Being Productive. Sort of.

                Sarah and I don’t have work until Thursday (her) and Friday (me). We had hoped to work Tuesday and Thursday but things didn’t pan out that way. But the six eight hours or more days in a row absolutely murdered me so I can’t say I was too upset to have four days off. It also enabled us to get some stuff done (and a lot of sitting around).

                On Tuesday we finished up our flat application. We both had to fill out an application form that the landlord sends to his referencing company. It’s a little stressful because there’s so many variables. At the end of the day, though, it is the landlord who makes the final decision based on information received from the referencing company about how risky they consider Sarah and I to be. He keeps talking about filling out paperwork, though, so he obviously thinks this is going ahead. I hope it does. I’m tired of living on a couch. I’m ready to start settling. Besides Sarah and I both filling out the application form and sending it off, we also had to pay £150 for the referencing. It seems like a lot but we have learned over the last few weeks that in the grand scheme of things they can charge you for, that’s not that bad.

                We thought paying the fee would be difficult. For some reason we were overcomplicating it. Our original plan was to put the money on Sarah’s UK bank account then go back to the flat and transfer it to the landlord via the internet. In reality all we had to do was hand the bank teller the money and they put it right on the landlord’s account. Duh. We’re stupid. It was so easy and it transferred really quick. By Wednesday morning I had an email from the landlord saying he had received the payment. After our visit to the bank we stopped by a couple discount stores to start picking up some stuff for our eventual flat. We know that it will take some time to make wherever we live feel homey but we need to start grabbing some stuff. Most important is sheets and we managed to buy some sheets and a blanket for incredibly cheap. We literally walked up and down the aisles grabbing essentials you wouldn’t normally think of, like garbae bags, toilet paper and soap. They might not be as important as pillows but could you imagine going to wash your hands and having no soap? Ew.

                We spent the rest of Tuesday binge-watching Gossip Girl (we’re several episodes into season 4 now). Wednesday we had booked the day off of work because we had tickets to Clarence Darrow, a play starring the greatest actor to ever walk the fact of the earth: Kevin Spacey. He is mine and Sarah’s favorite actor. The play was a one-man play at The Old Vic, where Kevin Spacey is the Creative Director. The stage is just a small piece of floorboard in the center and the seats go full circle around it. This was the Dress Rehearsal, as the opening night was later that day. Our tickets only cost £10, as the theater reserves one hundred seats for under 25’s.

                The play itself was just okay. It’s about an American lawyer, played by Kevin Spacey, who basically just narrates his life and his court cases. Some parts were interesting, like when he fought for teaching evolution in school or against racism. Some parts made me want to fall asleep. Kevin Spacey was fantastic. I imagine doing a one-man play is incredibly difficult. He’s just an absolute legend. So he was great to watch but the play itself it boring. Oh well, at least I’ve seen him live.

                After the show as we were walking to the bus we ran into a girl we had worked with all weekend. It was funny because I kind of forgot that we know people besides each other now, and running in to people we know is an actual possibility. It makes me feel more settled here. We took the bus back to the flat and waited for Sandra to get back. Last week Sandra decided to brave the crazy and come to the One Direction concert next weekend with Sarah, me and my parents. She even suggested we watch my One Direction movies to warm her up. Well you don’t need to ask Sarah and I twice, we are more than happy to watch ALL THE THINGS.

                And so Sandra came home and we watched This Is Us, their documentary, their Up All Night concert and most of their music videos – some of them several times. We also ate Chinese food. It was kind of a perfect day: Kevin Spacey and One Direction. And now I’m super excited for the concert June 8^th. Right now Sarah and I have June 6^th off so if we don’t get work we’ll go on StubHub that day and see if we can get super cheap tickets and see them TWICE! IT’S PERFECT!