Ahhhh...gotta love London!

I remember a time when all I did was live and breathe sports. It was soon after I relocated to the U.S., and discovered the 24/7 sports channel that was ESPN. I'd watched some Eurosport at home through a subscription to a foreign cable provider, but after six years of boarding school with virtually no TV watching, I wasn't much of a TV person. Besides, many of the European sports (Formula One, cycling) didn't appeal to me.

Then of course I moved to the U.S. and it was NBA until 1:30 a.m., or college football until midnight. I even stayed up until 4 a.m. some days to study for exams because I couldn't manage to steal away from a game to focus enough to grasp anything. My family and friends thought I was crazy to turn down a movie or outing because a double-header NBA game on TNT was on.

Now fast forward some 10 years and I'm in London, where the English Premiership is still in action. And back at home, the NBA Playoffs is heating up with second round action. What am I doing? Having fun. I'm letting go a little bit, enough to enjoy what London has to offer. In the past, I'd never dream of stepping out while my EPL team, Arsenal, is playing (How could we end our goal of breaking a six-year title drought with a 3-1 loss to Stokes?) but yesterday I did just that. I headed to the O2 (formerly the Millennium Dome) for a birthday dinner at a Thai restaurant.



I'll admit, the thought of digging into what's becoming my favorite indulgence, Thai food, was too good to pass up, and I was right. My braised lamb was incredible.



I missed out on the disappointing end to Phil Jackson's career--barring yet another comeback-- as the Lakers got swept by the Mavs, but I stole a few phone updates while eating and conversing with friends. I'm realizing more that there's more to life than sports (I can't believe I'm saying this) and I need to make time for friends who may not be as passionate as I am about sports. And with friends like these hosting me, it wasn't hard to.



If there's one thing London's good for, it's for reconnecting me with old friends from Nigeria. I used to think the Carribean community made up the majority of blacks in England. Not anymore. From the moment I stepped off the plane, the familiar tone of the Nigerian accent filled the air. I knew it wouldn't be long before I was running into someone from my past, who I haven't been in touch with. And then it happened. On my second day here. As my friends and I walked to the train station headed for a house party, I hear someone shout my friend Obehi's name from across the street. It was quite funny that neither one of us had our glasses on and failed to recognize who it was until she crossed the street.



A former schoolmate, Bolu, was making a grocery run and spotted us. Ahhhhh...gotta love London. I've randomly spotted two other old friends in a random manner. One happened to be sitting behind us at the packed church my friend Lola took me to yesterday. Now I relish going out for just about anything. Which is what I'm about to do now. With all my friends at work, I'm about to try the independent thing and head out for some groceries. Who knows who I may run into in the 400 or so meters between Lola's flat (British word for apartment) and the local ASDA store. And for that reason, I say there's nothing wrong in compromising a visual viewing of a game with a phone scoring update. Just as long as it's not the Heat game.

Signing out from London with love.