My Fellow Americans

So, last night/morn was another fun filled nite in jolly Exeter. After coming home from the library, I met Chris, an American post grad student, form Cali, that has travelled everywhere and been in Exeter for over a year. He was real cool and soooo damn funny. Andaiye know she can talk, because he already knew who I was, what I was doing, what my plans were, all before I even spoke a word to him, lol. He’s here in the Drama department too. Funny how us theater freaks find each other. After hanging around for a bit, we decided to go out for a bit. Since Chris has been here longer, we let him pick the spot. So, off we went to the Old Firehouse, a bar and restaraunt that has live jazz on Saturday nites. It was a nice crowd. Everybody sitting around, having fun, talking, enjoying each others company. The music was bumpin’ too. In between sets I was gonna go up and grace the mic with song, Ain’t Misbehavin’ in B flat, but I decided to let the musicians have their spotlight. Didn’t wanna bring down the house for ‘em. Hahaha. We just sat around the bar and exchanged stories and jokes. Chris actually went backpacking across Europe.  After my bad news about my contact in London, he gave me some really good tips on getting started there. It seems that Hostels are the key. I know, I know. I’ve never thought the same about them, or that word, since those damn movies came out. But let’s be honest, only stupids get themselves in those situations. I’m from the D, I don’t play dat. He told me to find a hostel to work at, that way they pay your room and board and you have a little spending money left over, AND they pay “under the table”, so , starting off, I don’t have to worry about the permit and that vicious cycle. I now have a plan B. Thanx Chris.

Hearing our American accents this guy getting a drink at the bar told us that he just got back from NY for his birthday, his wife surprised him with a week trip there…ummm, ok. must be nice. Then we start off a bar-wide singing of Happy Birthday. I wanted to break into the Stevie version, but only me and Andaiye would understand. It’s a black thing, lol.

After chatting with them, stealing a bottle of wine (not really stealing. someone left more than half a bottle on the table, they were gone, so Andaiye and Chris decided to get rid of it for them…yeah, that’s it) and talking some more, the bar started to wind down. Just then we were called over to the table of some younger kats. He said, “It’s your birthday? Happy Birthday!” I said, “Uhh…no. It was the other guys birthday.” And they said they were singing to me, and I owed them a Happy Birthday song. So, I sung it and a new friendship was made. Clearly they were drunk, but we met Bob, a skinny 6′5 (seriously didn’t know he was that tall til we stood up to leave) Irish British dude, Huw (pronounced like Hugh) a Welsh Motown lover, and Max, a young guy that I definitely thought was a butch girl (he must look JUST like his mum, because I really thought he was a girl). They were cool. Bob kept wanting to fight and wrestle with me all night. Max was so drunk he often drifted off and didn’t know what just happened. And Huw had Al Jolson, IN BLACKFACE, as the wallpaper on his phone…(record scratch)…yup, you heard that right. What’s really sad, is that he had NO IDEA how offensive that was. He just thought it was some cult classic thing. I immediately told him that, if we were in America, I’d probably be beating him down right now, but since we’re in the UK, and he didn’t know, it won’t come to that…just take it off your phone RIGHT NOW! And he did, and he was sooooo sorry too. He apologized about it ALL night. In the meantime, we met their other mates, Chris and Chris. So, that’s three in this new circle of friends: American Chris, Young Chris (who’s the youngest of the 3), and Dad Chris (who all of them call Dad because he’s the oldest out of their crew). So, we sit around talking and joking, loudly and drunkenly, until the bar closes. Then, of course, we get invited back to their house for more chillin…and of course we go. Why stop going over drunk strangers houses now? Hahaha. Plus Huw demanded it because he wanted us to come with him and help him destroy the Al Jolson record (yes, this man had the record) that was sitting in his room, on the shelf. Also, just to give you perspective, ALL of them were younger than us…the youngest was 18. They age so quickly here. No really, everyone here looks older than they really are. And not in size (like in America because of the hormones in food) but in the face.

 So, these guys literally live around the corner from the bar. So, we all walk over there, minus American Chris, gotta get up early, and with some new guests, 2 british girls and another American guy, Tom (who me and Andaiye very quickly met in the library a few days ago because he was using a converter to plug in his laptop. RANDOM!) After getting to the house, destroying the Al Jolson record in Huw’s room, and singing and dancing to music on his computer, we went outside, to the garden, to shoot the breeze some more. Where conversations went from cultural differences, to the confederate south and Is the Confederate flag offensive?, to Tom’s side hustle, selling IPhones (because they don’t have them here), to Bob continuously wanting to fight, to Tom telling a anti-climactic story where drunk Bob, and drunk everybody, kept interrupting (while looking like Brad in Fight Club, with his rugged ensemble, the one when he was in the long tan coat with the Collie fur around the collar, lol). I LOVE BEING SOBER! This is why I stay sober, I would have never noticed the ridiculousness if I was intoxicated. I just wouldn’t. You can’t write this kind of stuff. It’s just too good to miss.

So, we say goodbye to our new friends, don’t know if we’ll ever see them again. Because, of course, we didn’t get their information. But being the life of the party whereever we go, I’m sure they’ll find us. Especially with all the random houses we go over. Ha!

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