Running at Riverside Park

October 2^nd

 

I have no idea why it took me a week to discover this gorgeous place called Riverside Park. The park itself is by the river and is just charming with football fields and deciduous trees lining the paths. There even is a really cool playground for kids (or myself when I find some friends who feel so inclined as to join me)!!! Up towards the edge of the park, there is a bridge that is dated back to 1926, I believe, and is absolutely fabulous as it has stone arches that kiss the water making a circle or oval when seeing it with its reflection. Curiosity got the best of me as I explored both sides of the bridge doing laps through the streets trying to find a harbor or dock that I could go to- no such luck. Though I did discover a public restroom, or toilette they call it here… make sense; only to discover that like Munich, the public toilet costs 50 pence. Swans gathered around the dock by the parks edge. I never have really seen any swans in Washington before, with the exception of the two swans in my cousin’s former neighborhood pond in Bainbridge Island. It really adds charm here in Europe to see those graceful birds in the water… though I would hate to have one angry at me- they are huge!!!!

Once I was back from my run, I noticed that the shower was occupied by the red indicator by the door handle. Dripping, I waited patiently (or as patient as I could), with the slight panic of having only an hour to get ready for an international students get together at 2pm where I get to meet an assigned ‘buddy’ -Southampton student- to answer any questions and get to know them. At 1:20pm I finally knocked lightly on the door, but I was confused as to if there was a response or not. By 1:50pm I asked two of my flat mates if they knew who was in the shower/bathroom, and if they think the person is alright. They walked over to the door with me, and one of them had the brilliant idea to try the handle. It opened. No one was there that whole time. Note: Running tends to make me a bit scattered brained, but this definitely made me feel smart as I was running late for a meeting when I was waiting for an available shower to become available. All I could do was laugh, hurry up and get my shower. Rushing out of the dorm, I bumped into Sami on the stairs, so I asked if she would like to join. We got there not too late, and I caught glimpse of my “buddy’s” name tag when I first entered, though by the time I got my own name tag on, he was out of sight. I ended up talking in French with a group of Parisian students who didn’t have their own buddies show up, so it wasn’t a lost effort in going there.  

This week I have managed to survive off of a loaf of bread, honey, red currant jelly, tea biscuits, tea, broccoli, and occasionally a spinach salad. People invite me to BBQs so it isn’t too bad, though I really need to step it up a notch in my culinary attempts… because no matter how good those things are for breakfast, they get boring by dinner.