I'm trying to make up for my lack of writing this past month by writing twice in one week - I hope I still have some readers left! January started off pretty tame since my flatmate Dasha was out of town in the States on a little Christmas time holiday to see friends. The first week back was full of MJ, yoga, and getting over jet lag. Also getting back in the swing of things at work. I think it wasn't until Thursday that I could legitimately say that I cared about work again. But good thing b/c it got really busy the next week. I started my first UK audit at this time, and went to Sheffield last week and the week before for the bulk of the fieldwork. Sheffield is a city about two hours north of London by train, and everyone was telling me how awful it was, saying that it was ugly and rather economically depressed. I guess it used to be a big steel town in years past, and it just doesn't have much to offer now. So I wasn't looking forward to a stellar time while away from home, but then I guess that's pretty on par with the away jobs from Kansas City to Small Town USA. When we got to Sheffield though I was pleasantly surprised! First of all since it was a bigger city we got to stay in a nice hotel, instead of, you know, Best Western or Country Inn and Suites. We stayed in a cute little boutique hotel within five minutes walk of the client, both being in the city centre (I guess Britain's word for downtown). The city centre was actually really lovely - I was told that they had just remodeled everything in 2005 or so, so there were pretty fountains and nice shops and restaurants everywhere. The people who told me that it wasn't nice must have been talking about outside the city centre. Or maybe I just have low expectations... Anyway, the audit is going well, just pretty busy. UK audits and US audits don't seem to be that different actually, I guess it's all GT in the end right? They just put extra Us in words and esses where zees should be...
My weekends in January were pretty packed as well - Dasha, MJ, Andrea, and Dasha's friend Natalia all went to this fantastic house party a few weekends ago. There were loads of people there but it kind of felt like we brought the party - we had two giant bags of beer, an Ipod loaded with a killer 80s playlist, and a good chunk of the party. The flat was a multi-level place with the kitchen on the lower level, and part of the party was there while the rest was on the ground floor. We ended up staying in the kitchen all night and when we finally ventured upstairs there was no one left, even though our half was still going strong! Not surprising though, I mean Dasha and I did rock out to Africa by Toto at least four times - who wouldn't want to stick around for that?? We've been on this 80s music kick lately - seems like every Friday night we end up coming back to the flat, turning 80s music up loud, and having dance party central in our living room. So lame but so damn fun. Last weekend Dasha disappeared into her room when we got home and emerged wearing lycra head to toe, with legwarmers and a sweet headband! So awesome.
The weekend before the house party I went with MJ to his friends' birthday dinner at a hibachi Japanese restaurant and it was very entertaining, as those places usually are. Another slightly big step for me, but I can't seem to help it anymore, I'm falling for this MJ guy pretty hard. He's one of the sweetest men I've ever met and one of those people who you can just tell has a truly good heart. And he seems to really like me which is an extra bonus...he's very attentive to me and dotes on me. What more could a girl want? Well this cynical girl, at least. He asked what I wanted to do for Valentine's Day and all I said was, "Can we please just not celebrate it?" He looked a bit taken aback so I had to explain that I do like romance, just not the kind that's contrived b/c Hallmark says so. He still seemed a little disappointed - such a romantic, I love it! We had actually planned to go away this weekend to the Cotswolds (an area of London known for its quaintness - think 200 year old cottages with thatched roofs and antique shops on every corner), but snow stopped us from going. So he has now convinced me to go to dinner on Wednesday for dinner "just b/c it's Wednesday" - not a V Day dinner. Likely story. Oh well, I guess if he wants to take me to dinner I won't object...twist my arm. So far any time with him is good time.
Except one bit - which wasn't even his fault. Do you remember when I wrote about meeting some of his friends for the first time and there was one guy that had just returned from living in the States who wouldn't stop giving me crap for being American? Last weekend we went to a party hosted in his flat, and MJ and I arrived a bit later than most people but jumped right in chatting and playing random drinking games that I'd never heard of but were fun all the same. About an hour into said party, Ben (this is America-hating friend) announces that it is time for boat racing, and begins to fill a pan with water. He and another girl at the party demonstrate how this "game" is played and lay on their bellies at either end of the pan and try to blow a match from their end to the other first. I think this whole thing is pretty odd, but dismiss it b/c many things in this country are odd to me. The demonstration ends and new volunteers are sought. I am somehow volunteered (actually come to think of it it was Ben's gf who volunteered me - even de-nominating her friend and suggesting me in her place. Perhaps she's not too keen on Americans either), and not one to be a party pooper, I accept. My opponent is some guy I've never met before - as are the rest of the people at the party except Ben and his gf. So the 'boat race' begins, and just before the race ends, Ben slams his hand down into the pan and completely soaks both of us with water. I might as well have taken the pan of water and chucked it into my face - my hair was wet, the entire front of my shirt was soaked, mascara was running down my face. It quickly dawns on me that this was the entire point of this whole production. Let me clarify - I go to a party of mostly professional adults, and the highlight of the party is to play a mean trick on two unsuspecting people, one of whom is brand new to the group. I can't say that my reaction was much more mature than the incident to begin with - I simply got up and went into the bathroom to dry off, locking the door behind me. I was furious. I wanted nothing more than to leave and never see or speak to Ben again. But he is one of MJ's best friends so I tried to stick it out for him. It was pretty obvious how upset I was and Ben was apologizing the rest of the night, but I generally ignored him or was just a downright bitch to him. I'll admit I didn't handle it in the best fashion, but other girls will attest that sometimes we let our emotions get the best of us. I mean really though, at least the worst thing we do to people in America is make them buy a round of drinks or, I don't know, a keg stand or something.
This Sunday it started snowing - giant, sticky flakes, and it continued all through the night. Monday morning we awoke to a winter wonderland! It was still snowing that morning and in the end we got about 12 inches. London never gets this much snow - they said the last time was 18 years ago, so the city is completely ill-equipped to handle the situation. The tube was down, no buses were running, and there was hardly a taxi to be found. Fortunately the head of London audit emailed that morning and told us to stay home unless we could guarantee our safe journey to and from the office, so I stayed at home. "Un"fortunately the internet receiver on my computer wasn't working so I couldn't connect to the VPN at work, so I could only do about 2 hours of work. The rest of the day I napped and watched some program about the Earth's magnetic core. At least I was kind of engaging my brain, right? Towards the end of the afternoon my flatmate Andrea and I went to Primrose Hill, a park about 10 minutes from us to go sledding on the giant hill there. When we got there I was blown away by how many people were there! Since snow isn't common in London hardly anyone had a proper sled, so everyone was using anything they could get their hands on. Andrea and I brought our air mattress which didn't end up working too well, there were several people with metal road signs (pretty sure that's illegal but it was brilliant), trash can lids, pieces of tarp, I even saw an ironing board! We ended up using a To Let (i.e. lease) sign that was laminated cardboard so it flew over the snow (which by the time we got there was a mixture of ice and mud). It was so much fun - I felt like I was 6 years old again! We also made snow angels and tromped around the park, looking at every one's snowmen and snow forts. Someone was even working on a proper igloo! Well, not blocks of ice, obviously, but the basic shape was there. Someone else had built a headless man sitting on a bench, so you could get behind it with your head on the neck and take a picture - so clever! There were people with proper skis and snowboards going down the hill, there was even a guy dressed in a penguin costume (wtf?)! It was such a good day and everyone was in such good spirits. Snow makes the cold worth it. They're calling for snow again tomorrow morning and Monday again so I'm crossing my fingers! This is also why MJ and I couldn't make it to the Cotswolds - they're still getting it there. Apparently they've run out of salt as well. Oopsie.
Ok well must sleep (stayed up entirely too late again writing this one - I just get so carried away!).
xoxo,
Heather
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Swimming with dolphins! Kansas City, and the return to London
I know it's been ages since I've written, but I have a valid excuse - I haven't had internet access in my flat since I returned from Christmas break b/c one of my lovely flatmates decided to change our service to this awful company where nothing is easy and it takes a customer service call that you have to pay for to get connected to the wireless router. Brilliant. Anyway, I know I haven't been keeping my New Year's resolution to write every week but let's just start calling it my February resolution. I have so much to write since it's been so long, so this will have to come in installments. First - before I returned to London:
My mom's Christmas present to my Dad was to have the whole family go swimming with dolphins at the Indianapolis zoo! Well, we didn't actually get to swim, but we did loads of other cool things. We wore wetsuits, but we were inside in the dolphins' 80F tanks anyway so it wasn't a big deal. Wetsuit was good to hide my pasty skin though. Anyway, first we got into the tank about waist deep and two of the eight dolphins at this zoo came up to us and the trainers showed us things on the dolphins like their ears (tiny, tiny pinpricks on the sides of their head!), this weird film over their eyes that keeps the salt water from drying them out, their belly buttons, how you tell a male from a female, etc. At this point we also got to touch them - we held their flippers (like we were dancing with them), rubbed their belly, gave them a hug, and took a photo with the dolphin kissing us on the cheek (this was only hard copy from the zoo employee, so unfortunately I can't post it). We also did this thing where we put our hand on the dolphin's rostrum (this is the technical term for their 'beak'), and the dolphin kicked it's tail so we could feel how powerful they were. One of these two was pregnant, due in 1-2 months, so she had a very big belly! It was so cute but I wished that we had come when the baby had already been born. The other one of these two did a very cool trick (they call them "behaviors") where he leaped straight into the air, twisted, then dove back in.
Next we went to another tank where we played with two of the male dolphins and they did all kinds of tricks, and we got to give them one of the signals to do a trick. They did flips, "walked" on their tail in the water, back dives, and did a breach - where they jump out of the water and land on their side to make a huge splash. My trick was the breach. Then we gave them a fish after they performed each trick. The last thing that they did was a trick where we stretch our arm over the water and the dolphin comes up and touches your hand with his flipper, kind of like a handshake. The whole experience was so amazing!! The dolphins were so friendly and adorable, and they seemed like dogs in the way that they really seemed to enjoy being around humans and doing things to please us. I love how they always seem to be smiling at you too. It made me want to quit my job and become a dolphin trainer. :) We couldn't take photos since we were in the water, but there was one guy who was there with his gf but was just observing, so he took loads of photos and told us that he would email them. Maybe eventually I'll get to post some.
The Indianapolis zoo was really amazing other than the dolphins as well, we went a few hours early to just walk around and see the other animals. They had a tank where you could pet sharks (small ones of course), the penguin exhibit was set up so that you walked through the middle and could see them swimming underneath a glass floor, and we got to see the sea lions being fed. They did a few tricks as well and were barking (they were so loud!). They had three walrus there and they were incredible! The largest was 2,600 pounds - massive! They were all such hams - especially the youngest, coming up to the viewing window and interacting with us, and he would come above the water and make noises like he was talking to us. I had no idea they were such social creatures! We also saw the polar bear swimming, which I had never seen one swim before - it was like he was doing his morning laps - so cute! The desert exhibit was also very well put together (and nice to be warm after how cold it was outside) - loads of cool lizards and snakes.
Ok, so you can tell that I'm kind of into animals, but it was so fun! My grandma came with us in my brother Matt's place (the one who lives in Phoenix and couldn't make it home), and she loved it too, it was so fun to have her there.
I made it from Ohio to Kansas City with only a minor delay and a short sprint to the connecting flight in Milwaukee (I was the last one on the plane, but this was very mild compared to my journey to Ohio), and arrived just past midnight on the 31st. I stayed with my friend Myers who was so nice to come and pick me up, and on the way home I asked him what we were doing that night. He looked at me like I was crazy and said, "Now? It's already past midnight!" I told him that it was still early - in London on a proper night out I would stay out until at least 4 am. He responded with a shake of his head and told me that he couldn't roll with me. So we went back to his place and went to sleep, where I got an entire bedroom and bathroom to myself since his roommate was out of town (sweet!). The next morning we awoke and watched football (the real, American kind) in the morning since the bowl games had started, and I can't tell you how content my soul was to sit on a couch and watch football. Living in London and being a fan of American sports, there is an ever-present level of disappointment and emptiness in not being able to watch the sports that you love, or even have a conversation about them with a knowledgeable counterpart. Ah well, I know I should get into the sports here and I have been watching some football (ahem, soccer) games on TV as well, but I don't think there will ever be the level of passion that I have for American sports. I mean, these things take a lifetime of cultivation, you know? Most of you know how much I love the Buckeyes, and I like to think that my mom was breeding me to be an Ohio State fan from the womb (which she was, of course). Kansas came later in life, but I love my Jayhawks no less passionately...but I digress. I spent NYE day at Carmax getting an estimate on my car and being sorely disappointed with just how steep the market has plunged (again, if anyone is looking for a 4runner, it's going for cheap now). The good news was that I did have a car to drive around while I was there and it was so great - I really love that car and I missed it! This is embarrassing to admit but I gave it a little hug when I climbed behind the wheel.
For NYE night I went with Myers, our friend Young and his wife Ashley (one of the best couples ever), and their two friends to dinner at this lovely restaurant near KUMed called Thomas. It was delicious and from there we went to a house party, since bars are always over crowded, over expensive, and overly lame in general on NYE. Knowing the group of people who were said to be in attendance at this party I had initially thought it was going to be pretty fun, but when we got there I quickly realized that it was entirely made up of married or engaged couples except Myers and I. There were even several prego girls there to liven things up. Myers and I decided just before midnight to wander upstairs (from the basement, where the party was happening) to escape the awkwardness of all the making out, so I spent the first seconds of 2009 sitting alone in a Kansas City living room eating miniature Reese's from a little glass dish. Reese's is my fav though so I really can't complain there. The rest of the KC trip was a blast though - had lunch with three GT girls, then met them and Greg out that night for drinks on the plaza, got to see H2 for a bit one evening, had dinner with Rach, Ang, and Jax, and also spent some time with Kelly. I know I didn't get to see everyone I wanted to, but you'll have that with a short trip.
The trip back to London was uneventful and (gasp!) on time!! I didn't manage to sleep a wink though, so I was jet lagged for a good three days. The guy that I'm seeing (he hates that I call him The Boy but I think it sounds weird to call him The Man - not b/c he's not a man but b/c it sounds like I'm congratulating him every time I type it, like 'oh, he's The Man!' Anyway, I think I'll call him MJ for now), met me at my place just after I arrived, which was nice b/c Dasha was still in the States on a Christmas trip and Andrea was at his sister's. It was really good to be back in London but I felt so empty leaving home again, I really miss everyone! Especially my family. And I was so looking forward to using Skype to talk to them with my new computer, but of course when I got home there was no internet, as aforementioned. Grrr...
Right, well it's nearly 1am here and I must sleep to not be a total zombie at work tomorrow. I'll write more about my January tomorrow, but I'll leave you with some more interesting words and phrases that have been part of my continual learning process of British culture.
gubbins = the word you use when you don't know what it's called, like "thingamabob", but it must be technical in nature, as in a TV gubbins or computer gubbins. Still waiting to use this one as I'm not entirely sure of the context yet.
chavvy = white trash (the adjective). A chav is white trash the noun.
OTT = over the top. E.g. "Wow, that's so OTT." Maybe we use this abbreviation in the States as well, but not where I've lived.
Sixth Form = high school. Kind of, it's the last two years of school before uni (university), when you're 17-18. Most people here, in classic English pronunciation fashion, mash these two words together and pronounce it "sicthform" (think of the "th" as very lispy and barely discernible).
University = college. Close enough, but I'm pretty sure they use the word college to talk about either sixth form or the training you get once you decide on a profession after uni (like an apprenticeship), so I try to stick to the word university when I speak of my experiences in college.
They pronounce the letter Z as "zed". No idea why.
Tea, other than the oh-so-popular beverage, can also be used as a synonym for dinner. As in, "I had pasta for tea."
Jumper = sweater
Till = cash register
There are many levels of giving thanks - "ta" is used when you're only marginally appreciative, like when someone moves out of your way or does something that they're expected to do, and is generally used with someone that you don't know (like a cashier or bus driver). "Cheers" is used as a very common replacement for thanks. Every English person I've met probably says cheers 50+ times a day, but not to say goodbye as most Americans misinterpret. They do say it when they are leaving or getting off the phone, but it's always to mean thank you and not goodbye. Then of course there is "thanks" and "thank you", which seem to be a bit more formal.
Right, must sleep. Love you all!
xoxo,
Heather
My mom's Christmas present to my Dad was to have the whole family go swimming with dolphins at the Indianapolis zoo! Well, we didn't actually get to swim, but we did loads of other cool things. We wore wetsuits, but we were inside in the dolphins' 80F tanks anyway so it wasn't a big deal. Wetsuit was good to hide my pasty skin though. Anyway, first we got into the tank about waist deep and two of the eight dolphins at this zoo came up to us and the trainers showed us things on the dolphins like their ears (tiny, tiny pinpricks on the sides of their head!), this weird film over their eyes that keeps the salt water from drying them out, their belly buttons, how you tell a male from a female, etc. At this point we also got to touch them - we held their flippers (like we were dancing with them), rubbed their belly, gave them a hug, and took a photo with the dolphin kissing us on the cheek (this was only hard copy from the zoo employee, so unfortunately I can't post it). We also did this thing where we put our hand on the dolphin's rostrum (this is the technical term for their 'beak'), and the dolphin kicked it's tail so we could feel how powerful they were. One of these two was pregnant, due in 1-2 months, so she had a very big belly! It was so cute but I wished that we had come when the baby had already been born. The other one of these two did a very cool trick (they call them "behaviors") where he leaped straight into the air, twisted, then dove back in.
Next we went to another tank where we played with two of the male dolphins and they did all kinds of tricks, and we got to give them one of the signals to do a trick. They did flips, "walked" on their tail in the water, back dives, and did a breach - where they jump out of the water and land on their side to make a huge splash. My trick was the breach. Then we gave them a fish after they performed each trick. The last thing that they did was a trick where we stretch our arm over the water and the dolphin comes up and touches your hand with his flipper, kind of like a handshake. The whole experience was so amazing!! The dolphins were so friendly and adorable, and they seemed like dogs in the way that they really seemed to enjoy being around humans and doing things to please us. I love how they always seem to be smiling at you too. It made me want to quit my job and become a dolphin trainer. :) We couldn't take photos since we were in the water, but there was one guy who was there with his gf but was just observing, so he took loads of photos and told us that he would email them. Maybe eventually I'll get to post some.
The Indianapolis zoo was really amazing other than the dolphins as well, we went a few hours early to just walk around and see the other animals. They had a tank where you could pet sharks (small ones of course), the penguin exhibit was set up so that you walked through the middle and could see them swimming underneath a glass floor, and we got to see the sea lions being fed. They did a few tricks as well and were barking (they were so loud!). They had three walrus there and they were incredible! The largest was 2,600 pounds - massive! They were all such hams - especially the youngest, coming up to the viewing window and interacting with us, and he would come above the water and make noises like he was talking to us. I had no idea they were such social creatures! We also saw the polar bear swimming, which I had never seen one swim before - it was like he was doing his morning laps - so cute! The desert exhibit was also very well put together (and nice to be warm after how cold it was outside) - loads of cool lizards and snakes.
Ok, so you can tell that I'm kind of into animals, but it was so fun! My grandma came with us in my brother Matt's place (the one who lives in Phoenix and couldn't make it home), and she loved it too, it was so fun to have her there.
I made it from Ohio to Kansas City with only a minor delay and a short sprint to the connecting flight in Milwaukee (I was the last one on the plane, but this was very mild compared to my journey to Ohio), and arrived just past midnight on the 31st. I stayed with my friend Myers who was so nice to come and pick me up, and on the way home I asked him what we were doing that night. He looked at me like I was crazy and said, "Now? It's already past midnight!" I told him that it was still early - in London on a proper night out I would stay out until at least 4 am. He responded with a shake of his head and told me that he couldn't roll with me. So we went back to his place and went to sleep, where I got an entire bedroom and bathroom to myself since his roommate was out of town (sweet!). The next morning we awoke and watched football (the real, American kind) in the morning since the bowl games had started, and I can't tell you how content my soul was to sit on a couch and watch football. Living in London and being a fan of American sports, there is an ever-present level of disappointment and emptiness in not being able to watch the sports that you love, or even have a conversation about them with a knowledgeable counterpart. Ah well, I know I should get into the sports here and I have been watching some football (ahem, soccer) games on TV as well, but I don't think there will ever be the level of passion that I have for American sports. I mean, these things take a lifetime of cultivation, you know? Most of you know how much I love the Buckeyes, and I like to think that my mom was breeding me to be an Ohio State fan from the womb (which she was, of course). Kansas came later in life, but I love my Jayhawks no less passionately...but I digress. I spent NYE day at Carmax getting an estimate on my car and being sorely disappointed with just how steep the market has plunged (again, if anyone is looking for a 4runner, it's going for cheap now). The good news was that I did have a car to drive around while I was there and it was so great - I really love that car and I missed it! This is embarrassing to admit but I gave it a little hug when I climbed behind the wheel.
For NYE night I went with Myers, our friend Young and his wife Ashley (one of the best couples ever), and their two friends to dinner at this lovely restaurant near KUMed called Thomas. It was delicious and from there we went to a house party, since bars are always over crowded, over expensive, and overly lame in general on NYE. Knowing the group of people who were said to be in attendance at this party I had initially thought it was going to be pretty fun, but when we got there I quickly realized that it was entirely made up of married or engaged couples except Myers and I. There were even several prego girls there to liven things up. Myers and I decided just before midnight to wander upstairs (from the basement, where the party was happening) to escape the awkwardness of all the making out, so I spent the first seconds of 2009 sitting alone in a Kansas City living room eating miniature Reese's from a little glass dish. Reese's is my fav though so I really can't complain there. The rest of the KC trip was a blast though - had lunch with three GT girls, then met them and Greg out that night for drinks on the plaza, got to see H2 for a bit one evening, had dinner with Rach, Ang, and Jax, and also spent some time with Kelly. I know I didn't get to see everyone I wanted to, but you'll have that with a short trip.
The trip back to London was uneventful and (gasp!) on time!! I didn't manage to sleep a wink though, so I was jet lagged for a good three days. The guy that I'm seeing (he hates that I call him The Boy but I think it sounds weird to call him The Man - not b/c he's not a man but b/c it sounds like I'm congratulating him every time I type it, like 'oh, he's The Man!' Anyway, I think I'll call him MJ for now), met me at my place just after I arrived, which was nice b/c Dasha was still in the States on a Christmas trip and Andrea was at his sister's. It was really good to be back in London but I felt so empty leaving home again, I really miss everyone! Especially my family. And I was so looking forward to using Skype to talk to them with my new computer, but of course when I got home there was no internet, as aforementioned. Grrr...
Right, well it's nearly 1am here and I must sleep to not be a total zombie at work tomorrow. I'll write more about my January tomorrow, but I'll leave you with some more interesting words and phrases that have been part of my continual learning process of British culture.
gubbins = the word you use when you don't know what it's called, like "thingamabob", but it must be technical in nature, as in a TV gubbins or computer gubbins. Still waiting to use this one as I'm not entirely sure of the context yet.
chavvy = white trash (the adjective). A chav is white trash the noun.
OTT = over the top. E.g. "Wow, that's so OTT." Maybe we use this abbreviation in the States as well, but not where I've lived.
Sixth Form = high school. Kind of, it's the last two years of school before uni (university), when you're 17-18. Most people here, in classic English pronunciation fashion, mash these two words together and pronounce it "sicthform" (think of the "th" as very lispy and barely discernible).
University = college. Close enough, but I'm pretty sure they use the word college to talk about either sixth form or the training you get once you decide on a profession after uni (like an apprenticeship), so I try to stick to the word university when I speak of my experiences in college.
They pronounce the letter Z as "zed". No idea why.
Tea, other than the oh-so-popular beverage, can also be used as a synonym for dinner. As in, "I had pasta for tea."
Jumper = sweater
Till = cash register
There are many levels of giving thanks - "ta" is used when you're only marginally appreciative, like when someone moves out of your way or does something that they're expected to do, and is generally used with someone that you don't know (like a cashier or bus driver). "Cheers" is used as a very common replacement for thanks. Every English person I've met probably says cheers 50+ times a day, but not to say goodbye as most Americans misinterpret. They do say it when they are leaving or getting off the phone, but it's always to mean thank you and not goodbye. Then of course there is "thanks" and "thank you", which seem to be a bit more formal.
Right, must sleep. Love you all!
xoxo,
Heather
Saturday, December 27, 2008
A Warm Welcome Home
I am currently in Ohio, at home for Christmas, but it was not a smooth journey getting here. First, the cab that I called to take me to the airport never showed (what jerks), so I had to frantically hail a cab on my street where they are not often available, with my very large bag in tow. I ended up leaving about 45 minutes later than originally planned, and was completely stressed that I was going to miss my flight. But all said and done I made it to my gate with time to spare. I flew Continental, and their procedure for seat assignment for this flight was to assign them as the people checked in, unbeknownst to me. I didn't check in until the morning of my flight, so I got a lovely middle seat. For a nine hour flight. Groan. But fortunately I wasn't sitting next to an overly large person (well one of them was slightly spilling into my seat - she was American, of course) or a screaming child, so I guess it could have been worse. Oh, and the in-flight tv/movie service stopped working about three hours into the flight, that was another nice bit. When we finally reached Newark, about six inches of snow had just fallen, thus we were forced to wait for another 50 minutes while they cleared the snow from our gate area. I've never been closterphobic, but those 50 minutes seemed like they were about 3 hours. We couldn't leave our seats since we were technically "taxiing" although we were in reality in no motion at all for almost the entire 50 minutes. There were several times when I wasn't quite sure if I was going to be able to stop myself from leaping out of my seat and screaming like a maniac. This is very rude and I know that they wanted to get there as badly as I did, but when we finally were deplaning and the crew was thanking us while leaving the plane, the only response that was going through my head was, "go f.. yourself". Awful I know. I had read a few articles about how this holiday season was going to include some of the worst weather in years, so I was slightly prepared, but not for what I was about to walk into.
Customs was easy enough - my entire carry on was filled with tea that I didn't want to be demolished in my checked luggage, but fortunately border patrol didn't have a problem. It took about an hour to get my checked bag, most likely due to something having to do with the snow, but in the mean time I learned that my flight to Columbus had been cancelled, along with almost every other flight out of Newark, La Guardia, and JFK. Doing my best to maintain my composure, I called my mom (thank goodness I still have my Sprint phone!), to tell her the news, and proceeded to a monstrous line of people waiting to find the next way out of NY. Whilst in line, I heard people saying that they had no more hotel rooms to give, and they were giving pillows and blankets out and telling people to scout out a comfy patch of airport floor. Sweet. Somehow, even after standing in line for 30 minutes, I was still last in line (typical), but it turned out to be a blessing b/c a very kindly lady took the last few of us in line to another desk where there were other agents waiting to help us right away. Brilliant. On of these other passengers happened to be a fellow Buckeye that was supposed to be on the same flight as I was! Unfortunately, he was in front of me and took the last possible option out of any airport in NY to Columbus. He looked at me with an 'I'm sorry' look, and once again, all I wanted to say was, "go f.. yourself". I had the rotten luck of choosing the most incompetent airline agent imaginable - she couldn't find anything to get me even close to home, and this is after I told her that I could fly into Columbus, Cinncinnati, Cleveland, Indianapolis, Toledo, Philidelphia, or Pittsburgh. So by the time they found me something, the entire staff at this particular desk was working on my itinerary, and I ended up flying US Airways to DC, then Delta to Cinncinnati. One of the agents made the comment that she had no idea Ohio was such a popular destination this time of year, and I said, "It's all the Buckeyes going home - they sent out the homing device!"
I knew that the hotel rooms were taken, but I thought it wouldn't hurt to ask, and lucky I did - b/c I was an international passenger, I got one! Glorious, glorious hotel room. Ended up being a smoking room so felt rather more like an ashtray, but still glorious to sleep in a bed and not the airport floor. The airline also gave me a voucher for food and a taxi to La Guardia (where my flight the next morning was to depart), so I ate some lovely trail mix for dinner and dry cereal for breakfast. Yummy.
By the time I arrived at the hotel it was around midnight and my flight was to leave at 8 am. To get to La Guardia using the taxi voucher, I had to return to Newark and take the taxi from there, and not knowing how long this round about journey would take, I decided to play it safe and awoke at the unmentionable hour of 3:30 am. Nothing like 3.5 hours of sleep in two days to get rid of jet lag. The flight to DC was only about an hour gate to gate, and I slept for almost the entirety. You know how kids can fall asleep in the darndest positions, and you wonder how tired they must be to sleep like that? This was me on this flight, I fell asleep with my head flopped forward, not leaning against the headrest like a normal human being, and stayed this way until I awoke with about fifteen minutes left. My recollection of take off was only a slight joustling and felt a bit like a dream. Honestly it was like I had been drugged. Thank goodness I didn't drool, b/c when I awoke from my coma I realized there was a very cute boy sitting next to me. I was still a bit mortified by how I must have looked whilst sleeping so didn't say anything, but he struck up a convo with me anyway. When he learned that I was headed to Ohio, he told me, rather apologetically, that he had attended LSU (b/c of the football nat. championship last year), but I told him it was cool, that it was a good thing he wasn't from Michigan, then I would have to stop talking to him immediately.
Because I was flying US Air to DC then Delta to Cinnci, I had to collect my bag at the baggage claim and re-check it with Delta in DC. I only had about 50 minutes between the flights, so I was a bit nervous, but my bag was the second one off of the plane so I was optimistic. Until I got to the check in desk and saw yet another enormous line. By the time I made it to the gate they were just beginning to board. I think I may die of a heart attack if I continue to travel this much, and have this terrible luck. On this second flight I was in the very first row, so loads of leg room, and I sat next to another pilot who was on his way to start his workday. He was telling me all about flying, for example, all flights from east to west fly at even altitudes (e.g. 28,000 feet), and all flights W-E fly at odd altitudes. Interesting stuff. He was also originally from Zimbabwe and we had a little talk about the mayhem that's going on there. He asked me if I knew of an assassin to kill the president there.
Finally made it to Cinncinnati around 1 pm on Saturday, after missing the wedding of a friend of the family that had started at noon in a town in northern Ohio. In fact, my family was at this wedding as they were supposed to have picked me up from the airport on the way to the town, so we had to scramble and have my Grandma come get me in Cinnci. Hooray for Grandma! On the way home, we stopped at a Chipotle to eat lunch - it was like heaven. Nothing says welcome home like a Chipotle burrito. Mmm, wanting another one now.
Another thing I noted: I was struck by the glaring commercialism of an American Christmas. They definitely celebrate with decorations, song, lights, etc. in the UK, but nothing like the excess of America. The holiday music was blaring at a surprising pitch from every airport speaker in Newark (and La Guardia), and poinsettas, Christmas trees, and lights were overtaking the hotel lobby. I could only smile and feel that warm fuzzy feeling that one only feels when they're home.
And it is so lovely to be home. I love being surrounded by so many American accents, knowing when I see the word football that it means the sport that I'm actually thinking of, and seeing the sun. And I totally forgot about the insane Midwest weather, but was quickly reminded. The Monday after I arrived it was below 20F, was almost 50 the next day, and then by the evening it was cold enough for freezing rain. Which made for another fun travel experience. Mom, Megan (sister), and I had gone to a town about an hour away for a little last minute shopping and the trip back took a little over 6 hours. Yes, 6 hours after trying two of three possible routes home and both were blocked with accidents. We heard on the radio that there had been an accident on the third route as well. So we sat. And sat. Very luckily, we had a portable DVD player in the car and had just purchased Arrested Development for one of my brothers. We felt a bit guilty for opening a Christmas present, but it was the only thing that kept us sane.
Other than the unlucky travel experiences, home has been amazing. Loads of relaxing, loads of family and friends, and more Mexican food! My family also celebrated my birthday again, since I told them not to spend the money to ship presents to me, but I had completely forgotten and was totally surprised! Christmas was great as well, the best present was a computer so that I can finally Skype my family (and anyone else who has Skype!) from London - yay!
Well, must be off, and this novel of an entry is long enough. Hope everyone had a very merry Christmas and other happy holidays, and also has a happy new year! Oh, and I hope anyone traveling has better luck than I did - I'm crossing my fingers for a better flight back to London than the flight here!
Cheers,
Heather
Customs was easy enough - my entire carry on was filled with tea that I didn't want to be demolished in my checked luggage, but fortunately border patrol didn't have a problem. It took about an hour to get my checked bag, most likely due to something having to do with the snow, but in the mean time I learned that my flight to Columbus had been cancelled, along with almost every other flight out of Newark, La Guardia, and JFK. Doing my best to maintain my composure, I called my mom (thank goodness I still have my Sprint phone!), to tell her the news, and proceeded to a monstrous line of people waiting to find the next way out of NY. Whilst in line, I heard people saying that they had no more hotel rooms to give, and they were giving pillows and blankets out and telling people to scout out a comfy patch of airport floor. Sweet. Somehow, even after standing in line for 30 minutes, I was still last in line (typical), but it turned out to be a blessing b/c a very kindly lady took the last few of us in line to another desk where there were other agents waiting to help us right away. Brilliant. On of these other passengers happened to be a fellow Buckeye that was supposed to be on the same flight as I was! Unfortunately, he was in front of me and took the last possible option out of any airport in NY to Columbus. He looked at me with an 'I'm sorry' look, and once again, all I wanted to say was, "go f.. yourself". I had the rotten luck of choosing the most incompetent airline agent imaginable - she couldn't find anything to get me even close to home, and this is after I told her that I could fly into Columbus, Cinncinnati, Cleveland, Indianapolis, Toledo, Philidelphia, or Pittsburgh. So by the time they found me something, the entire staff at this particular desk was working on my itinerary, and I ended up flying US Airways to DC, then Delta to Cinncinnati. One of the agents made the comment that she had no idea Ohio was such a popular destination this time of year, and I said, "It's all the Buckeyes going home - they sent out the homing device!"
I knew that the hotel rooms were taken, but I thought it wouldn't hurt to ask, and lucky I did - b/c I was an international passenger, I got one! Glorious, glorious hotel room. Ended up being a smoking room so felt rather more like an ashtray, but still glorious to sleep in a bed and not the airport floor. The airline also gave me a voucher for food and a taxi to La Guardia (where my flight the next morning was to depart), so I ate some lovely trail mix for dinner and dry cereal for breakfast. Yummy.
By the time I arrived at the hotel it was around midnight and my flight was to leave at 8 am. To get to La Guardia using the taxi voucher, I had to return to Newark and take the taxi from there, and not knowing how long this round about journey would take, I decided to play it safe and awoke at the unmentionable hour of 3:30 am. Nothing like 3.5 hours of sleep in two days to get rid of jet lag. The flight to DC was only about an hour gate to gate, and I slept for almost the entirety. You know how kids can fall asleep in the darndest positions, and you wonder how tired they must be to sleep like that? This was me on this flight, I fell asleep with my head flopped forward, not leaning against the headrest like a normal human being, and stayed this way until I awoke with about fifteen minutes left. My recollection of take off was only a slight joustling and felt a bit like a dream. Honestly it was like I had been drugged. Thank goodness I didn't drool, b/c when I awoke from my coma I realized there was a very cute boy sitting next to me. I was still a bit mortified by how I must have looked whilst sleeping so didn't say anything, but he struck up a convo with me anyway. When he learned that I was headed to Ohio, he told me, rather apologetically, that he had attended LSU (b/c of the football nat. championship last year), but I told him it was cool, that it was a good thing he wasn't from Michigan, then I would have to stop talking to him immediately.
Because I was flying US Air to DC then Delta to Cinnci, I had to collect my bag at the baggage claim and re-check it with Delta in DC. I only had about 50 minutes between the flights, so I was a bit nervous, but my bag was the second one off of the plane so I was optimistic. Until I got to the check in desk and saw yet another enormous line. By the time I made it to the gate they were just beginning to board. I think I may die of a heart attack if I continue to travel this much, and have this terrible luck. On this second flight I was in the very first row, so loads of leg room, and I sat next to another pilot who was on his way to start his workday. He was telling me all about flying, for example, all flights from east to west fly at even altitudes (e.g. 28,000 feet), and all flights W-E fly at odd altitudes. Interesting stuff. He was also originally from Zimbabwe and we had a little talk about the mayhem that's going on there. He asked me if I knew of an assassin to kill the president there.
Finally made it to Cinncinnati around 1 pm on Saturday, after missing the wedding of a friend of the family that had started at noon in a town in northern Ohio. In fact, my family was at this wedding as they were supposed to have picked me up from the airport on the way to the town, so we had to scramble and have my Grandma come get me in Cinnci. Hooray for Grandma! On the way home, we stopped at a Chipotle to eat lunch - it was like heaven. Nothing says welcome home like a Chipotle burrito. Mmm, wanting another one now.
Another thing I noted: I was struck by the glaring commercialism of an American Christmas. They definitely celebrate with decorations, song, lights, etc. in the UK, but nothing like the excess of America. The holiday music was blaring at a surprising pitch from every airport speaker in Newark (and La Guardia), and poinsettas, Christmas trees, and lights were overtaking the hotel lobby. I could only smile and feel that warm fuzzy feeling that one only feels when they're home.
And it is so lovely to be home. I love being surrounded by so many American accents, knowing when I see the word football that it means the sport that I'm actually thinking of, and seeing the sun. And I totally forgot about the insane Midwest weather, but was quickly reminded. The Monday after I arrived it was below 20F, was almost 50 the next day, and then by the evening it was cold enough for freezing rain. Which made for another fun travel experience. Mom, Megan (sister), and I had gone to a town about an hour away for a little last minute shopping and the trip back took a little over 6 hours. Yes, 6 hours after trying two of three possible routes home and both were blocked with accidents. We heard on the radio that there had been an accident on the third route as well. So we sat. And sat. Very luckily, we had a portable DVD player in the car and had just purchased Arrested Development for one of my brothers. We felt a bit guilty for opening a Christmas present, but it was the only thing that kept us sane.
Other than the unlucky travel experiences, home has been amazing. Loads of relaxing, loads of family and friends, and more Mexican food! My family also celebrated my birthday again, since I told them not to spend the money to ship presents to me, but I had completely forgotten and was totally surprised! Christmas was great as well, the best present was a computer so that I can finally Skype my family (and anyone else who has Skype!) from London - yay!
Well, must be off, and this novel of an entry is long enough. Hope everyone had a very merry Christmas and other happy holidays, and also has a happy new year! Oh, and I hope anyone traveling has better luck than I did - I'm crossing my fingers for a better flight back to London than the flight here!
Cheers,
Heather
Monday, December 15, 2008
Coldplay - in London!!
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
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
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!
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