Yesterday I went to see Coldplay on their opening night in London. It was so surreal - it was something American fans only dream about! Ok, that sounds a bit ridiculous, but it's true. Coldplay is one of my favorite bands and has been for several years. My grandma got me tickets to see them for my birthday (thank you thank you thank you Grandma!!), b/c they had sold out long ago and I knew that they would be too expensive so had put them on the birthday wish list. Well, the amazing seats were a testament to how much my grandma spoils me. :) We were in the second section behind the stage on the floor, and the first row of this section right in the middle. We were on the corner of the section b/c there was a middle aisle to our left and one right in front of us - loads of dance floor! It was a good thing too, b/c I went completely mental and was dancing and singing my lungs out the entire time. I feel a bit sorry for the guys next to us b/c they must have thought I was literally an insane person. They were the epitome of the English Reserve - just politely bobbing their heads for the entire show. Lame-o. I brought my flatmate Dasha, and she definitely got to see a new side of me. Anyway, it was so great - I don't need alcohol or anything else to make me feel intoxicated at a Coldplay concert. But, I mean of course I did have alcohol. We got some great photos but they're on Dasha's camera - I'll get them and post a bunch tomorrow or Wednesday. At one point the band went to the back of the venue and about halfway up the lower section to this little platform. They said that since they were back in London (they're from here btw) they had to get to the back of the house! So they sang a couple songs there, and for one of them Simon Pegg (the actor from Shaun of the Dead and How to Lose Friends and Alienate People) played the harmonica with them. So random but so cool! It was very hard to come back to reality when the show was over. Dasha had a really good time as well, and although she wasn't as big a fan as me, I think she likes them more now. Ah, it was INCREDIBLE.
The rest of last week and the weekend was fairly uneventful - went to this pub called the Elusive Camel (are you picturing a camel being elusive right now? Weird, I know) on Friday with The Boy that I'm seeing and met some of his friends for the first time. Bit of a big step for me, but his friends are really lovely. Well, mostly - one of them just finished living in the States for a period of time and would not stop ripping on me for being American. It was like The Boy does only times ten. Ridiculous. Harmless but still. Anyway, I think the cat might be out of the bag with The Boy and I - some of his (ours I guess, I just don't know them yet) colleagues keep questioning him about it, so there are obviously rumors flying. Our Christmas party is tomorrow (ok, how lame is it that it's on a Tuesday? Double lame - we can't bring anyone with us), so we'll see if things hit the fan. I just can't figure out how they know!
On Saturday I watched a Bollywood movie. This is something that is apparently common knowledge here, although I'd never heard of it in the States. It is basically a Hollywood movie that has been ripped off by an Indian film company, and they add loads of SUPER cheesy music and dancing. I'm not making this up I swear. And the actors are Indian and they speak an odd mixture of Hindi and English. The one that I watched was Three Men and a Baby, Indian-style. Honestly, with the singing and dancing it was almost too much for me to take.
Oh, also got my hair done on Sunday. It's very dark know, looks a little goth/punk rocker. I love it! The plan is to keep it dark for the remainder of the winter and then go back to blonde.
I'm coming home for Christmas on Friday, and then to KC on the 30th - I can't wait!! I'm sure you will all love making fun of the new words that I constantly use, like "lovely" and "lift" rather than "elevator". I went to a tea shop today and got my favorite tea to bring home as well, so you will all have to try some if you're around. If you are give me a ring, I still have my US phone so you'll be able to reach me starting Friday night (very late) at the same old number.
Hope everyone is well, I can't wait to see you!!
xoxo,
Heather
Monday, December 15, 2008
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Birthday, Boys, and (lack of) Turkey
Astrid representing in her Ohio State sweatshirt!
Making lussebuns (pronounced lucy buns) with Lina and AstridFirst, I must apologize for not writing sooner. So sorry, I honestly don't know where the time has gone. I know many of you have asked that I write more often, so from now on I will make it a goal to write at least once a week. And thank you for the comments!! LeeAndra, I love the thought of you filling the snack jar in my honor, and thank you for the birthday wishes - you're so sweet! I definitely miss the snacks in the KC office, they have a serious lack of snacks here (other than the birthday treats that people bring in which are usually gone in an hour or so). Carol - of course I'm kind of your daughter too, I've always considered your parents like my third set of grandparents! I'm glad you're enjoying the blog, I really do like writing it, regardless of what my inconsistency of writing may represent...
Right, so some clarification - apparently "strong chat" is not a commonly used phrase in England, only among Dasha and her friends. But we say it all the time and it's spreading... Some other new phrases/words that I've learned in the past month:
Naff = lame, but only applicable to nouns (I think? Still not quite sure on how to use it so I just say lame)
On the pull = on the prowl. Like when you're out, looking for a hook up.
Camp = flaming gay. Not necessarily gay though, just a descriptive of a very effeminate guy.
Thank you to everyone for sending me birthday wishes by email and facebook and other medium. It was very thoughtful of all of you and meant so much to me! For my birthday, I dragged my friends to a sports bar that played American sports to watch the Ohio State-Michigan game, which was awesome b/c there were loads of Buckeye fans there, and also some Michigan fans for me to gloat to when we killed them! We then returned to the flat to play drinking games and the original intention was to go out to a club but I never actually made it out after so much consumption...but everyone went without me. Heard it was a good time. Also, the afternoon of my birthday, Andrea's dad was in town from Italy and he made us an Italian feast for lunch - pesto and tomato sauces from scratch, prosciutto and parmesan salad, and red wine. It was so delicious and I felt so spoiled!
My grandma got me tickets to Coldplay for my birthday - I'm so excited!! I felt like Charlie in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory when he opens the golden ticket when I opened the envelope with the tickets. So I'm going this Sunday with Dasha - Coldplay in London, I've died and gone to heaven!
The weekend after my birthday I took off work on Friday and went to Stockholm to visit my very good friend Lina and her boyfriend Mattias and their baby girl Astrid. Astrid was born last Christmas Eve so this was my first time meeting her. She was so adorable - it was so much fun playing auntie all weekend! She's very active - always on the go and checking something else out. She's literally on the verge of walking, she'll stand and you can see it in her eyes that she's thinking hard about the walking bit, but just hasn't quite done it yet. Her name day (kind of like a mini birthday) was on Thursday, so I brought her some gifts - two from my parents direct from the States (they know Lina as well) being an Ohio State sweatshirt and her first English book, Good Night Moon, and I got a Paddington Bear for something from London. On Friday we went to Astrid's daycare and sang songs and played with the rest of the kids. It was a little different than a regular daycare - the parents actually stay with the kids here, it's like a massive play date. It was very fun though, although I didn't know most of the Swedish songs. They did sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and The Itsy Bitsy Spider, which I sang along with in English. Saturday Lina and I went shopping, and went to this boutique that sells clothes by up-and-coming Swedish designers, so everything is handmade and one of a kind. I bought this incredible blue-ish faux python clutch, I'm so obsessed with it! Saturday night we visited Lina's mom's side of the family for their Christmas get together, which was fun and it was so good to see Lina's mom. At home we made lussebuns, a very Swedish traditional Christmas treat, and then I taught Lina, Mattias, and their friend Andreas to play the card game Stop. They loved it - they were addicted within two rounds! I had such a good time, I love Stockholm so much every time that I go, it occurs to me each time that the Swedes have so many things right. Like the subway - it's so much cleaner than the London or NYC subway, and the trains are so smooooth - you literally don't even have to hold on when they start and stop. If you weren't hanging onto anything on the London tube you would most certainly crash into someone else or go flying to the back of the car.
Speaking of London transportation, I was riding the bus to work the other day and saw this message written on the glass wall of one of the bus stops that we passed:
"I wouldn't have time to write this if my bus wasn't late.
As usual.
The London transport bosses are incompetent jackasses. We must not tolerate it any longer."
Hilarious! I laughed b/c I had just spent twenty minutes waiting for my bus that is supposed to come every 7-12 minutes. I love not having a car but it does suck being subject to the inconsistencies of public transportation. By the way, my car still hasn't sold, so if anyone fancies a 1999 Toyota 4Runner, I've got one - it's the best car ever, and it's really cheap now!
Thanksgiving was the Thursday before I went to Sweden, and it was quite depressing waking up and going to work like it was any other day. I did have a "Thanksgiving" lunch with a guy I've been seeing, which consisted of a goat cheese appetizer, bangers (i.e. sausages) and mash, and a chocolate orange dessert. The bangers and mash was the closest thing to Thanksgiving style dinner that I could find on the menu, but I did leave feeling like I needed to be rolled out, so the desired effect was achieved. I think I've mentioned before the lack of good turkey in this country - I'd never realized it was such an American staple. My mom told me that they almost made the turkey our national bird. Can you imagine?! Good work forefathers on choosing the bald eagle. Much more ferocious.
About the guy I've been seeing. I have to be sneaky about this, b/c we work together and it's a bit of a secret (well, not a bit, it is definitely a secret), and we're having fun keeping it that way. It's like a contest to see how long we can keep anyone from knowing, or I guess it may just go to shit and then know one would know the difference. We meet at secret locations outside of the office to go out - very stealth-mode and so fun! :) I don't think I've mentioned it before, but I'm fairly certain that my blog is monitored by at least the GTUK marketing and PR people, and perhaps the US as well. On my second entry (about my first day at GTUK) I actually spelled out the name of the firm, and apparently that triggers some notifications to be sent to these people. So on my second day here I had a little slap on the wrist for writing about drinking at lunch. I had to alter what I had written a little - it was a very "big brother is watching" moment. Thus the ambiguity in the following sentences. Anyway, this guy is very sweet and we've been having loads of fun - he's definitely seen the extent to which I can be a lush after my birthday and still likes me. He's English, but doesn't wear skinny pants and pointy shoes. My fear of this look on guys has so far only manifested itself on continental Europeans that I've met/seen. He's quite tall, which is nice when I kiss him, and he's full of hilarious one-liners that kill me, although sometimes they're lost on me b/c he'll reference some English thing that I have no clue about. It's fun - I'm learning culture while dating. And he's ruthless about making fun of Americans, but in a harmless way - constantly mimicking my accent and making jokes about hot dogs. It's quite funny actually, the things he comes up with. He asked if my middle name was Britney. It's been a fun few weeks, to say the least.
Right, it's quite late so I'm off. Promise to write again within a week. Love you, miss you all, and I'll see most of you in a week and a half or so!! Can't wait to come home for Christmas!
xoxo,
Heather
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
The English Countryside; The President
Last week I had my first trip outside of London in the UK. I went to Bradenham Manor, the GTUK's training facility, which is literally this English manor house in the country. The trip there is only about an hour's train ride, and I decided to make the trip the morning of my training, you know, since we don't start until 9 am (every time I mention the fact that the workday starts at 8am in the US people gasp likes it's the most inhumane thing they've ever heard). I'm so glad I did b/c it was a perfect morning and it was my first glimpse of the English countryside. The fog was just beginning to lift so it was still covering some of the hillsides, there were sheep-dotted pastures, and in one pasture there was a herd of horses galloping along with the train. I know this sounds like a story, but I'm being serious. It was just that perfect. The houses were cute and quaint (I didn't see any actual thatched roofs, but there were houses in the English Tudor style).
Bradenham itself is a complex of several buildings, including the giant manor house and then several outlying buildings like the stables, and I'm sure what used to be servants' quarters or something. I know all of you GTUS people are cursing right now b/c I get to go to this place for training and you have to go to the awful Q Center. On the first day, they made some general housekeeping announcements, including notification of the place to gather in the event of a fire: The croquet lawn. Awesome.
Everyone kept telling me how great the food was at Bradenham, but I quickly realized that there was a caveat: The food is good if you like English food. There was cottage pie (ground meat with mashed potatoes) for lunch, and lamb and potatoes for dinner, amongst other things. I've realized that the English diet is not that far off from the American diet - meat and potatoes. Except the English eat about four times less of it. Seriously, I think I've seen one obese person since I've been in London. I know we hear it all the time, but I've had that sinking realization since I've arrived that America really does have a major obesity epidemic. On TV the other night a comedian made the comment that Americans have the gold medal in being fat. Sad. But I digress.
The training itself was good, it was a soft skills course which I haven't had before, so loads of role playing and such which I really loathe, but good b/c you get to know the people in your training course better. Met some lovely people from other offices and departments.
I was at Bradenham last Tuesday evening, during the election. Needless to say I got next to no sleep that evening and was utterly worthless and cranky for the second day of the training (training was Tues-Wed). I know I've mentioned it before, but I just can't get over what a big deal our election is to everyone here. It's all that was on any news channel, and pretty much every other show mentioned it as well, and it was all anyone could talk about, especially to me being an American. It was like nothing else was happening in the rest of the world. When I was watching BBC while getting ready on Wednesday morning, there was a massive banner going across the bottom of the screen that read, "Barack Obama - US President Elect", and literally during the hour that I had it on, they did about two minutes on some train crash in Mexico, and then straight back to the election. Insane! On Thursday morning on my way to work I passed by a newsstand and had to stop and stare b/c every single newspaper had something about Obama on the front cover. Not being one bit sarcastic here. My favorite: "The Day America Became a Little Bit Cool Again". Brilliant. (Oh yes, I've been using the word brilliant non-stop lately, just like a local. I sound like those Guinness commercials back in the States where the old dudes just sit around and say, "Brilliant!").
A few more comments on the election and then I'm done. I've realized that although people here are interested in the election, they are only interested to the extent that the media covers it, and form their opinions over what the media tells them (I know, it's not that much different for most people in the States, but I will ignore that since it's so irresponsible it makes me sick). Anyway, when people would start to ask me about the election (and most would then start to sing the praises of Obama), it would always give me a tiny thrill to really engage them in an actual discussion about American politics. Save for one person, none of them could make it past the first sentence. Of course, I can't blame people here for supporting Obama, they live in a country where the most conservative politician is still not as conservative as our most liberal (being Obama). All they saw in McCain was a man who looked like Bush in physical appearance, but when I started to discuss his stance on the issues vs. the Bush administration, they would get all glassy-eyed. On the positive side, I am proud that we have elected our first black president and hope that now everyone will realize that most white Americans are not racist and never were. I'm excited to see where Obama takes our country with his energy policies. I just hope his magic wand doesn't run out of pixie dust too soon.
This weekend my flatmates and I, along with a couple other friends (Andrea had a friend in from Mexico) played kings in the flat before going out to a club that no one had ever been to before. When we were paying the cover I asked the doorman why I couldn't just bat my eyes and get in for free ("I'm American, that's what we do in America!", I tell him), he just laughed, told me that I was beautiful but that I was going to have to pay. I was disappointed until we walked upstairs and realized that it was a gay club and my eyelashes weren't going to get me anywhere in this club! It was really fun - I mean we could have been anywhere and had fun in the state that we were all in after playing four rounds of kings. The unisex bathrooms were something of an adventure though...
Saturday I stayed in (still recovering), and Sunday morning I tried a new church. They were doing some renovations and had just done the floor but hadn't stained it yet, so everyone had to remove their shoes at the door. A bit of a weird impression for my first time. But the service was great, and it's much closer than the other one that I went to (it's actually another branch of that one), so I think I'll give it another go. Hopefully next time I'll be able to keep my shoes on. Thank God I didn't have any holes in the socks that I was wearing on Sunday!
Had a sick day yesterday, just a little head cold. It's amazing what a few extra hours of sleep will do for you. I don't think I've mentioned it, but here, there isn't an allowance for sick days, and they also don't count as a vacation day. You just take one if you need one. It's so lovely and it made me realize that the US firm vacation allowance really isn't that much better than the private sector's standard 2 week allowance, b/c in the private sector they usually also get a sick allowance, which at GT has to come out of the vacation time. Here we get more vacation time (only slightly more), and sick days don't cut into it. More and more I feel like I was just a slave in the US firm. Probably not as much as people working in the Asian firms feel like that though.
Some fun new words and phrases I've learned:
A muppet = an idiot/silly person
A Richard = a douche bag
What's the chat? = What's up?
This is a good one - I hear the word "chat" quite a bit, and you are jokingly judged by your "weak chat" or "strong chat", as in how interesting or witty your banter is
You got the wrong end of the stick = You took that the wrong way
Must go, but I miss you all so much!
Bradenham itself is a complex of several buildings, including the giant manor house and then several outlying buildings like the stables, and I'm sure what used to be servants' quarters or something. I know all of you GTUS people are cursing right now b/c I get to go to this place for training and you have to go to the awful Q Center. On the first day, they made some general housekeeping announcements, including notification of the place to gather in the event of a fire: The croquet lawn. Awesome.
Everyone kept telling me how great the food was at Bradenham, but I quickly realized that there was a caveat: The food is good if you like English food. There was cottage pie (ground meat with mashed potatoes) for lunch, and lamb and potatoes for dinner, amongst other things. I've realized that the English diet is not that far off from the American diet - meat and potatoes. Except the English eat about four times less of it. Seriously, I think I've seen one obese person since I've been in London. I know we hear it all the time, but I've had that sinking realization since I've arrived that America really does have a major obesity epidemic. On TV the other night a comedian made the comment that Americans have the gold medal in being fat. Sad. But I digress.
The training itself was good, it was a soft skills course which I haven't had before, so loads of role playing and such which I really loathe, but good b/c you get to know the people in your training course better. Met some lovely people from other offices and departments.
I was at Bradenham last Tuesday evening, during the election. Needless to say I got next to no sleep that evening and was utterly worthless and cranky for the second day of the training (training was Tues-Wed). I know I've mentioned it before, but I just can't get over what a big deal our election is to everyone here. It's all that was on any news channel, and pretty much every other show mentioned it as well, and it was all anyone could talk about, especially to me being an American. It was like nothing else was happening in the rest of the world. When I was watching BBC while getting ready on Wednesday morning, there was a massive banner going across the bottom of the screen that read, "Barack Obama - US President Elect", and literally during the hour that I had it on, they did about two minutes on some train crash in Mexico, and then straight back to the election. Insane! On Thursday morning on my way to work I passed by a newsstand and had to stop and stare b/c every single newspaper had something about Obama on the front cover. Not being one bit sarcastic here. My favorite: "The Day America Became a Little Bit Cool Again". Brilliant. (Oh yes, I've been using the word brilliant non-stop lately, just like a local. I sound like those Guinness commercials back in the States where the old dudes just sit around and say, "Brilliant!").
A few more comments on the election and then I'm done. I've realized that although people here are interested in the election, they are only interested to the extent that the media covers it, and form their opinions over what the media tells them (I know, it's not that much different for most people in the States, but I will ignore that since it's so irresponsible it makes me sick). Anyway, when people would start to ask me about the election (and most would then start to sing the praises of Obama), it would always give me a tiny thrill to really engage them in an actual discussion about American politics. Save for one person, none of them could make it past the first sentence. Of course, I can't blame people here for supporting Obama, they live in a country where the most conservative politician is still not as conservative as our most liberal (being Obama). All they saw in McCain was a man who looked like Bush in physical appearance, but when I started to discuss his stance on the issues vs. the Bush administration, they would get all glassy-eyed. On the positive side, I am proud that we have elected our first black president and hope that now everyone will realize that most white Americans are not racist and never were. I'm excited to see where Obama takes our country with his energy policies. I just hope his magic wand doesn't run out of pixie dust too soon.
This weekend my flatmates and I, along with a couple other friends (Andrea had a friend in from Mexico) played kings in the flat before going out to a club that no one had ever been to before. When we were paying the cover I asked the doorman why I couldn't just bat my eyes and get in for free ("I'm American, that's what we do in America!", I tell him), he just laughed, told me that I was beautiful but that I was going to have to pay. I was disappointed until we walked upstairs and realized that it was a gay club and my eyelashes weren't going to get me anywhere in this club! It was really fun - I mean we could have been anywhere and had fun in the state that we were all in after playing four rounds of kings. The unisex bathrooms were something of an adventure though...
Saturday I stayed in (still recovering), and Sunday morning I tried a new church. They were doing some renovations and had just done the floor but hadn't stained it yet, so everyone had to remove their shoes at the door. A bit of a weird impression for my first time. But the service was great, and it's much closer than the other one that I went to (it's actually another branch of that one), so I think I'll give it another go. Hopefully next time I'll be able to keep my shoes on. Thank God I didn't have any holes in the socks that I was wearing on Sunday!
Had a sick day yesterday, just a little head cold. It's amazing what a few extra hours of sleep will do for you. I don't think I've mentioned it, but here, there isn't an allowance for sick days, and they also don't count as a vacation day. You just take one if you need one. It's so lovely and it made me realize that the US firm vacation allowance really isn't that much better than the private sector's standard 2 week allowance, b/c in the private sector they usually also get a sick allowance, which at GT has to come out of the vacation time. Here we get more vacation time (only slightly more), and sick days don't cut into it. More and more I feel like I was just a slave in the US firm. Probably not as much as people working in the Asian firms feel like that though.
Some fun new words and phrases I've learned:
A muppet = an idiot/silly person
A Richard = a douche bag
What's the chat? = What's up?
This is a good one - I hear the word "chat" quite a bit, and you are jokingly judged by your "weak chat" or "strong chat", as in how interesting or witty your banter is
You got the wrong end of the stick = You took that the wrong way
Must go, but I miss you all so much!
Sunday, November 2, 2008
A Vice Presidential Halloween
Governor Palin
The Strictly Come Dancing star and I
Brokeback Mountain
You know what this is...
Sarah Palin - moose-hunting gun enthusiast. Exceptshe prefers a shotgun - something with a little more
fire power
_________
I was worried about celebrating Halloween in the UK, b/c it seemed to me that Londoners didn't celebrate it quite like Americans do, or at least to the extent that the Americans that I know do. But in the end, the Londoners that I know put on quite a show. I decided to be Sarah Palin, which everyone here had a huge kick out of, and also sparked some good political debates. However, I found out that not surprisingly, most English don't actually know what they're talking about when it comes to American politics. I guess that's not far off from most Americans either though (sadly). Anyway, we had great fun, and everyone was in great costume (called fancy dress here). I bought some Palin rectangular glasses which ended up giving me a headache b/c they had a prescription in them (interestingly enough they seemed to get less and less fuzzy as the night wore on, hmm...), and spent about an hour at work on Friday making a nametag with an American flag and "Gov. Sarah Palin, R - AK" on it, for all of those who were slow to pick up on the costume. Then I wore the power suit with the power heels, and tried my best to mimic the updo she always sports. One of the guys was a maxi pad (gross but hilarious), another was a Brokeback Mountain cowboy, and another was a Strictly Come Dancing star (the British version of Dancing with the Stars) - one of the female stars. I was definitely the most creative of the girls - they were all butterflies and cats or something. Lame. We were pretty outrageous and stayed out way too late.
Friday night I went to a house party with Dasha, and then the party moved to a club, one that I would categorize as a typical euro trash club. They played house music, which I came to realize is just music for white people that makes them feel like they can dance. Seriously, how can anyone enjoy listening to the same 5 second track 47 times in a row? These people were really getting excited about it though - they would cheer everytime the DJ got creative and changed the tempo of the 5 second track. Other than that the night was fun, oh, except that my stomach was hurting so badly that I had to vomit a little just to feel better (honestly, I wasn't drunk - I had two beers the entire night b/c my belly was hurting so badly). Fun times. There was also this girl at the party who was from the northern part of England, which means that her accent sounds more Scottish, so of course I could barely understand a word she said. But when Dasha told her she was from Russia, she goes on this rant about some TV program that she saw about Russian mail order brides and tells Dasha to be strong and don't go that way. Dasha and I just looked at each other like, "Is she for real??". What a bigot. This girl kept saying slightly offensive things like this the whole night, so I realized it was fortunate that I couldn't understand her.
Speaking of not understanding people, everyone here is used to American accents from the movies and TV so they have no problem understanding me, but I still struggle to understand the English accents sometimes. So not fair.
Last weekend I finished decorating my room and put all of my photos up on the wall, so it finally feels like my room. I also finally got a contract mobile phone, so if any of you have a good international calling plan and feel like having a chat, you can ring me at 075 9011 8601 (from the US: 0044-75-9011-8601). I love not having that ridiculous teeny-bopper phone that I had in the US anymore.
I went to church for the first time last weekend - Dan and Damara from GTUS somehow knew of a place here and gave me the info. It was great, seems very similar to my church in KC which is comforting. So far, there are only two downsides: It takes an hour to get there, and from the tube station you have to walk down this great shopping street - so tempting on the way back from the church on a lazy Sunday afternoon.
On Tuesday, whilst (I love that English word!) riding the bus on the way home from work, the bus came to a stop at a stoplight, and then just sat there for a while. After a few minutes, people start to just get off, and I walk to the front and ask one of the other passengers what's going on. Turns out there was a woman protesting and just sitting in front of the bus. Seriously - who protests the bus system?? How can you possibly view it as bad? I just rolled my eyes and thought, "welcome to London". Other things that I've had to become accustomed to while living in London: random splatters of vomit on the sidewalk (called the pavement here) every once in a while (I guess I contributed to that one on Friday night), being assaulted by the free newspaper vendors every evening on every corner, ridiculous over-the-top security measures on anything related to banking or IT (when I log in to online banking, I can't simply enter my pin and passoword (yes, you must have both!), it asks you for the third, fourth, and first digit of your pin, and similar for your passowrd, and it's different everytime you log in. So picture me sitting there counting on my fingers when I log in - super fun), rain, and people going on and on about Obama. I don't want to give you the wrong impression about my feelings for London, so here are things that I love about being here: no driving!!, the diversity (anymore, I just assume that the person next to me has a native language other than English), no crazy fluctuations in the weather like there are in the Midwest, amazing yoga studios, business working hours, overtime pay, and the clubs!
Did everyone watch the NFL game that was in London last week? I did! It really made me miss home though, it's awful having to sit here on Saturdays and Sundays and know that games are going on but I can't watch them. Sigh...all I want for Christmas is football - American football. Anyway, I laughed at the beginning of the game when they had to give a little synopsis of how the game is played. And the people in the stands were wearing every NFL team's jerseys - like if they had an NFL shirt at all they wore it. Also, did you realize that the British national anthem, God Save the Queen, is the same tune as the song called America (my counrty tis of thee, sweet land of liberty...). I thought it was humorous that we stole that bit from them and made it American. Although I looked it up and it turns out that the song was our national anthem for a while when we first gained our independence, so it seems like it was motivated more by the fact that we couldn't think of anything better rather than spite. I had to look it up to prove it to an English co-worker. I'm not that bored here.
Dasha and I went to the largest shopping center in Europe yesterday, which just opened a few days ago. It was huge and so busy, we could only stand it for about two hours. Then, when we were leaving, the tube station was closed due to congestion, and it ended up taking two hours to get home. Insane. It was also cold and rainy so I was in a lovely mood by the time we got home. I did get a pair of cute Asics sneakers though. There was also a store there that was devoted entirely to socks, hose, and tights - awesome!
Must run, but I love you all and miss you very much!
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
'Working UK hours' and 'Finally, cute boys!'
Last weekend I worked 8 hours over the course of Saturday and Sunday. So much for looking forward to "UK hours". And the best part is that everyone I tell this to seems to look horrified that I worked over the weekend. It's like everyone here works a lot, but they just don't talk about it or admit it. Maybe it's the 'English reserve'? Who knows. I think the reason was that I was working on a US client, and the client seemed to be expecting me to work US hours. Anyway, it is done (kind of).
I've been meaning to tell all of my accounting friends some of the funny/weird/interesting differences between the UK and US accounting world (non accountants may now zone out - I promise you can come back in a paragraph or two, it'll get more interesting). Anyway, some terms that are different: Debtors = accounts receivable, creditors = accounts payable, stock = inventory (you can imagine how confused I was the first time that I looked at a balance sheet and saw stock up in assets), they have completely different terms for anything in equity. Of course dates are different - days come before months, so December 31 is 31/12. I keep saying, "twelve thirty-one" and people look at me like, "silly American". Oh, I also keep saying dollars too instead of sterling or pounds. It was actually nice to work on a US client last week so I could write dates the way that I'm used to and put Zs (that's pronounced "zed" here, ??) in my 'recognize' and 'realize' with abandon. I lapped it up.
And I'm still having an immense amount of trouble saying "trousers" instead of pants (pants mean underwear here, remember?). I took some "pants" into the tailor the other day and told the tailor that I need my pants taken in at the waist a little bit. He seriously could hardly hold it in. Fortunately I live in an area with a lot of Americans so he's used to it.
I found out that here, when it's your birthday, guess who gets to bring treats? You do! What is that?? You have to bring treats for the entire department! I'm debating whether or not to ignore my birthday so that no one knows or whether to make my American chocolate chip cookies. Decisions, decisions. Also Dasha told me that you're supposed to bring treats in after you go on holiday somewhere, like even if you just go for a weekend. Definitely going to exercise my ignorant American card on that one. I sound kind of cynical, don't I?
I started going to yoga last week on Monday, and I could barely get out of bed on Tuesday. Or Wednesday. I went to an Ashtanga class that was so packed we couldn't spread our arms wide, and it felt a little like boot camp. There was no music, the lights were full on, and the teacher just kept calling out poses like they were commands. But Thursday I went to a different class with a different teacher and it was much, much better. I went to an Anusara class and it was so fun - we did partner poses and handstands and a nice long savasana at the end. Ahhh...
On Saturday Dasha let me tag along with her to a house party, and then we all went to a club in Putney that was so fun, and the best part - loads of cute boys! Dasha and I walked in, took one look at the dance floor, looked at each other and just smiled! Of course I didn't really act on it, I mean I was having such a good time dancing to euro-trash music, how could I pay attention to the boys? It was really fun though (they also play loads of American-trash music too), and a very late night, although somehow I've been able to keep up without noticing the early morning hours.
Must sleep now, I've been finding it hard to get enough...
Love to all,
Heather
I've been meaning to tell all of my accounting friends some of the funny/weird/interesting differences between the UK and US accounting world (non accountants may now zone out - I promise you can come back in a paragraph or two, it'll get more interesting). Anyway, some terms that are different: Debtors = accounts receivable, creditors = accounts payable, stock = inventory (you can imagine how confused I was the first time that I looked at a balance sheet and saw stock up in assets), they have completely different terms for anything in equity. Of course dates are different - days come before months, so December 31 is 31/12. I keep saying, "twelve thirty-one" and people look at me like, "silly American". Oh, I also keep saying dollars too instead of sterling or pounds. It was actually nice to work on a US client last week so I could write dates the way that I'm used to and put Zs (that's pronounced "zed" here, ??) in my 'recognize' and 'realize' with abandon. I lapped it up.
And I'm still having an immense amount of trouble saying "trousers" instead of pants (pants mean underwear here, remember?). I took some "pants" into the tailor the other day and told the tailor that I need my pants taken in at the waist a little bit. He seriously could hardly hold it in. Fortunately I live in an area with a lot of Americans so he's used to it.
I found out that here, when it's your birthday, guess who gets to bring treats? You do! What is that?? You have to bring treats for the entire department! I'm debating whether or not to ignore my birthday so that no one knows or whether to make my American chocolate chip cookies. Decisions, decisions. Also Dasha told me that you're supposed to bring treats in after you go on holiday somewhere, like even if you just go for a weekend. Definitely going to exercise my ignorant American card on that one. I sound kind of cynical, don't I?
I started going to yoga last week on Monday, and I could barely get out of bed on Tuesday. Or Wednesday. I went to an Ashtanga class that was so packed we couldn't spread our arms wide, and it felt a little like boot camp. There was no music, the lights were full on, and the teacher just kept calling out poses like they were commands. But Thursday I went to a different class with a different teacher and it was much, much better. I went to an Anusara class and it was so fun - we did partner poses and handstands and a nice long savasana at the end. Ahhh...
On Saturday Dasha let me tag along with her to a house party, and then we all went to a club in Putney that was so fun, and the best part - loads of cute boys! Dasha and I walked in, took one look at the dance floor, looked at each other and just smiled! Of course I didn't really act on it, I mean I was having such a good time dancing to euro-trash music, how could I pay attention to the boys? It was really fun though (they also play loads of American-trash music too), and a very late night, although somehow I've been able to keep up without noticing the early morning hours.
Must sleep now, I've been finding it hard to get enough...
Love to all,
Heather
Sunday, October 12, 2008
One month down!
I absolutely cannot believe that it has been a month since I've moved to London, at times it feels like I only arrived yesterday.
This week at work was rather boring, I keep waiting for the trips to fabulous places. Of course, a trip to a fabulous place to work is a bit disappointing, b/c you're stuck working all day. I do actually like working in the FRAG group though, b/c it's different from regular audit in that the work we do is consulting, so clients actually want us to be there and want our opinion. It's a welcome change from knowing that the clients consider you a necessary evil and count the days until you're done. I also like that the projects are always different too. I am ready to get out of the office though, I'm getting a bit stir crazy sitting at my desk day after day. Last Monday we went to the office at Finsbury Square, the largest GT office in London, and had an all day technical accounting update training. Riveting. But really, it was good for me b/c they focused on IFRS and I need to start thinking that instead of US GAAP. I did have a rather stellar moment though, the training leader asked a two part question, to which I answered both parts incorrectly, and the leader just kind of blinked at me after telling me why both of my answers were incorrect. Awesome way to make a first impression on the majority of my new partners. I will say though, it was in the morning and I hadn't had coffee yet. And I also thought that maybe they would just think that I was a silly American who was talking US GAAP. Although, my answer was probably wrong under US GAAP too, I really have no idea.
On Monday I had my first experience at a real, full-size grocery store (the one in my neighborhood that I had talked about before is very mini, almost like a glorified c-store), and it was amazing. Seriously, I felt better after that shopping trip than I have since I've been here. It may sound weird, but some of you know how much I love grocery shopping, it's therapeutic to me. Anyway, they had everything I wanted and a big selection to choose from. I was in heaven. Then I had to walk home in my suit and heels with heavy grocery bags and I was not so much in heaven.
We got our heat fixed, after figuring out that we were in fact not idiots who couldn't work a thermostat but that it was indeed broken. The heat felt amazing! But of course two days after we got it fixed it got warm again and we haven't even had it on for the last two days. Oh well. At least we know that it will work when we need it again.
I still have not been successful in getting through the firewall on my computer so that Skype and another program that will allow me to watch live football will work. I'm really so pissed at this point and I won't be shy about expressing my contempt for the GT IT dept. for blocking Skype. I mean really, what harm is it going to do to let me talk to my family and see their faces while we talk? One word: Lame.
You know what I've really been missing lately? Chipotle. Mmmm... Also Target, although not so much Target but just the convenience of a store in which you can get everything that you need. I know that I'll find places where I can find everything that I need, but right now I would love to go to Target. Maybe I can get the ingredients for a Chipotle and make it myself.
On Friday I went out for my first big night on the town and it was so fun! Dasha, Andrea, Dan, and two of Dasha's friends came out. We started at the flat and played drinking games, a little juvenile but so much fun! We played kings and I tried to introduce P&A, but it wasn't received so well. Then we went out to a club called Studio Valbonne off of Regent Street that was stupidly expensive to get into and outrageously pretentious, but ended up being so fun b/c we were having fun together. The dancing was great, granted I stood out for most of the euro-trash techno songs, but there was enough good music that I ended the night sweaty and tired and my hair had lost all of the curl that I had spent so much time putting in at the beginning of the night. We didn't make it home until 3:30 am, and I immediately passed out. Fortunately I stuck to beer the whole night so I woke up with a minimal hangover and cleaned up the mess of our flat before the other roomies woke up. Needless to say we were all fairly worthless yesterday. But I did make more chocolate chip cookies - they're a hit!
Today I went on a run for the first time since being in London. I went in Regent's Park, where the outer circle is 5k. Didn't exactly run the whole 5k, but it was a good effort for my first run in two months. Then I went to Hampstead and met up with Janet McMullen's friend who used to live in London and is in town for about a week. We had Sunday Roast at a pub called Hollybush, it was so delicious. Sunday Roast is exactly what it sounds like - some kind of roast meat (I had chicken), then potaotes, veggies, etc (think hearty 'American' food - same theme). Mine was made up of the chicken, roasted potatoes, carrots, red cabbage, and stuffing. After washing it all down with a pint of lager I was set for the day! Then he showed me around the town of Hampstead and the Heath (a huge 900 acre park). It was so beautiful - I definitely have a place to take all of my visitors! There is a hill in the Heath called Parliament Hill where you can see out over the whole city of London. We happened to go right at sundown, so the view was spectacular.
Ok, I need to go to bed, it's almost 1 am and I'm sleepy...
xoxo,
Heather
This week at work was rather boring, I keep waiting for the trips to fabulous places. Of course, a trip to a fabulous place to work is a bit disappointing, b/c you're stuck working all day. I do actually like working in the FRAG group though, b/c it's different from regular audit in that the work we do is consulting, so clients actually want us to be there and want our opinion. It's a welcome change from knowing that the clients consider you a necessary evil and count the days until you're done. I also like that the projects are always different too. I am ready to get out of the office though, I'm getting a bit stir crazy sitting at my desk day after day. Last Monday we went to the office at Finsbury Square, the largest GT office in London, and had an all day technical accounting update training. Riveting. But really, it was good for me b/c they focused on IFRS and I need to start thinking that instead of US GAAP. I did have a rather stellar moment though, the training leader asked a two part question, to which I answered both parts incorrectly, and the leader just kind of blinked at me after telling me why both of my answers were incorrect. Awesome way to make a first impression on the majority of my new partners. I will say though, it was in the morning and I hadn't had coffee yet. And I also thought that maybe they would just think that I was a silly American who was talking US GAAP. Although, my answer was probably wrong under US GAAP too, I really have no idea.
On Monday I had my first experience at a real, full-size grocery store (the one in my neighborhood that I had talked about before is very mini, almost like a glorified c-store), and it was amazing. Seriously, I felt better after that shopping trip than I have since I've been here. It may sound weird, but some of you know how much I love grocery shopping, it's therapeutic to me. Anyway, they had everything I wanted and a big selection to choose from. I was in heaven. Then I had to walk home in my suit and heels with heavy grocery bags and I was not so much in heaven.
We got our heat fixed, after figuring out that we were in fact not idiots who couldn't work a thermostat but that it was indeed broken. The heat felt amazing! But of course two days after we got it fixed it got warm again and we haven't even had it on for the last two days. Oh well. At least we know that it will work when we need it again.
I still have not been successful in getting through the firewall on my computer so that Skype and another program that will allow me to watch live football will work. I'm really so pissed at this point and I won't be shy about expressing my contempt for the GT IT dept. for blocking Skype. I mean really, what harm is it going to do to let me talk to my family and see their faces while we talk? One word: Lame.
You know what I've really been missing lately? Chipotle. Mmmm... Also Target, although not so much Target but just the convenience of a store in which you can get everything that you need. I know that I'll find places where I can find everything that I need, but right now I would love to go to Target. Maybe I can get the ingredients for a Chipotle and make it myself.
On Friday I went out for my first big night on the town and it was so fun! Dasha, Andrea, Dan, and two of Dasha's friends came out. We started at the flat and played drinking games, a little juvenile but so much fun! We played kings and I tried to introduce P&A, but it wasn't received so well. Then we went out to a club called Studio Valbonne off of Regent Street that was stupidly expensive to get into and outrageously pretentious, but ended up being so fun b/c we were having fun together. The dancing was great, granted I stood out for most of the euro-trash techno songs, but there was enough good music that I ended the night sweaty and tired and my hair had lost all of the curl that I had spent so much time putting in at the beginning of the night. We didn't make it home until 3:30 am, and I immediately passed out. Fortunately I stuck to beer the whole night so I woke up with a minimal hangover and cleaned up the mess of our flat before the other roomies woke up. Needless to say we were all fairly worthless yesterday. But I did make more chocolate chip cookies - they're a hit!
Today I went on a run for the first time since being in London. I went in Regent's Park, where the outer circle is 5k. Didn't exactly run the whole 5k, but it was a good effort for my first run in two months. Then I went to Hampstead and met up with Janet McMullen's friend who used to live in London and is in town for about a week. We had Sunday Roast at a pub called Hollybush, it was so delicious. Sunday Roast is exactly what it sounds like - some kind of roast meat (I had chicken), then potaotes, veggies, etc (think hearty 'American' food - same theme). Mine was made up of the chicken, roasted potatoes, carrots, red cabbage, and stuffing. After washing it all down with a pint of lager I was set for the day! Then he showed me around the town of Hampstead and the Heath (a huge 900 acre park). It was so beautiful - I definitely have a place to take all of my visitors! There is a hill in the Heath called Parliament Hill where you can see out over the whole city of London. We happened to go right at sundown, so the view was spectacular.
Ok, I need to go to bed, it's almost 1 am and I'm sleepy...
xoxo,
Heather
Friday, October 3, 2008
Settling In
I can't believe it's been over a week since my last post, the days are going by so quickly! Last weekend was great - Friday I went to the cinema with Dasha and Andrea to see Righteous Kill (I know it came out ages ago in the States, don't remind me. I hate that I have to wait forever to see the shows and movies that you guys already have), and then on Saturday I went to a place near Piccadilly Circus that I heard played college football games to watch the Ohio State game. I was reminded of how I should avoid that area, particularly at night. There are so many tourists there it's annoying. And of course they weren't even playing the OSU game, they were playing Michigan State and Indiana. But it was good to watch American football anyway. Tomorrow I'm just going to stream the game online since it's at 1am for me anyway.
I've been getting more and more comfortable with my surroundings every day, I think I've mostly lost that scared-child/deer-in-headlights look for the most part. The main reason is b/c I'm much better at deciphering the English accent and I can tell what the hell people are saying to me. The next trick is learning all of the different words and slang that they use here, and getting in the habit of using it so I don't get the deer-in-headlights look from them. The worst is when I say pants instead of trousers. Pants means underwear here, and for some reason it's just really hard for me to catch myself on that one. Embarrassing.
I love St. John's Wood so far. It's like a little village in the middle of the big city, with everything that I need in a five block radius, and it's much less busy than other parts of the city. And being two blocks away from Regent's Park isn't bad either. Not that I've taken advantage of that or anything - I haven't been on a run yet since I've moved. I have started to look for a yoga studio though and I think I've found one that's pretty close to me. It's outrageously expensive, but I've become accustomed to "London prices", I mean at least I don't dry heave every time I look at a price tag anymore. It helps to not convert it to dollars.
My flatmates are really amazing as well - Dasha and I have very similar interests so we've been doing a lot together and have spent the last few days emailing back and forth all day. There is a show called Peep Show here that is hysterical - I saw a few episodes on the plane on the way over and was laughing out loud, people were staring at me. Anyway, I asked Dasha about it and turns out she loves it too! The new season is starting soon so I've been trying to catch up on the previous seasons, we've been watching an episode or two every night. It makes me cry from laughing so hard sometimes. You guys should check it out - go to alluc.net and search for Peep Show.
I've got the bus system to and from work down now, so well in fact that I can even talk on my cell (er, mobile) phone while riding instead of staring out the window trying to tell one building from the next and wondering if I'm near home. Makes me feel much more cosmopolitan that I can just hop on the bus and zone out.
It's so cold here already - no idea what the temperature is b/c I can't convert to Celsius so I've just stopped bothering to look - but I wore my winter coat to work for the first time today. I've been told that this is unusually cold for this time of year, but I'm skeptical. It's comforting to know that it doesn't ever get really cold here, like Kansas City cold. The worst part is that we can't figure out how to turn on the heat in our flat - I'm sitting here right now in two layers of blankets with the computer on my lap for warmth and a cup of tea next to me to warm my hands (and my nose) every once in a while. Being from the desert, I'm not one for cold anyway and my roommates don't seem to think it's quite as bad, but it's cold!
My week at work wasn't so bad as last week, I certainly didn't stay as late in the evenings. This FRAG group seems like it's going to be interesting, it's a lot of consulting work regarding different IFRS issues.
On Wednesday I went to dinner with a bunch of people from work and their wives/husbands/etc. for the going away party of the guy that I'm replacing (he's going back to the US). We definitely made a night of it, we went to a pub, then dinner, then another pub. It was so much fun but we stayed out too late. It helps that we don't have to go in until 9 here, but I didn't even make it in by then.
Miss you all loads!
Heather
I've been getting more and more comfortable with my surroundings every day, I think I've mostly lost that scared-child/deer-in-headlights look for the most part. The main reason is b/c I'm much better at deciphering the English accent and I can tell what the hell people are saying to me. The next trick is learning all of the different words and slang that they use here, and getting in the habit of using it so I don't get the deer-in-headlights look from them. The worst is when I say pants instead of trousers. Pants means underwear here, and for some reason it's just really hard for me to catch myself on that one. Embarrassing.
I love St. John's Wood so far. It's like a little village in the middle of the big city, with everything that I need in a five block radius, and it's much less busy than other parts of the city. And being two blocks away from Regent's Park isn't bad either. Not that I've taken advantage of that or anything - I haven't been on a run yet since I've moved. I have started to look for a yoga studio though and I think I've found one that's pretty close to me. It's outrageously expensive, but I've become accustomed to "London prices", I mean at least I don't dry heave every time I look at a price tag anymore. It helps to not convert it to dollars.
My flatmates are really amazing as well - Dasha and I have very similar interests so we've been doing a lot together and have spent the last few days emailing back and forth all day. There is a show called Peep Show here that is hysterical - I saw a few episodes on the plane on the way over and was laughing out loud, people were staring at me. Anyway, I asked Dasha about it and turns out she loves it too! The new season is starting soon so I've been trying to catch up on the previous seasons, we've been watching an episode or two every night. It makes me cry from laughing so hard sometimes. You guys should check it out - go to alluc.net and search for Peep Show.
I've got the bus system to and from work down now, so well in fact that I can even talk on my cell (er, mobile) phone while riding instead of staring out the window trying to tell one building from the next and wondering if I'm near home. Makes me feel much more cosmopolitan that I can just hop on the bus and zone out.
It's so cold here already - no idea what the temperature is b/c I can't convert to Celsius so I've just stopped bothering to look - but I wore my winter coat to work for the first time today. I've been told that this is unusually cold for this time of year, but I'm skeptical. It's comforting to know that it doesn't ever get really cold here, like Kansas City cold. The worst part is that we can't figure out how to turn on the heat in our flat - I'm sitting here right now in two layers of blankets with the computer on my lap for warmth and a cup of tea next to me to warm my hands (and my nose) every once in a while. Being from the desert, I'm not one for cold anyway and my roommates don't seem to think it's quite as bad, but it's cold!
My week at work wasn't so bad as last week, I certainly didn't stay as late in the evenings. This FRAG group seems like it's going to be interesting, it's a lot of consulting work regarding different IFRS issues.
On Wednesday I went to dinner with a bunch of people from work and their wives/husbands/etc. for the going away party of the guy that I'm replacing (he's going back to the US). We definitely made a night of it, we went to a pub, then dinner, then another pub. It was so much fun but we stayed out too late. It helps that we don't have to go in until 9 here, but I didn't even make it in by then.
Miss you all loads!
Heather
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