
League Two = High-A
Conference National = Low-A

Except there’s a major difference between American leagues and English soccer, that being the fact that the leagues run on promotion and relegation. Clubs can be promoted up to the next league level if they do well (generally place in the top three) and get knocked down if they stink (generally bottom three). However, there aren’t just these five leagues levels. There are 24. And they cover everything, from the pros in the Premier League down to the village teams in the middle of nowhere. In theory, a team could be formed today and start the (slow) step up from the bottom of the pyramid, and 23 years later be playing in the top league in the nation. Supplemental reading available on Wikipedia.

In addition, they do something here called the FA Cup, where ANY team in ANY league can enter into a national tournament. This year’s tournament started with 731 teams. 731! We go nuts every March with 65 teams in March Madness. Can you imagine trying to fill out a bracket with 730 games in it? New life goal:  Organize a bracket competition that has over 512 teams in it.  Also, try to imagine what it would be like if we could relegate teams in America that really sucked. If we look at the most recently completed seasons, that would mean the Oakland Raiders, the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, the Memphis Grizzlies, and the Philadelphia Flyers would all be gone.

Yesterday was a great day.

I got to be a tourist and walk around with my flatmate (a fellow new employee and import from the States) and his girlfriend. We live in Ealing, which is about five miles west of London, but we’re right near a Tube station so it was easy to get into Central London.

Observations about the Tube: It’s much cleaner/safer/more efficient compared to SEPTA (although let’s be honest, not a lot of public transit systems lose in a head-to-head vs. SEPTA)

Short list of things I hit up today:
Piccadilly Circus, Big Ben, Parliament, Westminster Abbey, St. James’s Park, Buckingham Palace, Green Park, Soho, Soho Spice, Bodean’s BBQ, Chinatown, Millennium Bridge, London Eye, Waterloo, Leicester Square, Covent Garden

Photos from the day’s events are found in the Gallery.

Extended thoughts on things I hit up:
Piccadilly Circus – Not an actual circus, but according to Wikipedia (De Simone will hopefully appreciate the use of Latin), “the Latin word circus (meaning circle) refers to a ‘circular open space at a street junction’”. It’s one of the main intersections of London.
Big Ben – Here’s your quizzo fact of the day: Big Ben is NOT the name of the tower. It’s actually the name of the bell inside the tower. That aside, it’s tall, and it looks cool. When we first saw it, the clock’s hands were spinning really fast, but eventually it spun to the correct time. I don’t know if it’s a common thing for the clock to do that, but it was entertaining to watch.
Parliament – Next to the clock tower. Not as tall and not as full of clocks, ergo less interesting.
Westminster Abbey – Beautiful church near Parliament.
St. James’s Park – Large park you walk near to get to Buckingham. Got some nice pictures.
Buckingham Palace – Beautiful building, but we couldn’t get anywhere close to the courtyard where the guards were (sorry Stephanie), however I managed to get some far-away pictures. Apparently if you go to St. James’s Palace, you can get a lot closer to the guards.
Green Park – Ate a tuna and sweetcorn sandwich. The Brits like to mix corn in with tuna, and it’s delicious. Made friends with some pigeons.
Soho – Trendy neighborhood just north of Piccadilly Circus.
Soho Spice – Read my lips: Best Chicken Tikka Masala Ever. See sidebar for my rant on Soho Spice.
Bodean’s BBQ – Plus: it’s an American BBQ place that also has NASN (North American Sports Network), so I was able to watch hockey and NCAA football. Minus: a can of cream soda cost me £2 ($4). Sidebar: I couldn’t remember the name of this place, so I kept thinking it was called Boolean’s BBQ. Even though it wasn’t, I think that “Boolean’s” would be a great name for a restaurant. You can serve things like Boolean Onion Rings and Pythagorean Grilled Cheese Triangles.
Chinatown – This was near dusk, so all of the lanterns that they had strewn over the streets looked really cool. Also, all of the vehicle traffic was prohibited so it was a very festive atmosphere.
[Golden Jubilee Footbridge] – Footbridge that crosses the River Thames. Awesome architecture and a great view of the city from it [Incorrectly called the Millennium Bridge on the original post].
London Eye – The ferris wheel located on the south bank of the Thames. I got some beautiful shots of the city at night that I’ve put into the Gallery.
Waterloo – One of the train stations in London.
Leicester Square and Covent Garden – A lot of bars, clubs and nightlife. By the time we got here though, it was 11pm and I was quite sleepy from all the walking.

Fun story of the day:
After all of our adventures, we got on the Tube at Leicester Square, where a small group of women who had to be in their early 40’s were waiting on the platform, all very inebriated and all dressed like they had just gone clubbing. They had open cans and bottles of whatever they were drinking, and of course they got in the same train car as us. While on the train they started doing cadences, where they took turns shouting things about each other like “Here’s a lady in purple | And she (insert inappropriate comment here)”. This went on for a few minutes, and then they broke into a doing the various chants of “Shout” (“Hey eh eh eh”). Everyone on the train was very entertained. Troy (my old boss) had a term for people like this: “Train Wreck”. This phrase took on new meaning given that we actually were on a train.

Sidebar: Soho Spice
Hands down, the best chicken tikka masala meal I have ever had. It’s located on Wardour Street in the Soho section of London (In case any of you ever come here). My meal started with some crispy bread items and some dipping sauces, which included mango chutney, mint sauce, and something delicious that I think was a vinegar/vegetable purée. Complimenting the meal itself were two side dishes, one a spicy bean dish and the other a tangy zucchini dish, plus rice and naan. The flavors of everything were so overly rich and delicious. The plating was also very interesting, including the small half-sphere of rice which completely fell apart when I put my fork to it. While I was sitting there, I had one of those moments of reflection. Here I am on the start of my post-college life, sitting in a restaurant in a foreign land far away from my home enjoying one of the best meals I’ve ever had, and all I kept thinking was that my life is incredibly awesome, and I’ve been very lucky in the things that have happened in my life so far. Plus, I was wearing a tweed jacket, so clearly I looked good too. Overall, the entire thing was one of the greatest meal experiences that I have ever had.

Well, that sums up my day trip. I hope you enjoyed.

PS, I want to give a shoutout to Amanda for recommending the Rick Steves’ series of guidebooks. The one I bought about London was immensely helpful as I half-haplessly stumbled around London.

PPS, Patrick Stewart is starring as MacBeth. Patrick Stewart Owns You.

PPSS, Stormtroopers are taking over London. Patrick Stewart + Stormtroopers = Ownage.

Rest In Peace, New York Mets 2007 Season.

(Flushing, NY) The 2007 New York Mets Season (2007NYMS) died today after a tragic 8-1 loss to the Florida Marlins, which capped off the end of one of the Mets more memorable collapses. 2007NYMS was vibrant in its youth, starting in April with a record of 15-9, however injuries and lackluster performances in the final stretch led to the death of 2007NYMS, as it finished 14-14 in September, including a 1-6 stretch for the final games of the season. 2007NYMS will most be remembered for Tom Glavine’s 300th win and David Wright setting a franchise record 26-game hitting streak. Surviving are millions of fans who now twiddle their thumbs and switch allegiances to their football and hockey teams of choice until what will be the much anticipated birth of 2008NYMS.

Time of Death: September 30, 2007, 9:25pm GMT (4:25pm EST)

Here in the UK, when referring to athletic completion, it’s not “sports”, but “sport”. Therefore, I will now drone on about sport.

Mets – Today is judgment day. It’s the last day of the regular season, and their slide over the past couple of weeks has resulted in a potential four-way tie for the last two playoff spots. We’ll see how everything plans out over the next 24 hours. In the hunt are the Mets, Phillies, Rockies, and Padres. In my ideal world, since I do claim allegiance to two of those team (the Mets first, and then the Phillies as long as their performance has no effect on the Mets), the Mets will win the NL East and the Phillies then take the wild card.

Soccer (Football) – I’m currently sitting here watching the closing minutes of the Women’s World Cup. The US took 3rd early this morning, and now the Germans have just finished off the Brazil (2-0). I’ve gone out a few nights here to watch football, and for the most part, I view it like I view baseball…it’s the type of game where I need to be multitasking or doing something else, and then I look up when the crowd gets loud and something happened. However there’s a local club down the road from here (it’s in the American equivalent of single A baseball) that I’m going to check out this week.

Rugby – It’s going to be my replacement for football while I’m here in London. The Rugby World Cup is going on right now, and on Friday I watched a match between England and Tonga. The sport shares a lot of elements of football (hard hits, odd-shaped ball, field goals) and was very entertaining to watch. Highlights of the match included a drop-kick to a receiver in the end zone (you can kick the ball to move it forward, and then catch your own kick), and a Tonga player tripping and dropping the ball near the end zone, and a English player picking up the fumble and returning it all the way down the field. The knockout stages will be starting soon, which will make for some exciting nights out this upcoming week.

I’m off Central London to a pub where they show American sports, so hopefully I can watch an NFL game and the Mets game. I’m currently working on uploading the London pictures, and a full Ultimate London Day Trip Update 2007 will be forthcoming tonight.

Well, I seem to have worked out the issues with the domain, so welcome to the global launch of www.coreyhulse.com!

Are you excited? I know that I am! I think I’ll celebrate by drinking some Orangina, eating some McVities, and getting a good night’s sleep.

PS: Dear Mets, stop sucking and make the playoffs already.

My bathroom is called a “wet room”. Why, you ask? Because there’s no shower curtain around the tub, so when I shower, the whole room gets wet. Bloody brilliant concept, if I do say so myself. It would be fine, but I don’t like getting my business socks wet.

So after two days of “wet room”, I ventured up north of my flat to a busier part of Ealing, where I found a department store called Argos. This place is much different than American department Stores, because the store is about as big as the inside of a Dunkin Donuts. You walk in to a bunch of catalogs lined up on the counter, you write down codes on a piece of paper, then you pay for it, they give you a number, and then your stuff is brought up and they call your number deli-style and you pick up your stuff. I am now the proud owner of a shower curtain. No more wet business socks.

Thoughts for the past couple of days:
1. I saw the most amazing rainbow today coming back from the department store, but by the time I got home and grabbed my camera, it was mostly gone. I took some photos anyway. (see picture below)
2. I’ve been here three days, and it’s rained two days. The five day forecast calls for rain, rain, rain, rain, and rain.
3. Also, in the three days here, I’ve gone out to pubs three times and watched a lot of football. Not American football, although I found a TV channel which will play American sports live, like Monday Night Football, at 1:30am London Time. In between plays, they cut to a studio where a British sportscaster and an American expat ramble on the action. Good news: the Giants are coming to London in October to play the Dolphins. Bad news: cheapest tickets are £200 ($400).
4. I’m beginning to really like tea.

Goals for the upcoming days: Find good Indian food, ride a double decker bus, and go do touristy stuff.

Picture 1: Rainbow (unfortunately, the brilliance of it faded by the time I got home and got my camera).

Picture 2: That’s why they call them business socks.

I’m sitting here in my flat in Ealing, which is a town within London. The flight was long, but good, and I really enjoyed that they had video on demand on a screen in each seat. They even had TV shows, and they had my favorite episode of How I Met Your Mother (“Game Night”).

A list of things that I have observed so far:
1. The burger I had in a pub down from my flat was pale in comparison to a half-priced burger from Copa.
2. There is very little selection on British television.
3. Fries with vinegar are delicious.
4. UK commercials are very racy compared to US commercials.
5. Orangina is available in 2 liter bottles.
5a. 2 liter bottles are in a funny shape.

I haven’t actually gotten around to doing much yet, given that I’ve only been here for ten hours. When I do cool stuff and take pictures, I’ll post them on my gallery. Once I get the database set up, I’ll get the pictures going.

We end this evening with a quote from “Game Night”:
Marshall: Backgammon sucks. I took the only good part of backgammon, the gammon, and I left the rest of it in the trash where it belongs.

Welcome to the Blog. I’m going to use this as kind of a general way of keeping in touch with people while I’m over here in London. It’s also my fourth attempt at a blog, so we’ll see how well this actually works.

Currently, I’m sitting in Philadelphia International Airport waiting for my flight. Very exciting.

Points of Interest:
1. If you want a postcard, send me your address to cshulse@gmail.com
2. If you want anything else from London/Europe, also send requests to cshulse@gmail.com (i.e., Stephanie wants me to bring home a British Soldier)
3. Once I get the database set up, I’ll be launching a gallery to post my photos and whatnot

That’s it for now, I’ll post more when I’m across the pond.

Completed Fixtures From My Europe Excursion:

Week 1 – 23-Sep – Ealing
Pubs in Ealing
Lots of Soccer on TV
Bad British TV

Week 2 – 27-Sep – London
London Day Trip
American Football at Sports Cafe
Brentford Football Club

Week 3 – 5-Oct – London
London Day Trip II
American Football at Sports Cafe

Week 4 – 12-Oct – Edinburgh
Golf
Old Castles
Arthur’s Seat

Week 5 – 19-Oct – London
Night on the Town
Rubgy World Cup Finals
Windsor Castle

Week 6 – 26-Oct – London
Thorpe Park
New York Giants Football at Wembley

Week 7 – 2-Nov – Paris
Eiffel Tower
French Cuisine

Week 8 – 9-Nov – London
Star Wars Exhibit
Last Week in London