To the Gate of Intense Happiness

I’m nearly ready, I need to iron one (can’t watch Bill in a t-shirt) shirt, than I am going to try to catch some sleep. How does one spend a last day before departing (I had the day off), well I did it like this. You would probably have spend it a lot cleverer.

(Sorry no time for a picture on this post! And no time for rewriting and spellchecking either)

I slept a bit longer, having the day off, and lacking quite some sleep because of late nights.

About a year in London and my Danish watch decided to break down, one day before departure As if to say – well you are not coming back to Denmark are you? I bought it when I arrived in Denmark in 1998, it has accompanied me a fourth part of my life. Needless to say that I was very attached to it. But it doesn’t seem to want to come with me anymore. I feel a bit sad, but it feels so metaphorical. Maybe it’s time for London time in stead. So I had to buy a watch. Oxford Street by bus (88).

Up to Highbury & Islington by tube. My visas are all ready, fantastic. And when I saw the Russian, Chinese and Mongolian stamps in my passport I finally realized that I was really going to do this trip. I am very exited.

After that I took the bus to Piccadilly. No way I could go without saying goodbye to my Cafe. I sat down, soup-bread-coke, and fished my film script out of my bag. I haven’t been wanting to look at it since last Monday where it got read in class by some of my classmates. It was a rather embarrassing experience. And I could hear exactly where the problems where, I was depressed after that, and wanted to throw it out and give up. Today I dared to look at it again, and I while sitting in The Cafe I realized what was wrong with it, apart from the fact that it was way too long and boring at some points. I had lots of Love in my story, but how could I have missed it – where was the Rock? Once I realized that I gave my main character a hobby involving quite a lot of Rock, and he suddenly becomes a much more interesting and funny character.
That’s why I love this Cafe, inspiration comes up like the bubbles in my Coke.

I really hope the train has the same effect in me. And I’ve also found a solution to the “what-if-I-get-bored-on-the-train” question. If that should happen, I’ll take my note book and will start interviewing every passenger on the train. I want to know their names, where they come from, and where they are going. If they are cute I want to know if they are single, and if they want to marry me when they are seventy and have nothing to lose.
Oh. Right. Inappropriate question.
But I’m serious about the interviews. I have after all my Russian phrase book, and I think it will make the train journey more fun. It will also help me pushing my “I am shy” boundaries a bit. This trip is going to be a hell of a boundary pusher for me, because if all goes well, I feel I can travel the world by myself, when just a few years ago I found a trip to Bornholm on my own a rather scary experience.

I left the Cafe, promising to return. I of course had to go to the cinema as well, and saw Orchestra Seats, which was OK, but not great (sorry Zazz!). This meant later home than planned.

But now I am at home, packing the last things, and trying to find out how to get to the airport, because the bloody tube doesn’t go that early in the morning.

I don’t know when I’m back here with an update. I expect Moscow to have an Internet cafe. And Beijing as well. But if all else fails I will definitely write from New York.

I can’t wait to walk through it. The Gate of Intense Happiness. Don’t let them fool you, it is located in New York. 45th Street.

I am on my way.