21

Yesterday was my 21st birthday. We went to Cambridge. It took quite a large effort to convince my mother to go, I don't think she realized what "historic university town" meant, which is understandable considering what the university I attend in Sydney looks like. Hardly scenic. It was a nice day, with mild weather. We went punting on the Cam river, enjoying the scenery and the follies of the others on the waterway.



When we returned to London, we went and bought cheap tickets for Les Miserables. Watched it. Came to the realization that life these days is pretty damn good... but I wish we could hear the people sing, singing the song of angry men, when it comes to certain issues.

Today in London is was amazingly hot... for London. A lovely 25 degrees. People couldn't believe it. Everywhere you went people were stripping off their jackets and revelling in the sunshine. As I walked past the tube station the afternoon edition of the Evening Standard screams "Heatwave causes Tube Havoc"... heatwave? One 25 degree day a heatwave? Slightly dramatic. So I bought it to find out what all the fuss was about. It was only 20 pence today anyway. Apparently they had to make the tubes go slow because they were worried about the tracks warping. How a metal train track would warp when exposed to 25 degree celsius temperatures is beyond me. But what would I know?

All I can say is that I understand why all the British tourists look like tomatoes down at Bondi Beach in Sydney. They don't understand the meaning of hot. Today wasn't hot, it was a perfect temperature!

But anyway, away with the cynicism. For a moment anyway. In Leicester Square, the grass was crowded with people eating icecream and relaxing. My sister and mum joined them with our cups of Hagen Dasz... we sat and enjoyed that afternoon sun, then we went back, got their bags, took an extraordinarily expensive journey to Heathrow on the Heathrow Express, I took them to their desks, they checked in then we said goodbye. Hopefully they are on a flight to the other side of the world (as in, not because I'm happy to see the ass end of them, but because I hope they didn't miss the flight)... and my life has returned to the Harrow state of normality after a fortnight of rushing around like a crazy tourist. Except for the abnormally nice weather.

People are back in halls and were playing football in the car park, and having water fights. The usual cars in the car park were blaring out Bollywood and Bhangra music; the volume of which seems to increase as the temperature increases. In the coldness of winter I could only hear a muffle of it permeating through sealed car windows, but as the weather has warmed, the car windows and now doors remain open, and the owners of those big sub-woofers have decided that all of us who live here should share their musical taste. I walked to Sainsbury's in the near-balmy evening and I was reminded of balmy Sydney nights, where we would throw our balcony doors open, or I would go outside and study on the roof or in the courtyard. Or sometimes, I would be walking back from work through Circular Quay with the comfortably warm air around me and the city lights sparkling in my eyes and reflecting off the water.

Just last night I wrote an email to a friend saying I didn't want to come back to Sydney and I wanted to stay here. I hurridly searched to see if I could extend my exchange... but the deadline for applications was May 1st.

Tonight reminded me that there are things in Sydney I love too and it won't be so bad to go back even though I have had a wonderful time here and love it. It also made me wonder why I didn't want to go back... full aware that my lifestyle here is different primarily because I am not working like I do in Sydney... maybe it's because I finish my degree in November and I am totally unsure of what to do after that.

I don't know. But I'm 21 now so maybe I should...