This morning we had class at 10:30 AM … a police officer came to our centre and talked to us about crime in London. The number one report they get is stolen purses and wallets … pickpocketing is a big issue in London. They called them dippers (people who “dip” into your purse and grab your wallet) and draggers (if you leave your purse on the floor, they will drag your purse with their foot). These thieves are really big on getting your ATM card and PIN number. They will even put cameras above ATM machines and then try and distract you and steal your ATM card. Now they have both your PIN and your card. Because of this, he advises that we only use ATMs inside banks when we can.
After class, the roomie, C, and I went to an express lunch place called Prêt a Manger. I got a falafel and hummus sandwich (delicious). When we were done eating back at the flat, some of my flatmates and I went to Covent Garden to shop around. I looked for boots again and still could not find any 
- walking near Covent Garden
- inside Covent Garden
An unsuccessful few hours later, we headed back to the flat and had a quick dinner before we had to catch the bus (double decker for the first time!!!). We rode from the station near our flat to just across the river to the South Bank. A very nice German gentleman (and professor at UCL) showed us the quickest route to the theatre. And there was the National!
- The National Theatre
- first ride on the bus!
We watched The Power of Yes by David Hare who has written other social and political commentaries over the past 20 years.
The Power of Yes is a series of interviews between David Hare (played by an actor) and various business, banking, journalistic, and political figures about what went wrong in 2007 to cause the recession. As my roomie put it, the show was “a glorified powerpoint”. There were a lot of flashing lights and big screen displays but nothing was really accomplished throughout the play. Maybe I understand stocks and banking a bit better (not really). Maybe they were able to get a few laughs (few from the American students). But all in all The Power of Yes was a huge waste of time that put all of the blame on the banks and America. Because “everyone put their faith in the dollar that was too big to fail.” And then some of the British actors were trying to be American CEOs and stock brokers and it was absolutely painful to listen to them attempt stereotypical accents. The doesn’t-give-a-sh*t Californian businessman, the hyperactive New Yawk Wall Street man, the over-annunciating female journalist with big hair (“Some sayyyy that youuuu haaaave an idearrrrr to turrrrnnnnn this re-ce-ssion arowwwwnd”).
Our professor even fell asleep during the show. Yes, it was that bad.
When we got home, C and I worked on fixing her fried computer. After calling the Apple hotline, we made an appointment to visit an Apple Store in London to see if they can fix the problem.
The rest of the night we laid low, watched bad TV, and hung out in the flat.
