Follow up to Bloggers Unite entry.

First time waking up at 6AM my entire year and a half in the UK. I must have been excited. Three hours on not so smelly bus (think up a notch from Greyhound my Americanas!) with Writer’s Digest on my lap. I just realized that I wore the exact same outfit to meet my kooky, wonderful blogger friends as I wore to meet Jock in Chicago our second time meeting – that must mean something.

Who knew how nervous I would be!

After searching the hazy streets of Earl Court for the underground, forty minutes on the tube and a grope around for the Crypt’s Cafe (when it said “crypt,” I didn’t really think it meant there were dead people under our feet, but there were), I was at the appointed location for the blogger meetup. I took a minute outside before I entered just to really take in what was to be my last time in London this year. There’s something so freeing about entering a city on your own, traipsing through its subterranean villages and emerging to an entirely different world; watching the grumpy faces of even the most beautiful Londoner, upset that they have to spend another day buried under the humidity makes me appreciate this experience even more – they weave through this maze of interpersonal skills everyday and I get to observe. I also sneakily pretended for a brief moment that I was back in Paris, reliving my days as a student at the Odeon metro.

Oh how glorious are these European cities. I will miss you.

Bristol, you are wonderful, but I’m just not a minor city girl. I need BIG. You have your charm though.

So, in I go. There sit Smitten by Britain, A Mid-Atlantic English, Pond Parleys (both of them!) and Laura from About.com – then finally, 3 Bedroom Bungalow (and her adorable daughter). I felt as if I were meeting my long lost friends – surely I’ve spent just as much, if not more (at least online), time with them than my real everyday friends here in England. We have shared our stories, read our woes, crusaded together to finish a script in 30 days, emailed our annoyances and joys at life in England and they have been just as much a part of my journey as any real person. It’s amazing and I feel like a big nerd when I say this, but I felt like these other bloggers really understand my English experience in a completely different, but still just as relevant, way as my friends and family.

(Missing Michelle and Laura in this photo)

I arrived at noon and only left at 4pm when I absolutely couldn’t stay any longer. I booked my return ticket at 5pm, thinking that surely four hours would be plenty of time to catch up, chat and meet them. I was so wrong! We had so much to talk about.

Without kissing too much ass, I loved them all. I can honestly say that because its true – how interesting to hear what everyone thought everyone else would be like in real life. I think the biggest thing for me was seeing how their writing suited their personalities and reflected who they are in real life.

Definitely a fascinating trip, and if it weren’t for the fat smelly man seated next to me, the loud, annoying woman behind me who spoke on her phone the entire ride back or the rain that greeted me when I got off the bus – I would say it was the perfect day.

Thanks Melissa for organizing!

Side Note – Mike from Postcards from Across the Pond (A.k.a. Pond Parleys) gave me a copy of his book and I highly recommend it for anyone planning on traveling to England. He has quite the knack for perfecting in words all the idiosyncrasies that come with moving to England. This is not a paid endorsement – I just really like his book! So buy it.