The Globe

With our new friends we went to see Othello last night at The Globe Theatre. It's on the same site, and based on the same design as the original theatre. It's across the London Bridge from the City of London, which was the only place that would have him back in the 1500's. So what that means is it was open air, which was pretty cool (pun only kind of intended). Ended up being a pretty nice night so not a problem at all.
We got tickets for £5 which was pretty sweet, the downside being that the £5 tickets are for standing room only and Shakespeare is one wordy man. 3 hours!
Oh, and another experience we had last night that you can only do in London. Absinthe. Currently not legal in the US but completely legal in the UK and Europe. And we had a drink. And...well...nothing. So we were 1 for 2 on the new experiences in London.

Walking About...

I have spent the last two days walking around London. Today was a beautiful day, hot actually. Yesterday, not so much. Everyone who lives in London says you have to carry an umbrella with you at all times, no matter the season or the weather report. Being from Seattle, I think this is crap, well I did, until yesterday. I set out from our "house" (corporate housing) and the weather was looking pretty good. I was on my way to Buckingham Palace, seems like something you should see if you live in London. I was looking forward to those guys in the red coats and tall fuzzy hats (not what they were wearing as you can see from the photos). On the way it started to sprinkle, no big deal to someone born and raised in Seattle, especially with nowhere really to go/be. By the time I got to the Palace it was pouring, to the point that my face lotion was running off my face! Then it stopped and I kept wandering around the city. But still, I thought it was best to take the tube home. When I got off the tube it was pouring again. We are staying 2 blocks from the station and I was soaked through by the time I made it back. Decided since I was already wet I would stop and get a coffee and people at the coffee shop laughed at me because of how wet I was. The nice guy behind the counter offered me tissues to wipe my face. Moral of the story, I am going to buy an umbrella this weekend...as much as I don't want to admit it, seems for the best.

Pigeons

Andy and I spent the day wandering around checking things out today. I took a few snapshots of our day.

And here is the classic shot of tourists with pigeons! This really disturbs me! I think there are more pigeons here than in the States, and they are bigger and "friendlier" as seen below...

Flat

Andy and I found a flat today! A nice two bedroom (room for guests) in a good area. They originally didn't want pets, but with a little sweet talking from Andy the landlady changed her mind :) The flat now belongs to a co-worker of Andy's, but he's moving to California to get an MBA. He is the opposite of Andy, Mom is American, Dad is English, raised in London. They are soul mates, I believe. It will be very nice to have our own place, corporate housing is nice, but more like a hotel with a kitchen than an apartment (or flat as they call them here).

A little information about our neighborhood: http://www.allinlondon.co.uk/tube-west-hampstead.php

London - The Good

Katherine tells me that my posts have maybe been a little melencholy. Well tough! I have great friends and family and I miss'em. However, that's not all that's going on. There's some great things too. Been here only a couple of weeks and in that time, here are a few of the bests things (so far!):
Public transportation: It's amazing! You really don't need a car here. The Tube gets all the pub (Mind the Gap) but even the bus is great.
Diversity: Maybe something you don't associate with England but when you walk down the street in London, maybe half the conversations are in English. And maybe half of those are conducted with an English accent. A great mix of people.
Shopping: It's a little steep, but any store you'd look for, and a lot you're not, are here. Pretty sweet.
"Football": There is some sort of "big game" pretty much every week. Whether it's UEFA cup, Premier League, or one country or another's championship game. Pretty fun, and everyone's into it.
Neighborhoods: Looking forward to this one. Have only just started to explore but this city is composed of so many different areas to explore. People that have lived here their whole lives don't know the whole city. I've got to see a few, and am looking to see many more.
Drinking: So, let's be very clear. I've yet to do this. But. It's completely acceptable to have a beer with lunch, maybe two. Which is weird. But the great part is that after work, with your co-workers, having a pint is what's expected. So much more sociable than calling it a day and heading home.
The people: Have met some great people, they've talked with me, hung out with me, shown me around, and helped to try and find a place to live. Seriously good folks.
Katherine: She's here tomorrow. And a Katherine in London makes this city that much better!

I'll be adding to this as I/we get to know this place better. But a good start I think, seems to be a wonderful place to be for a while.

Got my Ticket

I am leaving Seattle on Saturday night on a direct flight to London...it's finally here! I'm excited and feeling pretty calm about it. Everything that I've been trying to wrap up for the last few weeks is falling into place. I think I'll be able to get on the plane and feel like everything is done and ready for me to go. It's getting sad to think about leaving, especially since I know I won't be able to see everyone I would want to before Saturday. It's nice to know I'll be back in July for Beth and Andy's wedding and then again in September for Michele and Tim's wedding.....

Visa!

Katherine's Visa is approved and will be in the mail tomorrow!

;)

Skydiving

Jenn and I were finally able to take our skydiving trip today! It's been a long process to make it happen, and it was all worth it. It was one of the coolest things I've done. I wasn't scared to jump out of the plane, it was scarier being on the plane. A tiny plane, and you're not strapped in, it's weaving this way and that way...when we got to 13,000 feet me and Andy (not my Andy, the guy in the picture) made our way to the open door of the plane, sat on the edge and fell out of the plane!! It was awesome! I'd totally do it again, I recommend it to anyone who has thought about it! We fell through the clouds and then glided to a nice, smooth landing on the ground.

Got Passport!

As Katherine mentioned, I got my British passport on Friday! Isn't it beautiful? It's amazing what a sense of excitement and relief getting the passport was. It means a number of things. Most important, Katherine can now get her visa! But also, I'm no longer an American on a business trip, I'm in the country as a British citizen, permanent resident. That means that I get paid in pounds now, get national health care, etc. Just one more step in the process of actually being here, vs. living here, if that makes sense.

24-48 hours for the visa, here's hoping!

Everyone think good thoughts today, not for the visa, but because Katherine and Jenn are jumping out of an airplane!!!! Good luck ladies!

FINALLY!!!

Andy is in NYC right now, and just picked up his British Passport! It's a very exciting day. Monday the law firm will file my visa paperwork, and if all goes well, I'll be heading off to London next weekend! Things are finally getting wrapped up here and I'm ready to go! The passport was 5 weeks in the making and my visa is suppossed to take 1-2 days, we'll see if that's correct - seems a little too good to be true, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed!!

hello from London

Warning, a bit of a long post. And there will be a couple other smaller ones to come.

Well, I'm here. At least for a little bit. But we'll get to that in a minute. I arrived in London on Friday (left Seattle Thursday as Katherine mentioned below). Got here safe and jet lagged, got to the corporate housing, met my brother (who was out for 2 days), and had some coffee (Starbucks, of course).
The weekend is a bit of a blur. A ton of fun, late nights, jet lag, 2 martini's for $40, that kind of thing. Ended up walking home Saturday night at 3am, lost a debit card, and was offered a favor from a male cab driver while walking down the street. My brother didn't quite make it home that night...

Although, probably the highlight of the weekend was Friday night. We went out, checked out the British Museum on the Friday evening until close, went home, got changed, and went to a great pub in the neighborhood. Great food, definitely you’re your standard fair. Met a group of friends who thought we were American’s they were supposed to meet, versus random American’s just lurking close around. But we managed to make a good impression (really me more than Rich ;-), and we ended up hanging out with this group for the evening, went to a club until closing time (AKA Hook-up Time, same around the world, very funny). Then Rich and I walked home, and of course hit up the 24 hour grocery store. Pre-made sandwich, check. Crisps shaped like chips in Salt and Vinegar flavor, check (I found’em Katherine!). Giant bottle of water, check.
Sunday was when it hit me. Rich left. I'm here. Katherine’s not. I need to grocery shop, do laundry, pick up the flat. This is not a vacation, or a business trip, and this ain't a hotel room. I'm here. A sad realization. So I bucked up, went to the grocery store, bought some mini groceries to stock up the mini fridge. Spent 10 minutes trying to figure out what kind of laundry detergent to buy (comes in pellets or gel caps, huh?) and was on my way. Did some laundry and it worked, watched some bad TV, got the internet working kind of, things were starting to work.

Come Monday, things were looking up. Applied for a bank account, had some groceries, made my way out to the Slough (of The Office fame) for work. After work, I went out with my co-worker, and new friend Adrian for a pint, met some of his friends. Things are starting to look up. Tuesday, I got a UK phone number (it’s a temporary work phone, but still, feels good, even though I have no idea how to call anyone quite yet). And now, I’m about to head in for my 3^rd day of work, 2^nd with Mothercare up in Watford, as a master of the mass transit (tube to train to taxi, and then back again).

I’m settling in, but need to go to NYC on Friday for 24 hours (which, lame as it is, will actually be a good thing). So long as I head to New York on Friday that means I’m getting my passport, which means Katherine then gets her Visa, she’s here next week, and we’re 2/3 of a family (which, if you’re counting, is twice as good as 1/3 of a family).

More soon.

Andy is in London

This past week has been busy wrapping up everything left in time for Andy to make it on the plane to London this past Thursday. We had the moving company come pack and take our things that are going to London on Monday. Tuesday Andy, Rich and I loaded everything else into a moving truck (a 1970's manual, diesel, that was apparently very challenging to drive) and took it to our storage unit. Wednesday and Thursday were spent cleaning the house and painting the bedroom to a more "soothing" color for the tenant. Middy and I took Andy to the airport Thursday afternoon. It was a sad goodbye. Andy has only been gone two days, but I miss him terribly. I still don't have a departure date, which is hard. Hopefully I'll be able to buy my plane ticket next week!!!

What a Day

Never done this before, posting from work. I guess since I've only posted one other time that's not a huge suprise.

What a day. It is finally, really, truly seeming real, and that's a bit (well, a lot) scary. This morning my wonderful parents left our home from spending two, entirely too short, days staying with us. And that was it. We will certainly talk before I leave, but I won't see them until much later in 2007. Just thinking about it puts a lump in my throat.

And then today, an email goes out at work announcing my departure. It's a great thing, except then people start sending me emails wishing me luck, telling me they've enjoyed working together, etc. And that's great too. But it is also sad. These people, not that they're close, but you see them every day, you like them, you have lunch sometimes, they're your peeps. And now you're out.

I just sent an email to another friend that Katherine and I saw yesterday. And it was hard, but it got me thinking about this post, so a good thing I guess.

So, now, it's real. And as excited as I am (and don't think I'm not, I think it's going to be wonderful to be with Katherine and Middy in London), the reality has set in that the people that I see every day (including Katherine at first) that are the most important to me won't just be in another part of London, available for a beer after work, or a BBQ on the weekend. And that's sad. And know, if you're someone reading this, you're one of those people.

But enough of that. This is going to be an amazing weekend, surrounded by too many friends (work party, Cinco de Mayo). Let's get it on.

Sad News About Our Neighbor

We found out our neighbor is dead today. Our friend SAH called the cops because our neighbor's newspapers were stacking up on his porch, and I thought maybe something had happened to him, but wasn't calling the cops. The cops, three separate cop cars, and a fire truck came almost instantly after the call was made. After they gained entry into his house they found him dead. They said there were hundreds of crushed beer cans all over the house. It's so sad because based on dates of the papers he was probably in there since February! He was a recluse, so he probably has few friends or family. Andy and I have lived next door to him for 1 year and never saw him, except in his car driving to the store. It's super sad.