American Expat in London

The Bucket List

2012-01-22T09:25:00.000-08:00

With the decision to leave London, we of course had to create a bucket list of things we want to do before leaving. Some of the items are small/simple things in London; some will require travel (yea!). We've already managed a little over half the items-and in truth there are one or two items on the list that likely can't be done-but, we're certainly going to try!

Cocktails in the OXO Tower. Check: Dec 30, 2011
View the London NYE Fireworks. Check: Dec 31, 2011/January 1, 2012
Horse ride in Hyde Park...a good incentive to lose another 5kg so I can get under the weight limits to ride the horses
Visit Olympic Village. Check: Dec 27, 2011
Visit Lakes District
Visit Devon and/or Cornwall
Visit Cockfosters Tube Station. Check: Oct 23, 2011
Visit Reims, France (trip booked first weekend of March)
Visit Porto, Portugal (a first for Simon). Check: Jan 12-14, 2011
Visit Victoria & Albert Museum. Check: Nov 13, 2011
Picnic in Hyde Park...er, seemed like a good idea when the weather was still nice in October; I'm not so sure, now!
Visit all tube stations....we've perhaps the end of 3 more lines to go
Ride a Boris Bike. Check: Nov 13, 2011 (to the V&A museum. a two-fer day!)

That's it. The list is short and sweet-in truth, the list could be over 100 items, but we wanted to keep it realistic.

What would be on your London bucket list?

Moving Home

2012-01-22T09:14:00.000-08:00

It's time to come clean about this after a few comments in my blog the past few months...Simon & I have made the decision to move back (well, 'back' for me..) to the US in 2012. We're aiming for Seattle within the next few months, but would seriously consider San Francisco for the right jobs.

Somewhat because of the finances (seriously...this city is *expensive*), and with a final kick in the pants to make it happen when my dad was diagnosed with Parkinsons late last year, it's odd that while I know I moan about living in the UK rather frequently, I'm already sad about the prospect of leaving.

There's just two eensy weensy things standing in the way of us making this happen sooner: a job and Simon's green card. Is that all, you ask? Silly details, I know. When we first even started toying with the idea last year about moving back in 2012, we actually thought about just upping sticks and moving-with the green card, but no jobs. We had a grand plan of taking a few months off to explore the US cross country while finding jobs, and then land in Seattle as job hunting kicked into high gear. Then the US economy recovery seemed to falter, and we decided against this plan. So, we're doing the responsible-but challenging task of trying to find a job before we move so that a)we'll have income when we land and b)we'll have an employer that will financially support the physical move. Good times.

I'm sure over the next couple of months, just like my move here (and the blog posts..), there will be stress, and uncertainty, and lists, and logistics to tackle, but it will hopefully be worth it in the long run.

I'm excited about moving back to be with friends again, but know that a LOT has changed since I've been gone. Lots o' babies have been born, marriages, and a few folks have moved away as well. I don't expect to return to Seattle and just settle back in to life as if I'd never left (that would actually be a bit sad..), but I am curious to see just how much has changed since I've been gone-and a little trepidatious.

So, wish me luck as Simon & I embark on our biggest adventure to date. I'm not sure how this is all going to shake out, but I'm excited about the change!

Life Admin: The Necessary Paperwork

2012-01-22T08:51:00.000-08:00

Thanks to David for asking a question that I think prompts a post about my response-what paperwork/legal documents should you plan to bring to the UK when you move? With the benefit of hindsight, I can only say this: Bring everything you think you would need-and even everything you don't think you will need. In other words, if it's an important document to you in the US, it will be equally valuable to you in the UK. If not moreso.
My list of documents-in no particular order- I've needed/reference on a regular basis include:

My passport-kinda goes without saying
US Drivers license-seems to be acceptable here as a form of ID (I've used it at the Post Office to collect packages..)
College transcripts
College diplomas-an odd one, but I did have to have this for my Tier 1 visa app
At least 3 years previous tax returns. A. You'll want a few to help your tax pro when preparing your current year TR-and B. You could end up being the fortunate recipient of an IRS Audit letter of a recent tax return filing, and you'll want to have a copy of your returns handy.
Birth certificate
Social Security Card
Marriage certificate-certified
US Home mortgage paperwork-deed & loan docs
Immunization/Medical Records-probably even more important if you have kids

It will only take up a bit of space to have these handy-but could save some serious stress (and cost) if you suddenly have a need for one of these-and have to put an express order in. Yikes.

At some point in my 4 years in London, I've needed every one of these docs. But, I'm probably missing a few things that I'm just not aware of. What else? What other documents have some of you had to have?

Jonesing for American Food

2012-01-16T11:13:00.000-08:00

I've not been back to the US since September, and it will likely be several months more before I go back. As you can imagine, I'm beginning to miss some of the food that I always enjoy eating when I go back to the US.

So, it got me thinking...when I'm jonesing for some American food in London, where oh where do I go? The list is short-but in truth, when I crave 'American Food', it usually takes only one of three forms: burgers, BBQ (I am a Southern girl, after all!), or Mexican (that's technically 'American', right?..):

Burgers. The most challenging of all. I think I've mentioned more than once that I struggle with British Beef (my shortcoming, not British Beef's...). Until recently (hello, Byron!), I can count on two hands the number of burgers I've eaten in my four years in the UK. So if there's one thing I truly crave as a food symbol of 'home', it's burgers. Luckly, there are a few places in London to satisfy-and they seem to be ever-increasing in numbers (uh-oh):

Automat. Truly 'American'-they import and serve USDA beef. Not the greenest burger in the world, but desperate times call for desperate measures, people! Rumor has it, this is where Renee Zellweger would come eat when she was packing on the pounds for the first Bridget Jones movie. It's understandable why. Their burgers are incredible, as is everything else I've had on the menu. They ain't cheap, but sometimes, you have to splurge.
Byron: A fairly new arrival on the London scene. Their first shop opened in 2007-and in truth, I'd never heard of them until last year. I'd never even set foot into one of their shops until just a few months ago when they opened a shop in the bottom of my office. Sadly now, I'm averaging a burger there every 10-14 days. This isn't good-but oh, their burgers SO are!

BBQ: You can take the girl out of the South, but you can't take the South out of the girl. And god knows I love a good pork BBQ (pork. not beef..don't even get me started...;)). This can be difficult enough to find in the US when outside of North Carolina, never mind the UK! Thank goodness there's Bodean's. I first discovered Bodean's fairly early in my move to London, as there was one not too far from where I live. I've spent a lot of time at Bodean's over the years-watching Tarheel basketball, joining friends for a bit of 'cue while watching an NFL game-and even most recently, spending Thanksgiving there. They've been a great 'home away from home' in terms of food and entertainment, and I for one am a huge fan!

Mexican: Ok. Ok. I know this technically isn't 'American Food,' but I think any American Expat at some point in time comes to realize just how freaking difficult it is to find good Mexican food outside of the US (or Mexico. ahem...). This one is probably the most contentious in terms of which place is best in London-and goodness knows, I've read enough debates on expat forums on the topic. But for me, when considering authenticity and location (read: isn't an hour away from home...), one of my favorites in town is a place called Crazy Homies. The name alone should be enough to pique the curiosity. :) Next door and owned by the same chap who owns Lucky 7 Diner (another outstanding American-style eatery), Crazy Homies serves tasty Tex-Mex, and in particular darned good guacamole.

I'm getting hungry just writing this post-and should scoot out and get some dinner. But, it's something I've been meaning to post about for some time.

Where else? Where else? I'm sure I'm forgetting tons of places/categories (Brunch probably being a big miss...). So what am I forgetting people? Give me some inspiration of places I need to hit up!

New Year's Eve in London

2012-01-05T09:34:00.000-08:00

Finally! After four NYEs in London, I finally got around to seeing the London fireworks in person!

I’ve been planning this for months: my company’s new office is in Soho-and we’re currently occupying the 5^th floor of a high rise building that provides the perfect vantage point-an unhampered view of the London Eye. Yippie!!!

Sounds crazy, I know: let’s go to the office to watch the fireworks! But, many years ago, when I lived in Charlotte, NC-and my office was located on the 36^th floor of the Bank of America tower in downtown, I lost count of how many colleagues would go into the office on July 4^th with their families and watch the fireworks. Why not? No crowds. No weather issues. Great access to clean bathrooms...

So, Simon & I had dinner at one of our favourite restaurants, Ebury in Victoria, around 8.30pm, and then around 10.30pm, we made our way to the office. Signed in at security without any problems, and then made our way to the 5^th floor where we popped the bottle of champagne we had in the fridge to chill down for another 45 minutes.

I also discovered on this evening that you can live stream BBC TV programs (an evening of firsts!), so while we were hanging out in the office, waiting for midnight & for the champagne to chill, I live-streamed Jools Holland’s Hootenanny on BBC2 [as an aside...I love Jools Holland’s live programs-if you have the chance to watch, you should!].

Then, at midnight, we got to watch an incredible firework display from the comfort of the office with a lovely bottle of champagne.

Pretty neat, huh? If I had to do it all over again, the only thing I would change is that we’d do dinner in the Soho area as well, and avoid the tube as it’s getting that close to midnight. The tube at 10.30pm/11pm on NYE is a zoo-I lost count of how many drunk people there were blocking the escalators/entrances, throwing up, and making general arses of themselves (as you do...).

The tube station near the office was closed due to overcrowding when we finally left the office around 12.45pm, so we walked up to Great Portland Street tube about 30 minutes away. But, the rain had stopped, and the temperature was perfect. It was a lovely stroll once we got out of the madness of Soho, and was nice to burn off a few calories from our dinner earlier in the evening.

All in all, it was a fantastic NYE-and Simon seemed pleased as punch about seeing the fireworks as well!

2011-The Year in Review

2012-01-03T07:31:00.000-08:00

There’s the proverbial saying that the older we get, the faster time seems to fly. Well, for me, 2011 is certainly no exception to that saying! It was an incredible year; I’m actually still trying to wrap my head around everything that happened to me personally (never mind *everything* that happened in the world). In no particular order...

Started a new job-and couldn't be happier!
Attempted (but failed) to run a marathon
Got married
Spent 67 nights away from home on foreign travel to 9 countries (1 new)
Attended my 20 year high school class reunion
Made the decision to move back to the US in 2012 (more to come on this in a few weeks...)
Finally, after 4 years in London, got to see the NYE fireworks in person
Lost 15 pounds (erm...though I put 2 back on over the holidays. They *will* be coming off soon...)

Whew. Pretty major life changes. AND, it was an incredible year in the process. I can’t even begin to imagine what 2012 is going to bring!

Dishwasher Salt?!?

2011-12-21T08:30:00.000-08:00

...and I thought I had seen it all!
I'm either the most clueless dishwasher user in the world, or this is truly a UK-only dishwasher phenomenon! Regardless, after almost four years in this country, I'm still amazed at the things I learn on a daily basis.

We had a dinner guest over last nite, and in the course of pulling out a few wine glasses for drinks, Simon made the remark about how dingy the glasses looked. Our genius guest asked us if our dishwasher was just out of 'dishwasher salt', to which we both just sat there with what can only be described as 'huh?' written across our faces.

Our guest proceeded to hop up off the couch, walk into our kitchen & open our dishwasher. Where, in a matter of 2 seconds pointed out a covering in the bottom of the dishwasher marked 'Salt' (of course!) where you pour said salt.

Apparently, this is very common in the UK, but I've never heard about it until now.

Learn something new every day...

Getting a job in London or the UK

2011-11-29T07:28:00.000-08:00

At the request of David who left a comment on my 'Work Differences' post and Alana who left a comment on my 'Reason Number 37...' (and after realizing that I've never actually done a post about finding a job in London/the UK...), I thought I'd try to do so now. Ironically, though I have a job here-and have successfully found jobs once on the ground here, trying to sum up to others what to do is proving a challenge. But, at the heart of it are 2-3 big ticket items worth mentioning (that, especially compared with finding a job in the US are rather different):

1. It's not what you know, it's who you know. This seems to be even more true in London (and the UK and even wider EU) than I've ever experienced. Aside from my first role here in London in which I transferred with my company from the US, I've found my subsequent jobs thru people I know. So: If you aren't on LinkedIn, get yourself on with a good profile *yesterday.* I cannot stress this enough. I've lost count of the number of times I've met someone in a professional setting-however brief the encounter-only to have a LinkedIn invite waiting for me in my inbox before the end of the day.

LinkedIn. Do it.

2. It's not who you know, it's who knows you. On the flip side of the above, for better or for worse, recruiters/head hunters are incredibly active in placement for many-if not most-companies in London/the UK. I don't know of any company who doesn't work with a recruiting agency aside from my current employer. One simple search on Google easily confirms this space: type "London BLAH recruiter/recruitment" where BLAH is your profession, and you'll instantly see the full list of results of companies that operate in this space. Check 'em out, and contact the ones that have a job you're interested in.

On a related note about LinkedIn, you will also likely find that with a full profile, recruiters won't be shy about reaching out to you either! Mind you, my professional space is probably a bit more 'active' on LinkedIn than others, but I easily average ~2-3 connection requests/direct emails a week from recruiters. I almost took a job via the recruiter route (opted instead for my current employer), so it is indeed a legitimate route-though at times, it can feel simply like a 'necessary evil.'

3. Make sure you can um, actually *work* in the UK. Sorry to have to state the obvious, but it does bear mention: make sure you're speaking with companies that actually have the ability to hire a non EU/UK citizen and have to have a work visa. There are numerous types of visas, but for most people reading this blog, a Tier 1 or Tier 2 are the likely options. A Tier 2 visa requires 'company sponsorship'-ie you can work in the UK as long as you are employed by your sponsoring company. A Tier 1 visa effectively functions as 'self sponsoring' (though an employer can help you to receive this visa as well). The difference/benefit of having a Tier 1 visa is you are now free to come/go to any employer you wish to-much like a EU/UK citizen.

To qualify for a Tier 1, you have to have a certain number of 'points.' On the points based system, you'll have to prove things like....financial stability (bank records, as well as salary of your current job), English proficiency (a pass if you're American/Canadian/etc), education (Bachelors is good, Masters is great), and a few other bits. If I recall, the Masters degree, and making over £40k (I think?...) were the two biggest boosts to get the points you need.

A note of caution: The rules for visas in the UK change numerous times during the year, so it would behoove you to do your homework first on this topic to even understand whether or not getting a job is even an option!

A note of caution #2: It can take some time to get your visa. So, whether you work with an employer/legal firm or DIY, you should allow for a good 6-8 weeks, if not longer-and plan accordingly.

OK. Short of going on forever, those are probably the three big things*I* think are most important regarding this topic. I am *by no means* an expert on this-and would love to have input from others. What are your top tips for finding a job in the UK?

Thinking About a Second Career (an Update)

2011-11-29T04:41:00.000-08:00

...it's almost like TFL (Transport for London-the managing company for London Underground) was reading my blogpost!

In my inbox this morning was the following email:

"I am writing to remind you that although our transport network is very safe, you should continue to be vigilant, particularly now the Christmas shopping season is upon us.

Here are some simple tips to keep your belongings safe:

Keep your bags zipped or closed
Small high value items are most desirable for pick‑pockets, so try to keep items like MP3 players, wallets and Smartphones out of sight
Avoid keeping your wallet or mobile phone in your back pocket
Try to have your ticket, pass or change ready in your hand so your purse or wallet is out of sight

For more information visit www.btp.police.uk/pickpockets"

Well timed, TFL. Well timed. :)

Thinking about a Second Career

2011-11-28T04:45:00.000-08:00

I've lost count of the number of times I've seen women walking around the tube stations, standing on the tube platform, or in the actual tube with their purses wide open.

If I were a predator, this would be the easiest second career I could ever consider. Just this past week alone, I saw two women on the platform at Tottenham Court Road (different days) with purses hanging from their shoulders with large, gaping holes because they haven't zipped/snapped/clipped the top of their bag shut. And, just last night, I sat across from a lady who got on the tube, sat down, and actually placed her purse on the ground next to her. And then proceeded to bury her face in a book.

I know we all have momentary lapses in awareness from time to time, but I do often wonder if some of the women I see doing this are just that absent minded-or just that irresponsible (my polite word for 'stupid'). Perhaps it's just me, but when I'm on the tube and sitting, I've got my purse in my lap with a death grip on it; if I'm standing, the starting point of the zipper always faces forward, and I keep my 2nd hand over this.

One of the purses I love to carry has a superfluous zipper on the outside that, due to the way I carry my purse, the zipper is behind me where I can't see and easy to get to-if someone wanted to. I've lost count of the number of times I've gotten off a crowded tube only to find the zipper had been unzipped-by clearly an intentional act of someone hoping to get lucky.

Ladies..at some point we must stop making ourselves such easy targets. Care to start today?

Thanks to Bag Sanity for the image

Reason Number 37 Expats are Made to Feel Like Criminals

2011-11-23T06:56:00.000-08:00

It's rough enough going thru passport control in the UK these days. My passport is scrutinized. My ID Card (acting as a proxy for my Visa) is scrutinized. I'm scrutinized.

Apparently that isn't enough for UK Immigration. They're now starting to monitor immigrants at work. This just landed in my work inbox. I can't help but add my own [editorial commentary]:

"I am writing to inform you of the upcoming right to work checks that {your employer-aka YE} will be conducting. As you may be aware [no, I wasn't...], YE are required to conduct annual right to work checks on employees in order to comply with UK immigration legislation. Although we already have on file copies of the required authorizations for your right to work in the UK as a non-EU National [which should suffice...], UK legislation requires us to take certified copies of these documents on an annual basis. For more info please see the UK Border Agency guide.

We are arranging for these checks to be carried out by our specialist immigration providers. They will need to meet with you personally to view your Passport, visa, or other relevant documentation, as appropriate. [Shall I also provide a blood sample, iris scan, or DNA string?...] It is extremely important that these checks are completed and we ask for your assistance in accommodating the request. [Like I have any choice?..]"

Relative to the US, I generally acknowledge that the UK is much more flexible on these types of things, so it's correspondence like this that makes me wonder just what Simon & I are opening ourselves up for if he ever gets a greencard & we move to the US. 'Life Admin' as an Expat is exponentially greater as an expat. I can only imagine how much worse this will be in the US. Good times.

I'm with the Brits

2011-11-20T10:26:00.000-08:00

This past week, I attended my first-ever pan-European conference for work. Over the years, I've attended numerous US conferences, and several UK conferences. This was the first conference I've ever attended that spanned not only the UK, but the continent as well. And, let me just say....if there were ever any doubt about identifying with the country I've been living in for the past 3 years and 8 months (!), that all evaporated this past week!
The chaos, pushing & shoving (we were a bit cramped...) and 'non-British' queuing *really* got on both my and my London-based colleagues nerves-and I can honestly say I was longing for the ways of the English. Funny.

Conversely, I don't think others saw me as an American at this conference either; I was quite firmly with the Brits, and identified as being 'one of them' (primarily by non-native English language people who can't discern the accent difference).

And, I was completely OK with it.

Work Differences

2011-10-23T05:43:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Gennifer6 for the suggestion...

I don't think I've ever blogged about the differences I've observed at work between Americans & Brits-I know I've talked about the differences with my colleagues at work, but that's probably about it, so here goes!

Gennifer6 wanted me to comment on workplace differences that I've observed. I'm sure in certain industries and companies, the differences are VAST, but barring a brief stint, I've primarily worked for US-headquartered companies. So, what I've noticed may really only scratch the surface...

1. To Americans, the 'work week' (and even the 'work day') is a very fluid concept. In the US, you wouldn't think twice about leaving the office mid-day to go to the doctor/dentist/car repair shop, and you wouldn't think twice about leaving work a bit early on a Friday. Conversely, it seems like the emails don't really stop after '5pm', and I definitely recall getting emails even on weekends.
In England however, I've encountered the complete inverse: rarely, would I leave work mid-day for a personal errand (I'd instead try to schedule it for first/last thing in the day), and I can quite literally count on 2 fingers the number of times I've left work before 5pm on a Friday in 3.5 years (sigh). However, rarely do I receive an email from a British colleague outside of work hours during the week, and the same holds true on weekends. Brits seem to be more protective-and prescribed-of their 'non-work' hours, whereas for Americans, it's all just seems to flow together.

2. In England, don't even think of going to the kitchen without asking everyone (and it does feel like everyone...) if they want a cup of tea/coffee/water/biscuit...whatever the kitchen stocks. It just isn't done.

3. Employers in England (though, perhaps this is a London-only thing), are more 'generous' with the amenities they provide in women's bathroms: lotion, feminine hygine products, and the ubiquitious aerosol deoderant are in almost every corporate bathroom I've ever been in. It's a nice touch.

4. Brits aren't afraid of being open to their colleagues about what they think-about their boss, other colleagues, etc...When working in the US, I can't think of a time I ever *truly* shared with a colleague my feelings about a co-worker or boss-at least while I was working at the company. In England, it's the complete opposite. I remember the first time I heard a colleage slag off a superior at work (to me, not to the superior). My jaw almost hit the floor.
I'm really going to have to be careful about taking this trait with me whenever I go back 'across the pond.' Though I appreciate the candor of my colleagues, I don't think this one would go down to well back in the US!

Those are the big things I've noticed. I can't help but think I'm forgetting a few things, so if anyone else has any observations, do pipe up!

Hee..

2011-10-23T05:02:00.000-07:00

Perhaps one of the most touristy things you can do in London, but I don't care. I've wanted to go to the Northern Picadilly line terminus ('Cockfosters') for ages, and get a photo.

We went last Sunday-spent the better part of 2 hours round trip on the tube for just a few photos, but it was worth it!

A Great Sunday Read

2011-10-18T13:36:00.000-07:00

Just this past week I picked up Twisted Agendas by Damian McNicholl. (In the interest of full disclosure, Damian contacted me on my blog & asked for a review.) This book intrigued me as one of the main characters was a female American expat living in London, and I naturally presumed I would identify with her. I was wrong, but I'm OK with it! :)

I started reading the first chapter on the Tube at about 11am on Sunday, and could.not.put.the.book.down. Before I knew it, 50 pages had flown by. I had a few errands to run during the day which caused me to stop & start reading, but basically be 9pm Sunday night, I was finished with the book.

The gist of the story is that the two main characters, Danny and Pippa fatefully meet on a ferry from Ireland to England and end up becoming friends. Their stories become intertwined in the here & now, and their side stories (disfunctional parents, confusing romance, general 20-something angst) also bind stories together.

Though the connection with the main character is what caused me to be interested in the book, the ultimate story, and plot development/twists & turns is what kept me turning the pages. The last 20 pages were especially tense, as a few late developing plot twists (in my mind-perhaps I'm just daft..) really caught my attention.

Borderline drama, borderline thriller...either way, if you're looking for a great way to spend a Sunday-especially as the weather looks like it has officially turned south for the next 6 months... this is the book for you!

Google Freebies

2011-10-17T08:23:00.000-07:00

I don't think I've publicly mentioned this, but my newest gig since early this year is with Google.

Long story short, they've just launched a new Paid Search program called AdWords Express. This is a product for the 'little guys' to use who have limited budget & resources to set up their Paid Search program, and I'm lucky enough to have a handful of £50 vouchers in my hands for anyone to use who is interested.

If you're interested, drop me a line in the comment section of my blog with your email address (promise I'll delete your comment as soon as I email you to save you from spam), and I'll be happy to provide you with a voucher/coupon code for £50 of free Google AdWords advertising!

Not too bad for a Monday!

How Would You Do?

2011-10-12T07:22:00.000-07:00

Just had a bit of a laugh with my English (born & bred) colleague. One of the local newspapers published sample questions from the UK Citizenship test.

He scored 12 out of 24 questions. I scored 10. Not too bad relatively speaking. Kinda interesting to see the kinds of information a Citizen is expected to know (read: memorize and then forget).

How many did you score?

It's Official..

2011-10-12T07:20:00.000-07:00

...I am now officially a London Asshole.

I knocked into a guy today while I was rushing to the tube (as you do). He apologized to me. Not in the harsh, fake "I'm saying 'sorry', but really I'm saying 'f-you'" way that many Londoners do. His apology was genuine.

The problem is: I knocked into him, and didn't even bother to say sorry (real or fake). Instead, I simply ignored him and kept plowing on.

I have officially become a London Asshole.

I guess my only saving grace is that unlike most Londoners (especially commuters in & around the tube), I do feel bad about it. And... I guess in all fairness, this may not just be a London thing, but a big-city thing. Or not.

Old Age is Everywhere

2011-09-30T10:03:00.001-07:00

Man, I'm Old. This past weekend, I flew home to NC for my 20th (yes, 20th) class reunion.

Except for the people I want to see, many of my classmates I quite literally haven't seen since graduation day back in 1991. That all changed this past weekend.

I hadn't been to a previous reunion at all, so I was curious to see how this would all go down: what would people look like? Answer: half look exactly the same, half I didn't recognize. Would everyone still be just as stupid (myself included...) as we were in high school? Answer: thankfully, no. Would people stare at my husband and say 'you talk funny'? Answer: thankfully, no; rather, people were really sweet about his accent. Would this be one of the lamest things I could be dong on a Saturday night-and regret every painful moment of it? Answer: thankfully, no.
All in all, it was a fantastic weekend. No, I don't really have much in common with some of my classmates who, aside from college have remained in Hickory, North Carolina their entire lives. No, I really don't have anything in common with my classmates who have two or three or five or...kids and who looked at the Saturday night event as their one evening out all month. But, it was great fun to go back and just see how people were doing. You can't have spent the first 18 years of your life with folks and not wonder how they eventually turned out!

On the flip side of this, as I was in my hometown for the reunion, we stayed with my dad-as we always do when we go to NC. I had not been 'home' in over 18 months. I've seen my father at other random locations (Charlotte, when we were passing thru on our way to Las Vegas. Portland for my wedding), but I haven't seen the house in over 18 months until this past weekend.
I've been very aware for year of the progressing age of my father (he recently turned 74) for some time, but as he's in relatively good health, have probably been mentally postponing what I know is going to be an eventual reality.
The time I was at home this weekend however, made me realize that he is officially approaching the 'old person' status and adopting all of the odd behaviors that old people adopt: stockpiling random things (Really Dad. Do you need the beach hotel pricing guide from 2003? When you also have the 2005, 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011 issues?....and you've stayed at the same hotel for the past 15 years?), not cleaning the house as thoroughly as it should be cleaned, and just generally picking up some personality quirks that you only typically see in 'old folks.' It's got me a bit concerned-and has really made me start thinking about how much longer I can continue to live in London, which is a good 8.5 hours away by plane-never mind the simple reality that when living this far away, I'll do good to get to NC once a year.

Can I continue to live in London guilt-free as my father ages, or is it time to put family first and think about moving back to the US and make seeing my dad more frequently a priority? I knew the time would come when I would have to start thinking about this very issue. I just thought I'd have a few more years. Perhaps I'm overreacting a bit, but my mother passed away 16 years ago, and I'm an only child. My Dad's girlfriend is 80. I am his support network.

This is life. These are the types of decisions we're all faced with all the time. I just don't think I'm quite ready to deal with the ramifications of a)making this decision and b)acknowledging what making this decision could mean.

Would it be so much to ask for things to go back to the way they were in High School when we were all younger-and maybe postpone the reality of this situation for another 20 years?

Old Age is Everywhere

2011-09-30T10:02:00.000-07:00

Man, I'm Old. This past weekend, I flew home to NC for my 20th (yes, 20th) class reunion.

Except for the people I want to see, many of my classmates I quite literally haven't seen since graduation day back in 1991. That all changed this past weekend.

I hadn't been to a previous reunion at all, so I was curious to see how this would all go down: what would people look like? Answer: half look exactly the same, half I didn't recognize. Would everyone still be just as stupid (myself included...) as we were in high school? Answer: thankfully, no. Would people stare at my husband and say 'you talk funny'? Answer: thankfully, no. Rather, people were really sweet about his accent. Would this be one of the lamest things I could be dong on a Saturday night-and regret every painful moment of it? Answer: thankfully, no.
All in all, it was a fantastic weekend. No, I don't really have much in common with some of my classmates who, aside from college have remained in Hickory, North Carolina their entire lives. No, I really don't have anything in common with my classmates who have two or three or five or...kids and who looked at the Saturday night event as their one evening out all month. But, it was great fun to go back and just see how people were doing. You can't have spent the first 18 years of your life with folks and not wonder how they eventually turned out!

On the flip side of this, as I was in my hometown for the reunion, we stayed with my dad-as we always do when we go to NC. I had not been 'home' in over 18 months. I've seen my father at other random locations (Charlotte, when we were passing thru on our way to Las Vegas. Portland for my wedding), but I haven't seen the house in over 18 months until this past weekend.
I've been very aware for year of the progressing age of my father (he recently turned 74) for some time, but as he's in relatively good health, have probably been mentally postponing what I know is going to be an eventual reality.
The time I was at home this weekend however, made me realize that he is officially approaching the 'old person' status and adopting all of the odd behaviors that old people adopt: stockpiling random things (Really Dad. Do you need the beach hotel pricing guide from 2003? When you also have the 2005, 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011 issues?....and you've stayed at the same hotel for the past 15 years?), not cleaning the house as thoroughly as it should be cleaned, and just generally picking up some personality quirks that you only typically see in 'old folks.' It's got me a bit concerned-and has really made me start thinking about how much longer I can continue to live in London which is a good 8.5 hours away by plane-never mind the simple reality that when living this far away, I'll do good to get to NC once a year.

Can I continue to live in London guilt-free as my father ages, or is it time to put family first and think about moving back to the US and make seeing my dad more frequently a priority? I knew the time would come when I would have to start thinking about this very issue. I just thought I'd have a few more years. Perhaps I'm overreacting a bit, but my mother passed away 16 years ago, and I'm an only child. My Dad's girlfriend is 80. I am his support network.

This life. These are the types of decisions we're all faced with all the time. I just don't think I'm quite ready to deal with the ramifications of a)making this decision and b)acknowledging what making this decision could mean.

Would it be so much to ask for things to go back to the way they were in High School when we were all younger-and maybe postpone the reality of this situation for another 20 years?

My Favorite Things

2011-09-02T04:59:00.000-07:00

I have been crap lately about blogging. Work has been insane, I've been travelling a ton, and as we are in the heart of the Great British Summer (note the sarcasm...), I've just not had the time. Well, no more! I'm eating lunch at my desk today to take a few minute to post something.
This came about as Simon & I were out to dinner Wednesday nite at our favorite Lebanese place-and I remarked, it's a pity (only partially..) that more people don't know about this place-the food/service are incredible! And, thus we started talking about a few of our favorite things in London. It's been a while since I've done a post of this nature. But, without further ado-and in no particular order...

Fontana Lebanese-I'm sure there are cooler, hip-er places in town (some with belly dancers)...but for great food, and great service, this place rates as one of my favorite
Monmouth Coffee-I've probably talked about this place at least 23,000 on my blog so far-but it bears repeating. Best. Coffee. In. London.
Hyde Park-OK. I realize this is like stating the obvious to mention Hyde Park...but, the next time you're in Hyde Park, take a loaf of bread along and go find 'Round Pond.' You will not be disappointed.
Monsoon-Clothing shop. I can count on 2 hands the number of clothing items I've bought in the UK in 3.5 years; UK clothing isn't my 'style', and I simply refuese to pay £30 for a t-shirt that will cost me $15 in the US. Never mind the psychological warfare that the UK sizing plays on you when looking for the US-size equivalent. If you're stressed over your size to begin with, the UK isn't the place to be! Enter Monsoon: for me *personally*, it's clothing that's my style-and their sizing is so generous, I find that my UK size is usually my US size-or sometimes even smaller. yea.
My Local Kebab Shop-I haven't a clue what it's called, and it's not even on Google maps. But, after a few pints while out and not arriving home until 10pm on a school nite, nothing but nothing tastes better than their chicken schwarma and chips-with tons of garlic mayonnaise and chili sauce. Yes, it probably contains 1000 calories-and god only knows what the 'chicken' actually is...but once every now & then is surely alright!
Heathrow Express-15 minutes from Paddington station to Heathrow Airport-and as we live so close to Paddington, we practially live *in* Paddington-means we can be from door to door in under 30 minutes. I've never lived anywhere in which this were possible. Amazing.

Ok. Quality over Quantity. I could probably wang on for ages on other things. But, at the very least, it's a good start-and on the days I get grumpy over living in this crowded and sometimes rude city, it's a nice reminder for myself!

PS. Yesterday was my official 3.5 year anniversary in this country. Where the heck has the time gone??!

London Riots: A Brief Comment

2011-08-09T10:06:00.000-07:00

It's not often I walk around the streets of London feeling concerned for my safety-which, I know may be a surprise to most people.. But, with so many people out on the streets, it's usually a safe place to be.

Sadly, for the past 24 hours, I can't say I've felt that way. Unless you've had your head buried in the sand, you're well aware of the riots that have been happening in London since Saturday nite: the opportunists (as much as I really want to call them all sorts of names, I'll refrain...) are running amok on the streets smashing and grabbing and burning. And are pathetically using the death of a man as the impetus for the violence.

This behaviour is forcing people like myself indoors; as I walked home last night at 8.30pm, the sidewalks were deserted-and that was not a pleasant feeling-and even once I got home, I saw all of 3 people walk thru our mews (a fraction of the usual footfall), and only 1 car pass by. No violence per se came 'close' to where I live, but as London is home, it all feels close.

This behavoiur is forcing businesses to close; even the company I work in sent people home at 4.30pm today-and that seems to be common based on what I'm reading on Facebook from my friends who work at companies spread throughout London-regardless of how close they are to the past or present violence.

The upside? Check out Twitter and search for #riotscleanup or visit riotcleanup.co.uk
It's not exactly our 'Arab Spring', but perhaps it's the best we can do for now.
Hopefully this is a start to some good happening here in London.
After these past few days, we all need it.

Smooth Move, Laxative!

2011-07-23T02:26:00.000-07:00

No, no. This post isn't what you think it is...

For all of the British-isms I've picked up over the 3.5 (almost!) years I've been in London, I do often forget about the American/Southern-American lingo I continue to spew forth-and many time to my poor husband, who is still learning 'the language.'
Last nite was no exception, and the result was so funny, I have to make note of it.

We were tossing a rubber ball back and forth in the hallway-as us hip, married couples do on a Friday nite-and at one point, Simon fumbled the ball so terribly, I couldn't help but revert to one of my favourite childhood taunts: Smooth move, Exlax!

The look on Simon's face was one of utter confusion. So, it dawned on me that Exlax must not be a product that was ever sold here in the UK. So, I quickly proceeded to explain to him that it was a popular chocolate-flavoured laxitive sold in the US, so the phrase, 'smooth move, Exlax' was meant to imply, well..a sarcasm in someone not being so smooth or fluid in their movements.

He took it onboard like he does many of these things, and we proceeded to keep tossing the ball. Well, after a few more throws, I too fumbled the ball.

Simon's taunt? Smooth move, laxitive!

I proceeded to double over in laugher as I dropped the ball.

'Where Are You From?'

2011-07-05T11:08:00.000-07:00

Simple question, right? I used to think so. Not any more.
This past Sunday, while sitting down to lunch in Paris (rough life, I know...), the Americans sitting at the next table looked at me and said, 'where are you from?' as they heard me talking when I sat down, and darned if Americans aren't friendly to their own kind when they're abroad! :)

And, thus the dillema began.

When living in the US, 'from' implied where I was originally from-as opposed to where I currently lived. And, as most Americans can still detect a slight Southern accent, my reply, 'North Carolina' isn't a suprise. Since moving abroad however-and especially since fully settling into life in London-I really have no idea how to answer that question. If I say, 'London' (which I did in this case....), I immediately get: 'oh, wow. you don't sound British.' And, then I usually have to follow up with explainig that no, I'm not British-I just live there. I'm most recently from Seattle. Invariably, the Southern accent gets mentioned, and then I have to further clarify that I'm originally from North Carolina.

Who ever knew that such a simple question could create such a complicated response! Maybe I'm just making this more complicated than it needs to be.

So, blog readers....when people ask you 'where are you from?' how do you respond?

Left versus Right

2011-06-19T06:58:00.000-07:00

I've been meaning to post about this for a while, but after two seperate comments from friends when I was back in the US recently, I knew I had to get this up tout de suite!

We Americans eat differently than the Brits. And, after living here for 3 years, I'm starting to come around to the way the Brits do it more & more often (hence the friends' comments). What do I mean, you ask? Simples.

Americans, when faced with needing to use a knife with their meal, will put the knife in their right hand and fork in the left. We'll cut our food, and then switch hands and use the fork in the right hand to eat with. Back and forth and back and forth.
Not the Brits. Once the knife goes in the right hand, it stays there. And, even more interestingly is that unlike Americans who will use the fork in a scooping motion, the Brits don't flip the fork over; rather, they use the knife to scoot food onto the back of the fork tines and then eat.

To wit:

Brit Eater

American Eater

What really brought this home for me was last night: Simon & I took a dinner cruise on the Thames-and there appeared to be a fairly even split of Brits & Americans on the boat (based on the accents I heard). Once we settled in to dinner & I was looking around, it was even more apparent as I observed the different styles of fork/knife usage.
After 3 years of being in London, I'm starting to notice that I'm adopting this style of eating too (hence the friends' comments when I was in the US). Not all the time, but half the time at least. It kinda makes sense: the back & forth kife/fork switching really is unnecessary.

Though, I can't help but wonder how the 'American-style' came to pass..

Lesson Learned

2011-06-14T13:52:00.000-07:00

After 3 years, and close to a dozen trips back to the West Coast of the US, I think I have finally cracked the nut on this jet lag thing!

To wit: I flew in to San Francisco this past Sunday, and by Wednesday (a mere 3 full days later!) felt completely human-in fact, I was feeling pretty good on Tuesday-except for the falling asleep at 10pm part.

What's different from this trip, you ask? I think it comes down to one thing: keeping it simples. Normally, my return trips to the US, whether for work or personal or a combo of two mean that by the 2nd day in the US, I'm working a full day AND going out with friends in the evening-or simply running 'life admin' errands all day long from the moment I'm awake (usually at 5am the first few days. sigh), until I hit a wall around 8pm.

This time, as I was staying in Sunnyvale, CA-and knew NO ONE within a 50 mile radius, I simply woke up each morning, went to the gym, went to work, went out for dinner, and went back to the hotel. That's it. No burning the candle at both ends. No running myself crazy. Just a very simple schedule. Yes, I was awake at 5am on the 1st three days, but as I eased into my routine, staying awake until 10pm-and even midnight on Wednesday were both possible and pain-free!

It sounds silly, but I think this is a complete milestone in how I'm able to cope with the 8 hour time difference from London to the West Coast (London/East Coast has never been a problem)! It just pains me to think about what 'could have been' the past 3 years. :) I'll have to test this theory again the next time I'm back in the US.

Fingers crossed I may have just stumbled across my 'jetl ag miracle cure'!

Have you heard the one...

2011-05-22T01:23:00.000-07:00

About the man, the train, and the horse? No, this isn't a joke-just your typical day in Wrexam, Wales!

This past week, a man tried to board a train with his horse-who, for the record, he did buy a ticket for. "Only in Wales..." have my friends and colleagues been muttering this week.

Now boarding....

Dorothy has been Released!

2011-05-19T00:55:00.000-07:00

With a huge and teary sigh of relief, I'm happy to report that my friend Dorothy has been released to go back to Doha (and possibly by now, she's home in Vancouver getting some much needed love and attention from her family).
She's a strong lady-stronger than most (myself included)-and it makes me sad to read about her ordeal. I can't even begin to comprehend.

Ironically, by not allowing her in to report on what was going on in front of the world, Syria has given her unbridled access to what was going on behind closed doors. Hopefully, her article will help continue to keep the spotlight on what's going on there-and though the true purpose of the Free Dorothy FB page, and the twitter account, and all of the newspaper articles, tv coverage, etc is no longer needed....perhaps we can all continue to work for the root of the cause that sent Dorothy there to begin with: freedom and truth.

April 30, 2011: A Perfect Day

2011-05-15T05:38:00.000-07:00

In the mania that has been since returning from getting married-and wanting to leave the Dorothy posts up high for a while (more on this in another post), I'm just now getting round to recording my thoughts about the wedding. Whew.

What can I say? Not that we were striving for a perfect day-god knows that would have been incredibly unrealistic-but, in hindsight, and without trying to sound too mushy...it was a perfect day.

As per the usual, I was up and awake before Simon. Between jetlag and just general 'ok, time to get up', I was up at 8am. It was nice to have a bit of peace and quite to myself; I thought the next 90 minutes would be all I'd get to myself all day long, and that thought was not incorrect! The next moment to myself would come 18 hours later around 2am when we both went to bed (god only knows how poor Kate Middleton must have felt: up at 6am, and Fireworks at 3am to celebrate the marriage).

I pottered downstairs to the lobby to grab a cup of free (but yummy) coffee, and then came back upstairs and sat outside in the hallway reading the newspaper, enjoying my coffee and poking around on the internet.  I know it must sound odd to say I sat in the hallway, but between the lighting, benches and relative quiet at 8am on a Saturday, it was actually a great place to sit-plus, the wifi is better in the hall than in our room.  I will confess, as I wrote the blog post about our wedding on that day, I did find myself getting a little teary eyed. Ok. A lot teary eyed.

Off to breakfast at 9.30am with Simon, his best man, my man of honour-and his wife and another friend. [This trio of people are my oldest and dearest friends and would effectively be my salvation for the day.] A big breakfast, and back up to the room at 10.30 to shower up before heading off to hair & makeup at 11am. It's the only time in my life I've ever splurged for professional hair & makeup. It was soooo worth it. Not just because my hair & makeup still looked pretty darned good 14 hours later, but it was nice to just sit there and not have to worry about it!

Even though I told him he didn't have to come, I should have known better: my man of honor, Scott came up at 11.30a and sat with me for the duration. What can I say? He's a champ. And, he probably has no idea how much I appreciated having him there. If I would have sat there by myself, I'm pretty sure I would have hit freak-out mode in no time flat. Best friends you've known for close to 30 years are incredibly rare. If you find yourself fortunate enough to have one, you should consider yourself the luckiest person in the world. I do.

After hair & makeup, we had just enough time to grab a quick bite of lunch before I had to hustle off and finish getting ready, and the same for Scott. It's a good thing we took the time for lunch. As I've heard more times than I can recount from friends who have wed, I really didn't get much more to eat for the rest of the day: my plate of food at the reception was only half eaten before I had to abandon it, and neither of us even had a wedding cupcake (well, I finally ate mine the next day, but Simon never got one).

Little did I know that while this was all going on, Scott's wife and our other friend were working pretty hard behind the scenes on the last minute details that NEVER even occured to me. Having never been married before, it never occured to me (for example...) how to get the boutineres from the florist to the men. Or, my bouquet up to my room for when I was getting ready. Or, any other dozen little things that just never even crossed my mind. I consider myself to be an organized person-and on the things that I thought about, I was organzied (I swear!). As for the things I didn't think about? Again, all I can say is thank god for friends!

Back in the room at 10 minutes to 2pm-with t-minus 40 minutes, I still need to get dressed. It was a warm day (finally-after 6 days of crap weather), and after Simon's shower, between the heat from the sun and the heat from the shower, it was swealtering in the room when I arrived. Within moments, sweat was trickling down my face and I begin to hit panic mode: a)my makeup is going to be ruined b)my hair is going to be ruined and c)I'm concerned that once I get my dress on, between the heat and the nerves, I'm going to pass out! Oh, and at that moment, the photographer shows up to take a few 'getting ready' shots. Good grief.

We bust open the windows, pull the box fan out from the closet and crank it on high. It starts to cool off, but I'm still too warm to get in my dress. So, I try to stall: I lay everything out to make final assembly fast. Put on my jewellery, go to the potty one more time....anything to stall for time so I cool off.

Finally, I do-and at that moment my girlfriends arrive to help me in my dress. Scott, bless him, probably would have stepped up if I had asked him, but it was probably better he didn't! :) I've lost close to 14 pounds over the past 3 months-with most lost the last 6 weeks before the wedding-so I didn't have the dress altered to fit; it would have been a wasted effort. Luckily, I bought some lingerie tape-the doublesided stuff-and after I put the dress on, my friends procede to tape me in the dress. The dress had a sash tie, so I could sinch the waist myself for auto-correct on the sizing, but the bust was in great need of help, so we spent 15 minutes taping me in. I wasn't going anywhere any time soon!

All the while, we're keeping up a good patter of banter, which is helping to keep calm. But, again, like clock work, as we get the dress sorted, there's another knock on the door. It's 2:20pm, and my father has arrived to take me to the ceremony. He looked so handsome-and a bit shellshocked at seeing me-that I almost burst into tears when I opened the door. I had to have my friend Kirsten punch me in the arm to keep me from crying.   (Kirsten is very good at punching people-and has been for 20+ years, so I knew she would be the right person for the job.) Scott shows up a moment later, and then there's a flurry of getting boutineres on him & my dad before we all catch our breath before heading out the door.

I think Kirsten can now see the nerves on my face, so she starts rambling on about her oldest son (who's 5) finally loosing his baby teeth. She keeps this up for the 2-3 minutes it takes us to to walk to the ceremony site (the theatre on the property). She probably doesn't realize this, but I'm pretty sure her talking is what kept me calm those last few minutes.

The next thing I know, I'm standing at the end of the aisle next to Simon who *really* does look like he's going to pass out-and feels it too. His hand, when I touch it is cold and clammy. To the point that the first few minutes of the ceremony, I'm not really listening. Instead, I'm plotting as to whether or not I try to catch Simon when he falls, try to tip him in the direction of his best man who is much larger and could probably catch him without injury, or just let him hit the ground. Bless his heart. It was a bit warm in the room-and the pressure he was probably feeling didn't help. Ironically, as a result of thinking he's the one that's struggling, I find that any nerves I had were gone. I had always presumed that I would be the one that would be mush and Simon would have to be the strong one at the alter. But, one look at Simon made me snap to. I was surprised at how calm I sounded when we were reciting our vows, and even more surprisingly, didn't shed a single tear at the cermony.

Fortunately, he didn't pass out, and after 15 minutes, we say I Will (it's an Episcopal thing). We're married!

From there, it seems that all of the nerves are gone for both of us. I feel the weight lift from my shoulders, and I'm suddenly quite aware of how excited I am about spending the next 8-10 hours with my friends-just hanging out, drinking and dancing. Is it weird that the ceremony was almost like the work/chore we had to get thru to get to the fun part? Hm. I'd never really thought of the ceremony in that way before, but given that was where the pressure was greatest, it does make me wonder...

After the ceremony, we all herd to the front of the hotel where the steps and the entrance are quite grand, for group and wedding party photos, and then we head off with the photographer for more photos-and send people on their way to the pub with drink vouchers in hand. It's just gone 3.30pm at this point, and the 'English' part of the wedding is about to hit full stride: in the pub, drink in hand, and let's get pissed! Personally, I think it's the way to go-what a pity we didn't get to join for another hour. :)

As it was a surprisingly nice day, we were able to take a good number of photos both inside &outside. I haven't seen the pics yet, but am super excited for their arrival! McMenamins (the place we got married) is just so freaking photogenic, that I know the pics are going to look great. My favorite part of all of this, is at one point, we're standing on the 2nd floor balcony of the hotel. The photographer is on the ground and taking photos looking up at us. It dawns on both of us at that point that it's all very 'Royal Wedding', so we jokingly start waving to the masses-in that bizarre Royal way. Mind you, there are no 'masses'-just a few friends and other random folks wandering down below with drinks in hand, but it does make the strangers pause and look at us with a very puzzled look on their faces!

From there, the next 8 hours are again, a blur. Food (only a bit..), drinks (again, just a bit-I don't think I had 3 drinks total in the reception), dancing, talking, laughing. The reception was a perfect way to spend the evening. The locale was simply perfect, the decorations my friends added couldn't have been better, the music was fantastic, and it all seemed to go off without a hitch. I remember snippets of the evening, but it seems like every time I'd look at my watch, I'd lost another 2 hour chunk-though it felt like 5 minutes! Fortunately, the photographer was at the reception for a few hours, there were a lot of pictures taken from friends, and we hired a photo booth (like at the beach), so there's plenty of documentary evidence even if I can't remember much. I have seen several photos since-many even with me posted and smiling.  I can't remeber the picture to save my life.

We had to be out of the reception by midnight, and from there, we pass out more drink vouchers and folks head out to the bar on premise that is open the latest-the distillery. We nip back to the room to change clothes: 12 hours in a suit for Simon and 10 hours in my dress=two people who really want to put on some jeans! Don't get me wrong, my dress was super comfy-perhaps the most comfortable dress of any kind I've ever worn. But, 10 hours in any one clothing article starts to bug me. :)

We head out to the distillery, but after half a drink for both of us, we decide to say good night. It's beginning to push 1am, we're pooped, and have to be up by 9am the next day (hosted brunch at 10.30am). Plus, it's starting to get boozy-and, not that I'm not a fan of a drunken evening, but I'm so tired, that I can't even be bothered. Who knew: leading up to the wedding, I presumed I'd drink more than what I did on our wedding day. But, as we both kept getting drinks and then being pulled off for something, neither of us actually drank that much when it was all over.

Favorite memories of the day: seeing my dad for the first time, the minister's ceremony (Colin, the man who married is a B-school classmate of mine; he was an ordained Episcopal minister before B-school. It was a such gift to have someone who knew us to perform the ceremony), getting to spend more than 3 hours in a year with my old friends from home, having homemeade Cherry Lemon Vanilla Sundrop shipped in from North Carolina (don't ask. it's a long story...), watching one of Simon's friends-who tends to be the calm one of the group-go completely *bonkers* on the dance floor, seeing everyone have so much fun with the photo booth, being serenaded by Chris (Pat Benetar's "Hearbreaker"; she used to sing in a Pat Benetar cover band...) on the dance floor, the group dance at the end to New York, New York (an English tradition. go figure), and simply getting to spend a proper weekend surrounded by family and friends.

I'm leaving out so much, but I should stop. I could write a book on this-the errands the week leading up to the ceremony, the exhaustion we both felt the next morning (after being woken up at 8am. grr...), the irony of both the news of Osama Bin Laden and my friend Dorothy going missing all on the same weekend, the surprise (and delight) at finding out that people actually you cash in envelopes on your wedding day, the beauty of the flowers-and sadness to know that I'm probably the only one who noticed them, the fun of having Eric stand up and tell the story about 'On the Road,' and on and on.

OK. I really am stopping now.

My final $.02: I will NEVER do this again! ;)

I'll post a few pro shots once we receive, but in the interim, here are a few that were taken from my camera:

My Handsome Father

Man of Honour after hair & Makeup

Scott, moi, Kirsten, Scott's wife, Susan-my oldest and dearest friends

An update on Dorothy Parvaz

2011-05-07T03:23:00.000-07:00

Firstly, a heartfelt thanks to all of you who have commented on my previous blog post-or even just read the post (knowledge is power).

The Syrian government did confirm on Thursday (a full 6 days after her initial detainment) that they were holding her.

Dorothy has not been allowed any contact yet with the outside world, and the US State Department/Consular service has not even been allowed access.

If you've joined her facebook page or Tweeted on her behalf (#FreeDorothy)-I thank you.

If you haven't yet, please, please take 30 seconds to do so today. We must keep the momentum going and continue applying pressure to the Syrian government to let her go.

My friend Dorothy Parvaz is Missing

2011-05-03T12:41:00.000-07:00

This is not the type of thing you expect to happen to someone you know. My friend, Dorothy Parvaz, a journalist with Al Jazeera, landed in Damascus, Syria on Friday and has not been seen or heard from since.

If any of you our there are reading this, please join her Facebook page or retweet #FreeDorothy.

If anyone out there has any connections with anyone, anywhere that may be able influence what is happening to her-even a call to your state senator, local MP, etc. I would greatly appreciate the help.

A Different Wedding

2011-04-30T08:36:00.000-07:00

...my wedding.

After 3 incredible years with the man I met after living in London for 4 days, we're getting married today.

I'll give a full update once everything is over, and we've had a chance to catch our breath, but suffice it to say, I'm so excited for this day to be here. I feel very lucky to be marrying someone who is a better fit for me than I ever thought I could find. I guess it just took going 4500 miles away from home to find him!

Love you, Bunny and look forward to spending the rest of my life with you. Let the fun begin.

I am a Failure

2011-04-01T08:27:00.000-07:00

It's taken me a few days to screw up the courage to write this. It's not often the word 'failure' enters my vernacular-especially when the words 'I am a...' proceed it. But, as this blog is about my life here in London-the good and the bad-it's only fair I post about the bad too.

This past Saturday was to be THE run. The run that I've been training for since January. The run that has been the catalyst for me loosing 13 pounds. The run that I've commented on a few times on this blog. The run that has well & truly sucked a good portion of my free time the past 3 months.

The run that I couldn't complete because my knees would let me.

Blast.

Two weeks ago, I ran 28.8k. Well technically, I ran 27k and hobbled 1.8k. My knees simply said f-you. We're done. The mind was willing, as was the body from the knees up. But the knees themselves weren't so willing! That really made me nervous, so I tried to take the next two weeks easy-fewer runs, shorter distances, lots o' anti-inflammatory drugs. The whole lot.

So, when this past Saturday came, I knew there was a pretty good chance that my knees would say f-you again. But, I had a plan: If I can at least make it to the 30k mark, I'll hobble the last 12k even if it takes me until the gym closes (effectively meaning it would take me 8 hours to complete THE run-2.5 hours longer than my target time). Alas, my knees first started protesting at the 7k mark, and by the 14k mark when I took my first break, I knew I was in trouble. I didn't know what to do, and perhaps more importantly than completing the run in any level of respectable time, I was concerned that continuing would cause damage.

At the 21k mark I threw in the proverbial towel. Intellectually, I know it was the right thing to do. Emotionally, I'm still feeling grumpy about it-and though 21k is nothing to sniff at, it's still only half of what I set out to do. Training had gone so well for me for the past 3 months-I was genuinely surprised at how well my body seemed to respond to the effort, and as the weeks passed, I felt more and more confident at what I was trying to accomplish. The longer runs were hard, but I really enjoyed them-and past a point was truly looking forward to THE run. And on some level, more importantly, I was looking forward to enjoying the feeling of completing such a daunting task.

Sigh. Well, there's always next year.

Come one, Come all...

2011-03-27T10:43:00.000-07:00

...to the Greatest Show on Earth! Also known as, The Royal Wedding.

An article in this Saturday's Times gave a breakdown of the various places around Westminster Abbey that onlookers can rent on April 29th for Kate & Wills wedding. Coming in on the low end of the spectrum, at £60 per head was Methodist Central Hall, which is a 'lecture hall with champagne breakfast for 500 Guests or the Great Hall accomodating 1000 people.' The Lecture Hall is owned by the actual Methodist Church.
However.
On the upper end of the spectrum are the NIOC (National Iranian Oil Company) House and The Sanctuary (effectively owned by the Church of England). Both also offer views of Westminster-at a paltry £100,000 for run of the facility.

There are also apparently several places in the vicinity of Westminster that are for rent ('price not disclosed'). I guess it's a case of, 'if you have to ask, you clearly can't afford it..' For the most part, these places are all owned by the 'Crown Estate.' Who's that you ask? It's the royal family themselves. Yep. The very people who are holding the wedding (at the cost of me, a taxpayer, mind you...) are effectively going to make money on the very event they're having.

I've clearly missed the mark. Simon & I shouldn't be inviting guests to our wedding. We should be renting out the chairs for viewers instead!

...why didn't we think of this first?!?

Vitality Aromatherapy-My New Favourite

2011-03-08T03:48:00.000-08:00

In the interest of full disclosure, I should say that Vitality Aromatherapy is a new company that my friend (Lou) has recently started, and I’ve been fortunate enough to be testing some of the products she will eventually offer for sale on her website.

Regardless, I am officially in love with her gorgeous, perfectly scented, homeopathic products! So far, my favourites have been her Peppermint & Lavender Aloe Gel and the Body Butter.

With the running I’ve been doing, the Aloe Gel has become the first thing I reach for when I get home, and I can’t get enough of it! Beautiful smell, great cooling properties for my hot tootsies, and the aloe and naiouli are doing a great job of healing my various blisters and pain points more quickly than if I were to simply let them be. Plus, I find that the Peppermint & Lavender combo just makes me happy. J

The Body Butter...oh, what can I say about the body butter?!?... The cocoa butter smell is light enough to notice, but not in a sickly-sweet Cadbury/Hershey chocolate bar kind of way; it is divine. The butter simply melts in your hands (literally), and goes on so smoothly. I honestly have licked my hands after using-it simply looks & smells good enough to eat-and is! Don’t judge me.

Anyhoo. I am so incredibly proud of Lou-she’s been working towards her goal of getting her company up & running for some time now and I can honestly say that after testing some of her products, that she will be a raging success. She’s passionate and knowledgeable about what she does, and that shines thru in the beautiful things she makes.

If you’re interested in learning more, you can visit Vitality Aromatherapy and see for yourself. Lou is still finalizing all of the online ordering bits of the website, but she can still be contacted via the website to place a bespoke order.

Here’s to you Lou-I wish you all the best!

Relocation Benefits

2011-03-07T05:52:00.000-08:00

An old colleague in the US recently asked me about relocation benefits: she's contemplating a move for work abroad, and isn't sure what benefits may (or may not...) be available to her. In the course of crafting my rather lengthy response, it dawned on me that there's power in the collective, so I thought I'd repost my response here and ask folks to pipe up with other suggestions.

In no particular order, here's what I've managed to come up with:

The first thing I'd state is this: regardless of what is *offered*, you should get creative in what you ask for-and ask for everything (this gives you a better position to negotiate from!): salary too low? Ask for a transportation subsidy or more on temp housing. Own a house in the US? Inquire about your company supporting a sale that guarantees you won't loose money (ie the company covers any difference between initial purchase price & resale price-PLUS expenses). Or something to that effect. Anyhoo, for what it's worth, here's a laundry list of things I've either personally received (or know others have received). Some if it's probably pretty obvious, but others may be a bit more obscure..

-Pre-move visit to search for housing (can't say how important this one is)
-Up front local market real estate agent support (whether to buy or rent...)
-It goes without saying: corporate housing for a minimum of 2 months. Push for more. And then, if you're able to move to permanent housing earlier, get your company to agree to split the difference on the 'rental refund.'
-Even better: get them to pay for housing for the duration of your stay
-Ditto for living expenses (ie a per diem). This is well & truly a true 'expat package' feature, and not that many companies do it any longer, but it still never hurts to ask!
-House hold good shipping (options: air freight-faster, but *very* expensive. a good solution to getting a few extra boxes that you couldn't bring on the airplane. or, shipping container....slower (think ~6 weeks), but this is where you could literally bring your entire house). -and negotiate how *much* the company is willing to ship-regardless of method
-Visa support-push for the most open type of visa that would be available (ie one that will last for years and avoid the need to be 'company sponsored'-if that is indeed an option where you're moving-ie the equivalent of what is/was a Tier 1 in the UK)
-Also make sure that the household shipping includes packing & unpacking
-Relocation bonus. The new tea kettle, TV, couch, etc...isn't going to be free! :) this is an especially good one to negotiate, as frequently hiring managers can't add more to the salary-but relo bonuses tend to come out of different 'pots', so there could be more flexibility here...
-Tax preparation-both for the US & the country you relo to. Be *aggressive* on this one-even request a pre-move tax/financial planning chat with a professional. This gets very expensive to pay for yourself-and trust me, you'll need help on your taxes both while you're abroad, and for a good number of years after you move back!
-Storage: not moving all of your stuff abroad? Ask your company to pay for your storage in the US
-Auto: if you plan to drive, get a transportation allowance-whether it means a company provided car/driver or whatever....or...if you don't plan to drive, ask for an allowance for public transportation
-Early contract cancellation fees: For example, if you need to break your mobile contract early or gym membership, apartment rental...ask for your company to cover the cancellation charges.
-Banking: get your company to help you establish a checking account AND get a credit card
-Flybacks: have them pay for you to return to the US X times each year-to be used for personal trips at your discretion
-Your boy/girlfriend/partner/husband: visa sponsorship as well as the same relo benefits you'd ask for ('stuff', car/xport, flybacks, etc...).
-Language Lessons: unless you're both already fluent in the foreign language of where you're moving to! :)
-Have a pet? Get the company to ship the pet-and pay for the quarantine pre/post shipping.
-If you'd still be paid your salary in your US bank, have the company cover any wire transfer fees you'd incur for getting money to the country you're moving to live off of.

Whew. That's what I came up with in just a matter of minutes-I'm sure I've missed loads-like, there has to be things to ask for if you have children. But, I've no clue about that! :)

What else is there? What else have you received/heard of someone receiving as part of a a relocation package? Give a shout-or better yet, post your comment. Thanks!

Ow My Feet

2011-02-24T09:56:00.000-08:00

I've spent the better part of January and February running. A lot. And, I'm not even done yet. I don't think I fully appreciated just how *much* running I'd be doing when I decided to commit to doing a marathon. Well...let me tel you: it's a lot. :) Up until this week, I've run short distances on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and Saturdays have been 'big run' days (22.4k is the longest to date, but that will change this Saturday...). Starting this weekend, I'll also add a short Sunday run to the mix as well.

What is most surprising about this experience however is what/how/where the impact has been. The three largest impacts that I have seen from all of this (freaking) running are: my health, my feet, and my time.

My health-not surprisingly-has improved. I've already commented on my blog about the weight loss (yea!), but what I'm even more surprised about is the complete change in how I *think* about food. I still like food, don't get me wrong, but when I'm eating now, I'm constantly thinking about whether or not this bite of food is going to make me 'better, faster, stronger.' Meal planning-especially on Fridays (before my Saturday big runs) starts occupying my mind by Wednesday, and I'm always obsessed with how much protein I can consume on Saturday breakfast before the run. I'm not trying to preach-heck, I ate 5 mini-cupcakes this weekend, and I still drink a few pints during the week-but, the mental shift in how I think about food has been a real surprise. I wonder if it will continue once I'm done with the marathon-part of me hopes not. Part of me hopes so-it's a bit exhausting to always be thinking about your food in that way. :)

My feet. My poor, poor, poor feet. I'd take a picture and post it on the blog, but my blog would probably be pulled down for the graphic images! Literally, my blisters have blisters. It goes without saying, but Saturday runs are the worst. The damage I'm doing to my feet can't be good-fortunately, as I loose weight, I'm putting less stress on them as I run, but it would be great if I could drop 20 pounds before this Saturday's run! And, of course, in an effort to stave off new blisters or attend to the ones I have, I'm spending about £10 a week on blister pads, padded band aids, foot inserts, athletic tape...yeesh. I finally sucked it up and bought a new pairs of shoes on Monday. My 'cheap' fixes aren't working, and as much as it pained me to plonk down £98 for a pair of running shoes, I figure that if they work, I'll make the money back simply by not having to spend the £10 a week! Though the Saturday runs are generally difficult, I have found that it's really my feet that make them the most difficult: I'm fine from the ankles up. The ankles down are a completely different story..

My time. Door to door, my Saturday runs going forward will likely take 4-5 hours. And, I'm at the gym by 9am. With a 25-ish minute travel time to get there and a need to digest breakfast before I leave, I'm up earlier on Saturdays than I am during the week! Add to this another 90 minutes of effort on Tuesdays/Thursdays (fortunately, I'm now using the company gym-which is a 2 minute walk from my desk), plus 'foot maintenance' time before every run, and we're talking about a good amount of time taken up during the week. Once I add Sunday runs to the mix, and starting next week, I need to increase the distance (and time spent...) on my Tuesday/Thursday runs, I'm easily looking at 10 hours a week of going to run/preparing t run/running. Whew. I don't think I fully appreciated the time I'd give up when I committed to this!

I know it must sound like one long whine, and that's not my intent at all. I am genuinely enjoying the training/effort-and certainly some of the results. But, these have been the prevalent themes for several weeks now, and I just wanted to get it all down before I'm done!

Pffffffttttt.......

2011-02-22T10:02:00.000-08:00

Random, I know. It's one of those items that hits me from time to time, and then I quickly forget about it. But, after this afternoon, I decided it was worth recalling to mention: aerosol deodorant!

Americans...when was the last time you saw someone use (never mind purchase...) a *can* of deodorant/anti-persperant? Personally, I'm pretty sure it was sometime in the early 1980's, before the whole 'aerosol can/CFCs are destroying the ozone layer!' thing.

Well, if you ever wondered what must have happened to all of those aerosol cans, I can confirm that they are VERY MUCH alive and well in England. Aerosol deodorant still occupies a good 50% of the shelf space I've ever seen in any pharmacy or grocery store. And, unlike the stick/roll-on stuff most Americans buy-who you wouldn't see using in public if a gun were pointed to their heads...aerosol deodorant usage in England is very much in the public domain. Literally!

More times than I can count at work, I've heard 'pffffftttt....' from some part of the floor. Co-workers share a can. There's frequently spare cans found in office loo's for anyone to use (much like lotion, kleenex...), and I'm pretty sure I saw someone using it on the tube the other day.

I kid you not.

Catching Up

2011-02-18T06:06:00.001-08:00

Confession: I have been crap about updating the blog lately. I could try the ‘I’ve been busy’ excuse, but in truth, that always sounds a bit crap-we’re all busy. Regardless of my lame excuses, it’s time to get to updating. Oh, where to begin…

Marathon Training

In my post In the Public Domain, I proclaimed that I was going to run a marathon in short order. Well, I’m happy to report that I am still well on target to do this. I’ve been spending a loooot of time running lately (more on this in a moment)-dare I say ‘training’ for the marathon. I’m at the halfway point more or less in my quest to run the marathon before the wedding. It’s been hard-no one wants to get up at 8am on a Saturday, shovel food in-not because I’m hungry, but because I need the energy, trek to the gym and slog away for 3 hours in a 20k run. But, by golly, I’m doing it. And (shhh-don’t tell anyone), am thoroughly enjoying it. Don’t get me wrong: the 22.4k run this past Saturday hurt-and I do fear the eventual 42k/26.2m run-, but I am *loving* the physical gains I am seeing both in terms of my run times improving and the literal physical gains I am seeing on my body. I’ve shed about 8 pounds in the past 5 weeks, and hope to lose another 10 more before the actual ‘big run’. If for no other reason than I need to be lighter for my poor feet! J They’re in a constant state of ache, and my big Saturday run days are utterly destroying them: my blisters have blisters. If I’m lighter, than this will ease the problem. I hope. It had better, or I’m in trouble!

Though, the flip side of this is…if I do lose another 10 pounds, my wedding dress is officially going to be too big for me (it’s already getting a bit loose-fortunately, with a sash tie around the waist, I can get away with a bit of weight loss). But, as we’re really hoping to do this wedding on a budget-and I was able to buy the dress off the rack & it fit perfectly, I’m really hoping to not have to suck it up and get alterations. Damned if I do. Damned if I don’t.

Speaking of weddings…

Wedding Planning

As of today, we’re 72 days out until the wedding. Yikes! Seriously, where has the time gone? I remember when it was ‘9 months out’ then ‘6 months out’, now suddenly we’re 2 monts out!

We’re in a bit of a holding pattern now, as we need all of the RSVPs to plan for things that involve headcount-though the RSVPs are really starting to flow in now. I think we’re both starting to get excited at the prospect not only of ‘the wedding’ but also of ‘marriage.’ Everything has become ‘the last time we do this as an unmarried couple.’ This past Christmas was ‘our last Christmas before I become Simon’s wife.’ Valentine’s Day was ‘our last V-day before the wedding.’ Sick, I know.

The planning/to-do list items have actually gone better than I ever anticipated (more on this in a moment…). I realize I’m probably setting myself up for some serious stress by saying this, but I recall so many girlfriends stressing over their weddings when it was still several months out, and that just hasn’t happened to me yet. Though, on some level, it makes me think I’m missing something huge-that would be stressing me out. And, that thougt does stress me out a bit. Go figure…

Don’t get me wrong: I’m sure that the 7-10 days before the wedding will be a completely different story alogether, but I am at least enjoying a bit less stress now than I thought would be the case!

Which brings me to my last update…

Gardening Leave/New Job

I’ve changed jobs. I started a new job this past week (yea!), and it’s been an interesting process to get here-largely because I’ve been on what is termed ‘gardening leave’ since November. Gardening Leave is effectively paid time off. With traditional notice periods in the UK frequently from 90 days to 6 months, it’s not uncommon for someone to serve notice, and then at a point in their notice period for the employer to put the employee on Gardening Leave. I for one cannot complain-and as it gave me time to train for a marathon, plan a wedding, tick off a whole bunch of other things on my to-do list-not to mention find another job, it was really a good time.

It was fun while it lasted, and I’ll probably never have another opportunity like that again, so I’m a bit sad to see all the free time go, but in truth, if there’s one thing that Gardening Leave taught me: I would make a bad ‘lady that lunches!’

Saving Money in London

2011-01-13T07:29:00.000-08:00

For most of my friends that know me-both here and in the US-most of them probably know that I love nothing better than saving money on my purchases-I love coupons (vouchers to the Brits), discounts, deals, loyalty programs...anything that will make living my life a wee bit cheaper! And, as vouchers have become very in vogue in London the past two years with the economy, I started thinking about all the ways I try to save money while living in this incredibly expensive city.

Now, I'm not one that would go so far as to buy something I didn't want/need just to say I got a deal (well, barring that Givenchy jacket I bought 10 years ago...it was Givenchy, afterall!), and most of the things I try to save money on are either things I'd buy regardless (meals out, for instance) or would like to buy, but refuse to pay full price for (a full half-dozen microdermabrasion treatments). So, continuing the spirit of sharing, I thought I'd mention a few of the places/ ways I've saved money since being here-for what it's worth, these ideas don't have to be confined to London-or even to the UK (I'm fairly certain some of the group discount sites are now in the US). In the interest of full disclosure, any links below are purely IMHO, and I'll make no profit from you clicking on them-except the Groupon link-though, in truth, I think I've screwed the link up, so it doesn't matter! :):

Groupon: There are a few versions of Groupon circling the globe-Tippr, Groupon/My City Deals, Living Social, etc..and they're all effectively group discount buying sites. With these concepts, you sign up to a website (free), pick your location, and sit back and wait for daily deals to be emailed to you. In the past few months with Groupon, I've bought £170 hair cut/color packages for £45, a £500 microdermabrasion series for £50, and £60 worth of food and drink (at a place we go already!) for £19. You really can't beat this, and I may never pay full price for a beauty treatment in London ever again!

Email Vouchers: I am the queen of vouchers, and I'm not afraid to use them. :) My $.02 for what it's worth...take a look around at the places you frequently spend money-restaurants, shops, department stores, pubs, etc...and then see if any of them have websites with email programs you can join to receive vouchers. Ask (think, Olive Garden but better) has a great email voucher program, and as there is an Ask about 50 feet from our front door, it is our go-to restaurant when I don't want to cook and we don't have the inclination to trek somewhere. Rarely, if ever to we pay full price at Ask-and their deals usually mean one meal is free. We ate there two nights ago and had two pizzas -both 50% off (or £5.07 each). Can't beat that! Young's pub chain is also good with voucher emails-our local is a Young's chain, and again, I can't remember the last time we paid full price for a meal-and have on more than one occasion received a voucher for a free drink (no purchase necessary)!

Loyalty Schemes: Why not make your purchases net you something in the end? And in the UK, this option seems more plentiful than I care to think! Boots, Harrods, Nandos, Ping Pong, Nectar, Nero, local restaurants with punch cards...I have no problem carrying around carrying around a tiny piece of paper or plastic the size of a credit card if it means I'm going to get something free after just a few purchases. You're going to buy the face cream/chicken sandwich/coffee/dim sum anyway-why not use a loyalty card and effectively get a 10% or more discount off every purchase?!?

Bite Card: I swear I'm the only person that knows about this, though I don't know why...It's a discount card that gets you 20% off at a good number of food stalls in train stations-Delice de France, Costa, Millies...and a few others. If you have a commute that involves a train station, you're crazy not to have one of these.

Annual Tube Pass: I have an annual tube pass. This means that I suck it up once a year (though, some employers will offer interest-free loans), and pay a chunk of money to TFL so that I don't have to worry about what travel in Zones 1-2 *really* cost me again for 365 days. Along with the actual tube pass come a few 'perks' that seem to be the best kept secrets of the Annual Pass: Discounts on Heathrow Express (about 40%) for up to 4 tickets purchased at one time-even if all travelers using the discounted tickets don't have an annual pass, and discounts on National Rail. Most train discounts run in 30-50% range, which is not small change. The nature of the annual pass alone means you get a free month of travel-in comparison to buying 12-one month passes, and with the other discounts, you have a very real chance of clawing back even more cash into your wallet!

Pub Quiz: OK. Don't laugh. But, the pub quiz can be a very real way of saving some cash! I'm lucky enough to play with a group of people who, collectively are the right combo for a winning team, and we're fortunate enough to win something (free bottle of wine, bar tab...) almost every week. I like to look at it as self-funded drinking! I'd likely be in my local once a week for a few beers anyhow-why not organize with a few friends and make those beers free?!?

Taste Card: The Taste Card is a dining discount card that gives you either a 50% off or 2 for 1 deal at participating restaurants. Unlike every other suggestion above though, this one does cost to participate. There is an annual fee of around £75, but if you Google 'taste card discount', you'll almost always find a relevant code for 50%-ish off the annual fee. There are a good number of national chains with the card (Pizza Express, GBK), but there's also some local gems (Ukai Sushi, Greigs)-and a few that are rather pricey in which the card could actually pay for itself after one use!

With all of the above, Simon & I hardly ever pay full price for a meal-unless we're just out and about and decide to grab a bite at the most convenient place. But, if we're looking for a meal, and have the option to plan for a bit, we likely will get a discount on the meal. As such, we probably eat out a bit more often than most. But, eating out has always been a special treat for me as we didn't do it much when I was grown up; if I can treat myself and save money all at the same time, you 'd beter believe I'm going to do it!

Roasted Potatoes-My New Favorite Food

2011-01-08T09:38:00.000-08:00

Now, I realize that potatoes (in any form) are a go-to food for many, many people: roasted, mashed, boiled, fried...But, oddly enough, until I moved to London, potatoes for me were my 'eh' veg; I don't mind potatoes, but I just felt that there were other, more worthy-and good for you-veg that I'd rather eat.

Well, no more! Admittedly, I do think french fries (chips) here are outstanding-and I have consumed well more of them in the past 3 years in London than likely the past 10 years in the US. And, since Simon & I moved in together two years ago, mashed potatoes have become a go-to veg for me as Simon isn't as in to vegetables as I am.

But, for Christmas this year, I decided to make traditional Roasted Potatoes. I used the recipe of Simon's best friend, Herbie (I think it's actually his granny's recipe...), as I'd had Herbie's roast potatoes once previously and they were delish. I was trying to make our Christmas dinner as 'British' as possible, and roasted potatoes seemed the way to go. Since Christmas, I've made them 3 times more-twice this past week alone. I can't seem to get enough of these things! Which, is somewhat a pity-I know the reason they're so yummy is because they're roasted in goose fat. Not exactly the healthiest thing in the world, but I can't help it! So, in the spirit of sharing, if any of you have any goose fat just 'hanging about' the house, you may want to put it to some good use-direct from Herbie:

1) make sure you buy the right potatoes - King Edwards are the best [I honestly don't know if King Edwards are readily available in the US; if not, get a 'waxy' potato...]

2) peel and cut the pots into reasonably large pieces (too small and they will break when you par-boil them), think about the size in-between a squash ball and a tennis ball.

3) par boil the pots in salty water for about 7mins. They should be getting soft but not yet breaking up

4) drain the pots and put them back in the dry pan over the heat to get rid of excess moisture...give them a really good shake in the pan while you do this to fluff up the edges of the pots as this will add crispiness when they are roasted. You can add dusting of flour or semolina at this point for extra crunch [I have added about 2 Tbsp of flour every time I've made them and can say it is well worth it!]

5) pre-heat a large roasting tray with about 1cm/2cm depth of oil. Goose fat is best (adds flavour), or lard. Don't use olive oil as it burns too easily. (set oven at high temperature for this)

6) when the oil is spitting hot carefully add your pots one by one and swill around so they get covered with the oil. you can drain off any excess oil if the pots are swimming in it.

7) put in the oven and leave for anywhere between 45mins and 1hour. Make sure you work out all your other timings to the pots. You should plate up your meat and veg and have gravy ready so you take out the pots last and immediately serve them. Trust me...works best because it stops them from going soggy. Alternatively you can take them out, roll them around a bowl lined with kitchen roll to remove excess fat, then put into a large semi-heated serving bowl and then bring to the table. Don't whatever you do leave the pots in the oven to 'rest' at a lower temp-they will lose their crispiness.

I've been cooking the potatoes on 220 C, which is about 425 degrees F, and that seems to be a good temp for our oven.

Happy potato roasting!

Wedding Obsession

2010-12-29T03:52:00.000-08:00

I've been shopping the after Christmas sales the past few days, and have noticed that I'm starting to go into overdrive mode on the wedding. We're still 4 months out, but especially given the festive, party bits that are on sale-and that won't exactly be around in March/April, I find myself obsessing whether or not I can buy this bit at 90% off and use it for something in the wedding. I love a good bargain, and apparently, my wedding is no exception! :)

Christmas in London

2010-12-29T03:42:00.000-08:00

For the first time in my almost 38 years on the planet, I'm not home in North Carolina for Christmas. Given the stress and expense of travel, the fact that we're pinching pennies and pence to save for the wedding, and I was just in the US in October-oh, and Simon asked...-I decided not to go home this year. Hindsight 20/20, given the travel woes due to weather-London airports shut down for *days* due to a few inches of snow-I may not have made it home-or back to begin with! Best. Decision. Ever. Yes, I miss my family & friends, but it was nice starting what will be Simon's & my first Christmas tradition for hopefully years to come. aw.

Anyhoo..This post isn't meant to be about that. Rather, as I've been puttering around town the past few weeks-I've tried to make note of all of the glorious things that seem to happen in London/England at Christmas. Since I was here for the full experience this year, I wanted to take a moment & mention some of the things I've observed. I've tried to group them, as otherwise I'd be all over the place:

The Sights....

Having never lived in a super-touristy, large city before, I can't comment if other places do this or not. But, what I will say is that London decorates for Christmas really well! All of the major shopping streets get lit up, and even the minor ones too. :) The scenes below are from Oxford Street & Regent Street this year:

Oxford Circus

Regent Street

I could fill a book with all of the street lights, but these were my two favourites.

Oh, and never mind that until just a few days before Christmas, there was actually snow on the ground (oh, thiiiis close to my first White Christmas)!

The Food...

Oh, where to begin?!? This year, Simon & I decided not to swap presents (re: penny pinching for the wedding)-and we extended that notion to everyone. So,we gave nor received any presents this year. It was nice not to have to deal with the stress & mayhem of buying presents (and are already talking about not doing presents again next year), but in the course of doing so-and perhaps because Simon was so excited about me staying here & us having a proper Xmas meal (I swear, he's been talking about the meal since *August*)-that I find that I've thought non-stop about Christmas food the past few weeks. That being said, there seem to be non-stop Christmas Cooking shows on day & night as well...

Regardless, along the way I've noticed some similarities & differences in what we'd eat in the US v the UK at Christmas.

The Similarities: Turkey, Cranberry Sauce, Gravy, Stuffing. The true basics don't change from country to country.

Differences: Brussel Sprouts-very, traditional Xmas veg. It's like the ubiquitous British equivalent of the green bean. :); Mince pies are everywhere! Duck/goose seems to be a bit more common. And, though snacking is a big part of the day in the US as well, here, the main snack of the day is Cheese. The planning that goes into selecting your cheese & other bits-crackers, chutneys, side fruits-is considerable. And, if the 20 minute, 30 person queue I waited in at Neal's Yard Dairy (best cheese in London....) on Christmas Eve is any indication, folks aren't simply going to settle for a wedge of grocery-store-bought cheddar & a cream cheese ball! :)

Entertainment (TV/Music/Sport)...

Three things to note here...For some odd reason, the 'Christmas Number 1' for the music industry seems to be a national obsession. Again, perhaps it's me, but I don't ever remember it being a big deal who had the number 1 song on the charts at Christmas in the US. Here? It's discussed & speculated for weeks before-and, as the X Factor (think, American Idol) winner is crowned just ~2 weeks before Christmas, there's a huge push for the current winner's single to reach number 1. Ah, Simon Cowell. As much as I hate your music machine, you are a genius.

Second...Though this year wasn't a good example from what I understand, what's on TV on Christmas Day & Boxing Day (Dec 26) is ususally supposed to be really good TV-lots of recent movies in particular-and the networks seem to be quite competitive over showing good programs. Personally, aside from the annual 24 hours of A Christmas Story on TBS, US TV seems to be fairly poor this time of year, but as England does a better job of shutting down for the day, staying in & watching TV is about the only thing to do, and the networks are happy to oblige!

And last...what kind of expat would I be if I didn't mention Boxing Day Cricket? Every year, England & Australia play (effectively...) a month's worth of Cricket-almost a game every day. Christmas is about the halfway point, and the Boxing Day match is always very popular. As the games are in Australia this year (they alternate locations every other year), the match didn't start until 11.30pm on Christmas (it's the 26th in Oz), and it would go until ~8am. I called it a night at 1am, but Simon & Scott (our Aussie friend who spent Xmas night with us) stayed up a bit longer. Though, I guess in truth, the Christmas Day Sporting Event is no different from the US-it's just the choice of sport that's different! :)

General Bits...

I love Christmas Crackers. It's one of the best parts of Christmas in the UK to me-though they were an entirely foreign concept to me until 2008. Crackers are opened with your Christmas meal by grabbing on one end-and having someone grab the other end. When you each pull, the cracker (with help from a bit of gunpowder) pops ('cracks') as it tears open. Crackers usually contain a trinket of some kind, a joke, and a tissue paper hat. You put your hat on & wear it while eating your Christmas meal. It's my favorite part of Christmas, and I love the irony that a country that is considered to be so 'stiff upper lip' sits around eating their Christmas Meal with paper hats on!
Another great part of Christmas in London is that everyone says 'Merry Christmas.' Regardless of who they're saying it to (read: someone who isn't Christian). I think I blogged about this once in 2008 about how surprised I was about this, and though I'm still surprised 3 Christmasses on, the child in me likes that PC-ness simply gets tossed out the window this time of year: I was in my local grocery store on December 23rd, and overheard a store manager say to an employee who was leaving for the weekend, 'I know you aren't Christian, but Merry Christmas anyway!' If we would have been in the US, a lawsuit would have ensued, but here, the employee just took it in stride and wished the manager a Merry Christmas in return. Nice.
The Queens Speech...I can't quite figure this one out. Tradition as long back as I know, every Christmas Day, the Queen/King of England gives a public speech that's broadcast throughout the UK & even the Commonwealth. No more than 10 minutes long-and the speech this year was barely 5 minutes long-it's usually just a simple 'yea, England' type message from the Queen. Simon says he hasn't watched the speech since he was a child, and a chat with some of my British friends yielded the same commentary. Nonetheless, I was glued to the BBC at 3pm when the speech came on. In truth, I can't remember a thing she said. Hee.

Oh, Prague...

2010-12-19T07:54:00.000-08:00

How do I love thee? Let me count the ways....I love your beautiful architecture, your amazing food, your delicious beer, ridiculously reasonable prices, and most of all, your many and varied (and beautiful) Christmas Markets.

Simon & I went to Prague last weekend (good timing...Prague airports shut down the weekend before; London airports shut down this weekend. Both due to snow). It was his second trip, and my first. All I can say is: oh. my. god. What an absolutely lovely city. Yes, it was a bit overrun with tourists, but it was still simply amazing-and a stark contrast to my Marrakech experience just a few days before.

We arrived late on Friday-too late to do anything-so our trip really didn't start until Saturday. But, once we were up, fed, and bundled from what was supposed to be freezing cold (in reality, the weather was mild-mild not only for Prague, but mild even by my standards), we headed out. Straight to Wenceslas Square for a wander around-and view of the first of several Christmas Markets we'd encounter. After a bit of a wander, we decided to check out the Communist Museum (a sharp contrast to the Sex Museum-don't judge us-the only other museum we went to on the trip...).  After the Communist Museum, we continued our wander thru town, and on over to the Charles Bridge. Sooo beautiful-stunning views of both sides of the river-one with the Prague Castle in the background. We had a nice wander over the bridge, and continued our meandering for another hour or so before deciding to stop for lunch. Simon had been talking about the 'leg of pork' he had on his last trip, so we decided to find a place that served them. Not that it was a challenge, it seems to be a very common item on the menu. I ordered steak, but had serious food envy for Simon's pork, and in truth, it was large enough that we could have both feasted on it! Absolutely delicious! Didn't even need a knife to cut the meat-just a fork to scrape it from the bone. Oh, my. After stuffing ourselves on meat, it was time to walk off lunch, so we continued on with the meandering. Prague is one of those cities that you could easilly go from museum to museum or simply have a wander. And, given our limited time, we opted for the wander (we can do museums the next time we're back!) for the most part.

Our wandering eventually took us to another Christmas Market (super-small, and this one 'felt'' local), and to a stop at a pivo (beer) hall. After a few beers, some warmth, and a trip to the loo, we were back out for more walking. We crossed back over the Charles Bridge to our side of town for a bit of touristy souvenir shopping. After the shopping, we visited the Sex Museum. Not to sound prudish, but...eh. I don't know what I expected, but that wasn't it! Oh well. :) Shoulda stuck to the wandering around. :) So, we head over to the Old Town square and stop into one of the outdoor (heated) restaurants for some hot chocolate to warm up. Then, we head over to yet another Christmas Market (by my count, we're up to 5 for the day...), and then decide to start thinking about dinner.

After dinner, it's pushing 9.30pm, and there's one more pivo hall I want to go to-it's close to our hotel, so perfect for our last stop of the evening, and according to what I've read, supposed to be outstanding. And, it is. Pivovarsky Dum is the name. They brew all their own beer-including banana, coffee, nettle, and vanilla beer. Seriously. My favorite is a 'champagne beer' (no idea how it's made, but it had the *best* flavor-and you drink it out of a champagne flute) called Samp.   Pivovarsky Dum closes at 11.30p, and we were back in the hotel by 11.45pm-after being gone for over 12 hours. We were pooped.

Sunday was just a quick trip back into town to the Old Town Square-I wanted to explore in the daylight, as it was very crowded on Saturday night-before heading back to the hotel to shower up, pack, and head to the airport to leave.  Sigh. I can't wait to go back. I'm betting Prague in the spring must be simply lovely...Hopefully, I'll get to find out!

Prague Castle as seen from the Charles Bridge

Simon's knee of pork with side sauces and a side of cabbage.

Christmas Market

The "Champagne of Beers"-quite literally.

Astronomical Clock in Old Town Square

Oh, Marrakech-The Photos

2010-12-19T07:12:00.000-08:00

Have finally managed to get my photos uploaded. No pun intended, but hopefully, a bit of the 'flavour' of Marrkech comes thru:

A bottle of Coke. I am so not in Kansas any longer....

Shoes. Shoes. Beautiful shoes. This is the shop I bought my $9 (yes, $9) wedding shoes in!!!

Olive stall. Sooo good...

Just thought it looked cool the way the plant was creeping up to the window-though it's outside.

Birdseye view of the Djeema el Fna, the main square, ffrom balcony of one of the restaurants on the square.

A bit blurry as I was far, far, far away...but it's a snake charmer! Once I got closer (just a bit closer...), I can confirm it is indeed a *very real* snake!

Oh, Marrakech

2010-12-15T07:11:00.000-08:00

I've got some blog catching up to do!...

A few weeks ago, I got a last minute hair to book a trip 'somewhere warm', as the weather in London was cold, cold, cold and I was in serious need of even just a few days where I didn't have to wear 4 layers while out & about just to stay moderately warm. I've wanted to go to Marrakech for a while, and though Simon wouldn't be joining me on this trip due to work, I decided to book a last minute trip anyhow-the flight was only 3 hours, the trip was less than 300 GBP, I'd only be gone for a few days, I've travelled by myself before...how difficult could it be? Oh, famous last words. There was so much going on on this trip-and especially in my head, that instead of keeping a flow of journal 'posts', I opted instead for bullet points-otherwise, I'd be writing for days! In somewhat chronological order of thoughts/experiences...

When leaving my taxi to head into the maze of 'roads' to find my Riad (like a hotel), my taxi driver patted me on the arm. Big mistake-on his part. The throng of women that were standing nearby talking amongst themselves immediately descended on him and began doing what I can only describe as 'giving him what-for.' In Muslim countries, it's a bad, bad, bad idea for a man to touch a woman publicly.
The streets are an endless maze. I wonder how many times I'll get lost while I'm here (update: only twice!)
Snakes, monkeys, and kittys-oh my!
Are the men friend or foe?
I drank the tap water...
Best. OJ. Ever!
I bought my wedding shoes for 80 dirham! That's roughly £6 or $9! Whee!
On a related note...I've noticed on this trip that when I translate prices, my impulse is to translate to GBP first-not USD. huh.
Sitting in what is clearly the 'expat cafe' of Djeema el Fna-Les Terraces de l'Alhambra and I'm somewhat relieved to hear even the accented English around me
I've lost count of the number of sexist (is that even a concept here?...) comments men have made towards me in the past 36 hours
As I continue to ponder the taxi driver incident of my first few moments on the ground and juxtapose that with what I've seen since, I can't help but wonder...how is it possible to be that repressed but so dominant in society all at the same time?
I'm surprised/shocked/disappointed at the number of female tourists here who are either oblivious to the culture (wearing shorts/sleeve-less clothes..) or don't give a damn. I'm also frustrated that as a solo female traveller (the only one I've seen on the trip), I'm annoyed as hell that though I've tried to respect the culture, I'm the one that is singled out and, for lack of a better word, harassed non-stop.
Relatedly...not that I dislike my body (though I wouldn't complain if I dropped 20 pounds), but on this trip, I'm even more grateful for my size-I can only imagine how much more I'd have to tolorate if I were a petite woman.
I've noticed a surprising micro-economy in the streets while here; instead of buying a carton or pack of cigarettes, there are men walking around with an assortment of open packs of cigarettes providing the option to buy just *1* cigarette.
Immense challenges getting out of the airport in Marrakech and back to London. Initially a wind storm delayed flights for a while, and then the King of Morocco decided to fly out once the storm ended (meaning the airport was closed for a period to all inbound & outbound flights). Five hours later than originally scheduled, our flight takes off. The only saving grace of this is that I met two lovely American women-Michele and Lindsay who were individually at the airport leaving Marrackech after breaking from their travel groups. We had a fantastic flight back to London-chattering the entire time, having a sneaky Heineken that I bought in duty free (I swear, the woman behind the counter *really* didn't want to sell them to me....), some Moroccon sweets and comparing life/travel stories. Ironically, this may have been the hilight of the trip for me! :)

In general, I'd read articles about the 'challenges' that face single, female travellers when in Morocco: You don't sit in a bar & drink alone as some men may think you're a prostitute, you don't touch a man (and vice versa)-even casually in public if you aren't married, it's best to keep as much of your body covered as possible (I wore long sleeves & trousers the entire trip. I brought a scarf to cover my head but felt like I would have been acting like a 'poser' had I worn it...), it's best to avoid too much eye contact...etc. I tried like the dickens to be as inconspicuous as possible, but I guess single, white, female travellers should always proceed with caution. It's a pity, really. From what Michele & Lindsay said of their adventures, I think that had I been in Marrakech with someone else-male or female-I would have genuinely loved the trip/city/experience. But, as a solo traveller, my experiences were almost 180 degrees away from theirs.

What a bummer.

Dear Link Builders...

2010-12-15T02:18:00.000-08:00

I understand that you have a job to do, but I would gratefully appreciate it if you would stop posting crap comments on my blog with links in an attempt to provide a bit of link juice for certain clueless dentists who seem to believe that you're doing a good job in helping them to improve their natural search rankings with these links.

Not only does Google have a tool now which pretty quickly spots spam posts and prevents the comments from showing at all, there's this little thing called a "nofollow" tag which I personally can use if I decide that I don't want a link from my blog to be followed by a Search Engine robot. Like the one I used above with my 'clueless dentists' link. Get the picture?

Oh, and in case it wasn't already obvious, I work in this space professionally and can spot a purchased/promoted link a mile away. You would be better served by spamming someone else's blog-or rather, not doing it at all and going about link building the old-fashioned way-by asking for the link.

Can I Buy This?..

2010-12-05T01:07:00.000-08:00

Gennifer with a G, I thought your question was so good, I decided to move it away from the comments section and blow it up into a post.

Gennifer just asked about the relative availability/cost of the following food items, a typical grocery list. I'll admit, I certainly didn't think about something this practical until I arrived-and was then surprised at what I could/couldn't find that I used to buy in the States. Generally, it's largely the branded, pre-packaged things that are a challenge to find here (and as you'll note from my 'I'm a Hoarder' post....). The below commentary is simply based on my personal experience-if anyone knows otherwise, give a shout! Here's Gennifer's list. My commentary follows:

biscuit dough (like American bread-type biscuits, not "cookies")

1 pkg. Velveeta 16 slices
1 pkg. 12 hamburger buns
1 box Banquet-brand frozen fried chicken, 8 pieces
1 pkg. bacon bits/crumbled bacon (like for salad)
1 quart of heavy whipping cream
1 quart of olive oil
3-pounds/48 ounces ground beef
1 pound-16 ounces ground lamb
1 ounce cinnamon
1 ounce white pepper
1 ounce paprika
2 eggplant/aubergines
1 ounce parsley
1 pkg. pita bread (5 per pk.)
3 ounces of loose orange tea
2 ounces of white loose tea (I have my own bags, brew my own, blah blah)
5 yellow potatoes
2 bags of spinach leaves for salad
6 Bosc pears
1 sweet yellow onion
8 ounces gorgonzola cheese
8 ounces of baker's chocolate
1/2 dozen brown eggs
1 can-diced tomatoes
4 pkgs. toilet paper, 4 rolls each
plastic food storage containers
one 5-pound bag of sugar
2 pounds of coffee
1 gallon of milk, approx. 4 litres
2 oz. pine nuts

The top hilighted items may prove a bit difficult/impossible to find here, but a few comments to clarify...
*'American biscuits'...as a proper souther girl, there are certainly few months in my life that go by when I don't eat a biscuit. Made, not purchased-and if you ever find them pre-made here, I'd be stunned. But, I find even making them has provent to be a challenge-yes, I 'import' my own Crisco shortening (ahem..), but the flour here-even self-rising-must be different. I haven't actually been able to produce a good biscut here, as they simply don't rise properly. :( On the flip side, you should introduce yourself to Yorkshire Puddings ('yorkie puds'). They're simply lovely, and you can find pre-made/frozen ones. I hear Aunt Bessie does a good one (ask me again after Xmas, as they've gone on the shopping list! :)).
*Hamburger buns...You won't be able to find them year-round; they're a summer-only product. And, the ones that I have found aren't completely like in the US-they tend to be much smaller, and for some reason, a bit harder-and never pre-sliced. The one thing I haven't done is gone the route of 'butty' buns (butty's are simply sandwiches. as are 'sarnies.'), and though they don't taste like hamburger buns, they are larger-and if you find good ones-would probably be just as good. Any good bakery would carry them, and likely and larger grocery store would have packs of them year round as well.
*Banquet frozen fried chicken...Banquet doesn't exist here to my knowledge, but the frozen fried chix part won't be a problem. I can't comment on quality, but a very quick search on the online grocery store I frequently shop at quickly returned a page of results.
*Velveeta...not a chance. In fact, I've only once seen 'american-style' sliced cheese here, and it was during the summer. I've never eaten Velveeta, so I can't actually comment on availablity, but at the least, if you google 'american food store' you'll get a robust list of both brick & mortar and online shops where you may very well be able to buy Velveta. Price will certanly be an issue (example: most imported, American boxes of cereal in these shops usually run ~$10), but if you've gotta have it, you've gotta have it! :)
*Bacon bits....I haven't seen these, but I don't eat them, so it's possible they're out there. As a great substitute however, you can easily purchase 'lardons' (think 'bits') of fresh chopped bacon in the meat cases and make your own!

Everything else, you can easily find-or the subsitution would be so close (not sure about 'bosc' pears, but pears for sure..), you'll be fine.

As far as cost is concerned, I think it comes down to a personal preference. And it's worth noting that some of the things on your list (spices for example..), you'd buy in bulk once at a higher price-but it couldl take months to fully use.
Presuming the above is just for one person, you could very likely go the basic/essential route that many grocery stores are running these days on their private label brands and probably get away with just spending ~£20-25. However, if you decide to go a bit up-market, perhaps go for a higher level of quality either in the grocery store, or even venture out to a farmer's market, you could go as high as £40-ish. In general, for Simon & I, I spend~£25 a week at the farmer's market -and that food tends to get consumed in the week-and I then spend another ~£25 a week at the grocery store, and probably half of that is for things with a multi-week span. Our food shop also involves buying things we can take to work for lunch, so we eat out less for lunch during the week, but do tend to eat dinner out about 3x a week. However, I almost *always* use a voucher (coupon...), or my taste card (indespensible!), so we rarely pay full price for our meals out!

Great question, Gennifer. Hope the above helps.

In the Public Domain

2010-12-01T07:15:00.000-08:00

I've often thought that if I say something outloud to others-in the sense of commit to something-I'll do it. ie I'll have witnesses to my claim, and therefore have to do it. :)

So, it's time to put up. I've had a goal for several years now of running a marathon by the time I turned 40. Mind you, I'm not a long distance runner now; in fact, the furthest distance I've ever run has been a 10k-1/4 of a marathon...This was done last year, in preparation of running the goal marathon. See-being the scardey cat that I am, I have been working up to running a marathon for 3 years now! Three years ago, I ran my first 5k (after never being able to run more than 2k, and after recoveirng from knee surgery). Two years ago, I ran an 8k. Last year, 10k. This year was supposed to be the year of the half-marathon-20k. And, then next year was to be 30k, and the following year, my last year in my 30s, was to be 40k-a marathon.

Well, I've been thinking lately that I'm simply postponing what is hopefully the inevitible, and if I continue to 'prepare', I may just psych myself out of being able to do it. SO HERE IT IS:

I'm going to run that half marathon by the end of the year (never mind that my gym attendence the past year has been horrible...), and I WILL run that marathon before my wedding day next year.

So, that gives me until April 30, 2011 to do this. And really, as I'll be heading to the US the week before the wedding, it really gives me until April 22. And, as I don't really want to be hobbling on the plane as I head to the US, my plan is to run 40k by April 16th. If anything, this will be good wedding-fitness preparation, right? Right?...

There you go. It's out there in the public domain now. If I decide not to do it now, I'll have to publicly 'fess up, and I'm not one to do that. No pressure.

Oh, and did I mention that I don't run anywhere but on a treadmill? I'll run this entire marathon at my local gym. Should be fun. :) And painful. ok. Now, I'm nervous.

My Thighs

2010-11-29T11:35:00.000-08:00

No, this post isn't some ode to Beyonce or Fergie songs...merely a simple observation.

I went out today and was wearing a pair of jeans I'm fairly certain I haven't worn in over a year; what can I say-they ended up in the bottom of the jeans pile. I digress.

I couldn't help but notice when I first left the flat that the jeans were tighter on my thighs than they used to be. Great, I thought: just what I need-larger thighs. But, the other thing I coincidentally noticed yesterday is that due to all of the walking I do in this city, there's generally less jiggle in my thighs than there used to be. I vaguely recall noticing this after just my first month here (and may have even made a comment on my blog about it), but haven't thought much about it since. Until now.

So...possibly bigger, but less jiggle. It's like the yin and the yang of my thighs has occured. hmph.

A Belated Thanksgiving

2010-11-26T04:02:00.000-08:00

As I was heading back from Borough this morning and contemplating the menu and effort for tonite's belated Thanksgiving meal, I started thinking about all the things that I have to be thankful for. I try to do this every now and then (it beats thinking about the things you aren't thankful for), but it does help to have-what I consider to be-a special day set aside for that very thing. As I started to compile my mental list, it gave me cause for pause when I realized just how much I have to be thankful for:

A pretty amazing Dad, that at the age of 74, is still healthy and happy
The most incredible boyfriend/fiance/soon-to-be-husband ever. Yes, I know that many women think this, but I'm fairly certain that mine really is the *most* incredible. If for no other reason than he puts up with my crap. :)
The best circle of friends (on both continents-and a few places inbetween...) anyone could ask for. Period.
My health. For all of the little aches & pains, the fact that I can still put one foot in front of the other, day in and day out, with ease makes me grateful.
A relatively stable financial base. No, I'm not trying to say money is everything, and Simon & I are by no means 'rich' (I wouldn't poo-poo a $1M donation to us!...), but the fact that we don't have to choose between the cheapest toilet paper, or worry about whether or not we can afford to turn the heat on when it's cold outside-and it's cold outside!-makes me feel quite thankful, and considering the fairly modest-income backgrounds we both come from, I certainly don't take it for granted.
And at least 10 other things that would make this a long winded post if I continued.

A belated Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. If you can all feel at least half as thankful as I do, you're in a pretty good place!

Royal Wedding

2010-11-17T06:17:00.000-08:00

Though it's been barely 36 hours since the world became aware of the engagement of Prince William and Kate Middleton, just about every British newspaper, news website, TV channel....you name it has already pubicized this as the Wedding of the Century.

Fortunately, since Prince Charles & Lady Dianna's wedding was in the 1900's, it's a legitiate claim! :)

Speculation abounds about this being the 'positivity' that the British public need to see themselves thru the tough times ahead (see previous post on 'Austerity'....). More cynical people like myself probably just think it will be an on again, off again distraction for the next 6-8 months that well, after this week, will simply be sucked dry by every media/marketing outlet in an attempt to make some money.

Regardless, as Simon was quick to point out while watching the news last nite: if the Royals even *think* about spending public money on the wedding (technically a possibility since a portion of tax that every UK person pays goes to the royal family...), the ensuing kerfuffle would probably be more entertaining than the actual wedding itself!

Stay tuned. I'm sure it's about to get interesting...

Seen on the Tube

2010-11-13T12:32:00.000-08:00

When I got on the tube this morning coming back from Borough Market, the lady that got on the car with me, sat her things down & proceeded to take a solo glove out of her pocket & put it on before grasping ahold of the hand-bar. It gave me cause for pause.

There was a brief moment I thought she must be a bit of a germ-a-phobe/nutter. Then I thought for another moment and realized that almost every time I get off the tube, I find myself rubbing my hands on my jeans-almost a bit obsessively. And, I distinctly remember being happy about wearing gloves during the winter when getting on the tube. Ironically, I think wearing my gloves may have been what helped to keep me healthier than normal this past winter-and it had nothing to do with keeping my hands warm!

OK. She definately was not a nutter. In fact, she may have been smartest person on the tube.

Pity I didn't get a picture. But, the tube was crowded, and I figure the loud 'click' my camera-phone would make me look like the nutter! :)

The Age of Austerity and Crazy American Politics Observations

2010-11-08T13:11:00.000-08:00

Like the US, the UK still isn't fully out of the economic recession, and if anything, the unfortunate financial crisis that hit the private sector last year is now impacting the public sector. The UK government is having to make major budgetary cuts to various programs in the UK, and when a dear friend asked me about things last week, I realized that though I've been quiet about things on my blog, I very clearly had an opinion & obsevations on the topic. To wit, here is the email exchange (well, in truth, my friend asking me about the budget cuts and me getting up on my soap box in response...):

Dear Friend: Would love to hear how the UK austerity regimen vs. the insane US political mid-term election nightmares are playing out in your neck of the woods. After Christine O’Donnell (“I am not a witch”) as a candidate, the world must thing there is something wrong with our drinking water.

Me: UK Austerity...whew...I believe we'll fortunate enough to not feel the impact from the changes-we don't rely on state benefits of any kind (housing, child care/credits, unemployment, utility supplement, healthcare, higher education supplement...) the list goes on and on and on and on and on....Which, should clue you in to the problems at hand. As someone who used to think that Socialism wasn't that bad, I've completely swung the other way since moving to the UK. The *expectation* that the government will take care of you-regardless of whether or not you try to take care of yourself-just kills me. With cuts to the higher education 'supplement' grads can now be expected to pay up to £9k/year for tuition-though, admittedly, 20 years ago, it was all free. But, when I told Simon just last night that most Americans with kids are told to set aside $100-200k for their children's 4 year education, he finally understood why I thought that £9k a year was a joke. That's just one example. I should get off my soapbox though, or I'll write a book-and bore you to tears with it.

On the flip-side, Simon & I were in Las Vegas last week for his brother's wedding. We heard more TV/Radio ads for the Sherry Angle/Harry Reid showdown in 4 years then I think I've heard my entire life! Crazy. Angle's stance on most things scared me more than what was already wrong in Nevada (one in 25 homes in Vegas is in some stage of reposession...), and she was building a campaign on hate & intolerence. I breathed a huge sigh of relief when I saw that Reid maintained his position after Tuesday.

Coverage here has been 'interesting'. I think most view the election results as a sign that Obama has failed-though I don't read it that way. But, ironically, I think more hopes were pinned on Obama from the UK than the US to begin with, so the sentiment makes sense.

Perhaps I'm wrong about all of the above, it's just merely how I've seen things the past few weeks/ months. Would be curious to know how any other American Expats in the UK see the 'Austerity cuts'-and conversely what any British Expats (or Americans...)think about the recent mid-term elections. Thoughts?...

Catching Up

2010-11-08T12:02:00.000-08:00

I'll be the first to admit it: I've been horrible about blogging the past month. Between work, play, travel, and a wedding planning, I haven't had the wherewithall to blog. Well, time to make up for that. Brace yourselves!...

First a bit of general catching up. The last 8 days of October saw Simon & I heading to the US for Simon's brother's wedding in Las Vegas. Ironically, the Brit wedding was my first Vegas wedding. But, I'm already getting ahead of myself.

Simon & I were (for lack of a better, more PC way of putting it..) 'responsible' for Simon's dad on this trip-financially, socially, logistically, everything-ly. This meant that Simon's dad was with us from the Friday before we departed (Oct 22) until mid-last week (Nov 3). I think I've said before how much I like Simon's dad (read: I'm about to complain about him, so I should remind myself and others-including Simon, who reads this blog how much I actually like his father)....but, 13 days with a 56 year old man going on 80 (health-wise) almost broke me. I won't go into the details-there's no need-but, spending that much time with Simon's dad was stressful, draining, gave us no chance to have much quality time, and gave me a startling glimpse into the future of what it could be like if I don't start taking better of myself. That last statement is a bit extreme, but seeing how difficult it was for his 56 year-old father to walk even 20 feet at times, and watching him inhale almost every meal as if it were his last has put the fear in me. I'm going to try to be more mindful of my own health-be more cognizant of what-and how I eat, exercise more, and in general try to take better care of myself.

OK. That was a bit of a tangent on the US trip, but it's been sitting on my shoulders for a week now-and if for no other reason than to remind myself-I wanted to get it down.

The US trip was big for several reasons-two of which have already been mentioned (brother's wedding and my 'ephiphany.'), but there was another biggie looming at the start of this trip: our Dads met for the first time. Here's how this went down: Our 10-day trip to the US involved a 2-night stopover in Charlotte, 5 days in Vegas and 2 final nights in Philadelphia. It was a bit much, but we didn't think Simon's dad would be able to make the 11 hour direct flight to Vegas. So, we decided to break the trip up into more managable legs-and in particular try to swing by North Carolina so our dads could meet before the wedding.

Charlotte was fantastic. The weather for the 48 hours we were there was simply perfect, it was gret to see my dad (& his gf), and surprisingly-though we'd lightly joked about needing 'translators' between my dad's heavy Southern accent & Simon's dad's heavy Scouse accent, there was only once where there was the need for translation. :)

Vegas was..Vegas. It's been 10 years since I've been to Vegas, and it's totally changed-and stayed the same-all at the same time! More hotel/resorts and 'stuff', but the look & feel of Vegas really hasn't change. Surprisingly, I really, really enjoyed my time there-and Simon did as well-and I think it was largely because we didn't try to force too much. We hung out, gambled a wee bit our first night, had some drinks, did some touristy things with the wedding (limo ride on the strip...good times...), but really just approached the trip as a way to hang out. It was the right thing to do. Hindsight Vegas is like New Year's Eve: the harder you try to have fun, the less fun you'll actually have. Just go with the flow, and you'll be surprised. For both of us, the wedding aside (that was truly good), our favourite part of the trip was actualy the last full day we had -when we rented a car and left Las Vegas. Simon, his dad & I took a trip down to the Hoover Dam, had a putter around and then came back to the hotel to drop his dad off (he was falling asleep in the back seat at noon-by now, the trip was catching up with him), and then went on to Red Rock Canyon. Wow.  I mean, Wow. If you've never been, it's just a 30 minute drive off The Strip, and is well worth the effort. Simply amazing. And, after the faux-feel of Vegas, and the dry, re-circulated air in the casinos, it was nice to get out & about-roll the windows down in the car and enjoy the sun. Loved it. Hindsight 20/20, I would have worn better shoes so we could have taken a hike. But, I didn't know, so most of our adventure was just a few feet off the National Park highway.

After Vegas, we spent 2 nights in Philly. I'd been to Philly before, but neither Simon or his dad had. We arrived around 4pm on Friday, and were at the hotel by 5pm. We dropped our stuff off and then headed out for a putter before it got dark. Simon's dad was struggling to walk around too much, so our putter mainly consisted of heading to Chinatown for dinner before heading back to the hotel to drop his dad off before we headed back out to walk around and go have drinks. We ended up at a hotel bar (surprisingly good hotel bar at The Mariott...), where around 9pm, it was clear that there was a large party taking place in the bar. Well dressed people started appearing, the music got louder, and a few security folks started showing up. We didn't have a clue what was going on, so we asked the bartender. 'Networking event,' he told us. At 9pm in a bar on a Friday night? OK.   But, here's the thing. Whatever this event was, it was clearly for African-Americans. Past a point, Simon & I were the only two white people in the bar area. And, while we were sitting at the bar, I was casually listening to the two guys talk behind us, and caught snippets of converations on the other side of Simon & around us. There's probably no PC way to say this either, and the intent of what I'm trying to say is for good not evil, but it dawned on me in the bar: I miss being in the company of African Americans. Both casually/socially and the friends I have.  There is a lack of diversity in my life now-and even in my life in Seattle-that can only be described as 'white.'   And, I don't like it. Nothing I can do about it, but even as just someone sitting on the side-lines at the bar in Philly, I was happier just for sitting there. Anyhoo.

Saturday in Philly was tourist day. We got tickets for the hop-on, hop-off bus (though, we really just hopped on...), and took a spin around Philly. It was funny seeing the town-one of the hearts of the American Revolution-with two Brits. I think Simon & his dad both thought our 'history' (recent to British history in comparison) a bit quaint, and obviously, what they had learned about the American Revolution in school had a slightly different spin that what I learned-and what the tour guides were saying!   Aside from the general tour, we had a putter around Reading Terminal Market-so I could get my Farmer's Market fix (no Borough for two weeks). Lovely. I'd been there before, and it was just as incredible as my first trip. Huge thumbs up if you're ever in Philly...

By 5pm, Simon's dad was done for the day, so we dropped him off at the hotel, freshened up and caught our breath, and then headed back out. We first stopped at McGillans Olde Ale House-the oldest pub in Philadelphia for a few beers. What a great place. Ridiculously reasonable prices, not too busy, and we got to catch a few football and baseball games on TV. After that we had a wander around town before settling on Italian for dinner. In fact, we liked McGillans so much, we went there with Simon's dad the next day for lunch! :)

We flew back to London on Sunday nite-landing on Monday. It was an incredibly fast-but at times painfully slow-trip. It's always good to be back in the US, but that should be my last trip to the US for quite some time. For the first time in my life, I'm not going 'home for the holidays.' I'll be staying in London and celebrating with Simon. Food for fodder in a few weeks for the blog, I'm sure!

British Teeth Explained

2010-10-03T06:44:00.000-07:00

*Now* I understand. After resisting for the 2.5 years I've been here, I finally broke down & went to the dentist yesterday. It's been a year since I saw my US dentist, and it's going to be a while before I see him again, so I decided to bite the bullet & go to the dentist here. I decided to book a checkup & cleaning appointment, and there's a dentist around the corner from the flat who is open on Saturdays. What could be easier?

I was in and out of the office in 40 minutes-and 15 of that involved paperwork and reading a magazine while waiting. The sum total of time I was with the dentist? 25 minutes. In this 25 minutes, he checked my teeth, ran two x-rays-and reviewed them, and put a bit of composite seal on the back of a tooth that was looking a bit 'iffy.' He said my teeth were clean enough with no tartar that warranted a cleaning (thank you Sonicare!), so off I went. At first, while walking home, I was tickled that the appointment didn't take that long. But, the more I thought about it, the more I realized just how indicative this appointment must be to the general attitude of the Brits to their teeth; case in point: in September, Simon finally broke down & went to the dentist for the first time in 3 years! I'm pretty sure the only reason he went was to get me off his back. And, here I am worried that it's been a year. hm.

I can't remember a time that I was in & out of a dentist's office in less than an hour-and I certainly can't remember a time while I was there for a checkup that a cleaning wasn't almost manditory. But, with my dental professional's almost chill attitude about my teeth, now I understand why toothcare seems to be such a low priority for most Brits. Yes, I realize I'm stereotyping a bit, and on some level, the flip-side of all of this is that perhaps we Americans are a bit *too* obsessed with our teeth, but as I personally plan to take my one and only set of adult teeth to the grave with me, I can't imagine being any other way.

Glad this mystery has finally been solved!

London's Newest Cool Attraction

2010-10-03T06:27:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday, thru the beauty that is Groupon, Simon & I went and had brunch at London's Newest Cool Attraction: Altidude 360.

The brunch was off to a dubious start before it even began as we had problems with the reservation, but once we got all of that sorted, this ended up being one of the coolest things I've done in London in *ages*! Altidude 360 sits on the 29th floor of the Millbank Centre (on Millbank, almost due north across the river from London Eye). Our Groupon entitled us to arrival cocktails, brunch, more cocktails, and 360 degrees of uninterrupted view of London. Not too shabby. :)

The cocktails were scrumptious, the brunch, though it was really 'English Breakfast', (which I can take or leave..) was outstanding, and the views?....A-mazing. Our Groupon entitles us free access to the floor any time between now & the end of the year, and I can guarantee you, we'll be back many times! Amazing. See for yourself!~

Seen Randomly Around London

2010-09-11T03:32:00.000-07:00

From the infamous, recent George Michael car crash in Hampstead Heath:

Seen last nite while walking home. It's a bit dark, so I hope it's view-able. Simon was surprised I'd never heard of 'fouling' like this before. I thought it was hysterical.

And last, but not least...Seen as the 'ladies' bathroom image at Fino a few weeks ago. So, the ladie's sign gets breasts. The men's sign? Nothing. Does that seem fair?...(Sorry, you'll have to roate your head a bit!)

Catching Up

2010-09-11T03:22:00.000-07:00

I have been absolutely horrible about blogging lately (barring the post I just put up entitled Bite Me RMT). I've been working my fool arse off too much during the week, and the weekends have been jam packed-largely in trying to catch up from things I can't get around to during the week, wedding crap, and then we were gone to the US for a week to take care of aforementioned wedding crap, and then Simon's sister was in town this past weekend. Whew. Needless to say, the to-do list is long, and there's a lot to do, but I'm pretty stoked at the relative peace this weekend will bring. Largely because as I look out over the next 8 weekends, we're gone or just plain busy for most of them. Double whew.

On some level, due to how busy we've been, there isn't much interesting stuff to catch up on. But, anyhoo, there are a few bits to catch up on.

In mid-August, I finally got to go to my first cricket game. Day 4 of a 5 day 'test match' between England and Pakistan. The test match games start at 11am, there's a break in plat at 1am for lunch (seriously), and a break in play again at 4p for tea (SERIOUSLY). I've tried for ages to get into it when watching it on TV, but haven't, and feared I'd be bored to tears for this game (up to 7 hours of play too-a long time to be bored...). But instead, I LOVED IT! The first hour was a bit boring, as my biggest problem all along is that I struggle to understand the game. So, I went for a stroll around the Oval to see what there was to see, buy a beer and a T-shirt, and then went back to my seat. Well, I don't know if it was the beer, or the play, but I suddenly started to figure out the game-and once I did-bam. Loved it. Like, have already asked Simon when we can go see another game loved it. Go figure!

We were in Portland for the last week of August to take care of wedding crap, pick up the engagement ring (yay!), and several friends from Seattle came down for the weekend to hang out. It was a busy, but great trip back-and as this will very likely be the last trip back to the Pac NW until the wedding in April, a bit bittersweet. All good, though, and it really was fantastic to see friends.

Two friends are pregnant (and will have given birth by the wedding), and I finally got to meet the boy of one friend -he's 4 months now. It dawned on me on this trip that Simon & I, are currently (and forever, for that matter...) just about the only childless couple of ALL of our friends. Wow. Most of the kids are under the age of 4-and they're all under the age of 6.

Unfortunately, my camera battery died after just a few pictures there (stupid me for not charging before we left...), that I don't have anything to really show for the trip.

Other than that, the only other 'happening' was that I *finally* went to see my first BBC Prom this past week. 'Prom' here refers to a series of classical musical shows, though they have expanded into other musical genres the past few years. The Proms are at the Royal Albert Hall-very convenient to us-and this past Wednesday, we went to see on of those 'other musical genres'-the Penguin Cafe Orchestra. They were amazing. Simon's bene a fan for years, and introduced me to their music, which as it turns out , I know-but didn't know I knew. :) Simon's best friend Herbie was actually the one that organized the group, so Herbie, Simon, Noonie (another friend of theirs) & I went. It was fantastic. GREAT seats-box seats, my first time, and dirt cheap at 15 quid (as they're subsidized heavily by the BBC); GREAT music, and we were home in 20 minutes. Which is good, as it was late-starting show, and we didn't get out until 11.30pm!

The Proms run thru the summer and the last concert is actually this weekend. But, I'm already thinking that I'll be going back next year-it's just a matter of for what!

Bite ME RMT

2010-09-11T02:41:00.000-07:00

RMT is the Rail, Maritime & Transport Union-the union for public transport in Britian. Public Transport includes the Tube in London. Now, my rant.

Starting this past Monday from 9pm to 9pm on Tuesday (effectively all of Tuesday...) and for the next 5 weeks, the RMT is striking. During this time, effectively half the tube is down on Tuesday. This past Tuesday, my commute to work was 45 minutes (double what it normally is) on a bus, in which I'm pressed up against the glass to the point, I really can't move. Coming home, my commute took 70 minutes-I mostly walked (mind you, this was after waiting for 20 minutes for my bus -only to have one come by out of service and one come by that was so full it didn't even stop). At least the weather was fine. Good times. Looks like I'll be doing this along with most other Londoners for the upcoming weeks.

Why is the RMT striking you ask? Surely it must be because pay, benefits, work scheudle, something is SO bad that the union feels like it has no choice, right? Surely I would want these hard working people to be given a fair shake in the world, right? WRONG. WRONG. WRONG. They're striking because due to the recession, the UK budget is having to severely be slashed-and part of that is public service-under which the RMT falls. 800 jobs are being cut in stations across London. RMT workers along with the rest of the government, NHS, and other public sector jobs are being hit hard. As is the case during a recession.

Tube workers (drivers, and staff, specfically) get oh, about 6-8 weeks of vacation (compared with the standard 5 for the rest of us), and work only 36-ish hours a week. And, I believe the average pay is in the mid 30s. Not too bad. Oh, and did I mention that they striked (struck?..) last year for almost 3 days demanding pay rises-above & beyond what most of the country was getting during the FREAKING RECESSION and WON?!?!?

Did I mention there was a RECESSION?!?!?

I think if I were left alone in a room with Bob Crow (leader of the RMT), I'd likely have a few choice words. And perhaps a swift kick to his arse.

I'm dreading the next 5 weeks, and at the same time will be personally avoiding trying to take any tube on the days of the strike as my on personal 'Fuck You' to the RMT.

Bite me RMT. Bite me. Bite me. Bite me.

I was too young in the 70s to know much about the auto-worker union strikes in the US, and not much news (that I recall...again, too young...) of the UK coal miner strikers in the 80s. So, except for the occasional 'oh, the French fill-in-the-blank Union is strking. again' thought the past 10 years, the past 2 years are really my first strike-aware experiences.

And, where I may have been mildly sympathetic at some point, given what I know about the pay & benefits of the current RMT staff, any sympathy I had went out the door ages ago.

Sorry my first post after being silent for so long is a negative nellie rant, but it's kinda an important one.

grrrr..

Bite me RMT.

The North and South

2010-07-25T04:31:00.000-07:00

No, this isn't a story by John Jakes. Nor is it commentary about my Southern American angst a la "The South Shall Rise Again.." This is a different North and South: this is about North England and South England. Though, for all intents and purposes of this post, 'South England' really means 'London.'

A few weeks ago, my group at work hired a new person, who is originally from Northern Engalnd-Sheffield to be specific. This now brings the count of North England people in the group up to 2, and has since become a source of commentary (and good-natured ribbing) in the group. 'Joe' is now living in London for the first time, and we've had a few conversations about the difference of where he comes from versus life in London. Oddly, for the first time since I've been here, I think I've finally met someone who understands me when I talk about the aggression and rudness of London-as a a big city, not an English city. Joe has commented that he's stunned at how frequently he'll get run into/hit while on the tube, and rarely does anyone offer a 'sorry'- muchless a sincere apology. He said it would be very uncommon to walk around the North in much the same way as in London, and *not* apologise to someone if you ran into them.

Of course, the Southern American in me can't help but giggle a bit inside when I think about the inversion of the stereotypes of North and South in England-versus the Northern & Southern parts of US. In England, it's Northerners who live a slower pace, are friendly and ougoing, and show a level of civility to their fellow man when out in public. In the US, this is the stereotype of Southerners. In the US, stereotypes of a Northerner are that you'll be rude, loud, & aggressive; that's also the stereotype of Southern England.

Kinda funny, I think.

Engagement Photos

2010-07-17T07:07:00.000-07:00

I swore I wouldn't turn my blog posts into 'wedding-this' and 'wedding-that' posts, and would try to focus on the Expatriate viewpoint of said impending nuptuals. Hopefully, this qualifies.

Last Friday, Simon and I had our engagement photos taken by an Aussie named Damian that I met at social function a few weeks prior. We decided to go with Damian because, when I was just throwing out a few ideas/thoughts to him, it quickly became apparent that he 'got it'-and even easily improved upon the ideas that I had for the photos. I wanted the photos of Simon and me to be reflective of our relationship-which has largely hinged on 'London.' As much as I sometimes moan about "London", I do also clearly have "London" to thank for something great in my life. Yes, Simon. I'm talking about you...

So, in keeping with that premise, we settled on two locations for the shoot-the Mews we live on (we can't take any credit for how lovely it is, but we do recognize it's a beautiful Mews), and Tower Bridge. (here comes the Expat-viewpoint part...). Never in my life did I think I'd be so fortunate as to have these beautiful photos of me taken on Tower Bridge. It was surreal when we were there taking the pictures, and three days after getting the proofs from Damian, it's still surreal to see Simon & I on the bridge at sunset. I can't take any credit for how amazing the photos look-that's all Damian. We just stood there & did what we were told! :)
Well, without further ado, here are a few of the pics. Hope y'all like them as much as we do!

Awww..

Tube Musings

2010-07-17T06:25:00.000-07:00

I have now been commuting to work on the Tube for 3 months-it's the first time I've had a daily commute on the Tube since moving to London (suck it, First Great Western! I so do not miss you...).
I can honestly say that the novelty has worn off. I don't doubt for a minute that it's still the best way to get around London, but the daily commute has forced a few observations about humans-some funny, some perplexing-that I'd never noticed before on my weekend journeys on the Tube. To wit:

Why, oh why, do men have to sit on the Tube with their legs spread sooooooo wide? Truly gents, is this your sad way of trying to say to the world: "Look at how much junk I have between my legs, world! The only way I can possibly sit here comfortably without crushing my man-bits, is by spreading my legs obnoxiously wide to give it the space that is needed!!"
Tourists: Dear tourists, for the love of god: Stay off the Tube during rush-hour. The museums don't even open until 10am, but yet you insist on clogging the tube when there are hundreds of thousands of us trying to get to work. Nevermind the fact that the Tube can't even cope with the strain of Londoners using it during their commute already, now you have to overload it even further-with your prams, backpacks, and maps spread wide. Don't even get me started on stopping in the middle of the stairs, elevator, or platform-for NO APPARENT REASON-while the rest of us have to stagger around you so we don't run over you.
The urgency of your need to get from point A to point B via the Tube is directly proprtionate to the likelihood that the Tube will be slow, delayed, or simply suspended due to signal failure, an ill person on the train, or even a body under the train. Go figure.
One must acquire Tube Face as early into their journey as possible. Tube Face is the way making the world think that you are lost in thought, in your own world, or simply not paying attention-largely so you can appear to be ignoring the crazy person next to you-or made to not feel like you should give up your seat to someone who needs it. But the reality is: you're still paying attention to every little thing going on around you. Hopefully, no one notices you blinking, or your ruse is up.
Just like death and taxes being inevitible, it is also inevitible that you will end up sitting next to the smelliest person on the Tube when you have your choice of seats. Just the other day, I took a seat inbetween two men-one of which smelled of dead cow due to the leather jacket he was wearing. The other, smelled of ash tray and booze. Lovely.
If just one more person tries to barge on the Tube while there are still those of us trying to get off, I may have to commit to a random act of violence. Wait. Until. Everyone's. Off. Thank you.

I've observed on more than one occasion-and even commented in my blog-that Living in London is turning me into a rude asshole. (For the record, I don't think it's "London" doing this to me, but rather life in a big city.) Unfortunately, I can't help but think that my new commute is going to make me even ruder asshole. I fear for loosing my humanity; but, in the grander scheme of things, I guess I've really just traded my road-rage from when I was driving in the US to Tube-rage. I suppose it's just the difference of having an anonymous shell of a car around you versus the face-to-face confrontation of public transport.

Good times.

The Lighter Side of London LIfe

2010-07-10T10:09:00.000-07:00

When I moved to London 28 months ago (28? Really? wow), my exposure to British TV was limited to seeing re-runs of Benny Hill when I was a child, and catching a few episodes of Coupling on BBC America-which is *fantastic*, by the way, and makes Friends look a bit 'simple' in comparison.

Since being here, either on TV or or via DVD, I've been exposed to a few other shows that are also outstanding in their own right, and for anyone contemplating a move to the UK, here's a lighter look at some 'cultural research' you can partake in before arrival...Woefully, I'm rubbish at figuring out how to embed video in my blog, so a linked list (where a good link was available) will have to suffice-but if you go to YouTube, Hulu, or just do a search on the interwebs, you should be able to find a few clips. In no particular order...

Green Wing-one of the first shows on DVD I was exposed to when I move here, this medical comedy did things that were cringe-worthy hilarious, and the character of Sue White is honestly one of the most memorable characters I've ever seen on TV.
Spaced-I've been a fan of Simon Pegg since I saw Hot Fuzz in the US a few years ago. When I found out he had written & starred in a 'Singles' type of UK TV series in the late 90s, I had to watch it. Loves it. Loves it even more since Simon (my Simon) used to hang out in the area of town, Crouch End, where the show is set-and can point out random things about scenes of the show!
Little Britain-I realize this series has crossed the pond (jumped the shark?...) and a Brit-American version was run a few years ago on cable. It's crap. Must. See. The. Original. And then begin to say, 'computer says no' at work to the confusion of your co-workers. This is sketch comedy at it's best.
The Mighty Boosh-Season 3 in particular (my personal preference; everyone has a favorite, it seems...). Another series that seems to have crossed the pond-I recall seeing a few random episodes advertised for some cable channel-super late nite-when in Seattle last year. Absolutely hilarious. Just thinking the words 'crack fox' makes me giggle...and I have a wee crush on Noel Fielding.
Mock the Week: it's a panel comedy/news commentary show. Sorry. I know that seems confusing, but I know of no other way to explain it. Frankie Boyle (one of the *best*-though most offensive-comedians I've ever heard) made the show what it is. This program is a perfect way to quickly get up to speed on what's going on in British news-and pop culture-all while laughing your arse off. I love this show so much, I've applied for tickets to the studio audience. Fingers Crossed!

Unfortunately, except for Mock the Week, all of the other shows are now off the air-unlike US TV, where shows are run into the ground-and usually on life support before they're cancelled, Brit TV (though woefully, just the good shows, it seems...) likes it short & sweet. Two to three seasons is a good run. Except for Mock the Week, all of the shows above were before my time, but I found them thru other people. The least I could do is pass the suggestions along, and pay it forward.

Any other expats have any favorite Brit shows worth mention?

My name is Kristina...and I'm a hoarder

2010-06-20T01:37:00.000-07:00

Simon & I are making a trip back to the US in mid-August to pick up the engagement ring and take care of some wedding planning. For every trip I've made back to the US since I've been here, I've made a 'grocery list' of items I want to pick up while I'm there. Some of the items are simply 'American' and I can't find here (like grape jelly or Kraft Mac & Cheese). Other items are simply waaaaaay cheaper in the US (Aveda products), and I'm all about saving a few pennies.

While beginning to contemplate my grocery list today for this upcoming trip, and giving *serious* thought to getting not one, but two jars of jelly (I plan to start taking my lunch with a bit more frequency to save some $$, and even at my age, I still love a good PB&J), it dawned on me: I am a hoarder.

To wit: there's currently a jar of jelly in the fridge now that's not quite half full, plus a new/never opened jar in the garage as backup. And, I'm contemplating buying two more? Oh, and Q-Tips. They sell them here (even the brand that I prefer), but I only buy them in the US. I've currently two boxes (750 count, each...) sitting up in my closet. That's 1500 Q-Tips. Even at my current usage of 2 a day,every day, it will still take me 2 years to use all of them! And, I'm contemplating picking up another box in August? I need help.

I was never like this when living in the US. Yes, I'd stock up on things if there was a sale, or if it was something that I'd run out of with regular frequency, but I never once kept a stash of anything that would last more than a year. Muchless two years! At least not intentionally.

I know we all have things we can't live without, but the way that I've started hoarding makes it seem like I'm not going to be back in the US for at least a year-when in reality, that's not happened yet, and isn't likely to happen for a while.

Sadly, it's not just jelly and Q-Tips that I seem to be this way about; I won't list everything I've hoarded since I've been here though-it's just too sad, and you'd seriously believe I had a problem. Which, I guess I do.

Well, admitting I have a problem is step 1. I think I need to go figure out what step 2 is... :)

World Cup Fever

2010-06-19T04:05:00.000-07:00

It would be border-line irresponsible of me if I didn't post at least once about the World Cup while living in London, wouldn't it?
For anyone who has been living under a rock or in a cave for the past week-or, outside of the UK from the looks of the US newspapers I've been reading online-England is in the throes of World Cup Fever. Has been for several weeks now, even though the official games just kicked off (no pun intended) a week ago. I'll refrain from any game by game commentary-that's already been covered 7,000 ways to Sunday by everyone else, I'm sure. Instead, just a few general observations about the differences between World Cup in England versus World Cup in the US.

Life as we know it grinds to a halt on the days that England plays. Yesterday evening (6pm), I was one of 15 people in my gym (only 2 men, both of which were trainers, and simply had to be there)-a time & day in which it's normally packed. Why? England played at 7.30pm.
Want to go to your local and have a pint? Better not on game day. Especially if said local has a TV. You're better off to stay at home, as it will be too crowded, noisy, and drunk.
A good England fan is delirious with excitement leading up to an England game. And, then quickly starts to bash the team during a game, the minute something goes wrong. By the end of the game, a good England fan will be downright despondent at having ever thought England could win anything-nevermind tie a team that truthfully they should have crushed-and are basically ready to dis-avow God and Country.
The tube stations become fully staffed with British Police. In the US, on a major sporting day, we'd see extra cops on the roads to stop drunk drivers. In London at least, there are extra cops in the tube stations.
In the US, as a female, I never thought that anyone (men) was surprised when a female had an intelligent observation to make about a sporting event. Here, if a female makes an intelligent observation about a sporting event, men treat it as a sign of the second coming-the shocked look on thier faces says it all. Loves it.
I've had more people than I can count ask me if I was pulling for the US or England-particularly during the US/England match last week. I never once entertained the thought of pulling for anyone other than the US, and can't help but wonder if an expat living in the US would have ever been asked that same question (regardless of their country of origin).
There's just no escaping World Cup Fever. It's everywhere here: tv, radio, print, references on tv shows, the Top 20 chart is populated with 'England Fooball' type songs, and even if you're a brand that would never before have associated yourselves with Football (food, beverage, cars, finances, you name it..), suddenly you're mentioning 'England World Cup' in your advertising. Even as recent as 3 days before the US/England match last week, I struggled to even find one US newspaper (well, online...) in which World Cup was even the front-page story.

I'm sure there are dozens more differences between what's going on with World Cup here in England versus the US, but those are the ones that come to mind off the top of my head.

Anyone else have an observation they'd like to share? Drop a comment!

Lisbon, Portugal

2010-06-13T05:11:00.000-07:00

OK. Time for a proper travel catch-up. From the previous post, it's obvious that I went to Lisbon 2 weeks ago, but aside from the engagement part, I didn't actually comment on Lisbon, so I'll do so now..

Having been to Porto two years ago, I had at least that mental standard of what to expect, but actually expected more from Lisbon-as both a larger, and the capital city. On some level, Lisbon didn't disappoint (*massive* protests in the main part of twon we were in on the Saturday we were there), but at the same time, I can't actaully say I liked Lisbon as much as Porto.

We got there on Friday evening, and basically dropped our stuff off at the hotel & headed out for dinner and drinks. Lisbon is surprisingly hilly-shockingly so, in certain parts of town. And, the area we wanted to get to required either a 15 minute walk *straight up* a hill. Or, a cute 3 minute trolley ride. We opted for trolley. :) We then wandered around the Barrio Alto area looking for a place to eat, and I was struck by how much it reminded me of 'Restaurant Row' in Brussels-restaurant after restaurant for several blocks in any direction, and hosts were outside trying to get you 'come sit down. try. you willl like.'

Instead, we headed a few more blocks off the main path and ended up at a place called Artis. WOW. Our first meal pretty much set the standard for the rest of the weekend-how could it not, when one of the tapas dishes was "aguardente flambeed sausage"? We were barely the 3rd table in the house when we got there at 9p, but by 9.30p, the place was packed, and every table-including ours-had ordered this visually stunning, and very tasty dish. Yum. We also ordered a bottle of Vinho Verde-the white wine that Portugal is known for. Double yum. We'd go on to consume a fair number of bottles of this wine over the course of the next 3 days.

After dinner, we went and found the Solar du Vino do Porto. Effectiely a port-wine bar. After my trip to Porto, I've really come to appreciate port, and to go to a place and be presented with a 20-page menu with nothing but port wine is pretty exciting. Some for as cheap as 1.80 EUR for a glass, up to 30 EUR. Simon & I had a few ranging from 1.80-7 EUR, and they were all simply delicious. By now, it's pushing midnight, and as Friday was a regular work-day for us, I was getting tired. So, we headed back to the hotel for the evening.

Saturday started out with a quick trip to the pastry shop across the street of the hotel for breakfast. Two croissants, two coffees, and a bottled water for 5.40 EUR (about $5) . And it was also delicious. THIS is why I love Portugal! I will say...our food all weekend long was really good, and every meal made us marvel at how cheap-but fantastic-the food is. It's very similar to the food we've had in Barcelona (also amazing), but about half the price.

Since our time was limited in Lisbon to just a few days, and we wanted to cover as much ground as possible-but knowing that walking from one part of town to the other could a)take ages and b)kill us because of the hills..we opted to go on one of those hop-on/hop-off buses. I'm not ashamed to admit that we've done these buses now in Paris, Barcelona, and Lisbon. And though it screams 'unimaginative tourist', if the weather is good it is the easiest and best way to see a city.

We got off at one of the waterfront stops to go have a wander around a few of the touristy things. Ship Rock (I think that's what it's called?) and a castle. After a few hours, we hopped back on another tour bus and passed by the Monestario do Jeronamo and then headed back into the main part of town, where we got off and went to grab a bite to eat for lunch. After lunch, we were planning to have a walk back to the hotel for a lie-down and freshen up before heading back out for the evening (it was pushing 4p...), but on our way back to the hotel, that's when we encountered the protesters. It was peaceful and well organized-I'd say well over 10k people turned out. From what we could eke out on the signs-and later when we were talking to our server at the beer garden we went to, I think they were mostly Labor/Trade Unions protesting Capitalism.

Well, since we couldn't easily get back to the hotel because of the protest, we turned around and headed back down to the heart of the city (and back downhill!) to a beer garden in an area that reminded me of Las Ramblas in Barcelona-but without the scary street people. We thought we'd gone far enough to get away from the protest, but instead...for the next 2 hours, we had a front row view on the street, as every Union group in the protest came by us! From time to time, some of the protesters would come to the beer garden, have a seat-and a beer-and take a break. Then, they'd grab their signs, drums, whatever they were carrying & join the protest again. It was all good family-fun. :)

Anyhoo, after dinner that nite, we went back to the port-wine bar for a few more tastes before calling it a night.

We decided that Sunday would be a more relaxed day. After breakfast we headed in to town to go to the Contemporary Art Museum (free before 2p on Sundays), and then caught a trolley over to the Monestary.

We'd only passed by the day before & I really wanted to go in. But, man, the queues were enormous-as were the crowds-and neither Simon or I had the patience for it! So, instead, we went around the corner to a pastry shop that's well known for selling "Postres do Belem" (Belem is the part of town we were in...), and we bought one and grabbed a spot on the steps at the Monestary for a quick snack. By now, it's pushing 1p-and it's blazing hot outside. Not wanting to get fried to a crisp, we decide to head back to the main part of town & eat an early lunch under the shade.

Another lovely meal-and another lovely bottle of Vinho Verde, and the plan to again go back to the hotel for a lie down gets tossed aside when we walk by the beer garden. A few pints (well, technically, Litres-as each glass was one Litre) and 3 hours later, and we decide to go up to the Barrio Alto area for a little tapas and a drink before having full-blown dinner.

The rest they say, is history. Little did I know, but Simon had been walking around all day with his faux-ring in his pocket to propose to me at some point in the day, and after arriving at the tapas bar, and getting settled with our order, down on one knee he goes. Sneaky bunny.

We're Engaged!

2010-06-06T06:29:00.000-07:00

I've been quiet the past month-largely due to work and travel, so hopefully, this will make up for it. :)

Simon, the sneaky bunny, proposed to me last Sunday when we were in Lisbon for the Bank Holiday weekend. I knew it was coming-we'd already set a date (crazy, I know, but the venue we wanted books up fairly far in advance), but I still didn't expect the actual proposal for a few weeks more. But, Sunday nite, while we were having drinks and tapas in the Barrio Alto area of Lisbon, he got down on one knee next to our table (mind you, in shorts on a cobblestone street) and asked me to marry him.

I said YES!

A few pictures of the place we were at..

I'll post more about the actual trip later, and catch up on a few other posts, but I wanted to get this one done before more time passed. I hope not to become one of those women who does nothing but talk about their wedding, so I'll try not to be one. But, in keeping with the spirit of my blog, if there's anything notable about planning a wedding-as an expat-I'll pipe up. We're planing to get married at McMenamins Edgefield-one of my favorite places in the world. But, it's on the outskirts of Portland, Oregon-8 time zones away. I'm sure there will be some interesting expat-life-tidbits to emerge from this, if anything!

Election Day-Part II

2010-05-09T03:43:00.000-07:00

Well, I thought when I blogged about Election Day the other day, that by now, we'd know who the new PM would be.

Wrong.

As I mentioned, there was a good chance of a hung parliment, and that is indeed what has happened. No one party took enough votes to claim a majority and assume leadership. The Conservatives (David Cameron's group) got the most votes (dang. that man is a tool), and Labour (Gordon Brown, the incumbent PM) got the 2nd most. Surprisingly the Lib Dems (Nick Clegg) came in 3rd place, though the polls leading up to the day showed a completely differnt picture.

So, literally right now, Cameron & Clegg and their 'people' are trying to hammer out an agreement between the two parties so that the Conservaties/Cameron can presume the new role of PM. If they're unable to do so, Brown will remain PM for the time being. Even though-for the 2nd time, he wasn't actually voted in (or rather, his party wasn't voted in so he could claim the position). Interesting stuff.

It's likely the coalition will be formed, so I imagine that in a bit, Cameron will be the new PM, and the UK Parliment will have figure out how to operate in this slightly different political environment than what we're coming from.

Should be interesting. Watch this space..

Election Day

2010-05-06T01:33:00.000-07:00

I've been horrible (or, rubbish as the Brits would say) about blogging lately. New job and all that jazz. I will get better-and update-it will just be a while.

But, today is a big, big, big day here in the UK and I wanted to get something down for posterity, if for no other reason. I'll get all deep and philosophical about it later, but at the least wanted to mention that today is Election Day in the UK. Citizens everywhere are voting for their candidates-or, really, their parties.

Unlike the US where you vote for the *person* you want to be President, here, leadership (ie the PM role) is granted to the leader of the party that gets the most votes. Lib Dem, Labour, Conservative. Take your pick. It's interesting-and, adding a twist to it this year is the fact that for the first time *ever*, nationally publicized debates between the leaders of the 3 major parties (Lib Demmer-Nick Clegg, Conservative-David Cameron, and Labour-Gordon Brown [the incumbent PM]) a la what happens in the US, has happened. So, for the first time ever, voters are made to feel like they actually are voting for the person, not just the party. Interesting stuff.

Polls don't close until 10pm, and ballots aren't counted until close, so we won't actually know until we wake up tomorrow as to who will be the new PM, but it'll be an interesting 24 hours. Word on the street (ie polls) is that there will be no clear party winner-which means a hung Parliment. Not good. But, polls have been wrong before (remember, Dewey v Ike?..), so we'll just have to wait.

Watch this space! :)

It Takes a Village...

2010-04-15T02:38:00.000-07:00

...to sustain an expat.

I'm in the process of trying to rent my condo in Seattle, and am heavily relying on my friend/current renter to help me out. He's offered to do showings while he's still living there, and even just yesterday helped me get the Craigslist ad posted (I'll spare the gory details. suffice it to say, I'm not a fan of Craigslist any longer....), and as I was leaning on him, it dawned on me just how much I've leaned on my friends the past two years while I've been here.

Sometimes it's the small stuff like, "Mind if I buy something online and have it shipped to your address for me to pick up when I'm in town?", sometimes, it's a bit more like, "Mind if I buy something online, have it shipped to your address, and you bring it to me at some arbitrary location when we're both in this location at the same time?"-this is happening right now. I just bought a laptop online, am having it delivered to a friend in Seattle, and she's bringing it to Minneapolis in May-where we'll both be for a friend's wedding.

Other times, it's "Mind if I stay at your place for a day or two so that I don't have to rent a hotel?" And even, "Here's a list of a few things I'd love to have. Would you mind bringing them when you come over for a visit?"

I've really leaned on my friends a lot the past two years. And I *hate* having to do this. I'm the person that struggled to let friends take my trash out when I had knee surgery and couldn't walk-nevermind taking out trash. And yet, here I am. Probably once a quarter, I reach out to friends to do this very thing that I don't like having to do. But, as long as I'm living outside of the US, this is likely to be the reality. I don't know how I'll ever return the favor (well, if they move out of the US, that will be a pretty easy pay-back...), but I'll figure out something.

East London Field Trip

2010-04-12T02:29:00.000-07:00

I don't want to jinx us by saying that Spring has finally arrived, but the past 5 days certainly make it seem that way! So, while I still have some time off from work, I'm trying to be out and about as much as possible. On Friday, I decided to give East London another try. I'd just received Taste Britain two days before, and had decided to put it to some local use. So, after much debate, I decided to head East to Pellicci's for lunch and on my way back West, to the Algerian Coffee Stores.
Where to begin?...I got to Pellicci's at 12.30, which was just in time to beat the rush. The inside (maybe 20 seats) was already packed, but there was a free table outside-fine by me; it was a lovely day. I was barely there for a moment before I was being given a menu and asked what I wanted to drink. Nothing on the menu is more than £6.40 (sandwiches for 2 quid? OK!), and the £6.40 meals were for meat and two veg-type family-style Italian meals. I had just walked a mile to get there, so I opted to splurge on a proper meal-grilled lemon chicken with potatoes and cabbage. Wow. It was delicious! The server, when I told him that's what I wanted, said 'Good choice-my mamma was just making the chicken this morning.' It really felt like a home cooked mea, and the food was simply fab-fresh, simple, full of flavor.. Total for my bill, which included a can of Coke?....£7.20. Seriously, if I would have had that meal in Central London, you could easily have doubled or tripled the price! As I was paying to leave, the server asked me if I enjoyed the meal. I told him, 'it's very unfortunate. I live in West London, so coming here is a bit of a hike. But, it's completely worth it! The food is delicious.' I'm sure he hears this a dozen times a day, but he still seemed quite pleased, and as I was putting my change in my purse, he said 'young lady-wait a minute' (I *love* anyone who still calls me young lady! :))...and he reached into the pastry case and handed me a piece of bread pudding: "my mamma just made this this morning. please take a piece and enjoy.' How incredibly sweet.
While I was at the restaurant, I got the distinct feeling that I was the only person there who doesn't come in at least 3 times a week; now I understand why. Great food. Great service. Great prices. If you find yourself with some free time, make the effort; you won't be disappointed!

On my way back West, I opted to find the Algerian Coffee Stores. Never one to turn down a good cup-or opportunity to smell good beans (which seems to be the calling card of this tiny shop), I ventured into tourist-town near Piccadilly Circus to find the shop. It's barely large enough to fit 10 people in, but the selection of beans-flavoured and normal, and the selection of equipment is by far the most complete collection I've ever seen. I could easily have stayed in there for an hour and scoured the shelves, but it was too cramped to do so (2pm on a Friday. my mistake...). So, I stayed long enough to buy some beans and a double espresso (yum), and headed out.

All in all, a pretty successful field trip. I think I'll have to break open the book again this week and try another suggestion or two!

Coffee in London

2010-04-01T04:53:00.000-07:00

I have from time to time commented about coffee here in London (yea: Monmouth and Ginger & White boo: Starbucks (sorry...)), but I just happened to stumble across this article on Timeout.com just now titled Coffee in London

Methinks I feel an uber-caffenated, week-long field trip coming up in a few days! :)

1st Contact Interview

2010-04-01T03:10:00.000-07:00

It's always a puzzler to me whenever I get contacted about doing an interview. Well, I say 'always' like it happens every day..3 times, really. Neverthelss it's still a puzzler. :)

A few weeks ago, 1st Contact, a company that specializes in finance and legal issues for both expats and residents pinged me about an interview. I had a putter around their site-there's actually some interesting stuff on there (note to self: File for my National Insurance rebate when I leave the UK..), and decided I'd give it a go. For the curious-or the bored-feel free to read my interview and post a comment.

1st Contact also posts about more than just the serious stuff: I think I'll be checking out one of their suggested wine bars this weekend; I'm always on the lookout for a good one, and until this weather gets to the point of me being able to be outside drinking without getting frost-bite, I might as well hole up with a good bottle of vino!

If any of you fellow expat bloggers would like to have your say about living here and have an interview posted on their website-and wouldn't mind providing a bit of free link juice- please contact Paul at Paul(dot)Lombard(at)1stcontact(dot)com.

Happy Reading!

Good Times

2010-04-01T02:32:00.000-07:00

'Cross the Pond & I met for lunch on Tuesday at this lovely coffee shop called Ginger and White (seriously: one of the best flat whites I've *ever had*). She's a newly arrived work-at-home-expat-mom and I'm awaiting my frickin' visa papers to get processed so I can start my new job. So lunch in the middle of the week? Can do! :)

Aside from deciding to form a Mutual Admiration Society because we both thought we're about 7 years younger than we actually are, it was nice to get out and meet a new expat and talk about our experiences. Most of my expat conversations are with folks who arrived at the same time as me with my old employer, so I find that our experiences are somewhat homogenious; it was nice to chat with someone else and get a completely different perspective. But, it was all a bit odd: Since I read her blog, I felt like I knew her better than if she were a total stranger and we were meeting for the first time-but that's exactly what we were. I'm sure she must have felt the same. Either way, it was nice to finally put a voice to the words. Hopefully, once she's settled in to her new flat, we'll be able to get together again.

On reflection, I found that my conversation with her about getting settled in-and all the trials that go along with that-brought me back to my own experiences, and I couldn't help but feel a bit stressed! That seems to happen whenever I talk to anyone about 'just arriving', read a blogs about someone's first few months here, or even go back and re-read my old posts. Yeesh. But, on the flip side, it makes me appreciate how much easier life is now-and just how settled I do feel here now.

Landline/Internet Service-A Comment Response

2010-04-01T02:15:00.000-07:00

I received a comment the other day from Anne, a newly arrived expat inquiring about suggestions for the vast array of landline/internet services that are available, and in the process of beginning my response to her realized it was going to be a bit lengthy-and perhaps a proper post about the topic would be better. So, here goes..
Unlike the US, the telecomm industry here is ridiculously competitive. Landline. Internet. TV. Bundled. Unbundled...it's enough to do your head in trying to figure out which company/package to go with.

When I first arrived two years ago, my flatmate at the time & I decided to go a Landline/Internet bundle from a company, TalkTalk because another expat suggested them. They were reasonably priced, and our package allowed for 'unlimited' phonecalls back to the US. That was great. The customer service of TalkTalk (now Tiscali...)? HORRIBLE-worst than any other customer service I've received here. And, that says something! I cannot under any circumstances recommend Tiscali. The cost savings-given that there are *tons* o' companies here of offer a similar package-sihmply wasn't worth it in hindsight, but like Anne, we were overwhelmed with options, and went with TalkTalk on a recommendation-and to kind of get it over with. If memory serves me correct, with taxes & everything, we paid about 30 a month-which was worth it for the internet access & US calls alone. Truthfully, we hardly used the landline for local calls at all, but peeling that out of package wasn't an option at the time.

The past year, Simon & I have gone in a completely different direction-no landline, and a 'PAYG'-Pay as you Go mobile broadband dongle from O2. For phone calls back to the US, I use Skype. For the most part, this arrangement has worked out without any problems. Occasionally the Skype connection is crappy, and on 1-2 occasions we've been unable to connect to the internet-last nite being one of those times. But, that can happen with any internet service. We pay 17.50 a month for the broadband access, and I don't think I've yet spent 10 quid on a good number of hours conversation back in the States. All things being equal, this has been a much better option for us, and I can't imagine going back to a fixed contract service while here.

The one thing I have't mentioned in either of these scenarios is TV as part of the bundle. Most TVs in London can get a good 20 channels with something called Freeview (think basic cable-with a few extras) for free. There are exceptions to this depending on how old your TV is, or the area you live in, but this is the gist. I don't completely understand all the details, so I'll refrain. But, my point is, unless you are a hard-core TV watcher who simply won't be able to do without 50+ channels-and many US shows-I don't think it's worth it.

Anyhoo. The reason for my long-winded commentary thusfar is to illustrate a)the array of options and b)to hilight some of the things you should think about when trying to figure out which company/package to go with. It's a lot to take in, and no normal human being should be forced to think about all of this. Fortunately, there are a good number of comparison shopping (comp shop) sites out there that do the thinking for us! :) All you have to do is plonk in a few details about where you live (to determine which services are availble in your area) and what features you want. There's still a ton o' options from there, but at least the wheat has been seperated from the chaff. So, to that end...here are a few of those sites that I'd recommend. I'd start with Money Saving Expert. They'll provide a great overview on options/prices, but also provide information on additional comp shops. [As an aside..I almost always start with MSE whenever I have *anything* financial to contemplate here in the UK.]
After MSE, I'd suggest comparethemarket.com or moneysupermarket.com or gocompare.com. I don't mean to overwhelm...they're all basically the same, but you may simply find one UI better than the other for your purposes.

Whew. That was just supposed to be a few sentences about my Internet service! :) Sorry about that, Anne, but I hope that answers your questions a bit-and perhaps a few others as well!

My Canterbury Tale

2010-03-23T03:59:00.000-07:00

Spent a lovely day in Canterbury yesterday. I knew I'd like Canterbury, but it really exceeded my expectations. Lots of great 'old' things to see, a completely walkable-and easy to navigate-city, and the weather fully cooperated! I was also fortunate enough to be at a few sites, and due to perfect timing, I guess, have the entire place to myself.

Canterbury is a 90 minute-ish journey from London, and given the size of the town, is do-able in an easy day trip. I arrived at the Canterbury East station at 12.02p, and by 12.05p was at the Norman Castle. It's almost literally right next to the station. Built close to 1000 years ago, the Norman Castle is one of the three original royal castles in the area. And, for the most part, I had the whole place to myself! It's not huge by modern standards-nor is it the size of Windsor-but, it was impressive nonetheless. Next to the castle is an old graveyard and church. So, I took a wee wander off the trail. I have a thing for graveyards. I don't know why-perhaps I got it from my mother...I just find them so darned fascinating. So, I had a little wander around there as well. Completely alone. I felt so lucky!

By now, it's pushing 1p, and my tummy is starting to rumble, so I take out ye olde trusty map and make my way to Cantina. Mexican food. Random, I know-but it looked like a nice place from the Canterbury website-and it was open on a Monday. I initially wanted to go to a place next door called The Farmhouse, but they're closed on Mondays.
Nevertheless, Cantina did not disappoint! Homemade nachos and calamari with lime, garlic-and peanuts were my two dishes. The chips for the nachos were fresh, and the calamari was so tender I almost didn't need to chew. I don't think I'll return to Canterbury any time soon-but if anyone else is headed there, I'd cerainly give Cantina an A+.

After lunch, I decided to make my way over to St Augustine's Abbey and St Martin's Church. By arriving at Canterbury East station, I was able to plan my day basically starting at the station and working counter-clockwise around the city-via City Wall to see the sights. So, the abbey and the church were next on the rotation. Unfortunately, The Abbey was closed on Monday as well (drat), so I carried on to St Martin's Church. Along the way I passed a prision. Across the street from a primary school. Am I the only one else that thinks this a bit odd?...

Anyhoo, the actual church at St Martin's is closed on Monday, but the grounds (read: cemetary) at the church is open. And, I had the entire place to myself! St Martin's is the oldest church in England still in use-since c.580. Wow. The sun was out, it was a beautiful cemetary, and no one was around. I spent about 45 minutes there just wandering, reading, sittinging and taking it all in....just 'being.' It was fantastic. For me personally, that was the hilight of the day.

When I first entered the church grounds though, I was struck by this sign:

So, does that mean that if you're not warned-or if the officer isn't in a uniform-it's not an offence?...I just thought it was funny.

Anyhoo...After St Martin's, I headed into city centre to the big daddy: Canterbury Cathedral. It did not disappoint, and at £7.50 for entry-the only entry fee I'd pay all day, I felt like it was a steal. The place was a mob scene with school groups, so it was a bit difficult to navigate, and after the peace I'd had at St Martin's was a bit jarring, but the Cathedral itself-and the history-was quite stunning nonetheless. The Cathedral dates back to 597, is the seat of the Archbishop, and for me personally, has the most amazing undercroft I've ever seen in a church, and the cloisers were just stunning:

But, just like with St Martin's, I saw another sign that struck me as funny and I had to take a photo:

From the Cathedral, I had a wander around city-centre. After 20 minutes though, I realized that a)this place has the same shops as London (Highs Street, mostnd b)it's mobbed with school groups. No bueno. So, I high-tailed it out of the centred headed west to the West Gate for a quick peek at the Towers. Unfortunately, the Towers Museum closes at 3.30p, and it's pushing 4p by now, so I decide to carry on along the city and head to The Millers Arms for a pint of ale. Afterwards, I have one more little wander-to the Stour River park-literally next door to the pub-to enjoy the scenery:

And, then had a final wander back to the train station and headed home. Oh, but here's a few shots of the cemetaries that I saw during the day:

Organ Donation in the UK-My PSA

2010-03-23T03:17:00.000-07:00

I've been a registered organ donor in the US since I got my first drivers license at 16. And, though I'd talked many a friend into becoming a registered donor in the US over the years, it never dawned on me until I saw a TV advert the other day that I wasn't registered in the UK-and if (heaven forbid), something should happen to me while living here, it's not like my body is going to be flown back to the US immediately-"Quick! I'll bet she's registered to donate her organs in the US. We must get her back there!" Or something like that...

So, there was a TV advert on the past week. A simple PSA to encourage people to go to the NHS Organ Donation website and sign up. So I did. It didn't even take 5 minutes.

You should do it to if you haven't already.

It's Bright in Brighton

2010-03-19T10:29:00.000-07:00

I spent a day puttering around Brighton last week, and it was a glorious day. It's surprising at how busy Brighton was in March in the middle of the week; I can only imagine that summer weekends must be insane!

Brighton is easily explored in one day on foot. And, like Cardiff, small indy boutiques rule the roost-particularly in the North Laine part of the town. Fun, fun.

I arrived in time to meander thru town and do a swing by Brighton Dome and the Royal Pavillion. It was so beautful ouside that I opted not to go in either, and instead just walked around-and then sat outside just to enjoy the fresh air.

But, it was still chilly ouside, so I had to get a moveon, so I headed down to the shore-front, where I wandered the pier for a bit, then decided to try to find Terre a Terre-a local veg restaurant for lunch. Found-and OMG. I had their faux fish and chips. The 'fish' was battered and fried halloumi, and was accompanied by chips, lovely minted peas-topped with two vodka infused tomatoes, and their own tartar sauce. Honestly, everything was delicious-and so plentiful that the chips weren't even needed! Sadly, the picture doesn't even do it justice.

After lunch, I popped next door to Scoop & Crumb, the local ice cream parlor for dessert, and then spent the rest of the afternoon wandering from shop to shop, and just generally enjoying being outside.

A few things were closed, as it is still off season, so I finished playing tourist a few hours earlier than I'd planned, so I simply hopped an earlier train home. Honestly, I knew Brighton was close, but a 45 minute train ride goes by in a flash. That's one place I may have to pop back down to one weekend-just for another another lovely lunch at Terre a Terre!

Croeso i Caerdydd

2010-03-19T08:03:00.000-07:00

That's Welsh for 'Welcome to Cardiff.' It was charming to be in a country in which English is commonly used, but still would show the Welsh version as well-on everything from signs to tour maps.

Two weeks ago, during my first 'unemployed weekend,' Simon & I went to Cardiff, Wales for the night. While my passport is off being visa-ed, I'm limited to where I can go, and Cardiff is a simple jaunt from Paddington Station-which is as convenient as it gets-so it seemed like a logical choice.

Cardiff during the day? Lovely: pretty, clean, friendly...everything you'd want and more. Cardiff a nite? A totally different story. Let me put it like this: by 9.30pm, we were sitting in the hotel bar having a beer because of the drunken, mad chaos on the streets. And mind you, this wasn't a rare occasion-this is apparently Cardiff *every* Saturday nite. Anyhoo, I'm jumping ahead...

We got to Cardiff around 11a on Saturday, and dropped our things off at the hotel. We were lucky to have a great location-effectively a hotel on the main street (but thankfully, a room on the quiet, back side). If you're in the mood to shop, Cardiff is definitely the place! More High Street shops than you can shake a stick at. And, if mainstream isn't your thing, there are tons of amazing, little boutiques in the labrynthe of arcades in city-center as well. The Arcades alone make Cardiff worth a quick trip, if for no other reason. So, this is how Simon & I spent the bulk of our day: just having a nice wander around the town, and popping into one shop after another. Surprisingly, neither of us bought anything, but the looking was fun enough! We also spent a few hours at "Castell Caerdydd"-Cardiff Castle, which was lovley-well preserved and beautiful-but a bit expensive on the admissions (tickets are about 10 quid each).

We spent so much time walking around, that both of us were actually ready for an early dinner. Well that, and the fact that Simon knew the 'tone' of the town would change at night-and he knew neither of us would enjoy being out in the drunken mess. Good call on his part...

We had dinner at Positano -and Italian resto. Apparently, Cardiff is a bit known for Italian, and Positano looked good from the ouside. And, it was! Simple, fresh, authentic dishes. Amazing prices (starters and mains for both of us, 2 beers, and a delicious tiramisu to share all for under £35), and good service. score.

After dinner, we were going to go for a wander, but it was pushing 9pm, and the madness outside had already begun (I feel like I'm referencing something from a zombie movie..), so we decided to head back to the hotel for another drink and call it a night.

While having a wander on Saturday, we came across Madame Fromage in one of the arcades. I'd heard of Madame Fromage before (though I didn't know it was in Cardiff), so we decided to have lunch there on Sunday. I am so glad we went there! The food was amazing. It's a pity we weren't hungrier-meals aside, they had a good number of Welsh cheeses in their cheese case I was itching try. Pity I didn't get to. :( But, our mains were still delicious. I had lasagne, and Simon had a Breton Fougasse (a pastry with cheese, ham, and olives). Yum on both accounts.

After lunch, we walked down to the bay, where we spent the rest of the day before having to come back up to town and catching our train. The bay was fab-a great weather day, and clearly folks decided to take advantage!

All in all, Cardiff-nightime follies aside-was a good, cheap, easy overnight trip. If for no other reason but to have anothe wander thru the arcades, and cheese at Madame Fromage, I'd go back!

Cardiff Castle Breton Fougasse

Cardiff Bay

Travel, travel, travel

2010-03-19T07:13:00.000-07:00

Details to follow, but in the course of getting sorted for my trips the past few weeks-and one more upcoming to Canterbury-I heavily relied on the tourist websites for the towns I visited. And, I have to say-they were FANTASTIC! Plentiful, helpful, up-to-date information. Good maps. Good 'itenerary planning' functionality. The works! If you're thinking about going to any of these places, I highly recommend the following:

Visit Cardiff
Visit Brighton
Canterbury

Responding to a few Comments

2010-03-16T07:55:00.000-07:00

My crap laptop settings won't allow me to respond to comments the past few days, so I guess there's no other way to do this...

@Ashley Edwards (re: comments on Proximity): I transferred over with my US company who had an outpost here in the UK. 18-24 months ago, I would have said: pack your bags and come on over! You're young and will have 3 months to find a job. Piece of cake! Now? Not so much. General economy woes aside (which make it challenging even for Brits to find jobs...), the UK government is making it more difficult for expats to get working visas. Not *impossible*, just *more difficult.* So, I'd strongly encourage you to do your legwork/networking on the US side of the pond before coming over. And, in a perfect world, you'll have some Very Strong leads before coming over. Obviously this will be more difficult, but the expense of living here without a job-and with it being as hard as it is...not worth the risk. Totally my $.02.

@Boston chick (re: comments on Lambing Live): In truth, not much about my expenses has changed since my last post. I've moved in with my BF to a cheaper flat ('just' £560/week now v the £730 in the old flat), and have tweaked a few montly bills-ie cheaper monthly mobile phone contract and killed the landline/internet in favor of Skype and a PAYG monthly mobile broadband connection, but that's about it. All told, I'm probably spending about £360/month less than. Well, actually, I guess that is a big difference...

Proximity

2010-03-12T07:53:00.000-08:00

I swear, this is the week of revelations!...

While getting my last dose of Lambing Live last nite, there was a montage of lambs and sheep in different settings around the UK: the coast (did you know that there's a type of sheep that lives off of *seaweed*?!?!?), mountains, rolling hills, etc...And, while I was watching, there were several scenes that made me think to myself, 'wow. that looks great! i'd really love to go there one weekend.' And, that's when it hit me: popping away for the weekend here in the UK is totally possible-and in particular, with all of the food/cooking/lambing...programs that are on TV here, it seems like I've seen more of this country than the US-and am more familiar with where-and *how* food is sourced here than in the US.

I mean, I *know* that potatos come from Idaho, but it would probably take 10 hours (at best?..) to drive there from Seattle and find a potato farm. The UK? I could probably be on a farm in less than 3 hours. And, there's something I find comforting about that; the proximity itself is definitely a good thing-I am most definitely a fan of buying local. But, beyond the actual proximity, is the knowledge that I'm gaining by learning about where the food is sourced from. Good stuff.

Lambing Live

2010-03-11T01:18:00.000-08:00

You know you've been in England too long, when the following happens: On BBC2 each night this week-and this week only-is a show called 'Lambing Live.' The show is following a farming family in Wales this week as their ewes give birth to the spring lambs (lambing), and sometimes live on the program.

Now, the first time I stumbled across the show on Monday, I watched for 20 minutes, and thought...ok. Definitely not something I'd see in the States. Tuesday at 8pm came, and as I was looking at the program guide, I thought....ok. maybe worth watching again. No live births on Monday, maybe something tonite. And, the little lambs were cute.

But, last night takes the cake: I actually made a point of going to BBC2 at 8pm to watch the show again!

I have definitely been in England too long. I'd love to embed a video in my blog to show, but I don't konw how to do that (if anyone knows how, please let me know!) So, I'll just have to go old school with a link:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00pxqv3

It's the Corn, Silly!

2010-03-10T09:36:00.000-08:00

Since moving here, I've noticed that my eating habits have shifted. Namely, I'm eating less beef-ground (mince, as the Brits say) to be specific...I don't eat as much gound beef because it tastes different than US beef, and it's a taste I haven't been able to adapt to. It's more 'earthy' for lack of a better way to put it.
Well, two weeks ago, I finally figured out why. I was taken to a business lunch at Automat, a Mayfair American-style restaurant perhaps most well known as the location of where Renee Zellweger 'plumped up' for her Bridget Jones role. Well, I have to say, I can certainly understand why! The food was fantastic, and the burger I had tasted like 'home'. Read: AMERICAN Beef. Why? Because, it was actually 'USDA Corn-fed Beef'-it proudly said so on the menu. Corn-fed: the same stuff that I now know is completely harmful to the food industry (both beef rearing and corn-farming) in the US. Anyone who has read Omnivores Dilemma will know this.

So, while in Automat it hit me: it's the corn, silly! This is why UK beef tastes so different-cattle are grass-fed, not corn-fed! And worst part? I prefer the no-good-for-me-no-good-for-the-cows, Corn-Fed beef.

Hmph. I am a horrible, horrible omnivore.

Say Twat?

2010-03-10T09:19:00.000-08:00

Sorry Americans, for the seemingly offensive language. But, unilke the US where 'twat' is a fairly offensive word (at least to my ears...), it's tossed around here much like 'jackass' would be back home. In addition to twat, there's also 'twatted'-usually used in reference to being drunk-but that seems to be used less frequently than twat.

Sadly, I think I've now picked up this word, and though I don't use it with every passing breath, familarity breeds comfort; I've found myself uttering it on more than one occasion-usually when dealing with Joe Q. Public while out and about.

Note to self: this is one British-ism that should *not* make it's way back to the states with me!

Train Travel Suggestion

2010-02-23T03:06:00.000-08:00

I am fortunate enough to soon have a few weeks off inbetween jobs (YEA), and I'd like to do some travelling. Unfortunately, I won't have my passport (thanks, HMRC for your bizarre rules about re-applying for a visa), so I will be limited to Train Travel in the UK.

I've already booked a trip to Cardiff. But, that's it. I was thinking about The Lakes District for several days-though I wonder how great it will be without a car (comments?...), and Brighton as a day trip. I've already been to Edinburgh, and Glasgow doesn't interest me as a solo traveler. Would consider other locations in Scotland, but think they may be too far afield (read: 8 hours on a train)

Any suggestions of other train trips-originating from London-that I should consider? Day trips or overnighters are fine.

Life Admin

2010-02-22T08:47:00.000-08:00

After several hours on the phone this week and last with my UK mobilie phone company and my US credit card company, it's finally dawned on me: life admin, as an expat is practically *double* what it used to be!

Now, not only do I have bills & crap to deal with from the UK, I've got bills & crap to deal with from the US! There's been this feeling the past two years that I spend more time on life admin-and until recently, I assumed it was just 'UK Stuff.' I realize now it's UK & US Stuff. Geez. Can't we poor expats get a break? :)

I feel like I have to make almost one phone call a week back to the US for something-credit card, mortgage, insurance...plus the normal UK life stuff. It bums me out to know this is probably always going to be the case-either while living in the UK, living in the US-or heaven forbid a third, new life admin country...

Any expats out there have any handy tips/tools for keeping this type of stuff in check? I'd much rather be spending my time on fun things!

Spreading the Expat Blog Love

2010-02-19T05:57:00.000-08:00

One of the best things that comes from blogging is 'meeting' other bloggers, and becoming virtually (literally) connected to them thru their blog posts.

I've been fortunate enough to have been contacted by two such bloggers recently who have asked to 'interview' me for their blogs. So, in the spirit of reciprocity, I wanted to post a link to their articles:

The Canadians & Americans in the UK blog is written by Victoria Westcott. She has some outstanding articles on 'How to...', and it's from her blog that I first stumbled upon the UK to US Bank Transfer info. Thanks, Victoria!

The second blog I've recently been interviewed for is, Expat Alley written by Tom Frost. Tom does a great job of covering general Expat life from a multitude of coutries/expatriates/viewpoints, and has been an expat himself a few times over.

Hope you enjoy!

Transferring Money From Your UK Bank to the US: Part 2

2010-02-19T05:33:00.000-08:00

I mentioned sumbling across what seemed to be an easy, inexpensive way to transfer money from my UK account to my US bank in a post in January.

Well, I finally got around to doing this a few days ago. The verdict? A HUGE Thumsbs Up!

The company offered a quick, easy interface to understand, good rates, low-to no fees, and their customer service was *outstanding.* Thanks UK Forex! I'll definitely be using you again.

Homeless

2010-02-18T08:00:00.000-08:00

Not literally, thank goodness. But, figuratively.

This past Friday, aside from friends & family, I severed the one tie left which had me tethered to the US: the job that got me to the UK. I served notice to my current company and am leaving to go work at (gasp!...) a British company.

While I am extremely excited about the opportunity that has been presented to me (I do honestly feel that for my industry-ie what I 'do', there is no better place to do it at than London), it has dawned on me that I am now a bit homeless. It's a bit odd and a bit liberating all at the same time.

Many friends (Expat Americans or otherwise) are a bit surprised when they hear that I'm staying in London-but not going to work with my old employer. And, I'm surprised that they're surprised.

Has anyone else left their home country with one employer, only to eventually go work for another, 'local' employer? I wonder if reactions to your move have been the same as mine.

Anyhoo...it's like one small sub-chapter on my life has closed, but I'm already excited about turning the page to the next story!

NHS: Scarier than a 3rd World Clinic

2010-02-17T06:19:00.000-08:00

I'm still trying to catch up on a few posts after being off the grid for several weeks, but as the trauma from my most recent experience with the NHS is so fresh, I wanted to get this down now.

Gents...you may want to *stop* reading here. This is about to become TMI (too much information). Ladies...well, if any of you have plans for your first 'smear test' in the UK any time soon. I'm sorry for the fear I'm about to strike in you!

I've touted the good of the NHS on more than on occasion, but my 'smear test' (pap smear) with the local Well Woman's clinic yesterday has made me re-think this whole stance

The clinic I set my appointment up with isn't my regular GP. If your GP isn't 'equipped' to do these tests, you can easily be referred to other clinics in the area that are. OK. Nice. I picked a clinic that was about 10 minutes away from the flat and booked my appointment. It wasn't until yesterday however, that I looked at Google maps to realize that the Clinic is actually located on what is known as a Council Estate. Think "Section 8" housing. High rise flats for low income/support income families. I don't mean to bash the concept of low income/support income....merely painting the picture.

After my intake meeting with the nurse, to go over basic paperwork, I return to the lobby to wait for the Doctor (I use this term loosely. I truly don't even know if the person that did my exam was a doctor!...) to call me. While sitting there, I noticed another couple in chairs. How can I say this delicately?...They looked and acted as if they were coming down off a week-long binge-and I don't mean of the booze kind... OK.

Eventually I was called into the doctors office/exam room. I have noticed it is common here for doctors to have their offices/exam rooms combined, so I didn't think anything of it. Silly me. After a quick 30 second chat, she said, 'Ok. Take off your bottoms & hop up on the table.' I presumed she'd step out for a moment, so I paused. She didn't move. OK...
So, my 'bottoms' come off, and I hop up on the table-first noticing that I'm too short to hop up directly on the middle paper strip over the table. So, theoretically, my bare-ass is supposed to hit the table, and then I'm to scoot onto the paper. I decided to pull the paper over to the side of the table, but I wonder how many bare asses have hit the table (literally!), without doing this. OK...
While hoping up on said table, I also happened to notice that there are no stirrups at the end of the table. Odd, I think. She's going to pull these out after I'm already up here? OK...
Silly me. There are NO stirrups. She tells me to simply lie back, bend my knees, and 'open your legs and scoot my ankles as close to me as I can.' OOOK...

I then proceed to have a pap exam with the examiner literally bending over my leg-my knee was in her armpit the entire time. Never mind the awkardness of what is already a very unpleasant experience, I've now got her pit on me, and the angle of my pelvis from just lying on the table with my 'ankles as close to me...' as they are...it is not a comfortable position to be in for this type of thing.

Once the actual smear was done, that was it. No manual exam. No breast exam. No nothing. OK.

Oh, and the UK NHS will only allow the test once every years if you're normal. That's it. A slap-dash test, in a place that makes me believe I'm getting the exam in a 3rd world clinic, and I'm only supposed to have this done once every three years?!? Part of me is thankful-I don't look forward to repeating this trauma any time soon, but this entire test just screams "ineffective."

Ladies, I don't know if this is a typical experience here in the UK, but it was such a shocking experience, I had to make note of it. Never in my life did I think I'd look forward to a Pap smear in the US, but after yesterday, I can say with certainty that I will most definitely-and happily-have my next Pap in the US. Yikes.

Team GB! Team GB!

2010-02-16T07:27:00.000-08:00

Er..I mean...USA! USA!

It's so bizarre being out of the US during the Olympics. I vaguely noticed this during the 2008 Olympics, but, as I'm watching more Olympic coverage for the 2010 in Vancouver, it's become especially noticable.

Local Olympic coverage is focused on the Great Britan team. And, they suck at the Winter Olympics. Not trying to be mean, or pick a fight...Merely stating what has already been said to me by more than one Brit. Anyhoo. This means that I generally only hear about/see the US as fringe to GB coverage. Or Canadian coverage, since it seems like the BBC commentators have adopted Canda as their surrogate country for the Olympics. :)

It's all a bit odd. I think I know more about the GB team than I do the US team. And, somehow, that just seems weird...

I'm sure it will make World Cup coverage a bit bizarre as well. Well sort of. We all know the US is going to get killed in their group. Oh, and England is in the same group. Good fun.

Catching Up

2010-02-16T07:17:00.000-08:00

It's been a busy four weeks, and I've been horrible about blogging. I blame the travel. :) So, in an effort to right my wrongs, I've a bunch of items to catch up on.
A week after my last post, I headed to Seattle for a week of work, and then to North Carolina for 5 more days of R&R before heading back to London. The work-part of the trip wasn't as horrible as I anticipated (read: training+full-time job duties+8 hours of jetlag=horrible), but it certainly was exhausting. Never did I think I'd 'use the jetlag to my advantage' and be awake at 5am and WORKING. Good grief. But, average temperatures of 55 degrees-plus (and LOTS of sun) certainly helped ease the pain. Particularly compared to what the weather has been like in London...

It goes without saying that it was *great* to be back in Seattle. I think I was successful in managing to have quality catch-up time with most folks. I finally got to see my friend Alicia's, new baby boy, Wes, and I got to pat my friend, Chris' growing baby-bump. I also got to have great catch ups with a host of other people-and hear all about their plans for the Winter Olympics. Being only 3-5 hours from Vancouver and the venues, it goes without saying, that many, many Seattleites would head to the Olympics. And, my friends are no exception! Their frequent Facebook status updates this weekend-from 'The Olympics' certainly confirms that! :) I've been green with jealousy ever since.

After a week in Seattle, I took a red-eye to North Carolina, and killed the day puttering around in Charlotte-while I awaited the arrival of Simon's plane from London. He was sweet enough to come to NC and join me for that portion of the trip.. It was an important trip, though. Aside from being able to spend time with family & friends and celebrate my birthday (albeit 20+ days early), Simon came with the express point of having 'the talk' with my father.

Yes. The Talk. I know it seems odd that in this day & age, a 30-something female, who is as independent as they come, would have her BF ask for permission from her father for marriage...And, well, it is odd. But, Simon didn't do this for me. He did it for my dad. My father is a 70-something, old-fashioned, Southern man. He *needs* to be asked. And truthfully (sorry, Simon...I know you read my blog from time to time)...I wanted Simon to jump thru that hoop. A little extra effort never hurts! I am pleased to report that the Talk went off without any problems. Whew.

While in NC, Simon & I took a little road trip to Chapel Hill. It's about a 2.5 hour drive from my hometown, and I hadn't been back to Chapel Hill since Feb 2005. A trip was long-overdue. I love CH. I spent two lovely years there in grad school. It is a beautiful town, and I wanted Simon to see it. I was also somewhat curious about whether or not CH would be a possiblee wedding venue for us at some point.

Let's face it: Between living in London, having most of my US friends on the West Coast, and being from NC...there is no logistically good place to have a wedding. So, in thinking NC-and Chapel Hill specifically-might be a good compromise on logistics, I wanted to check it out. I don't know if other US expats who meet/marry a local (wherever said 'local'/location is...) have figured this out, but I'd certainly love to know how the *heck* we're going to pull this off without causing our friends a ton of pain/expense-or cause us a ton of pain/expense!

Anyhoo...I casually mentioned 'possible wedding venue' to my father (and mind you, this is *before* Simon had the Talk with him...), but somehow, he jumps to conclusions and thinks that Simon is actually going to propose to me in CH! Which, couldn't have been further from the truth. This news has already spread from my father, to his girlfriend-to her kids. Yeesh. I think I have everyone sorted, but I can't help but laugh at my dad for jumping the gun.

So, after what felt like a whirlwind trip back to the US (though, as it was almost a 2 week trip is far from it), I'm back in London and attempting to dig thru the pile of email, mail, blog backlog, work, and everything else...

Sick, Sick, Sick

2010-01-22T07:23:00.000-08:00

For the better part of the past week, I've been combating one serious cold. Apparently, it's going 'round London right now, and I've been lucky enough to be host to a few of the germies the past several days.
When I was wallowing in misery on the couch the other day, it dawned on me that this is twice in 3 months I've been taken down with a cold. Not taken down in the 'i-dont-feel-great' sense, but taken down as in, 'not-going-to-work-i-feel-so-poorly' sense. Geez.

I can count on one finger the number of times I had to take more than a day off from sickness the past 4 years in the US-perhaps 4 fingers in total if you also add a day here or there for various sick days. But, this is now a combined 6 days in 3 months! What gives? I'd heard the old wive's tale about UK germs being of a different kind than US germs (I am *so* over-simplifying here, but you get the gist...), and thought it was complete bunk when I heard it. A cold is a cold.

Apparently not! I'm a fairly health person, but I guess even here in the UK, it's just a different beast. Brace yourselves, new expats.

Liverpool Football

2010-01-15T03:19:00.000-08:00

Have no fear: this blog is not about Liverpool Football (Soccer), technically. But, rather the fun conversation I just had with a co-workere about the topic. Bear with me for a moment...

Liverpool Football, typically a good team, has been suffering horribly this season-loosing to teams that are embarrassingly bad, top players being injured, and their manager in particular coming under fire for some very poor decisions. Please understand: the only reason I know these things is because Simon is a Liverpool fan.

Liverpool lost to Reading two nights ago-a team that's in a lower league, so theoretically, it *should* have been a foregone conclusion that Liverpool would win. Not so-thus continuing to add to the agony of Liverpool fans for the year.

So, it was kinda fun to get in the elevator this morning, and see a co-worker with his Liverpool coffee mug. I decided to 'take the piss' (ie give him a hard time) and said, 'should you really be seen in public with that mug after the other nite?' Now, there are two great things about me making this statement: A) I'm a girl and B) I'm American. The combination *should* mean I don't know poo about the sport (for the most part...). The look on his face when I made the statement to begin with was priceless. Then I decided to take the piss further and said, 'and, you know it's bad when an American points this out!.' By then, his mate in the elevator began to laugh a bit, and I then sealed the deal with, 'never mind an American Girl!'

Then, we got to his floor, and both guys got off the elevator. And, just as they were exiting, Liverpool Mug guy's mate began to give him serious grief.

Ah, that was good fun.

Britan: A New Love

2010-01-09T03:37:00.000-08:00

I've no idea where this came from. I don't know if the last trip back to the US did this, or it's just part of the natural process of moving somewhere else, but, it dawned on me today: I've *really* come to enjoy living in London. I still have my days where I could punch everyone I encounter-especially the tourists who stand in the middle of a busy sidewalk while looking at a map-but, by and large, I've come to like more about London/Britan/the UK than I ever thought I would.
So, as I was trying to figure out where this came from-what exactly is it about this place I like, I've come up with a few things worth mention-in no particular order..
1. The Brit love of all things trivial: pub quizzes, QI, Mock the Week...Brits love to know and talk about trivial things. And, I don't mean 'trivial' in the 'doesn't mean much' sense, rather I mean 'trivial' in the sense of 'trivia'-ie random little bits of knowledge-that especially come in handy in conversations, pub quizzes, etc..
2. My British friends (or rather...my friends in Britan): You know who you are, and you should know how important to me you've become. London would not be nearly as great of a place to be without you guys!
3. British cooking. I *so* do not mean the old, stereotypical 'British food'. But, rather, between watching programs with Hugh Fernly-Whittingstall (extreme, though he is..); Kill it, Cook it, Eat it; my trips to Borough; or general chats with folks about food & beverages, I really have come to appreaciate the British approach to food and cooking. I can't explain it-other than to say that it resonates with me.
4. The reaction you get from a stranger when're friendly to them. Once the 'oh, you're American' reaction has passed, I think most Brits are shocked by coming into contact with friendly stranger. It's become a bit of a favourite hobby of mine while here-when I can, I like to strike up a simple chat, make a comment, or do something that I guess could be percieved as a random act of kindness. The British reaction is priceless: stunned, confused, accepting, and then a bit appreciative. Excellent.
5. I've said it once, and I'll say it again: Pork. Sausage, bacon, belly...you name it. The Brits know pork like you wouldn't believe!
6. The history. Perhaps stating the obvious, but the history of this country-and what still remains to remind me of it every day, just amazes me.
7. BBC News. Especially the intro music. Love it! :)
8. I know I've mentioned this on more than one occasion as well-but it's still true: the proximity to Europe-and the relatively inexpensive ability to get there.
9. Facebook. OK, I know that techincally, this has nothing to do with the UK, but it does allow me to feel like I'm still a good part of my friends' lives back in the US-to the point, that I don't feel like I'm missing out quite as much as I otherwise would-which would definitely be difficult to deal with on a prolonged basis. Because of Facebook, I feel like I've got the best of both worlds (literally) right now.
10. 25 days of vacation-plus holidays. Again, maybe I'm stating the obvious...but, 25 days is STANDARD. You'd be hard pressed to find a company who didn't give this to their full time employees. From day 1. Name me one American company that does this, nevermind 10, or 100...

Well, I'm sure there are dozens-if not hundreds of other, small reasons I've come to enjoy living here (Boots, cocktails at The Dorchester...). What are some of your reasons expats, that youve come to enjoy living in the UK? I'd like to know-perhaps there's something else I can do/experience/learn about & add it to the list!

Transferring Money from your UK Bank to your US Bank

2010-01-09T03:11:00.000-08:00

Partially to help me remember where the information is, partially to help others who read this blog, but...

A BIG HUGE thanks to Victoria for this incredibly helpful information. I've been struggling to do this for the two years I've lived here (like she says in her post, I too still have student loans & a mortgage to pay in the US. ugh.). Hitting the ATM while in the US to take money from your UK account, only to turn around and deposit in the US is certainly *not* ideal. Looks like Victoria has found a way to easily, quickly, & cheaply transfer money from your UK Bank to your US Bank (or Canadian...).

I haven't tried it yet, but I definitely will in a few months-and will let folks know how it goes.

As a somewhat related aside...you may want to read up on what amount can be transferred from the UK to the US before raising eyebrows with your bank-and possibly have to pay tax on it. In speaking with my tax advisor about this previously, I was told to 'keep it minimal'-ie less than $10k a *year* would be good. But, above that, I'm sure the bank-and the IRS may start take notice. Or not. Depends on your situation, I guess. But, worth a metion, nonetheless..

Worth a Re-Post

2010-01-04T05:11:00.000-08:00

'Anonymous' (JT, I think...) left this in their comment to my 'Catching Up' post. I thought it was a great article & worth sharing with a wider audience:

http://www.economist.com/world/international/displaystory.cfm?story_id=15108690

Happy Reading!

Catching Up

2010-01-03T13:15:00.000-08:00

Whew. 10 days off the proverbial grid have been fantastic, but oy there is so much to catch up on!

The holidays were great-but like for many, frustrating as well. It was great to go back to NC and see my father and catch up with old friends. But, as much as I enjoyed being back in the US, a part of me (likely b/c Simon stayed in London) missed the UK. What gives? I just can't win: When in the UK, I find myself missing the US. When in the US, I find myself missing the UK. yeesh...I'm beginning to feel a bit like a homeless person as a result. Is the grass always going to be greener on the other side of the border?

Aside from the above, there were a few other things that caught my attention that I can tell are indicative of my time away out of the US: personal space and impatience with driving. Normally, while walking around London-on the streets, in the tube, in shops, restaurants..whatever, it's not uncommon to have your personal space invaded with such a frequency that you become oblivious to it happening most of the time. So, I was struck by the frequency with which people said, 'excuse me' while I was out & about in NC-and frequently, folks were a good 5-feet-plus away when saying this. The first time it happened, I thought she was just being overly polite, and the pardon was a bit extreme. After it happened about 4 more times that same day, I came to realize that it was my 'judgement' that must be off. My concept of when to say 'excuse me,' has apparently shrunk to a space of about 18 inches! :) And looking back, I guess I must have semed like an arse when coming so close to people and not saying 'excuse me!'
The other thing I noticed was how impatient I've become when driving. Don't get me wrong-I haven't been a patient driver for years, and when I was last in Seattle (in July), thought my over-impatience was a one-off response. Apparently not. After just 2 days behind the wheel in NC, I realized (again...) this new reaction from me isn't necessarily due to other drivers (though seriously: get the F off your cell phone while driving!...), but is due to my being 'out of practice' with driving and dealing with my impatience. This is particularly disconcerting, as the reality is I'll only continue to become worse at this as I continue to live outside of the US & drive with ever-increasing infrequency. I'm going to have to come up with a way to cope with this one. Suggestions welcome!

Anyhoo..after being in the US for 7 days, it was back to London on the 31st. Yes-31st. Via a red-eye flight. Poor planning on my part... :)
NYE was spent eating delicious Mexican food at my friend, Justyn's house. From there, we were supposed to head down to the Thames to view the fireworks from someone's rooftop. But, being the jet-lagged traveler that I was, at 10p, I had to bow out. I didn't think I would last until midnight-muchless the 2am or so it would be before we returned home. So, Simon & I spent the rest of 2009 on the couch watching a Jools Holland program (awesome!), and counting down the minutes. A few minutes before midnight, we switched the TV over to the BBC to catch the fireworks, popped a cork on the champagne, and opened the door to our flat. Though it was cold outside, we're close enough to the Thames to hear the fireworks-mind you delayed, and muted. But, it was fun nonetheless! Personally, I can't believe I managed to last until midnight, but after the glass and a half of champagne, my time was limited-and by 1a, I was heading to bed.

2010 started off with one of my favorite hobbies: shopping! :) Simon & I decided to pop out & have a walk around, putter around a few shops, and run a few errands. The tourists were all heading home, so it was one of the least crowded days I think I've ever spend in London!

Fast forward to last nite (Saturday...). Simon & I decided to splurge a bit so we headed to The Bar-at The Dorchester Hotel for a few cocktails. We had just been there two weeks ago for our Christmas dinner (seriously one of the best meals of my life...), and Simon had become um, 'obsessed' with one of their cocktails-The Vespar. He wants to learn how to make it himself (which would be good. at 18 quid a pop, making it himself will save a small fortune...), so we decided to go to the bar early on Saturday so we'd be able to sit at the bar & chat up the bartender. What a bizarre evening it turned out to be...

After being there for about 30 minutes, another couple (I think. Still debating, to be honest...) sat down at the bar next to us. It was clear from the moment they sat down that they were regulars-greeted by all the bartenters, free cocktails coming their way, the whole treatment. After a while, the bartender sat a few shots down in front of them, and I inquired as to what they were. Note to self: don't start up conversations with dubious people in bars. Long story short, Simon & I chatted with them off & on over the next few hours, and as best as I can guess, the lady (considerably younger than the guy...) was a bit of a 'kept woman.' It wasn't the first conclusion I jumped to, mind you. Rather, it was bits & pieces of odd questions from them and a few comments that eventually had be believe this. I'll save all the boring details, but it's worth mention what the big tip-off was: After a while of chatting with them, the girl asked me if we were on our first date. We laughed & said, 'far from it.'...Odd question-or so it seemed. But, Simon was dressed quite nattily in his good suit, whereas I decided to go in jeans. So, between the location, the way we were dressed (which, Simon & I later discussed just screamed 'class differences'), and their 'setup', it was a logical conclusion that perhaps we had a similar arrangment! Different classes based on how we're dressed? I can see it, but honestly thought something like that would have faded with the 1950's. Crazy.