Sog, Rad, Puss, & Aud

     It appears that my theory about pubs is indeed plausible. In an earlier entry ("Pubs Are Interesting Places"), I detailed an idea about how pubs are really just book clubs with alcohol and food. Through an adventure that some friends and I went on this past weekend, I have learned this to be partially true because of my new favorite place in London, The Porter House.
     As you might expect, pubs are quite busy on Friday evenings. People come right from work to relax after a hard week at work before going back to their suburban homes. This was the case of four brits from Essex that were seated at the table next to us: Sog, Rad, Puss, and Aud. (disclaimer: these were nicknames given to each other from childhood)
     Due to the close proximities of the pub, my three other friends and I eventually started talking to them. Now, as a college student from America, I was not expecting the conversation to be fruitful or full of any intelligent dialogue. However, I was dreadfully wrong.
    For the next two hours, we talked to these four best friends about a variety of different things. Sog and I discussed a mutual love for the Dropkick Murphy's and had an in depth debate on the development of popular music in the US and UK. With Puss and Aud, I discussed economics, the war in Afghanistan, and how to disarm IEDs (Aud is being deployed on Thursday to do that).
    Yet, the core of my theory is almost entirely preserved with the conversation that I had with Rad. For the last hour that we were at the pub, Rad and I discussed almost everything that strangers do not or should not talk about: American politics, UK politics, religion v. atheism, global preservation, and (my personal favorite) the development of African politics, particularly South Africa and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
     This was the most deep, intellectual, and personal conversation I think that I have ever had with a human being. The whole lot of them were extraordinary people and I can't say how grateful I am to have met them. Also, they helped prove my theory that pubs are places of academics. Although we didn't discuss literature, I think the amount of politics, history, and sociology involved upholds my claims.

London Love, Kristen

PS- Sorry this was such a long story. As you could probably tell, I get a little excited about my theories.