Spring Break 2003 was the last week of March, from March 22 - 30. After it was decided that Iain was not coming back to the States during his Lent term holidays (which is from March 22 - April 28, coinciding with my break), I booked plane tickets to see him in London during my break. This was planned in early January so Iain and I had the countdown to Spring Break to motivate us in our studies - it was the light at the end of the tunnel.
Then the world took a plug into chao and the fnits hit the fan in the Middle East. The week before my scheduled departure, I was busy studying Pharmacology and Pathology (what else?!) when that Monday evening, during one of my daily phone calls home to check on the status of the parental units, my parents announced that they have been speaking with Mrs Bolton, aka "Mum", and it was of the collective opinion of the three of them, that I should not go to London the following week, in lue of the imminent war in Iraq. I was devastated. Both sets of parents are worried and in difficult times like these, they wanted me to stay put. Then transpired 72 agonizing hours. After I had talked to my parents and Mum that Monday evening, it was too late to call Iain. I called Trina, my Virginia Granny and also had my friend John "P Funk" come over - I just needed someone there. I kept watching the news on CNN that evening and went to bed at midnight, setting my alarm clock for three hours later. 3am, I called Iain - it was 8am for him and he was surprised to hear from me at this hour. I told me what happened and what the parental units are both sides are concerned about, which whether it be paranoia or just being parents, their concerns have cast a shadow in my perfect world awaiting spring break. Surprisingly, Iain sounded almost calm over the phone - in comparison to my hysterical state at 3 o'clock in the morning - and just told me that he loved me very much and that we had a few days to decide - we'd just watch and see what happens.
Tuesday evening was the "deadline" that the American president set for the Iraqi regime to go into exile and avoid a war. Iain was more concerned about the alarming spread of this mysterious flu-like virus, later to be dubbed Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrom (SARS) and being in a filtered air environment of the airplane from travelers who might have been exposed in endemic areas. Knowing Iain and how he reads everything and analyzes the world, and also assured that he would never do anything to jeopardize my safety and us - if he was more concerned about SARS than me flying to London with the Operation Iraqi Freedom business going on, I made my decision to continue with the itenerary as planned. Trina also felt that I would be fine, even though it's understanding that my parents and Mum would worry. The parental units recognized my decision and I knew that they would be praying to every deity they know for my safety, and still worried to death until I return.
<the weekend in DC>
After the Friday Pathology exam, I finished the last bit of packing (I was taking all sorts of good old American over-the-counter flu medicine for Iain and my full medical exam kit), and left Norfolk. I stopped by Midlothian to pick up some last minute things from Mum that Iain had requested, then went on to Washington , DC, where I was staying and visiting friends until my flight Monday morning. I stayed with Sarah Friday and Saturday nights, went out to VIP club Friday night, , met up and hung out with Sharon Saturday, and I stayed with Ken and his parents in Chantilly for Sunday night, and Ken took me to Dulles Monday morning at 6:30AM.
we tried unsuccessfully
to fly a kite on the lawn, on a beautiful windless day.
|
Sharon and I in front
of the place where Congress meets
|
We visited the National Botanical Garden by the
Mall, after a wonderful Girl Talk in the Sculpture Garden of the Smithsonian
- that's Sarah and Sharon hiding by the plants |
this was just a stunning
flower...
|
isn't this a cool tree!? |
|
I really liked the orchids
|
|
I met up with Mr &
Mrs. Aaron Vahid Cederquist in Vienna and we had a lovely lunch at a Thai
restuarant.
|
|
<LONDON>
My flight arrived at Heathrow local time 8:30PM Monday night. I was carefully inspected by the customs officer over his little spectacles about what I was doing in London, how long have I known my fiance, where and how did we met. I passed the test I guess and he stamped my little blue passport and let me into the land of the Great Britain. Iain had given me his cell number and that of his friend Christoph's, in case the unreliable London public transportation precluded him from arriving at the airport on time. When I didn't see him at the terminal, I had fun losing money to the airport money exchange system and figuring out the intricacies of British Telecom, and I called Iain, got his voice mail (which meant he's underground somewhere), then called Christoph, introducing myself and sent the poor German into panic and figuring out ways to either reach Iain or come get me at the airport himself. Iain called back and informed me that the train had overheated and caught on fire, and all the passengers were evacuated and stranded, trying to get to Heathrow for arrivals or departures. I waited while he was rushing to get to the airport by sharing a taxi with several other desperate passengers; I was accosted by Indians and Arabs in British accents asking me whether I wanted a taxi and called me "cheeky", then Iain arrived and all was well again.
The weather was amazingly warm for London at least, we shopped at Oxford St and Covenant Gardens, strolled through China Town, saw a wonderful musical, went to a pub, saw the Dali exhibit, had coffee by the river, visited the Guy's and St. Thomas' Hospital (because I'm a geeky med student), and trotted around the city. I tried fish-n-chips once, but all the other times, we stayed in and Iain cooked and pampered me. I had a slight cold arriving in the city, my system did not like the smog and smoke very much, so there was lots of therapy with tea brought to the doctor's bedside.
I was under strict orders from Mum to take lots of pictures and Iain's living situations. There are also the usual silly tourist pictures, unfortunately my camera was a little messed up for some reason, so some of the pictures were a little...shall we say...out of focus. And also the thumbnails link to larger original files which are about 700KB to 1MB, so it might take a while to load up on slower connections.
Iain at his desk in his
flat, he has one of the largest rooms in the house (notice the Chinese scroll
on the wall:).
|
the view of the veranda from the floor windows by Iain's desk. We had just finished a heart English breakfast. |
the view from the veranda - the river is just beyond the apartments and the hazy skyscraper in the background is across the river (notice the car facing the OTHER way). |
|
The courtyard of graduate
housing complex - Iain outside his house, #15 Patina Walk.
|
Iain took me to see LSE,
and this was a random old shop around the corner (notice the date on the
panel)
|
|
some of the main buildings of LSE |
I really like the spiral
staircase of the library
|
|
We went to see the British equivalent of Wal-Mart called Tesco, and explored the marina
|
|
This is the boat the
Iain wants, the Nathanial. Notice the dog napping in the sun on the
deck.
|
Iain dressed for "Phantom
of the Opera" at Her Majesty's Theatre.
|
|
We went to see the change of guards at the Buckingham Palace |
|
|
Look how CUTE they are!!!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Then we wandered over to St. James' Park by the palace, it was a beautiful spring day in London with flowering trees, we walked in the park, napped in the sun, and studied British wildlife.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Then we wandered some more...Big
Ben and the Millinium Eye
|
notice the anti-war protesters
in front of the parliament
|
|
|
I forgot what this was
called, but it's near White Hall and all the important stuff. And it's
pretty.
|
the stone lions of Chinatown
|
The last day in London, Iain decided to shave. I have NEVER seen my fiane clean shaven!!! Nor has any of our mutual friends (except Adam Knoff who's known Iain since the third grade, before the age of facial hair). The subject sort of just came up in the conversation, what if Iain shaved his mustache and goatee? What would he look like?!
|
notice the Chinese textbook, Iain was reading the well known Chinese story of "Kitten catching fish." (in Chinese - he had a crash course while I was there). |
He looks so young!!!! and I think he looks really handsome:) then again, i'm a little biased... |
close up of the chin that I've never seen before!!! |
and I think he looks like a Backstreet Boy now:) Iain wasn't sure whether he liked being compared to a boy band. |
|
We called Mum to tell her about the shaving, this is at the Common House which has the only phone that takes Iain's calling card. |
|
|
BEFORE - with whiskers Christoph invited us for some French wine and cappiccino in the backyard of his house. |
AFTER - without whiskers - now they really look alike:) |
Lisa, Iain's flatmate who's in the Canadian Army, she was the only one that talked like us!! |
I left London Sunday morning and almost missed my flight because of Daylight Savings and we didn't know about it. But I got rushed through check-in and made it alright. And during the flight, I enjoyed some very nice French wines.
<afterword>
British Airways brought me back to a snowy and freezing Washington, DC - it was warmer in London!!! Immediately after the pilot turned off the seat beatl signs, I called both sets of parents and Iain, so everyone could stop worrying. My friend Ken picked me up at the airport and his parents fed me beef noodle soup and sent me home with a box of mangos. I was feeling really sick by then, knowing that I was coming down with something. There was lots of congestion and runny nose, hacking out lungs and sore throat. I drove down to Mum's house to drop off Iain's suitcase, it was about 6:45PM when I got to Midlothian, and she insisted that I stay the night in her house and not go on any further to Norfolk. My classes the next day started at 8AM. She said she was putting me to bed early and then she'll get me up and on the road by 5:30AM to make it to Norfolk on time should I decide to attend classes. I took a hot shower, took whatever medicine I could get my hand on (all the good ones I took to London for Iain, my supplies are rather limited here now), and passed out in Iain's room. It was very cozy. Then I got up Monday morning at 5AM and had some cereal and milk and was on the road as scheduled. Still stuffy and coughing, but I know where to get more good drugs. Mum also sent me home with a care-package of bread, cheese, and French wine. Classes were ok, I left pharmocology early to get some medicine and groceries since the Australian professor was lecturing straight from the notes. So now I'm back to the old routine and I need a vacation after my vacation.