(This blog is a combination of thoughts from Ja'Nae' and Beth. However, Ja'Nae' didn't care for how Beth was writing and took over.)
After living here for 3 weeks, we finally met one of our neighbors; an elderly fella (73) who is a war vet that used to live with his mother. He was quick to give us a brief history of Fulham (where we live). He was born in Fulham, but raised in Wales. He told us about how the language between northern and souther Britain is quite different! He had trouble understanding one while he was living in the other! He told us how our building was born the same year he was and it used to be a meat locker. It was shut down because they were providing meat that was from animals already dead instead of slaughtered - not good. After that shut down, they turned it into a dairy. Obviously that shut down at some point, but under our building is a ton of broken glass from the dairy bottles. For that reason, the rats stay away from our building. Um, excuse me, did he say rats?! I guess London is full of rats - from what we've heard - so it's a good thing we live on top of broken glass. Not to mention the two cats we've got living in the neighborhood. There is a black one and another orange tabby - our neighbor calls him Garfield since that's what it looks like. The cat has obviously been eating like Garfield too. That bad boy is big.
Our neighbor also likes plants and flowers, but due to the credit crunch, he wasn't able to buy flowers for the planters. Next weekend we plan on buying him some flowers. Our walkway needs some color and he (Phil) seems to enjoy it. Phil had a row of Daffodils, but they dried out and died. It's possible that we may try to find a florist and fill our patio area with some color.
Another great fact that our neighbor shared with us is that we have a tree that is 400 years old. I don't remember if he mentioned the type of tree, but it's pretty cool that we have a 400 year old tree in our 'hood. The weird thing is that it doesn't look to be that old at all. Luckily, Phil had a reason for that. Sometime ago, the tree was cut down to the stump. Since then, the stump grew back into the tree that it once was. Cute story, huh?
Later that day, we decided that we should check out the St. George's Day festivities. Advertisements stated that bands were performing at Trafalgar Square, but it was designed for those that were 25 and under. So, I (Ja'Nae') thought it would be pretty cool to check out a few no name bands. As soon as we get off the tube station, we can see a mob of people and two man band. The band included an acoustic guitarist with a drummer. But the great thing about this band is that the drummer appeared to be playing a kiddie drum set. And the bass drum was made out of a box. I have no idea how they made this happen, but they were rocking it. We head up towards to street towards Trafalgar and hear a group of singers singing what sounds like show tunes. I am thinking to myself, this is NOT the reason why we came up here. Beth seems to be enjoying it, so we stay a little bit longer. This event is standing room only, but we are determined to find a seat. The park is not as packed as I thought it would be, but sometimes that is better. A bunch of sweaty people in a confined area is not always the most comfortable. Once we find our seat, a song is being sung that sounds familiar - "Daisy, Daisy..." and that's all I know. While this song is being played, the entire crowd is singing along. That was pretty neat. I have a video of this on my Facebook page. The crowd proceeded to do this with a few other songs too.
We were supposed to watch the London Marathon, but the combination of the rain and cold temperature made us stay in. Okay, we actually slept in a little longer than we wanted and didn't get started on the day until 3. Even though we didn't watch the marathon, we had our own. We walked for 5.25 miles today along the Thames River to Hammersmith. It was a pretty nice walk and didn't feel like 5 miles until my body started to get sore. It was then that we decided to highlight in an atlas all the streets in London that we have visited. We are hoping to at least cover the City of London, and I think we are pretty close to that.
It's 11:10 p.m. and I'm tired. I have nothing else to say, but this....Good Night!
Ok, so I posted this and realized that we hadn't explained the title. Phil, the neighbor, told us about a toll bridge that existed at the current Putney Bridge location. It cost 25p to cross the bridge. However, if you didn't have the money to pay for it, people would give their hat as payment. So, as the saying goes, " if you can't get ahead, get a hat!"
Thank you and good nite!
Sunday, 25 April 2010
Wednesday, 21 April 2010
Parks!!!!!
This is Hyde Park - the performers tree. Where the reformers would meet.
This is Tower Hill.
This is Hyde Park/Kensington Gardens.
Regents Park
This is Tower Hill.
This is Hyde Park/Kensington Gardens.
Regents Park
Regents Park
Ashes Ashes....We all stay grounded!
So, this is the result of the ash - the only viewable result. The sunset the first night was purple. Not sure if you can tell from the photo, but the sky is lavender. It was really pretty, but other than that we couldn't see "ash".
Flights started moving today AFTER our flight to Amsterdam was cancelled! Seriously BA - you couldn't start the flying a couple hours earlier? Maybe you knew I had one heck of a hangover!!!
I want to give a big shout out to our currency folk and the Pension Awards. I was the youngest person in the room, but thank goodness for the host. One of the comedians on 4 (channel) - he was totally politically INcorrect!! I loved it - oh, and the 12 bottles of wine and 1 bottle of whiskey our table of 7 went through!! OUCH!!! Black tie event - a success!!! It wasn't as posh as I was expecting, but I still don't belong there :) I'm a trousers kind of gal.
What else can I say....oh yes, this photo was taken on Putney Bridge (over the River Thames) which is about 4 blocks from our flat! We are on the Fulham side near Putney Bridge tube station - its a great location!
I'm going to post more pictures so you folks without facebook (you know who you are Scott and Susan) can see some pics :)
Miss you all!!!
Thursday, 15 April 2010
Sources of Goodness
So - couple of great things going on this week.....1 - I get paid today. Thank goodness; it's the first time getting paid for over a month. Nope, not cool. But.....2 - because I get paid for part of last month too, we get to use the extra ££ to book our overdue honeymoon to Paris! Very stoked about that. And last, but certainly not least 3 - my super fantastic wife picked up a new shower head that actually works!!!!!!!! My whole self is happy about this - I was actually able to get wet enough to stay warm today so I could shave my legs!!!! I'm finally female again - it's amazing what losing hair will do to a person! So a big shout out to Ja'Nae` for making the move of the YEAR, to my HR dept for paying me and to the last minute holiday website for hopefully getting us a manageable price for 5 nights in Paris!
That's all I really had to say, but I think it's time to throw out some random thought again:
Why is there a 'Skippy' in every office? (most of you won't know what this means, but it's a thought I have almost every day.)
I actually saw the same person on the tube this morning....I've never seen the same person twice - I wanted to shake his hand and introduce myself. Is that the Iowa girl in me?
Just found out that during the summer months here, it is only dark from 23:00 to 4:00 - that gives me only 5 hours of sleep or the need to buy black curtains.
Military time takes more than 1 month to get used to for my tiny brain! I understand it's purpose and think everyone should go that route, but I'm getting really good at subtracting 12.
This morning my ipod had 50% power and after 50 minutes of listening to it, now has 5%. That stinks.....
Forgot to pack my shuffle charger....may have to sweet talk someone in DSM to send me another. I'm thinking the dirt man - we talked ipod at work so I'm sure he has a spare.
Speaking of, did you know that Stover consists of the leaves and stalks of corn (maize), sorghum or soybean plants that are left in a field after harvest? It does - and also speaks ipod.
Did you also know that when you dye your hair very dark brown (maybe even black) in Europe, not all the dye comes out right away? The next day at work you may get a little black on your hand. Must take a couple days for this stuff to become natural.
And my final, yet bitter, thought of the day.
Did you know that eating 8 times a day will help you lose more weight than only eating 3? I better start upping my intake!
Have a great day loyal followers!! We love you!
That's all I really had to say, but I think it's time to throw out some random thought again:
Why is there a 'Skippy' in every office? (most of you won't know what this means, but it's a thought I have almost every day.)
I actually saw the same person on the tube this morning....I've never seen the same person twice - I wanted to shake his hand and introduce myself. Is that the Iowa girl in me?
Just found out that during the summer months here, it is only dark from 23:00 to 4:00 - that gives me only 5 hours of sleep or the need to buy black curtains.
Military time takes more than 1 month to get used to for my tiny brain! I understand it's purpose and think everyone should go that route, but I'm getting really good at subtracting 12.
This morning my ipod had 50% power and after 50 minutes of listening to it, now has 5%. That stinks.....
Forgot to pack my shuffle charger....may have to sweet talk someone in DSM to send me another. I'm thinking the dirt man - we talked ipod at work so I'm sure he has a spare.
Speaking of, did you know that Stover consists of the leaves and stalks of corn (maize), sorghum or soybean plants that are left in a field after harvest? It does - and also speaks ipod.
Did you also know that when you dye your hair very dark brown (maybe even black) in Europe, not all the dye comes out right away? The next day at work you may get a little black on your hand. Must take a couple days for this stuff to become natural.
And my final, yet bitter, thought of the day.
Did you know that eating 8 times a day will help you lose more weight than only eating 3? I better start upping my intake!
Have a great day loyal followers!! We love you!
Monday, 12 April 2010
The Adventures of Homemaking
I have no idea how to properly start this blog so forgive me if it sounds as though I am rambling about nothing. But of course you think it's something because you are still reading this. My experience as a S.A.H.T. has been nice, but different. It's different because Beth even allows me to have this title and secondly, it's weird having time all to myself to do whatever I want.
As I do the laundry, unpack, handwash the dishes, my lovely wife still comes home and asks if that was all I accomplished. Now, I'm not sure if she means that in a good or bad way. "Is this all she did all day long while I was at work?" or "I can't believe that she didn't have time to venture out on the town. She really needs to get out and experience London." I'm sure it is the second one.
When we arrived to our lovely flat, we had to do an inventory. This process consists of one or two inventory specialists who review the condition of the home before you move in and once you move out. This is to be sure that everything is still the same as it was when you originally moved in. Both the tenant and the landlord must sign off on a document. These inventory specialists were very thorough. I made sure that they caught they settlement cracks in the walls, bowing of the shelves, discoloring of the floor, a shade of pink on thie white loveseat, etc. This process took about an hour and Beth was off to work while I was left to unpack.
As many of you know, our adventure in the hostel was not very much fun or clean. My first mission as a stay at home wife was to wash all of our clothes. I separate my whites and colors, just as I would back home and head for the washer machine. The washer machine and the dryer are ONE UNIT!!!! (Keep in mind, I didn't do any of the laundry back home. It's not because I didn't know how, but Beth wanted it done her way.) I stood at the washer-dryer for about a minute trying to read the different settings and which one(s) would be appropriate. Thankfully, there was a manual which explained each setting and the duration. I pull out our ziploc bag of laundry detergent (which we stole from the hostel) and guesstimated the amount of soap needed. I threw in the whites and had the dryer set time for 60 minutes.
As the laundry is going, I continue to unpack and try to make our flat look a bit more like our home. We don't have that much to begin with, but I work with what I have. The six books that we brought with us are lying on our six shelf bookcase, which was purchased at Ikea. It looks as though all the furnishings in this flat were purchased at Ikea. But can you blame the landlord? I love Ikea and would shop there too if I had my own place and more space. Because of the lack of belongings that we packed up front, that took me about 10 minutes.
On to the next thing, which is washing the dishes. On the sink we have two faucets, one for hot and the other is for cold. There is no such thing as lukewarm water here unless you have the patience to switch from the hot faucet to the cold one. Now, I like to wash my dishes with hot water just as my father taught me. ( He taught me that I needed to wash the dishes before I put them in the dishwasher, too. Isn't that why we had a dishwasher to begin with? Well, I guess he was preparing me for what was to come because the S.O.B. stopped working when I was 14 years old!) The landlord has supplied us with pots, skillets, carving boards, glasses (including wine), plates, bowls, measuring cups, wok skillet, and silverware. I was determined to get all of them washed so that Beth and I could start using them. I turn on the hot water, and boy is it cold! I wait a few more minutes, it is still cold. Then slowly it begins to get hot and I start washing.
Five hours later, the first load of laundry is done! That's no exaggeration. Five Hours!! But here's the part that gets me, even after drying for an hour, they still weren't dry. The clothes were soaked!!! The next load of laundry I put in the dryer for 90 minutes, and it still didn't do the job.
After two weeks of playing with the settings on the machine, I realized that I simply can't rely on the dryer. Not only that, but I can't do the dishes or take a shower while it is running. If I do, the water will be cold. It took me two weeks to figure that out!! Now we air dry all of clothes which makes our clothes crunchy. Oh well....
On to my tourist adventures. Most of my adventures have been simply walking around and enjoying the architecture and history of the city. Beth was right when she said that there is so much to see that is free. The views of the Tower Bridge (I thought this was the London Bridge, but I was wrong), Tower of London, Tower Hill, London Eye, South Bank, Thames River, and St. Paul's Cathedral are all breathtaking. And I am only talking about the view of all these landmarks. Of course, paying money to experience them is probably worth it as well.
I've only paid money to visit the Tower of London. This is the castle of several kings and queens, home to the Crown of Jewels, and the living location of the Beefeaters. I didn't do a tour with the Beefeater as I probably should've, but my personal tour was awesome. Every part of the castle that I walked through made the experience so much better. The reason is this place was actually lived in many, many, many years ago. Kings and Queens reigned from this very place and even tortured prisoners. Imagining the enemy coming down the Thames River in their ships. It's amazing that it is still here today.
Today, I had my first British Pie - Steak and Stilton with Mash. I didn't get the mash but that's okay because it was still pretty good. It was just steak in a gravy inside a bread pie. I would and will get this again.
Gosh, I'm getting hungry. Guess I better get to fixing a nice meal so that it's ready when Beth comes home. Cheers!
As I do the laundry, unpack, handwash the dishes, my lovely wife still comes home and asks if that was all I accomplished. Now, I'm not sure if she means that in a good or bad way. "Is this all she did all day long while I was at work?" or "I can't believe that she didn't have time to venture out on the town. She really needs to get out and experience London." I'm sure it is the second one.
When we arrived to our lovely flat, we had to do an inventory. This process consists of one or two inventory specialists who review the condition of the home before you move in and once you move out. This is to be sure that everything is still the same as it was when you originally moved in. Both the tenant and the landlord must sign off on a document. These inventory specialists were very thorough. I made sure that they caught they settlement cracks in the walls, bowing of the shelves, discoloring of the floor, a shade of pink on thie white loveseat, etc. This process took about an hour and Beth was off to work while I was left to unpack.
As many of you know, our adventure in the hostel was not very much fun or clean. My first mission as a stay at home wife was to wash all of our clothes. I separate my whites and colors, just as I would back home and head for the washer machine. The washer machine and the dryer are ONE UNIT!!!! (Keep in mind, I didn't do any of the laundry back home. It's not because I didn't know how, but Beth wanted it done her way.) I stood at the washer-dryer for about a minute trying to read the different settings and which one(s) would be appropriate. Thankfully, there was a manual which explained each setting and the duration. I pull out our ziploc bag of laundry detergent (which we stole from the hostel) and guesstimated the amount of soap needed. I threw in the whites and had the dryer set time for 60 minutes.
As the laundry is going, I continue to unpack and try to make our flat look a bit more like our home. We don't have that much to begin with, but I work with what I have. The six books that we brought with us are lying on our six shelf bookcase, which was purchased at Ikea. It looks as though all the furnishings in this flat were purchased at Ikea. But can you blame the landlord? I love Ikea and would shop there too if I had my own place and more space. Because of the lack of belongings that we packed up front, that took me about 10 minutes.
On to the next thing, which is washing the dishes. On the sink we have two faucets, one for hot and the other is for cold. There is no such thing as lukewarm water here unless you have the patience to switch from the hot faucet to the cold one. Now, I like to wash my dishes with hot water just as my father taught me. ( He taught me that I needed to wash the dishes before I put them in the dishwasher, too. Isn't that why we had a dishwasher to begin with? Well, I guess he was preparing me for what was to come because the S.O.B. stopped working when I was 14 years old!) The landlord has supplied us with pots, skillets, carving boards, glasses (including wine), plates, bowls, measuring cups, wok skillet, and silverware. I was determined to get all of them washed so that Beth and I could start using them. I turn on the hot water, and boy is it cold! I wait a few more minutes, it is still cold. Then slowly it begins to get hot and I start washing.
Five hours later, the first load of laundry is done! That's no exaggeration. Five Hours!! But here's the part that gets me, even after drying for an hour, they still weren't dry. The clothes were soaked!!! The next load of laundry I put in the dryer for 90 minutes, and it still didn't do the job.
After two weeks of playing with the settings on the machine, I realized that I simply can't rely on the dryer. Not only that, but I can't do the dishes or take a shower while it is running. If I do, the water will be cold. It took me two weeks to figure that out!! Now we air dry all of clothes which makes our clothes crunchy. Oh well....
On to my tourist adventures. Most of my adventures have been simply walking around and enjoying the architecture and history of the city. Beth was right when she said that there is so much to see that is free. The views of the Tower Bridge (I thought this was the London Bridge, but I was wrong), Tower of London, Tower Hill, London Eye, South Bank, Thames River, and St. Paul's Cathedral are all breathtaking. And I am only talking about the view of all these landmarks. Of course, paying money to experience them is probably worth it as well.
I've only paid money to visit the Tower of London. This is the castle of several kings and queens, home to the Crown of Jewels, and the living location of the Beefeaters. I didn't do a tour with the Beefeater as I probably should've, but my personal tour was awesome. Every part of the castle that I walked through made the experience so much better. The reason is this place was actually lived in many, many, many years ago. Kings and Queens reigned from this very place and even tortured prisoners. Imagining the enemy coming down the Thames River in their ships. It's amazing that it is still here today.
Today, I had my first British Pie - Steak and Stilton with Mash. I didn't get the mash but that's okay because it was still pretty good. It was just steak in a gravy inside a bread pie. I would and will get this again.
Gosh, I'm getting hungry. Guess I better get to fixing a nice meal so that it's ready when Beth comes home. Cheers!
Friday, 9 April 2010
Ah.....Home?
Good morning all, it's 9:15 here, but 3:15am your time. I'm at work (yes, I know - I shouldn't be blogging at work); I've done a ton of work this week and worked really long hours, so I'm going to do what I want for about 10 minutes!
First week in the flat is going well although I haven't spent much time there. Ja'Nae` is spending much more time there and getting cozy, but I basically sleep there. After work, we've gone walking, grocery shopping, or something else. I'm looking forward to this weekend and just hanging out for a bit - maybe planning a trip or two.....
Our flat is really quite nice - the landlord is really nice as well. It's amazing that each room is separated - we have 5 doors for about 600 square feet! I'm not exactly sure how many sq ft it is, but it is really more than I was anticipating - which is always good! The only thing I would change about it though is the shower. If you are standing in your tub looking at the water faucets, the shower is on the opposite wall....yes, so we are standing at the back of the tub. And, the shower head (or water pressure) isn't enough to get a good arc of water going, so I'm pretty much freezing the whole time or worried I'll slip because I'm standing on the upslope of the tub :) Other than that, I really like our place. We have really good storage in the bedroom (which is good for the amount of clothes we are having shipped over) and the living room has plentiful furniture to sit on and two book shelves (for the rest of our stuff coming over). The kitchen isn't too bad except we don't have a microwave....that is proving a bit difficult, but it's nothing we NEED. One thing we learn here - you make due with what you have. You really only need one knife, a small garbage can, one cooking pot, etc. The US advertising makes you think you need something for every move you make! It's amazing how much stuff people buy and only use once or twice a year. You really don't need it :)
We had a discussion about that last night with a wonderful guy - Chad! Big ups to Chad for picking an upscale gay bar for a drink and a lovely chinese restaurant in China Town! Weird, but the guy who interviewed me for the Spotlight article (on the PFG website) said his friend (and Drake alum) lived in London and we should get in touch. So, last night we finally met up. His husband manages a wine bar downtown here, so I think that will be our next venture! Anyway, Chad is from Okoboji (my second home) and owns the candy store at the Emporium! I've had the swedish fish there and they were awesome! He was so hilarious and had a ton of tips for us on eating in London - there really is a ton of good food here! Chad is certainly one of our new favorite people here!
OK - can you tell it is morning and I'm at work?!? I'm about to fall asleep right here. Sorry if I've bored you completely!
I have a lot more to say, but unfortunately it's about work and NOBODY wants to hear about that :)
Janae hit the Tower of London yesterday - maybe we'll get a blog out of her......
Cheers.
First week in the flat is going well although I haven't spent much time there. Ja'Nae` is spending much more time there and getting cozy, but I basically sleep there. After work, we've gone walking, grocery shopping, or something else. I'm looking forward to this weekend and just hanging out for a bit - maybe planning a trip or two.....
Our flat is really quite nice - the landlord is really nice as well. It's amazing that each room is separated - we have 5 doors for about 600 square feet! I'm not exactly sure how many sq ft it is, but it is really more than I was anticipating - which is always good! The only thing I would change about it though is the shower. If you are standing in your tub looking at the water faucets, the shower is on the opposite wall....yes, so we are standing at the back of the tub. And, the shower head (or water pressure) isn't enough to get a good arc of water going, so I'm pretty much freezing the whole time or worried I'll slip because I'm standing on the upslope of the tub :) Other than that, I really like our place. We have really good storage in the bedroom (which is good for the amount of clothes we are having shipped over) and the living room has plentiful furniture to sit on and two book shelves (for the rest of our stuff coming over). The kitchen isn't too bad except we don't have a microwave....that is proving a bit difficult, but it's nothing we NEED. One thing we learn here - you make due with what you have. You really only need one knife, a small garbage can, one cooking pot, etc. The US advertising makes you think you need something for every move you make! It's amazing how much stuff people buy and only use once or twice a year. You really don't need it :)
We had a discussion about that last night with a wonderful guy - Chad! Big ups to Chad for picking an upscale gay bar for a drink and a lovely chinese restaurant in China Town! Weird, but the guy who interviewed me for the Spotlight article (on the PFG website) said his friend (and Drake alum) lived in London and we should get in touch. So, last night we finally met up. His husband manages a wine bar downtown here, so I think that will be our next venture! Anyway, Chad is from Okoboji (my second home) and owns the candy store at the Emporium! I've had the swedish fish there and they were awesome! He was so hilarious and had a ton of tips for us on eating in London - there really is a ton of good food here! Chad is certainly one of our new favorite people here!
OK - can you tell it is morning and I'm at work?!? I'm about to fall asleep right here. Sorry if I've bored you completely!
I have a lot more to say, but unfortunately it's about work and NOBODY wants to hear about that :)
Janae hit the Tower of London yesterday - maybe we'll get a blog out of her......
Cheers.
Thursday, 1 April 2010
Ramblings
This is Beth's random ramblings....the things I think about walking down the street but never say out loud.
It takes me exactly 567 steps to get to the Kilburn tube platform from our hostel - I counted this morning.
Curse words said with a British accent sound like a 5 year old said them.....they say it, seem like they don't know what it means, but know they shouldn't say it. Very odd.
Oh, and, the Sh*t and F^ck words are used like "The" and "It" here - very common. I fit in well, but oddly enough cannot bring myself to say it in front of others. I feel like it just won't sound as good if I say it.
Mary Poppins most certainly was in London - only here can the rain create a down draft so crazy that it blows your umbrella back up. If I were light enough, I'd take flight on my umbrella almost every day. You have to admit, that would be sort of cool.
Every ledge is populated with iron spikes to keep pigeons off....some how they still find some where to sit and some where to sh*t.
We found out that Great Britain and a couple other countries are the only ones that drive on the opposite side of the road - not all of Europe does this. That would explain why most of us walk down the side walk the correct way and all the actual Brits (not many, but enough to be annoying) walk opposite everyone. I'm in a constant zig-zag pattern the whole time :)
Why did the hostel bolt the fan to the wall and then not allow enough cord length to actually plug it in? A real genius did that.
Why are homeless people (London has many) fat? They have signs that say they need food, but really.....they don't. A monk (they are normally skinny) can fast for 40 days....really homeless people just need a sign that says - WATER.
Why are JaNae and I sitting here wondering which accent we should pick to replicate? There are so many, but I think French is the hottest......so smoooooooth.
We have now decided that instead of using an actual clothes dryer (which is scarce here), air drying or a portable heat register will work just fine.
Back in the day, whoever started this city decided that hot and cold water taps should be separate - there is never a need for warm water.
Someone lied when they told me only Americans wear sun glasses.....the sun does actually shine very bright here. It is as spontaneous as the rain.
Soccer (football) may actually be exciting.
Flowers are planted and blooming here in March and the temps aren't even over 50. And the grass is super green and mowed like a golf course green.
The risotto here is wonderful - as is all pasta.
I ate ramen last night with chop sticks.....and over half the bowl was miso soup. My hand doesn't hurt any more from eating with chop sticks. I may take that up as a full time utensil.
Beverages at room temperature really aren't that bad - we don't even notice any more.
When ordering water, we actually have to ask for tap water (and that is what you get - right from the sink tap). Otherwise you pay for still or sparkling water......I don't really get why you would want carbonated water, but it doesn't taste horrible. And - Germans are big into sparkling (carbonated) water with apple juice. I haven't tried it, but I will.
Twice concentrated orange juice is not good - even watered down twice. So next time you are in the Tesco line getting lunch and think orange juice sounds good, make sure you read the label.
GBP (Great Britain Pounds) = USD (United States Dollars) Exchange rate some where around 1.5 (1 pound = 1.5 dollars) Pounds - Dollars. Cents - Pence. Get it?
Why we can stay up until midnight each night, but then when we have a long weekend and I don't have to work in the morning my wife decides that 10pm is her pass out time? Maybe the excitement of leaving the hostel wore her out today.
My alarm going off at the wrong time (or not at all) really isn't a problem here. I don't have to be to work by 9 or 9:30. 50% of the mornings this week I've missed the alarm but still made it to work by 8:30. That's with a 1/2 hour commute.
Getting used to military time is extremely difficult - right now it is 22:28. I just subtract 12, but still gets me thinking.
Scheduling conference calls with clients over 3 time zones - even more difficult. My brain just doesn't function that way yet.
And, why is main land Europe 1 hour ahead of the islands? What makes Ireland and GB so special?
I guess people surf and go to the beach on the SW side of the island - summer trip!!! Also, it's not illegal to go topless on the beach unless someone complains. Not that I care - just interesting.
And last, but certainly not least. Why does a box of 20 tampons in the states cost like 5-6 bucks (the good ones) and here they only cost 1-2 pounds? Besides rent, everything else is much cheaper here!
It takes me exactly 567 steps to get to the Kilburn tube platform from our hostel - I counted this morning.
Curse words said with a British accent sound like a 5 year old said them.....they say it, seem like they don't know what it means, but know they shouldn't say it. Very odd.
Oh, and, the Sh*t and F^ck words are used like "The" and "It" here - very common. I fit in well, but oddly enough cannot bring myself to say it in front of others. I feel like it just won't sound as good if I say it.
Mary Poppins most certainly was in London - only here can the rain create a down draft so crazy that it blows your umbrella back up. If I were light enough, I'd take flight on my umbrella almost every day. You have to admit, that would be sort of cool.
Every ledge is populated with iron spikes to keep pigeons off....some how they still find some where to sit and some where to sh*t.
We found out that Great Britain and a couple other countries are the only ones that drive on the opposite side of the road - not all of Europe does this. That would explain why most of us walk down the side walk the correct way and all the actual Brits (not many, but enough to be annoying) walk opposite everyone. I'm in a constant zig-zag pattern the whole time :)
Why did the hostel bolt the fan to the wall and then not allow enough cord length to actually plug it in? A real genius did that.
Why are homeless people (London has many) fat? They have signs that say they need food, but really.....they don't. A monk (they are normally skinny) can fast for 40 days....really homeless people just need a sign that says - WATER.
Why are JaNae and I sitting here wondering which accent we should pick to replicate? There are so many, but I think French is the hottest......so smoooooooth.
We have now decided that instead of using an actual clothes dryer (which is scarce here), air drying or a portable heat register will work just fine.
Back in the day, whoever started this city decided that hot and cold water taps should be separate - there is never a need for warm water.
Someone lied when they told me only Americans wear sun glasses.....the sun does actually shine very bright here. It is as spontaneous as the rain.
Soccer (football) may actually be exciting.
Flowers are planted and blooming here in March and the temps aren't even over 50. And the grass is super green and mowed like a golf course green.
The risotto here is wonderful - as is all pasta.
I ate ramen last night with chop sticks.....and over half the bowl was miso soup. My hand doesn't hurt any more from eating with chop sticks. I may take that up as a full time utensil.
Beverages at room temperature really aren't that bad - we don't even notice any more.
When ordering water, we actually have to ask for tap water (and that is what you get - right from the sink tap). Otherwise you pay for still or sparkling water......I don't really get why you would want carbonated water, but it doesn't taste horrible. And - Germans are big into sparkling (carbonated) water with apple juice. I haven't tried it, but I will.
Twice concentrated orange juice is not good - even watered down twice. So next time you are in the Tesco line getting lunch and think orange juice sounds good, make sure you read the label.
GBP (Great Britain Pounds) = USD (United States Dollars) Exchange rate some where around 1.5 (1 pound = 1.5 dollars) Pounds - Dollars. Cents - Pence. Get it?
Why we can stay up until midnight each night, but then when we have a long weekend and I don't have to work in the morning my wife decides that 10pm is her pass out time? Maybe the excitement of leaving the hostel wore her out today.
My alarm going off at the wrong time (or not at all) really isn't a problem here. I don't have to be to work by 9 or 9:30. 50% of the mornings this week I've missed the alarm but still made it to work by 8:30. That's with a 1/2 hour commute.
Getting used to military time is extremely difficult - right now it is 22:28. I just subtract 12, but still gets me thinking.
Scheduling conference calls with clients over 3 time zones - even more difficult. My brain just doesn't function that way yet.
And, why is main land Europe 1 hour ahead of the islands? What makes Ireland and GB so special?
I guess people surf and go to the beach on the SW side of the island - summer trip!!! Also, it's not illegal to go topless on the beach unless someone complains. Not that I care - just interesting.
And last, but certainly not least. Why does a box of 20 tampons in the states cost like 5-6 bucks (the good ones) and here they only cost 1-2 pounds? Besides rent, everything else is much cheaper here!
Nae's Random Thoughts
Ja'Nae' here.
Less than 24 hours and we are out of this place. I've never been so excited to move into a hotel before. But I guess after living the dorm life for 3 weeks, it can happen to anyone. On Saturday our contract is up and we can't move into our new place until Tuesday. So in the meantime we are staying at a hotel. Our flat is a five minute walk to the tube station and in a great location with parks nearby.
There aren't too many random things that have happened this week. But here are a couple things. On one of my many tube rides, there was a man who looked a bit sketchy. As the tube became more and more vacant, I noticed that he started spitting on the floor. Now, I know that the tube is already a place for germs, but come on!!! His spitting was beginning to annoy me and the few passengers that were left. Each time he would spit, I could sense the look of disgust on all of our faces. Once I arrived at my destination, I checked behind me to be sure the man was not following me. As I did that, I noticed that the other passengers were doing just the same. It was a bit creep because as we left, the man just stared out the window at us. Creepy if you ask me.
The next thing happened during my job search. I've been checking Craigslist to see what type of jobs are available. I thought I would check the 'et cetera' section for some odd jobs. Well, they had one odd job that really stuck out. The title was Anal Pleasure Commnunity. Um, excuse me! But of course I had to read what it was all about. Well, it's just what the name says - an anal pleasure community. But it is purely heterosexual and they need women. Yes!! I can finally get my start in the porn industry. This will be great for my resume. Who needs E.L.P. ( a program at my former company that was used as a resume booster). Anyways, apparently there has been a misconception about anal penetration and this community wants to clear things up. The ad talks about the ambitions and ideal candidate(s). The best part was the last nite which reads "I would apogolize in advance to all the enthusiastic men that it would be difficult to entertain all of you due to the huge response we will get from you all. Ladies would be much more encouraged to join this communityand help us lending a hand, it will be fun and safe experience of opening new frontiers of pleasure and joy for all members." Really???? I just can't believe that someone is actually trying to form a community, but to each his own. I will NOT be joining that community.
Less than 24 hours and we are out of this place. I've never been so excited to move into a hotel before. But I guess after living the dorm life for 3 weeks, it can happen to anyone. On Saturday our contract is up and we can't move into our new place until Tuesday. So in the meantime we are staying at a hotel. Our flat is a five minute walk to the tube station and in a great location with parks nearby.
There aren't too many random things that have happened this week. But here are a couple things. On one of my many tube rides, there was a man who looked a bit sketchy. As the tube became more and more vacant, I noticed that he started spitting on the floor. Now, I know that the tube is already a place for germs, but come on!!! His spitting was beginning to annoy me and the few passengers that were left. Each time he would spit, I could sense the look of disgust on all of our faces. Once I arrived at my destination, I checked behind me to be sure the man was not following me. As I did that, I noticed that the other passengers were doing just the same. It was a bit creep because as we left, the man just stared out the window at us. Creepy if you ask me.
The next thing happened during my job search. I've been checking Craigslist to see what type of jobs are available. I thought I would check the 'et cetera' section for some odd jobs. Well, they had one odd job that really stuck out. The title was Anal Pleasure Commnunity. Um, excuse me! But of course I had to read what it was all about. Well, it's just what the name says - an anal pleasure community. But it is purely heterosexual and they need women. Yes!! I can finally get my start in the porn industry. This will be great for my resume. Who needs E.L.P. ( a program at my former company that was used as a resume booster). Anyways, apparently there has been a misconception about anal penetration and this community wants to clear things up. The ad talks about the ambitions and ideal candidate(s). The best part was the last nite which reads "I would apogolize in advance to all the enthusiastic men that it would be difficult to entertain all of you due to the huge response we will get from you all. Ladies would be much more encouraged to join this communityand help us lending a hand, it will be fun and safe experience of opening new frontiers of pleasure and joy for all members." Really???? I just can't believe that someone is actually trying to form a community, but to each his own. I will NOT be joining that community.
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