RUN OTLEY, RUN!

Any englishman has heard about fancy dress, and had surely been in one of those massive theme parties. They're actually amazing parties, though are an excuse for girls to dress up in the bitchiest way possible without being persecuted by horny kids (me as well, LOL) and for boys to be even more stupid, if possible (?).

Lets face it: the little tiny child inside us is always grateful when we just have fun without thinking "OMG, this is so stupid, it'll ruin my status quo!".

Ghostbusters working in parties too.

In Leeds, they do much more.

Picture it: late '80s,  some extremely bored mid-aged men, dressed up, laying on the steps of a house that was supposed to hold the party of the year. Instead, it turned out to be shitty, and everybody is just chilling out by that time - which, to me, is not what people are supposed to do in parties.

Until the classical douchebag stands up shouting a loud Fu*k off!, catches the closest girl and runs to the nearest pub to get hammered; and once he's done there, he gets into the next pub, and the next, and the next, and the next. HE is the only hope last for all the party people, and HE lighted the idea that the party could yet go on, just changing location.  The whole house shook while a bunch of dressed up drunk people tried to catch up the douchebag, rolling down the stairs and jumping in the garden...

Result: people running like morons in the middle of the street, swinging from pub to pub, drinking loads of beer and, off course, dressed up in the weirdest and yet most genius way you've ever seen.

(I damn love it )

The Otley Run usually starts from Woodies, in far Headingley. It crosses the whole student district, passes through the University of Leeds and ends up at the Dry Dock, after 3 miles and 19 pubs where every participant is obliged to order a drink. Rules may change, but usually it's set that participants should have a different drink in each pub; non-alcoholic options are available, as well as charity collections to help as many people as possible to end the run. And off course: fancy dress!

Leeds people and students here in general surprise me with their fantasy and their imagination. Ideas I'd never have, that could be either genius or dramatically stupid and incoherent. Some of my block mates wore like crayon pencils, and the result was simply amazing: a dozen of colourful guys, covered with cardboards of the same colour and a massive "crayon" written on their chest. AMAZING.

 Blurred for privacy matters.

Or the "Rubik cube" run: each person had to wear in many different colours in different combinations, exactly like a Rubik cube looks like. Once the run started, we had to exchange clothes and accessories in order to wear just a single colour by the end of the route! HELL YEAH!

We're going to have another Otley Run for L.'s birthday. It's going to be during Halloween time so... if you see some Santas, Christmas Trees or Rudolphs around Leeds don't be scared and just join us! :)

AND YOUR BROTHER TOO

It's six o'clock and it has already been two hours since I'm awake. I hate when I can't fall asleep again. 

That's why, pretty much, I'm posting bullshits on my blog ♥

Quite a funny video, though. It resumes all the habits I had to explain and perform since I landed here. Explaining our gestures has been quite tough. I also learned something: I knew we had loads of military forces, but 54 and all armed is ridiculous...

Careful englishmen: "your sister" doesn't necessarily mean that...

NOT MY CUP OF TEA

There may be a lot of important issues I could talk about. More relevant, that you can notice at your first sight.

But.

There's something that had being climbing the hit list of the most stupid english habits, and had finally reached the first position. It definitely challenges me.

 English ladies, how the fuck do you dress up?My heart is crying right now, cos this question can only bother an Italian or at most someone who really does care about fare bella figura. Though it's hard to translate this sentence, an english way to say it could be "make a good impression". Which is not always so easy, and requires a deep understanding of the environment and of the situation we're going to deal with, plus a complete control over every single detail. It's, basically, one of the hardest task ever, which really few people can manage to do it in the best way.

In England, even a fewer percentage can do so. I know, any english girl, reading this, would just say: "I dress up fashionable! WTF BTCH STP SYING BS! -.-" 

But that's EXACTLY the point. Fashion is the death of style. Dressing up in a voguish way, following the latest trend, doesn't necessarily mean to have style, neither it means that you know how to dress up properly in order to achieve the best possible image of your self. If something doesn't fit, it simply DOESN'T FIT!  It's pointless to squeeze your body into an anorexic-made-for tiny little dress, that shows every freaking cell of fat you have in your legs. I've seen sooo many salamis around uni, with shorts (can i call them like that? Cos they looked more like undies) showing unmercifully everything. I'm not perfect either, but at least I don't dress up in such a horrible way.

Dear God, I am sincerely tired of meeting whales in inguinal shorts and flashing-pink tights. With their belly out cos it's so sexy! No. You just look like a sausage in desperate need of breathing.

And even if they look kinda good, there's simply no "taste", or any freakin idea of how to put two different pieces of clothes without clashing in either colors, shapes, styles. You cannot put just a pair of thighs and then pretend you don't need to cover your ass. If I see your underclothes, then you absolutely DO NEED to put something on!

Or, worse, when they wear those dresses and those flowery and thin shirts. not even my grandma is still wearing them, they're so damn old-fashioned. True, the 50s right now are the trendiest thing ever… but, really, you just look like an old woman that cannot forget the time of her life. Black, brown and gray knee-long dresses, with awful patterns such as small and big roses, tulips, daisies and sunflowers spread all over the cloth. No sleeves allowed and an leather shit-brown belt, in order to to achieve the granny image! YAY!

Unfortunately, there's yet an important matter that plagues my soul: As you may know, most english girls had their childhood freedom destroyed by ugly uniforms. Obliged to wear them every single day during the greatest time of their life, as soon as they are allowed to wear anything they'd like to they loose any fair measure. This means tiny dresses every hour of the day, 12inches heels, corsets, unpleasant t-shirts and not working skirts (they do not cover anything, so they're not working to me).  Jesus, you are studying, not clubbing! It's definitely the POSHEST thing I've ever seen in my life. Plus, it's hella obvious they are dying of cold: hanging out pretending it's August 15th, in the middle of a snowstorm, is not the smartest thing a person could ever do. But that's exactly how english ladies behave. It's not brave dare the cold wind of Leeds in shorts and then hope to be alright the day after. It's mere stupidity, especially if it's done just to follow the rule "be fuckin' sexy every single moment of your life/be bitchy always, even at Morrison with your kids". I am not kidding, you can easily find twenty year-old moms walking in the supermarket with basically nothing on. If I were their kid I would just hide ashamed… my mom's dressing like a whore, my mom is fuckin' dressing like a whore! In a supermarket, at midday!

A concept that appears to be more important than their own health. I dunno, it's just too much for me. I'd never ever, risk my own health to appear. To "make a good impression". Take care of ourselves in order to look beautiful it's a normal behavior, but it can't overcome our own sake. It simply can't. I've always thought the inside is far more important than the outside, but it seems this concept here cannot survive. Who told me that english do not care about appearances, and that they wear the first two things they find in the wardrobe? They hadn't been in England lately for sure, or they didn't see any of the newest generations.

Btw, some girls have the BEST styles ever. They're simply beautiful and so stylish. I love 'em, I love their english way to dress. it's so original and kinda rebellious.

They're the apple of my eyes :)

Have I mentioned that I love being in britain?

(I know sometimes it doesn't seems so, ha.)