This reminds me of when I and Bad Ass Husband (who recently shaved his beard, BTW) travelled to London to visit Jennifer while she was doing something very impressive related to art history. (Her college had a dead guy, stuffed, propped up in a chair for board meetings. I'm not sure if this had anything to do with her future blog. One event in time does lead to another.)
So, right before the whole world of air travel changed for the worst for Americans, in August of 2001, BAH and I went to London for a while, then Sweden, then London, then Scotland. Then London. Then we went over to Stonehenge- (please! Who are they fooling? Totally concrete, and recent, too) and then back to London. London, London, London. London is pretty awesome, all in all. Otherwise, why did we keep going back? I guess it was partly the free rent and the friendship thing, but it really was something.
I suppose I should write all about the wonders of the world to be found there. We saw all the usual things. Then we would come back to the flat, exhausted, and watch television. Television there was just such a trip for me. We couldn't go anywhere before ten o'clock in the morning, because I immediately became hooked on a morning soap opera called, "The Tribe". It was one of those post-apocalyptic things, and in this one, everyone alive still was a teenager, and they were all in these gangs called, "tribes." They basically went around acting like teenagers, the usual dramas. God only knows how they stayed alive. They were very into face painting. It was all just so low budget and trashy. I couldn't get enough of it!
Once I returned to the US, I, of course, could not find The Tribe anywhere. It was as though it had never existed. It was a dream of mine, induced by too much pub beer and "English" prattle (which, by the way, I did not understand in the slightest). The only remnant of it in my day-to-day life was when BAH would randomly sing me the two-second-long them song they used for commercial interuptions: "dodododoTRIBES!" and I would sigh a wistful sigh and think of England.
I really miss that show. I actually researched it and read an episode guide and the whole thing. I miss that and this tuna thing I used to buy at Sainsbury's. That is what I miss the most about England.
ReplyDeleteI am really glad you guys came to visit me by the way!!
Yeah, the tribe! I think it was Australian or Kiwi, and only half the kids attempted American accents.
ReplyDeleteYeah, it was really a mind boggling mix of accents. It was hard to tell where they were supposed to be. It was just so bad it was good. Nothing made any sense at all, really.
ReplyDeleteAnd Jen, I am so glad we went to visit you! We had a fantastic time. I would never have gone except that you were there, simply because of the cost of hotels. Do you remember that you and Bad Ass Husband hadn't really met before? And yet you invited him to come and stay with you for two weeks. So sweet of you. And it all turned out so well.
Yes, I know. I loved walching British tv after walking around for hours and needing to chill out. They have this show called "Relocation, Relocation", which is like the American show, House Hunters except the houses they go to are awesome, not ugly modern American boxes.
ReplyDeleteIt's so interesting to see other people's TV, isn't it? I loved it. I also enjoyed how the soap opera stars there were really normal looking. You could be ten pounds overweight and still be a daytime star. I also remember this show we saw one night, really late, that was a British show that was sort of about unusual sexual behavior in America. There was this crazy orgasm machine in Las Vegas, and this lady was trying in out. It was all so odd. There were these corset fetishists, with corset fetishist clubs. How come I had to go to London to learn about sexual oddities in America? And what must the British think of us, if this was how we were portrayed on their television?
ReplyDeleteI used to love The Tribe! They used to play it on TVO in Canada. I never found out how it ended though :\
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