So I thought I posted an update about the departure of the Colombians but as it turns out, I wrote the thing but never actually posted it.

Yes, they left. Sonia, Alia, Jennifer and I were very relieved. And it turns out Marc was too- even though he hung out with them fairly often he wasn’t a fan of their habits either. Their room was empty for about a week and all was good. Then two Bulgarian guys moved in. My first impression wasn’t very good- they smoke in their room just like the Colombian guys and spend forever in the bathroom in the morning. But it turns out they’re very friendly and social, they know how to clean up after themselves, they don’t blast loud music all the time, and even though they smoke in their room they keep the door is closed so it doesn’t permeate the house. In conclusion, they seem to be an upgrade.

Everyone in the house is now employed, so trying to use the bathroom in the morning is almost impossible. (That was the only good thing about the Colombian guys- their schedule was so weird that we never had to compete for the bathroom with them.) I changed my schedule so that I shower at night though, and it actually solves quite a few issues.

Now the major problem in the house is with our landlord. He gives us a monthly allotment of money to pay for gas service to the house, but it appears that it’s not actually enough to heat the house. I guess heating your house is some sort of luxury that’s not included in the rent? We don’t even have hot water most of the time. I feel like when I go home I’m in a third-world country instead of the U-fucking-K! Thank god the shower is electric or I would have moved out already. If this whole issue doesn’t get resolved I will definitely be relocating in January when I can get my full deposit back. I keep thinking about this place we looked at up in north London- it was a big house run by a company called Accommodation London that (for the same price we pay now) includes a twice-weekly cleaning service for the kitchen and all the bathrooms. I told Sonia and Alia about it and they seem really interested too. The only problem is that it is a little far from central London. I’m wondering if we can find something similar that is closer.

Jen and her friends are having Thanksgiving dinner at a pub in Windsor tonight (about an hour outside of London). I get off work slightly too late to make it all the way out there, so I guess I’m not having a Thanksgiving dinner. Maybe I’ll find a Thanksgiving-y sandwich for lunch today or something. I think I would be sad about it if there were any real indications here that it’s Thanksgiving, but since there’s not it’s not a big deal. My co-workers keep asking me why I didn’t take the day off. I don’t think they really understand the holiday.

It’s finally feeling sort of winter-y in London. While in California when it rains, it rains, here it will rain lightly for a while, then the sun will come out for a few hours, and then it rains again, suns comes out, et cetera. I don’t think it’s too bad since you get breaks from the rain pretty consistently. You just have to remember to carry an umbrella with you all the time.

I rode a double-decker bus in London for the first time this weekend (our train line was closed for construction). It was pretty cool. The normal city bus runs a block away from my house and goes right into central London. You pass (among other things) the Tower of London, Tower Bridge, St. Paul’s Cathedral, Trafalgar Square, Piccadilly Circus and Oxford Circus. It’s a pretty good tour of the city for only 90 pence! (And if you get a driver as crazy as the one I got you’ll be on the edge of your seat the whole time.)