THE LONGEST HAIRCUT I HAVE EVER HAD IN MY LIFE!!.. plus, a few more "Londony" excursions!

Hello Hello!

Sorry it has been awhile since my last post...I have been SOOO BUSY!

Well, I guess I should start off by explaining the part of my title about haircuts...!

I don't know if any of you know this, but my hair can be quite the problem for me..It grows fast, it grows thick, and I really really like shorter hair... Those combinations don't mesh well, and so I was in need of a haircut.

The problem with needing a haircut in London is that the majority of the salons charge 20 to 25 pounds for a simple haircut.. Do you know how much that is?? thats around 30-40 dollars!! CAN YOU BELIEVE IT?... I sure couldn't. However, the bargain-hunter I am got a great deal. I ended up finding a hair cut at this place called Toni & Guy's Academy for 5 pounds!!

But, as you are probably thinking, with cheap stuff there has to include a catch..

Well I will tell you what the catch was... It was SITTING in a chair for TWO & a HALF HOURS, it was SPORADICALLY moving my head to the RIGHT and to the LEFT and UP and DOWN probably about 20-30 times, it was ACQUIRING a SORE, STIFF neck & back, it was getting my haircut by a STUDENT, and it was NOT GETTING the haircut I was really looking for!

It was pretty ridiculous...but I think the most ridiculous part was just how long it took! It was pretty sad when I was one of the last (out of 15) people in the room getting my hair cut when the majority of the "models" were woman. Pretty pretty sad. It is also pretty sad that it took that long when my professional one at home takes around 7 minutes.. Janet = AWESOME! and finally, it is pretty sad when my mom (another learner) cuts my hair and takes around 20 minutes... and it turns out great! haha!

But you know what..thats ok, and we always have to look on the bright side.

I mean, the person who cut my hair was really pretty, and she was 19 years old! So, its not like I had a bad view while I was sitting in the chair for 2 1/2 hours! =D and, my hair cut was 75 % cheaper than if I got it somewhere else! I would say, my bargain-hunting abilities require a round of applause. wouldn't you agree? =D

That night, the night of my haircut, a few of us opted to go to Avenue Q because we were starting to have musical withdrawals. I am not sure if any of you have heard of this musical, but it is very intriguing in the fact that it is done with puppets…I KNOW! Isn’t that strange…I wasn’t sure if I wanted to go or not, but the people I went with convinced me, and I ended up loving it! It had this sort of crude humor that was just hilarious… For example, they had this song about how “Everybody’s a little bit racist..” as well as others…some of which were kinda inappropriate, but hilarious!!

A few days later, Carlin and I decided that we were a little bored…so we decided that the banqueting house was our best bet…It was pretty much a big room with a great…scratch that…AWESOME ceiling! It was pretty incredible. Not too much to see, but it was pretty relaxing inside…

I think the ceiling had kind of a dreamy effect on me… It was the perfect place to take a nap! But…instead I decided against that…took a few pictures of myself, in a mirror, with the ceiling…kinda weird I know!

And then we went on a little adventure. We found a massive ship, a few pubs that I would like to go in in the future, and a great church! It turned out to be quite an eventful day.

The next day, a group of us went to see a theater performance of “The Mousetrap..” I was really excited about it…but, let me tell you….it didn’t live up to my standards… In fact, it was kinda boring, and not as thrilling as the summary about it says it should be. However….I got to test out MY NEW SUIT!! And…that was the highlight of my night!! I even found out that my suit coat allows me to sneak things in to things..…like footlong Subway sandwiches!!! =D But I ended up not eating it, because I didn’t want to disturb everybody because of the crunchy sound that was made every time I bit into it. I shouldn’t have gotten it toasted…darn!

Later on that week, we made a trek up to Windsor castle. Not much to say, except…it was a pretty epic castle, and they didn’t even allow us to take any pictures of the inside…talk about dumb! However, I managed to sneak one of the queens doll house…and this is no ordinary doll house, its MASSIVE! Take a look.

I also got a picture with this guard that was stationed outside a wall…not sure what he was guarding, but he sure was guarding. I was kinda terrified as I was taking my picture with him because I was kinda close, and he wasn’t moving…at all! I thought he was just going to jump to try to scare me…but evidently he was a nice guard!

Our next “London Gang” excursion together was in the town of Oxford. Talk about AWESOME! We got a walking tour of the town, and…. I am actually kinda mad about it, because now I want to transfer to Oxford University…cause it was the greatest! No, I’m just kidding, I love St. Johns/St. Bens even if Oxford was pretty darn sweet! I got my picture taken in St. John’s College though, which is a part of Oxford University. Take a look at the amazing atmosphere.

I tell you what, as loud as it was outside on the streets of Oxford, as soon as you went inside the walls of any of the colleges of Oxford University, you couldn’t hear a sound! Kinda sweet actually! Just a little side note… - In Oxford, we saw this awesome taxi! If any of you know anything about Chemistry, you will notice that the Periodic table is painted all around the outside of it! AWESOME! Take a look!

The next thing a few of us did was go to a Football “Soccer” game at Wimbley stadium..

I am not to much of a sports fan, but I think that they are starting to dawn on me…it was a great experience, even though the game ended in a tie and neither team won. Darn! You would be surprised at how “into the games” British people get…It was pretty great! I heard some crazy combinations of words that I haven’t heard before in my 20 years of living…Some of them I hope I will forget someday! Haha!

If any of you have been to Kew gardens, you would know that it is probably one of the prettiest gardens in England ever!! Words can’t express how beautiful it was, however, I hope that some of my pictures will…I sort of went a little picture crazy!

Musicals, Musicals, Musicals!! Boy, do I love musicals! The next musical we went to was Wicked. All I have to say is that I just LOVE musicals! Let me tell you that these actors/actresses had quite the vocals and it was impressive. Incredible…I just wish I could teleport all of you to London to see it, cause it was great! Oh, and I got to try out my suit again!! YAY! One of the greatest purchases I have ever made!

My next post....which will be posted in a few days will be about my recent (last week) holiday break to Faro, Portugal!! =D

Matthew