I spent the first 28 days of 2008 doing very little besides working. And playing the piano, going the gym, and sleeping. It's been boring, but nice I guess.
February promises to be more exciting - I go to Seville on Thursday for work, hopefully I will get to see a little bit of the city, too! Everyone I know that's been to Spain frequently says it's their favorite city, so I'm getting excited. I'll just have Friday night after the all day meeting to explore, and maybe a little time on Saturday, but it should be fun.
Then I fly to the US on February 14 (didn't I just get back??) which will make it the longest Valentines Day I've ever had. Wasn't thinking about that part of it when I booked the flight! I'll fly into Atlanta so I can visit my great-aunt and uncle, then drive up through Columbia and see friends there, then Winston-Salem to see my brother, and then finally reach Cary on Sunday night, ready for a busy week at work.
Speaking of travel plans, my brother booked his flight to come see me the first week in March! I'm so glad he's coming - will be such fun. He's been to London before, so we have to find some of the things he hasn't seen or done yet. We may even go to Wales or somewhere like that. After he leaves, I go to Paris, and when I get back, my Mom and Alan are probably coming. So I am actually really grateful for the low-key few weeks I've had lately - it will be a while before I have that much time to relax again!
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Weekends
I really love weekends in London. I took a hiatus the last few weeks from doing anything on the weekend, and that was a needed break, but I forgot what I was missing! There's so many different things to do - yesterday I wandered down to Portobello Market and met a friend, we had a drink at a little pub, met another one of her friends, walked on to Whole Foods Market (have I mentioned how much I love that place?? It turns the supermarket into an experience!) and ate a bite there. Then my flatmate was on the same street shopping, so I met up with her and then we took the bus home.
The other American in the office here is transferring back and moving to NC, so her 'leaving do' was last night. That's one of those British phrases I love - "going away party" is maybe more plain of an expression, but much longer. I still laugh when I say "leaving do" though. Anyway, I was so tired I didn't get there until almost 10, and left after the pub closed at 11. I had just read this article on Brit's and the cultural norm of buying drinks, which I am used to now, but still just doesn't really work for me. I rarely have more than one drink a night, so I wind up either feeling guilty I'm not carrying my weight because I'm never going up to the bar to buy drinks for myself or anyone else, or buying a round and never getting a round bought for me. which is fine I guess, I shouldn't over-analyze it, usually everything works out. I sometimes just find it's awkward to not drink on pace with everyone when you're out in a group.
Today was not at all what I planned. I woke up early, with a headache, and then was really stressing about work and other things, completely irrationally. I finally got up and made myself a big, fat, unhealthy breakfast because I just felt like it. :) Eggs, biscuits, jam. Yum. It wasn't so bad I guess, but considering I'm still supposedly on a really strict diet...not so perfect.
At least it filled me up until way late in the afternoon!
Just before I left to go running, our landlord calls to ask if he can come by and talk to all of us. That's four people, and trying to get us all together is next to impossible, but Sunday is usually the best chance, and so we all eventually were awake and said he could come at 3:30. We are all more than a little nervous, he wouldn't say on the phone what was wrong, so we're thinking they want the house back? They don't like us? They're blaming us for damage of some sort? what the heck!?! This then starts an hour long cleaning frenzy that left the place spotless, just in case they were going to say something about it not being in good enough condition.
But no, nothing like that. They're selling the house. And if the buyers don't want to rent, we have to move. Nice.
He did offer to let us buy at a discounted price. But even with the four of us splitting the mortgage, which is actually easy to do here - thanks to an insane housing market where single people can't buy anything so the laws are made to help you buy with friends - it's still way more than I can justify paying just to not have to move. And I'd have to sell my US house to make it happen, and it's just not the right time for any of this. It's a shame, we all really love this house!
The other American in the office here is transferring back and moving to NC, so her 'leaving do' was last night. That's one of those British phrases I love - "going away party" is maybe more plain of an expression, but much longer. I still laugh when I say "leaving do" though. Anyway, I was so tired I didn't get there until almost 10, and left after the pub closed at 11. I had just read this article on Brit's and the cultural norm of buying drinks, which I am used to now, but still just doesn't really work for me. I rarely have more than one drink a night, so I wind up either feeling guilty I'm not carrying my weight because I'm never going up to the bar to buy drinks for myself or anyone else, or buying a round and never getting a round bought for me. which is fine I guess, I shouldn't over-analyze it, usually everything works out. I sometimes just find it's awkward to not drink on pace with everyone when you're out in a group.
Today was not at all what I planned. I woke up early, with a headache, and then was really stressing about work and other things, completely irrationally. I finally got up and made myself a big, fat, unhealthy breakfast because I just felt like it. :) Eggs, biscuits, jam. Yum. It wasn't so bad I guess, but considering I'm still supposedly on a really strict diet...not so perfect.
At least it filled me up until way late in the afternoon!
Just before I left to go running, our landlord calls to ask if he can come by and talk to all of us. That's four people, and trying to get us all together is next to impossible, but Sunday is usually the best chance, and so we all eventually were awake and said he could come at 3:30. We are all more than a little nervous, he wouldn't say on the phone what was wrong, so we're thinking they want the house back? They don't like us? They're blaming us for damage of some sort? what the heck!?! This then starts an hour long cleaning frenzy that left the place spotless, just in case they were going to say something about it not being in good enough condition.
But no, nothing like that. They're selling the house. And if the buyers don't want to rent, we have to move. Nice.
He did offer to let us buy at a discounted price. But even with the four of us splitting the mortgage, which is actually easy to do here - thanks to an insane housing market where single people can't buy anything so the laws are made to help you buy with friends - it's still way more than I can justify paying just to not have to move. And I'd have to sell my US house to make it happen, and it's just not the right time for any of this. It's a shame, we all really love this house!
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Stubbornness
Tonight, I amazed myself with a spectacular display of mulish refusal to give up or ask for help. I may have surpassed even the best stereotypical examples of males-don't-ask-for-directions. I spent an hour wandering around, adjacent to, across from, close to, encircling, but never reaching Carnaby Street. I had a map in my handbag, but wouldn't take it out and look at it. I passed hundreds of people, but wouldn't ask for directions. I was determined to find my flatmates bar on my so-called 'good sense of direction." Well, I've been humbled. I have a mediocre sense of direction. Maybe. I did eventually succeed - I found Picadilly Circus and started over from there. But only after I'd worn blisters into my toes and turned a five minute walk into a 50 minutes walk. The best part is that my flatmate had gone home for the night when I finally arrived, so the search was for nothing, I had to head to the tube station and go home!
The beginning of my evening was a book launch for the winner of a photography competition TV show. The last episode airs Sunday night, and there's a chance I'm in it, they interviewed me briefly so Lulu could have some exposure in the program (since we did the book). Kinda cool - although I am really nervous about how I'll look/sound/come across. One thing to be on TV and stress about how your face looks, another to have a broadcasted record of your statements on the company! My vanity and my job standing could be simultaneously bruised!
I'm exhausted - the stress of this project, and the rest of work in general, is catching up to me.
The beginning of my evening was a book launch for the winner of a photography competition TV show. The last episode airs Sunday night, and there's a chance I'm in it, they interviewed me briefly so Lulu could have some exposure in the program (since we did the book). Kinda cool - although I am really nervous about how I'll look/sound/come across. One thing to be on TV and stress about how your face looks, another to have a broadcasted record of your statements on the company! My vanity and my job standing could be simultaneously bruised!
I'm exhausted - the stress of this project, and the rest of work in general, is catching up to me.
Monday, January 14, 2008
The racist church-goer in me
Nice shocking title, eh? I went to church yesterday - woke up early and thought, it's Sunday, I should just give it a go, see what the London church experience is like. There's a Methodist church about 5-7 minutes walk from my house, so I got up and got ready and walked to the cute little old-school style building. Walking in, the first thing I notice is the Bible and hymnbook I'm handed are about 50 years old. The second thing I notice is that everyone in the building is at least 60 years old. The third thing I notice is that at least half of the people are black, and I thought, did I misread the sign that said AME church at 2pm? And then I mentally slapped myself in the face and thought WOW. How sad is it that I am so accustomed to Sunday mornings being completely segregated that this seems abnormal. How sad that when I walk in a Methodist church and see more than the one or two 'token' black families, I question for a second if I'm in the right place. How sad that for all my self-righteous beliefs that I don't have any racist leanings, I can find such a train of thoughts come so quickly and so fast I don't know how they happened. In my defense, it wasn't a negative reaction, I didn't think "yikes, I'm outta here", I found a seat and everything was fine from then on. But it was still an unsettling moment.
I really was the youngest person there, which was kinda fun, just to people watch and wonder how long everyone had attended that church, what their stories were, what the major landmarks of their lives had been - it's funny thinking how the experiences my generation's grandparents had in the US is somewhat similar, but also so very different to that of the same generation in the UK.
I had trouble with the hymns...I choked up a bit when I was sitting there waiting for the service to start - partly because of the strong association with home and family, and partly because it wasn't quite right - the hymns were strange and hard to sing. As I walked home, I was longing to temporarily transport myself back to NC and end up in my house, fix grilled cheese and tomato soup for me and my brother, and curl up on the couch and watch the playoffs. Ah well, instead it was taking a nap, going to the gym, watching Saturday's highlights online and following the scores on nfl.com.
Went to Whole Foods market that night - I love that store! It's so nice here - I can just wander for ages looking at all the stuff. And spending lots more than one should on groceries :D At least I'm more than set for the week - continuing the hard-core dieting I started after christmas. I have already made enough progress to fit back in 50% of my clothes! I was at a dismal 25% there for a while I think. :)
I really was the youngest person there, which was kinda fun, just to people watch and wonder how long everyone had attended that church, what their stories were, what the major landmarks of their lives had been - it's funny thinking how the experiences my generation's grandparents had in the US is somewhat similar, but also so very different to that of the same generation in the UK.
I had trouble with the hymns...I choked up a bit when I was sitting there waiting for the service to start - partly because of the strong association with home and family, and partly because it wasn't quite right - the hymns were strange and hard to sing. As I walked home, I was longing to temporarily transport myself back to NC and end up in my house, fix grilled cheese and tomato soup for me and my brother, and curl up on the couch and watch the playoffs. Ah well, instead it was taking a nap, going to the gym, watching Saturday's highlights online and following the scores on nfl.com.
Went to Whole Foods market that night - I love that store! It's so nice here - I can just wander for ages looking at all the stuff. And spending lots more than one should on groceries :D At least I'm more than set for the week - continuing the hard-core dieting I started after christmas. I have already made enough progress to fit back in 50% of my clothes! I was at a dismal 25% there for a while I think. :)
Friday, January 11, 2008
Can I have my 3-day week back?
Um, I really don't like working Monday through Friday. Just thought I'd put that out there. Way too many hours spent inside an office sitting at a computer screen stressing about things that, other than providing my monthly paycheck, really don't matter. Really. They don't matter.
I had two interesting insights into myself this week - both off-handed comments by my co-workers. My desk 'neighbor' said to me "ah, but you're not an American!" in defense of her jokes about some US-related thing like not speaking English properly. I had pretended to get offended at the comments and was dismissed as we all laughed, because according to the general consensus, I am not one of those they were making fun of. Nothing really all that new, I have always felt more at home when living outside my home country, it's just funny to have someone else point it out to me. And 'home' in the sense of what grounds me, defines me, and is the place I find my retreat, will always be where my family is. But outside that, the only time I feel like an American is when sports is involved. It's pretty funny that something as superficial as watching a bunch of sweaty men fight over a ball can make me miss the US, and I can't think of anything else that does!
The second comment happened today:
me: Wow, look how much Starbucks share price dropped in 2007 (send link to article in Economist)
my co-worker: so you are interested in economics, too? What AREN'T you interested in?
me (laughing sadly): that's my problem...I'm interested in everything! If I could just pick a few things, my life would make so much more sense.
And with that, I'll head in to my weekend, which will hopefully be full of many of the things I find interesting. :)
I had two interesting insights into myself this week - both off-handed comments by my co-workers. My desk 'neighbor' said to me "ah, but you're not an American!" in defense of her jokes about some US-related thing like not speaking English properly. I had pretended to get offended at the comments and was dismissed as we all laughed, because according to the general consensus, I am not one of those they were making fun of. Nothing really all that new, I have always felt more at home when living outside my home country, it's just funny to have someone else point it out to me. And 'home' in the sense of what grounds me, defines me, and is the place I find my retreat, will always be where my family is. But outside that, the only time I feel like an American is when sports is involved. It's pretty funny that something as superficial as watching a bunch of sweaty men fight over a ball can make me miss the US, and I can't think of anything else that does!
The second comment happened today:
me: Wow, look how much Starbucks share price dropped in 2007 (send link to article in Economist)
my co-worker: so you are interested in economics, too? What AREN'T you interested in?
me (laughing sadly): that's my problem...I'm interested in everything! If I could just pick a few things, my life would make so much more sense.
And with that, I'll head in to my weekend, which will hopefully be full of many of the things I find interesting. :)
Thursday, January 3, 2008
Piano. Check!
I can hear something in the distance rumbling...it's the sound of a lost possession slowing returning to me...it's...my sanity!!! Yes! I have a piano, in my house. I can walk 5 steps from where I'm sitting and play anything I want on a beautiful, upright Kawaii piano. Life is good. What a great way to start 2008!
I'm getting excited about this year. 2007 was amazing, unexpected, exciting, stressful, full of big changes - but it was a year that I let come to me. I floated along wherever the tide took me, and it was definitely a good year to do that. I'm not saying by any stretch of the imagination that this was a bad thing or I wish I hadn't - quite the contrary, if I'd try to force any number of things on this year I don't think I could have found anything that matched up to what I ended up doing. I just have this feeling that this year I want to drive. Obviously not force things that aren't right, but do a little less riding and a little more planning. My job isn't going to move me to another country (unless it's back to the USA, and I'm not really ready for that). My job isn't going to give me an outlet for music. My flatmates aren't going to always be my flatmates or be my way to cool encounters in the London scene. I'm not going to wake up one morning with a ticket to Africa on my pillow next to a custom 5-year plan on how I can fit in there. Etc, etc - most of what I want out of the next year is going to take some work and some planning. So there is my New Year's resolution - no more sitting back and waiting for what might happen, I'm off to make things happen.
It's amazing the effect a heap of steel, wood and strings can have on my confidence.
I'm getting excited about this year. 2007 was amazing, unexpected, exciting, stressful, full of big changes - but it was a year that I let come to me. I floated along wherever the tide took me, and it was definitely a good year to do that. I'm not saying by any stretch of the imagination that this was a bad thing or I wish I hadn't - quite the contrary, if I'd try to force any number of things on this year I don't think I could have found anything that matched up to what I ended up doing. I just have this feeling that this year I want to drive. Obviously not force things that aren't right, but do a little less riding and a little more planning. My job isn't going to move me to another country (unless it's back to the USA, and I'm not really ready for that). My job isn't going to give me an outlet for music. My flatmates aren't going to always be my flatmates or be my way to cool encounters in the London scene. I'm not going to wake up one morning with a ticket to Africa on my pillow next to a custom 5-year plan on how I can fit in there. Etc, etc - most of what I want out of the next year is going to take some work and some planning. So there is my New Year's resolution - no more sitting back and waiting for what might happen, I'm off to make things happen.
It's amazing the effect a heap of steel, wood and strings can have on my confidence.
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