September and October 2009

For the most part, September and October were quieter months both at work and at home, but it was very welcome. The horrible audit that I had been tortured with since March finally - somehow - ended, and I was able to return to the consulting work that I had done when I first arrived in London, and enjoy much more. Half of our consulting group left though - one on a four month sabbatical, and the other was made redundant ("fired" in 'American'), so now there are just two of us and the partner who heads the group.

The first weekend in September James and I went back to Harrogate (the smallish town in Yorkshire (Northern England) where he grew up) for one of his friends' birthdays. We stayed at a hotel that looked rather swanky from the outside but inside was boring and, well, not swanky. But it was fairly cheap, which was all we were going for really. We went up on the Saturday morning, had dinner with the friends at a new Chinese restaurant that had been built within the old royal baths, then went out to a few bars/clubs. The best bit about our hotel was that it ended up being super close to where we went out so we could stumble back at the end of the night. There are photos from the weekend on facebook if you're so inclined...

The next weekend we went back up north, this time to a town just outside of Manchester, for another of James' friends weddings. My first English wedding! I was keen to know what/if there were any differences, but it turns out not many really. Apparently it is quite the tradition in England for women to wear hats at weddings, but mostly it's the older women who wear the full-blown hat (think of a color-matches-the-outfit, maybe some feathers and flowers monstrosity), and the young-ish women wear head pieces, which really don't look any better. Let's just say I'm happy this is NOT a tradition in America.

The wedding parties are not as big as they are in the States, there are generally just the best man, 1-2 ushers, and 1-2 bridesmaids, including the 'chief bridesmaid'. I showed James a picture of one of my friends' American wedding parties and his eyes almost popped out of his head. The last thing that I noticed as different was that the people who give speeches at the reception is a bit different. At an English wedding, it is always the best man, the bride's father, and the groom. Nothing less, nothing more. And none of the girls get to give a speech, how lame! Other than those few things the whole thing seemed very similar, the ceremony was just like other ceremonies, the dress was similar, etc. Oh, but the men in the wedding party do wear morning suits, which have a longer jacket and top hats. Definitely not the same as the States. Also pics from the wedding on facebook...

The end of September was completely dominated by looking for a new flat. Our lease was up at the old place on 18 September, but we had til the 10th of October to find a new place and move. Dasha had decided to go traveling for a few months from November, so Andrea and I started to look for a place together. Finding a flat is so stressful in London! The market moves so quickly that places will literally go on and off the market in a day, and then flats are either in a nice neighbourhood but are not nice themselves, or vice versa. It's very frustrating. But, we finally ended up finding one in an area called Shoreditch in east London. It's a very different area than St. John's Wood as it's edgy and fun and - ok I'll admit it - a bit dodgy, but we love it. St John's Wood was nice and posh but very boring, and Shoreditch has loads of shops (that I can actually afford) and bars and restaurants. I really really like it. I live just off a street called Brick Lane which is kind of the mecca for curry houses, so James loves it as it's his favourite food. So far we've discovered vintage shops, a fantastic music store, a bowling alley (awesome!), and loads of little independent art galleries. My favourite has been this jewelry shop called @Work which only has collections from local artists and they are all AMAZING. I could have stayed in the store for hours. There are also several street markets around, including a big one on Sunday which actually isn't that cool - a lot of it looks like people literally just dumped out their rubbish bin on a sheet and are trying to peddle it. Crazy, although I guess one man's trash is another man's treasure, right? I have yet to consider someone's used shoes from Aldo treasure though.

We moved in on the 10th of October, so have been here about two weeks so far. It's been hectic though, trying to get settled, finding a new way to get to work and the closest grocery store and all that. But it's getting more comfortable by the day. My new room is very small, much smaller than the old place, but I let Andrea have the bigger room since he's in law school and needs a place for his desk and somewhere to shut himself away to study sometimes. But he did let me have some space in him closet for my off-season clothes (obviously a necessity for an American girl!), so it works out.

A few weekends ago James and I went to Oxford for lunch at his sister's to celebrate his mum's and his birthdays (they left last Thursday for their "summer home" in New Zealand and won't return til April). And they were so sweet - they had brought a present for me too! It was a lovely scarf. James and I got his mum a necklace from the place called @Work that I mentioned above, a little gold butterfly, it was so pretty I wanted it for myself! I think James' mum liked it though, so mission accomplished.

James and my birthdays are in November, nine days apart, so we have decided to do a joint bday party. The theme is going to be Top Gun and we're dressing the part (along with the guests), as much as we can at least. I wish I could throw a rope over the States and pull it next to Britain so all of you could come along! I've really been missing all of my friends in the States lately. :( Anyway James and I also planned a trip to Egypt for our birthdays, we'll be there a week in November when the weather should be about 80 all week! I'm so excited to get away for a little sun and sand in the middle of the dreary British winter. And Egypt sounds so exotic, it's one of those places I've only ever dreamed of going! To everyone here it's like going to Florida though...they're so jaded. Weirdly enough, I think going to Florida is slightly exotic to them. Not how I would describe it myself, but hey, to each his own.

Last week I participated in my very first pub quiz. This is a rather odd but quite fun British tradition in which a large group of people take a quiz...in a pub. The first time I witnessed this I had only been in London for a few weeks and I was very confused to say the least. The questions are usually general information like music and films and history, but can also be pictures or questions about the participants, or anything really. For this one there were ten rounds, and one of them was a picture of the States with arrows to ten of the states that we had to name - I was all over it! Was glad to make a contribution to my team b/c I'm still pretty rubbish at the British culture, and especially the British history. In the end, my team won! Probably just beginner's luck, but I'll take it.

Hmm...have noticed that this entry is really rather boring. Oh well, maybe that just means I'm really starting to settle in and become a sloth. :)

Love to all,
Heather