Patrick Stewart, Xmas Party, and the Tower

So Monday 12 of December started with work again. This particular time of year is v. slow for the travel industry, so none of us at the office had much work to do. I ended up working all week on special projects and the such, which I was trying to enjoy since January and February were said to be v. busy months. After work on Monday, I didn't do too much, but Tuesday I met GP, Trace, Andy, and Amanda to go see Patrick Stewart in "A Christmas Carol." We were supposed to have another person join us, but no one could come and we ended up selling back the ticket (thank goodness!). We didn't know much what to expect with the show, since it was said to be a one-man show. The show was absolutely amazing and we loved it! It reminded us a lot of the Harry Potter books on tape, since it was one guy doing narration and also all the voices, but of course the show added live action and wonderful acting. Lovely, lovely, lovely...

Wednesday I went for drinks with friends from work to a place called "The Dickens Hotel," but didn't seem in the least bit Dickensian. It was, however, right on a little harbour with tons of neat boats. Andy met us, before we left to go to the biweekly BUNAC pub meet, the last of the year. Thursday, I went after work to St. Paul's to see their annual "Spirit of Christmas" concert, complete with the London Symphonic and the St. Paul's choir. They performed both religious and secular carols, told stories, and included quite a few humourous readings as well. V. enjoyable in a magnificent setting.

Friday was the day of our office Christmas party. In the UK, Xmas parties are a huge deal. Most every office has some huge party, spending lots of money, etc. Our office chose to have the party in our own office, so we only worked for about half the day, if that. I spent most of the day helpking to decorate the office. John wanted to make an area for the Karaoke, mostly by covering the walls in tinfoil and making a curtain out of it as well to close it off from the rest of the sales floor. We also had to move a ton of the desks and chairs all around to make enough room. Finally, it came to the point to change into our costumes. Our party was to be in fancy dress (British for a costume party) according to the decade in which you were born. I refused to spend any money on a costume, since I had none to spend on it anyway, and just ended p being a lame version of a "belly dancer" since we couldn't find all the bits to the outfit that we thought (thanks to Naomi did I have anything at all!).

By 4.30ish, the people from our satellite offices in Manchester and Glasgow arrived and everyone was loving the outfits. The party was a lot more fun than I thought it would be, including the games of Musical Chairs, Bingo (waaaay different than American/Canadian bingo), and Pass the Parcel (kind of like hot potato, but when the music stops, you unwrap a layer of this huge present and often find little presents hidden in the layers). Karaoke was a bit ridiculous but much fun to watch. And, since my camera was dubbed the most expensive and thus assumed to be the best, I was designated the Official Photographerr of the party, tkaing all sorts of embarassing pictures of coworkers and about a dozen of the official group picture as well. I went home around 10, though from what I heard on Monday, many people somehow managed to find their way home in the wee hours of the morning. (photos: Alex, Linsey, and Craig: our shipping department; John (our Managing Director), Paula (HR/Accounting guru), and Brendan (our Glasgow office); some of our office doing what they do; AA Appointments - UK group photo; and John as Santa and Brendan attempting a bit of karaoke (please note the tin foil in the background).)





Saturday was spent mostly at the Tower of London. I did see the Crown Jewels, the humungous ravens, costumed interpreters, and of course many, many beefeaters (the Yeomen Guards of the Tower). I loved the tour with our Yeoman Guardsman and decided that we need some at Mackinac. They were hilarious, engaging, and extremely informative. I spent a few hours wandering through the Tower, before catching some dinner and touching base with my family, since they were arriving in London the following day. That night, I went to see "King Kong" before turning in for the night. (photos: ice skating in front of the tower; our Yeoman guide; the Tower green with Tower Bridge in the background; and the White Castle inside the Tower.)




Sunday, after attempting to do laundry, I went to Victoria Station to find Mom, Joe, and Leslie. We were all quite excited, but quickly made our way to the Bayswater area to find their hotel. They were quite glad to relax for a bit before we headed to their first pub for some dinner/supper. I then took them to Camden Market (insanely busy by that time of day and for the Sunday before Xmas) before going on a walking tour of the city via Trafalgar Square, Westminster and Big Ben, Leicester Square, and Picadilly Circus. They were at that point exhausted, so we got a quick snack and went back to the hotel before I went home for the night, also quite exhausted and v. pleased to play with my new ipod.