Erin's London Blog

Thank you Rachel :)

2004-12-17T15:32:00.000-08:00

Today my coworkers gave me the most lavish sendoff I can imagine, with presents to remind me of London and very kind words. Rachel wrote me this poem and I post it in her honoUr:

Ode to Erin…

She arrived in the UK all smiles but no visa
In Kangol hat, along with her geezer[1]

We've introduced her to shandy[2] and other things too…
Why go to the restroom when you can "pop to the loo"

She savoured many and varied UK delights
Mushy peas[3], bread sauce, biscuits[4] and tights[5]

Thanksgiving was fab with green beans and pie
Roasties[6], and pudding[7] - spirits were high

You'll miss us we know but you'll be OK
Keep your pecker up[8] love, that's what we say

As soon as you're gone, we'll reclaim your desk
In that special corner that is so picturesque…

We'll spread out our stuff and with a wry smile
remember the Texan who was here for a while

Have a wonderful Christmas and fab New Year
We're just sorry you won't spend it here…

On a serious note, bye bye and farewell
We're sure you'll go home with a few tales to tell…

[1] Meaning: bloke, man

[2] Meaning: beer mixed with lemonade

[3] Meaning: mashed up peas, not very nice

[4] Meaning: cookies

[5] Meaning: Hose

[6] Meaning: roast potatoes

[7] Meaning: Christmas pudding, fruit pudding flambéed with brandy (or whisky when brandy is missing)

[8] Meaning: keep your chin up, keep smiling, be happy

D-Day sights

2004-12-14T21:05:00.000-08:00

http://www.ofoto.com/PhotoView.jsp?&collid=558024719105&photoid=548524719105

Ferry to Normandy

2004-12-10T13:28:00.000-08:00

Earlier this week I returned from a trip to visit the WWII sites in Normandy, France. To get there I crossed the English channel on a ferry, going from Portsmouth, England, to Cherbourg, France.

Taking the ferry isn't the most time-efficient way to travel, especially the route I took to Normandy. The over-the-water part alone took around 6 hours each way, not including the hour and a half train ride from London to Portsmouth.

But taking the ferry is leisurely and interesting. I wanted to experience crossing the channel on water, and I needed time to read more about D-Day and contemplate what I was going to see.

I arrived at the passenger check-in at the port an hour or so ahead of time and was surprised to find I was one of just a few people there. Most ferry travel, especially in December, is commercial. Two entire decks of the craft were devoted to big rig parking. I think there were more truck drivers on the ferry than foot passengers.

And excluding the truck drivers, most passengers had driven their cars onto the ferry, so that once they arrived in France they could drive where they wanted to go. It blows my mind that you can just drive your car onto a boat. It's even more surprising to me how popular it is for people to take their cars onto the Eurostar train that goes through the channel tunnel, but that's another story.

So in all there were about a dozen foot passengers. Me, an American guy and his Portuguese wife, and the boozers. At least 8 people were in a group going to Cherbourg to buy alcohol and planned to turn right back around and come back to England on the night ferry. That's how much cheaper it is to buy alcohol in France.

The ferry has eight decks and includes a food court, a bar, a fancy restaurant, a sun deck, and shops. Everyone warned me about seasickness but it didn't seem too wobbly to me. It seemed there was a lot of boat traffic in the channel -- we were never out of sight of another boat whenever I was looking.

Upon arrival, I took a taxi to Avis and rented a manual transmission Corsa pill car. By that time it was dark, and I just wanted to park my silver capsule and check in to the hotel. I finally managed to get to the right hotel parking lot.

Most cars in France are really small, and the parking lots and lanes seem even smaller. This lot was about full, and so when I spotted an opening I quickly turned down the lane where I thought it was, only to find a dead end. No biggie, I thought, I'll just back up. Oh it seems so simple doesn't it! I couldn't get it into reverse. I could see the "R" on the gear shift, to the upper left of first gear, but the stick just wouldn't go there. Mistakenly going into first, I kept inching closer and closer to a brick wall.

What to do, what to do. In retrospect, I suppose I had a lot of options. Call a British friend for advice. Look in the glove compartment for an instruction book. Poke around the car a bit and use my noggin some. Michael pointed out after the fact that I could have put it in neutral and pushed it backward. Not the best option, but an option nonetheless. With my heart racing and my anxious thoughts spiralling to some foggy yet enormous disaster, I chose an absurd and difficult way out of this situation. I got out of the car and decided to ask a French person for help. I waited what seemed like forever (but was probably no more than a few moments) for someone to park who didn't look like he would steal my car.

"Bonsoir, parlez-vous Anglais?" I sheepishly said.

A very definitive "non" from the French man, his wife clinging to their minivan.

I could say "I cannot go…. I cannot go…. I cannot go…" in French, but not the critical "in reverse."

My caveman sign language demonstration of the concept made up for the rest and he understood. Thinking about it now, it probably helped that the nose of the car was awkwardly close to the brick wall. So he got in the car, demonstrated the ultra hidden and super difficult to find gear shift release (saving face here). And all was OK. Merci monsieur French man!

Here are links to my pictures from the ferry and one of the car. I'll post Normandy pictures shortly.

http://www.ofoto.com/PhotoView.jsp?&collid=896832129105&photoid=411922129105

Pictures of Paris

2004-12-03T13:18:00.000-08:00

"Paris is not only a place but a state of mind. Whoever goes there takes away the greatest meal he has ever had in his life, a romance that will linger forever, and a dream that will never be repeated. All you have to say is “Paris” and the movie will begin.—Art Buchwald, author

I came across this quote about Paris and feel like it sums up the city. It's been a few weeks since I was there, and I've struggled with words to describe the place and how great it really is, so I figured I should just post the pictures. Be sure to see the ones of us on segways. Michael has some good ones too but I don't think they're posted yet.

This weekend I'm returning to France on my own, taking a ferry from Portsmouth to Cherbourg, Normandy, to visit the D-Day landing beaches. I'm crossing my fingers for a smooth ride, as people warn me the chop can cause seasickness. I'm about halfway through Steven Ambrose's 600-page book about D-Day, which I plan to finish on the 6-hour channel crossing.

And this evening I am going to Royal Albert Hall for masters tennis. John McEnroe is playing tonight, as well as some others.

Paris pictures here: http://www.ofoto.com/PhotoView.jsp?&collid=494531028105&photoid=973251028105

Giving thanks UK-style

2004-11-26T14:43:00.001-08:00

Yesterday was Thanksgiving, and my sympathetic friend Rachel hosted a dinner party to celebrate the holiday. Nine British and one Australian (plus me) in attendance.

With just a few substitutions (no French's canned fried onions?) and a couple additions (what's bread sauce?), the food was quite traditional. Rachel and I split up the menu, and I took on a few of the more American dishes -- dressing, green bean casserole, and pumpkin pie. Unfortunately each of those had one item I either couldn't find or could only sort of match. Namely, cornbread, dried canned French fried onions, and canned pumpkin. Fortunately, Rachel was able to fly to New York last weekend and pick up a can of pumpkin puree at an American grocery store.

We said grace before the meal, and I accepted some flak for the U.S. having elected Bush. I told an abridged version of the origin of the meal following one guest's inquiry about whether Thanksgiving was related to the aftermath of our civil war. I know comparatively we're a baby nation, but that's off by a couple centuries.

British feast additions included sausage, roast potatoes, and bread sauce.

It was a great party, and we gave thanks until around 2:30 in the morning. I'm worthless today, greasing the mental wheels with a little lunchtime blogging.

This evening I'm going to a ceilidh with a big group of people. It's a traditional Scottish dance party where everyone participates.

Pictures below. I feel like something's wrong with my camera, everything's starting to come out blurry. I think it's tired.

http://www.ofoto.com/PhotoView.jsp?&collid=904349868105&photoid=211071968105

I'll take that $50 tourist t-shirt over there...

2004-11-26T14:28:00.000-08:00

More exchange rate rants. This is an interesting story.

http://www.slate.com/id/2110076/

Thank goodness I'm American

2004-11-26T13:12:00.000-08:00

Like many Americans in the past few days, I have contemplated things for which I am thankful. Unlike many Americans, I am living in a place that makes it really easy to identify those things. Automatic hot water, wide open spaces, straight roads…..

I am also quite thankful just to be American. I mean no disservice to the British, or the rest of the world for that matter, but I appreciate the U.S. and realize now just how comfortable it is to live there.

Not long ago I received the email trail pasted below, which is maddening. I don't know why I'm posting it really, other than that maybe it offers several levels of insight into how many British people feel about the states. I feel confident I could write a really biting reply, but it's not worth the keystrokes. I will just say that on days after a crummy night's sleep on my futon, having breathed motorbike fumes and dodged the screechingly loud and limb-catching scary Camden sidewalk-vacuum cleaner machine on my walk to work, I would rather not replace Z (not zed!!) with S.

=============================================================
18/11/2004 10:28

To: London/GrantThornton
cc:
Subject: British Reaction to Bush II

A series of very good points - one to add would of course be the prohibition of all incompatible food mixes, such as say peanut butter and jam sandwiches or peanut butter chocolate.

I want to hear your first rendition of the national anthem by lunchtime. That goes for all three of you confused individuals.

----- Forwarded by /London/GrantThornton on 18/11/2004 10:23 -----
-----Original Message-----
From: Richard Beltran
Sent: 18 November 2004 10:06
To:
Cc:
Subject: British Reaction to Bush II

British reaction to Bush II

REVOCATION OF US INDEPENDENCE

In the light of your failure to elect a human as President of the USA and thus to govern yourselves, we hereby give notice of the revocation of your independence, effective today.

Her Sovereign Majesty Queen Elizabeth II will resume monarchial duties over all states, commonwealths and other territories, except Utah which she does not fancy. Your new prime minister (The Right Honourable Tony Blair, MP for the 97.85% of you who have until now been unaware that there is a world outside your borders) will appoint a Minister for America without the need for further elections. Congress and the Senate will be disbanded. A questionnaire will be circulated next year to
determine whether any of you noticed. To aid in the transition to a British Crown Dependency, the following rules are introduced with immediate effect:

1. You should look up "revocation" in the Oxford English Dictionary. Then look up "aluminium". Check the pronunciation guide. You will be amazed at just how wrongly you have been pronouncing it. The letter 'U' will be reinstated in words such as 'favour' and 'neighbour'. Skipping the letter 'U' is nothing more than laziness on your part. Likewise, you will Learn to spell 'doughnut' without skipping half the letters. You will end your love affair with the letter 'Z' pronounced 'zed' not 'zee') and the suffix "ize" will be replaced by the suffix "ise". You will learn that the suffix 'burgh' is pronounced 'burra' e.g. Edinburgh. You are welcome to respell Pittsburgh as 'Pittsberg' if you can't cope with correct pronunciation. Generally, you should raise your vocabulary to acceptable levels. Look up "vocabulary". Using the same twenty seven words interspersed with filler noises such as "like" and "you know" is an unacceptable and inefficient form of communication. Look up "interspersed". There will be no more 'bleeps' in the Jerry Springer show. If you're not old enough to cope with strong language then you shouldn't have chat shows. When you learn to develop your Vocabulary then you won't have to use strong language as often.

2. There is no such thing as "US English". We will let Microsoft know on your behalf. The Microsoft spell-checker will be adjusted to take account of the reinstated letter 'u' and the elimination of "-ize".

3. You should learn to distinguish the English and Australian accents. It really isn't that hard. English accents are not limited to Cockney, upper-class twit or Mancunian (Daphne in Frasier). You will also have to learn how to understand regional accents - Scottish dramas such as "Taggart" will no longer be broadcast with subtitles. While we're talking about regions, you must learn that there is no such place as Devonshire in England. The name of the county is "Devon". If you persist in calling it Devonshire, all American States will become "shires" e.g. Texasshire, Floridashire, Louisianashire.

4. Hollywood will be required occasionally to cast English actors as the good guys. Hollywood will be required to cast English actors to play English characters. British sit-coms such as "Men Behaving Badly" or "Red Dwarf" will not be re-cast and watered down for a wishy-washy American audience who can't cope with the humour of occasional political incorrectness.

5. You should relearn your original national anthem, "God Save The Queen", but only after fully carrying out task

#1. We would not want you to get confused and give up half way through.

6. You should stop playing American "football". There is only one kind of football. What you refer to as American "football" is not a very good game. The 2.15% of you who are aware that there is a world outside your borders may have noticed that no one else plays "American" football. You will no longer be allowed to play it, and should instead play proper football. Initially, it would be best if you played with the girls. It is a difficult game. Those of you brave enough will, in time, be allowed to play Rugby (which is similar to American football", but does not involve stopping for a rest every twenty seconds or wearing full Kevlar body armour like nancies). We are hoping to get together at least a US rugby sevens side by 2005. You should stop playing baseball. It is not reasonable to host an event called the 'World Series' for a game which is not played outside of America. Since only 2.15% of you are aware that there is a world beyond your borders, your error is understandable. Instead of baseball, you will be allowed to play a girls' game called "rounders" which is baseball without fancy! team strip, oversized
gloves, collector cards or hotdogs.

7. You will no longer be allowed to own or carry guns. You will no longer be allowed to own or carry anything more dangerous in public than a vegetable peeler. Because we don't believe you are sensible enough to handle potentially dangerous items, you will require a permit if you wish to carry a vegetable peeler in public.

8. July 4th is no longer a public holiday. November 2th will be a new national holiday, but only in England. It will be called "Indecisive Day".

9. All American cars are hereby banned. They are crap and it is for your own good. When we show you German cars, you will understand what we mean. All road intersections will be replaced with roundabouts. You will start driving on the left with immediate effect. At the same time, you will go Metric with immediate effect and without the benefit of conversion tables. Roundabouts and metrication will help you understand the British sense of humour.

10. You will learn to make real chips. Those things you call French fries are not real chips. Fries aren't even French, they are Belgian though 97.85% of you (including the guy who discovered fries while in Europe) are not aware of a country called Belgium. Those things you insist on calling potato chips are properly called "crisps". Real chips are thick cut and fried in animal fat. The traditional accompaniment to chips is beer which should be served warm and flat. Waitresses will be trained to be more aggressive with customers.

11. As a sign of penance 5 grams of sea salt per cup will be added to all tea made within the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, this quantity to be doubled for tea made within the city of Boston itself.

12. The cold tasteless stuff you insist on calling beer is not actually beer at all, it is lager. From November 1st only proper British Bitter will be referred to as "beer", and European
brews of known and accepted provenance will be referred to as "Lager". The substances formerly known as "American Beer" will henceforth be referred to as "Near-Frozen Donkey Piss", with the exception of the product of the American Budweiser company whose product will be referred to as "Weak Near-Frozen Donkey Piss". This will allow true Budweiser (as manufactured for the last 1000 years in Pilsen, Czech Republic) to be sold without risk of confusion.

13. From December 1st the UK will harmonise petrol (or "Gasoline" as you will be permitted to keep calling it until April 1st 2005) prices with the former USA. The UK will harmonise its prices to those of the former USA and the Former USA will, in return, adopt UK petrol prices (roughly $6/US gallon - get used to it).

14. You will learn to resolve personal issues without using guns or lawyers. The fact that you need so many lawyers shows that you're not adult enough to be independent. Guns should only be handled by adults. If you're not adult enough to sort things out without suing someone then you're not grown up enough to handle a gun.

15. Please tell us who killed JFK. It's been driving us crazy.

Tax collectors from Her Majesty's Government will be with you shortly to ensure the acquisition of all revenues due (backdated to 1776). Thank you for your co-operation,

Her Majesty's Government

international conference

2004-11-21T21:30:00.000-08:00

i suppose i should have written about the international conference sooner, because now it's a big blur. lots of conversations and introductions and interesting stuff separated by long periods of quietly waiting for the next session to end.

in the run up to the event i felt it was similar to a huge, barely manageable wedding. three hundred guests -- plus accompanying persons -- from all over the world. my colleagues and i were bridesmaids, and the bride (no one in particular to you grant thornton readers) had some pretty out-there requests. for example, every lunch and dinner had a menu. there were no choices, the food having been tasted and selected weeks in advance, and yet we folded thousands of very nicely printed menus, stuffed them into covers, and added colored tassels to the bindings.

the evening dinner parties were fantastic. wenesday - landmark hotel buffet and cocktails, thursday - dine with the dinosaurs at the natural history museum (complete with jazz band), friday - evening london eye trip followed by dinner at the london aquarium, and saturday - royal marching band plus dinner and dancing at the historic london guildhall.

for much of the time during the day i helped with the international internet room, the place where managing partners from grant thornton firms all over the world would come to check their email or learn about the new international IT programs. i remember chatting with partners from korea, spain, ireland, france, south africa, australia, and i'm sure others i'm not remembering. guess which nationality is most manic about checking email? ;)

fanciest computer award went to a partner from jersey, which is part of the channel islands near here. to move there you have to have something like a million pounds in the bank! fascinating. i found all of the conference interesting, but most of all just meeting people like that guy and talking with him about where he lives.

one odd thing i remember is that whenever a session would end, delegates who i think were from mexico would shoot through the doors into the foyer and immediately light up cigarettes. by the time the sessions started again the common area would be filled with a dense haze of dirty air. it amazes me how much the rest of the world smokes.

pictures here:
http://www.ofoto.com/PhotoView.jsp?&collid=674081197105&photoid=134471197105

curiosities in copenhagen

2004-11-17T21:34:00.000-08:00

once upon a time a realty company sales rep in her early 30s went to a party where she lived in sydney, australia. like many single women she may have gone with a skeptical eye toward sleazy dudes. but instead, she hit the jackpot -- she caught the eye of a real prince who was there on vacation, and now she will be the next queen of denmark.it's a true story, and people in copenhagen love this couple. who wouldn't? it's a fantastic real-life fairytale. mary and frederik are everywhere. you can read more about them and their june wedding and how she even lived in texas for awhile on the royal danish website here:

http://www.denmark.dk/servlet/page?_pageid=85&_dad=portal30&_schema=PORTAL30&_fsiteid=175&_fid=12424i

found copenhagen to be a land of contradictions. the people were all tall and blonde and healthy looking, but they smoke more than all other europeans, or so said my guidebook. excluding the UK, more people speak english in denmark than anywhere else in europe. but for some strange reason, culturally they behave quite rudely, or perhaps stiffly is a better way of putting it. the guidebook warned of this and reported that there is no word in the danish language for "please." moms would not like it there.

i also found copenhagen to look quite a bit different than what i've seen elsewhere in europe. for example, in general, kings in the UK and elsewhere look like they never missed a meal. every time i see a photo of henry VIII he looks like one could tip him over and roll him down a hill. not so in denmark -- king christian (the first important one) and all the kings christian and/or frederik (they're all named that) after him, were warriors. king christian's bust in his castle shows him wearing an earring and braids, with one really buff pec showing, his battle toga covering just half his chest.

one time when christian went to battle, he caught some shrapnel and lost an eye. no biggie, he just put the shrapnel in his pocket and had two of the finest pieces MADE INTO EARRINGS FOR HIS WIFE!! you can see these earrings in his castle. dangly gold chains, each with a little lady-like gold hand at the bottom, grasping the metal bits from the war-king's eye.there was another quite odd piece of jewelry displayed in this castle. sometime way back in the 1500s or so there was some king who was upset that his wife had been cheating on him. for their anniversary, he gave her a ring that showed her hand shaking? grasping? a rather private part of the male anatomy. subtle!

despite the nonstop drizzle and the nasty cold i got there, i thought it was a great place. also, we have denmark to thank for some really great things:

legos (click here for the danish site): http://www.lego.com/dan/info/default.asp

danish modern design: http://rex.kb.dk/ALEPH/2YHURXXDEHI2D7ICY1QS31F4Q25EMH66LJGFPQDLMVCR4MC5AT-04599/file/start-0

futuristic stereos and flatware: http://www.bang-olufsen.com/sw2252.asp

http://www.jensensilver.com/flatware/arnejacobsen.html

really great teapots and really great dinnerware: http://www.bodum.com/index.htm

http://www.royalcopenhagen.com

the whole place is very modern. you will notice the space age subway in the pictures i posted. totally clean, right down to the space beneath the tracks. no new york style rats swimming in muck there. what the pictures don't show is that the escalator is so smart, it speeds up when you step on it.

http://www.ofoto.com/PhotoView.jsp?&collid=796146357105&photoid=957656357105

dollar decline

2004-11-17T13:17:00.000-08:00

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/11/13/opinion/13sat1.html

pre-blog blog

2004-11-14T15:15:00.000-08:00

sunday afternoon in camden... about 10 million people descend into my neighborhood to visit the markets. so many people that they close the underground station every sunday afternoon.

as i swam this sea of shoppers i noticed an odd looking bus parked on my corner. painted all in white, with crazy lights and music coming out of it. "destination erotica," it said above the windshield, as matter-of-fact as "islington" or "oxford circus." the ?driver? and his ?cabin crew? wore not enough leather, and they were dancing around the bus passing out fliers.

and now, here i sit at the internet cafe, in between two six year old boys playing computer pokemon. they're speaking some language back-and-forth over me that if i had to guess would classify as something eastern european.

where am i and what am i doing here!!?!?!?!?

on with the blog...

blog delay

2004-11-10T13:00:00.000-08:00

where's the blog?

blog's taking a break, or "on holiday," given that this blog's british.

i just returned yesterday from a long weekend in paris with michael, which was fantastic. so i will blog that. also the grant thornton international conference, plus that ages-ago trip to copenhagen. so there are blogs to come. in the meantine check out these pictures i took this morning on my way to work. a morning-in-the-life-of-erin blog, if you will:

http://www.ofoto.com/PhotoView.jsp?&collid=835181028105&photoid=735181028105

been there, seen it

2004-11-01T13:38:00.000-08:00

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/041031/481/ven10110311915

on the cutting edge

2004-10-27T10:15:00.000-07:00

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/27/business/media/27adco.html?th

going for broke

2004-10-26T08:14:00.000-07:00

http://cbs.marketwatch.com/news/story.asp?siteid=mktw&dist=nwham&guid=%7B08A39E67%2DDEEB%2D442C%2DB57C%2DA999847A5329%7D

trying hard to like the adventure this week

2004-10-24T21:43:00.000-07:00

i'm not gonna lie. it was not the best week for me. copenhagen was lovely, and i'll get to that in good time, but since then...

i suppose it did start in copenhagen, in the ultra modern lufthavne airport, right before returning to london -- that telltale tickle in the back of my throat, i knew was getting a cold.

when i made it back to my flat, t. told me there was no water and no heat, and that it had been that way the entire weekend. so at about 9, feeling crumby, when all i could think about was sleeping, i ventured back out to find water. there aren't as many late night convenience stores here -- at least not in camden, so just finding the well was a chore in and of itself.

fortunately, a repairman with a british accent (not sure what he would have had, but for some reason it struck me funny), came around midnight and unjammed the pump. every time you turn on the faucet, the pump make a loud hunnnnnnngnngnng noise. so that was a relief.

the rest of the week, i just plain felt unwell (that's what they say here). i can say with confidence that a danish cold is far worse than an american one. by the end of the week i completely lost my voice, which hasn't happened to me in years. it is completely frustrating. you cannot even complain about your sad situation, and that might be the worst part of it.

before it got that bad i visited boots, my local pharmacy, looking to buy some nyquil so i could just sleep it off. here pharmacists are called chemists, and they are more like doctors than their american counterparts. more medications are available over the counter, but they literally are over the counter. you have to consult the chemist, and they give you the medicine. such is the case with even ibuprofen, which is commonly sold in packets of eight. eight!!!! that lasts a day and a half at best.

anyway, i waited and waited and waited, and finally when it was my turn, i requested nyquil. in his very proper british accent (not sure what he would have had, but for some reason it struck me funny), he said he didn't know what that was. he looked up an equivalent, which he said didn't exactly match. night nurse is no nyquil. the other amusing part of my visit there -- the thermometer i bought, it's in celcius. celcius!!! ok, i thought, zero is freezing......

sometime midweek i noticed this note on the main exit from my flat:

===
Dear all,

We are having a meeting at Bar Uno this evening at 6:30 to discuss proposed solutions to the problems on Inverness street outlined below. Please take a moment to read through them and consider what solutions you think might work:

Drug dealers
Lack of police presence
Public urination
Noise
Shabby appearance
Need for paving
Location of bottle banks
Car traffic
Loiterers
Graffiti and litter
Poor lighting
Lack of drainage
Remains of public toilet
===

interesting, right? i'm not sure what the remains of public toilet are.

move along to friday... i worked late and returned home. doing laundry, i wished i could make more noise than a really pathetic seal squeak so i could call my mom and tell her my sob story. i heard some noise out the living room window. not uncommon, as it overlooks the electric ballroom, which attracts hundreds if not thousands of mohawked, flesh-pierced, leatherbound, platform-laceup-booted revelers. i enjoy watching this, i really do, so i went over to the window and was quite shocked to find...

a group of evangelical christians gathered in a circle singing hymns to a guy playing a guitar!!! how wild is that?!?! the christian revival church van was parked nearby. they clapped and hollered at the end of each song, and were really trying to persuade passing rastamen to take their fliers.

i didn't quite know what to make of this. to think that these well-intentioned people probably asked themselves, "what hell-pit corner in London most needs our saving tonight?" that says something about my corner.

i appreciate them, i really do, and i have much more in common with them than others passing by, but i don't think i would have joined them, even if i had a voice, because it's probably safer inside.

so this week is the big international conference at work. starts wed., ends sat. nite with a big gala. lots of work, but it should be interesting, and may even deserve a blog.

voting abroad

2004-10-24T20:17:00.000-07:00

three thousand miles and an ocean did not stop me from my patriotic duty. on friday i voted.

i requested and received ballot materials from my precinct/ward in illinois. they sent a regular ballot, so in place of the machine i had a mini-punch tool and a styrofoam sheet into which one pokes the chads. i had some hanging chads and one dimpled chad, but i fixed them before mailing the ballot.

people at work found this packet quite interesting. one person who shall remain nameless even exclaimed something to this effect (v. british accent, v. sarcastic tone): "oh my, to think that the most civilized country in the free world, to think you would vote like this!"

i smiled and kept my mouth shut, but i have the last laugh, because i don't pay for any royals.

here's the link to a picture of me voting and the materials:
http://www.ofoto.com/PhotoView.jsp?&collid=533466357105&photoid=856076357105

venice

2004-10-14T21:10:00.000-07:00

i arrived at venice treviso airport late friday evening. because i flew ryanair, i landed at a really remote airport. it reminded me a little of landing in the carribean, such that when you step off the plane, the passengers from your flight are the only ones in the airport and all the customs/bus/baggage people are waiting only on you. also, i can't remember if i put this in another post, but on european discount carriers, they don't pay for jetways. they just roll a big staircase up to the plane, and you climb out onto the runway. sort of like the president, sort of not. and just about every time i've done this, it's been raining.

it quickly became clear that i was in a much more foreign place than previous trips. ryanair provides two buses to take people to the city, and by the time i made it out of the airport the first was nearly full. a short italian guy with a big nose wearing a slick gray suit said "solo?" and i nodded yes. he pointed at the jump seat. what a terrific start to my trip! a front row seat.

when the bus let off, the only way down to where i needed to be is by boat. venice is formed by a hundred tiny islands, strung together by bridges. no cars, no real roads. if you're going somewhere, you get there by boat or on foot.

vaporettos, or waterbuses, will take you up and down the grand canal, which winds along the entire length of the city and spills out into the st. marks basin and eventually to the adriatic sea on the northeast side of italy. the upper back part of the boot if you will.

along the grand canal sit the most fabulous venetian palaces, which used to be much more colorful and grand, but now have started to sink and sag, but in a very graceful way. during the middle ages venice was the middleman in all east-west trade , taxing and taking from both directions and gorging on everything expensive. gondolas are painted black because they were becoming so over-the-top ornate with jewels and baubles that the council decided to draw the line. that's enough! no more grandness!

i tool a vaporetto to a stop midway through town. walking to my hotel i had to ask for directions a couple times, even though i had a map, which is common for venice. none of the streets are straight. the good news is that you can't get too lost, because you're on an island.

i stayed at astoria hotel, just a couple blocks from st. marks sqaure, in possibly the smallest hotel room anywhere on earth. like all buildings, the floor undulated a bit, such that looking down a hallway might make you a little dizzy. the door frames are no longer square, and the place looked a bit like casa magnetica, for those of you familiar with the six flags attraction. it was nice, though, and at 60 euros a night, it was a bargain.

saturday i toured st. marks. built in the 11th century, it gained importance when two venetians stole the bones of the gospel writer from moslem-occupied egypt and put them in the basilica. in fact, many of the treasures in st. marks were stolen. a lot of them came from a christian crusade that ransacked the christian town of constantinople, which doesn't make a lot of sense. the place looks very eastern and has a lot of byzantine mosaics, which are amazing.

i spent a lot of time just walking around the smaller streets, looking in the little shops selling venetian glass. unfortunately about a million other tourists were doing the same thing, which at times was frustrating. it's been a tourist town for hundreds of years, so i suppose it's to be expected. at one point i looked down the quaint canal toward the basin, and a larger-than-life cruise ship dwarfing the quaint little two story hotels was letting off passengers for the day. they marched off the ramp like little ants in the distance.

eating was an adventure. the less expensive and more authentic way to do it calls for eating the counter food at small pubs. they serve little sandwiches and munchies called cicceti. each costs 1-4 euros. i followed the suggested rick steves pub crawl and ate at several little pubs in the back streets, and it was quite a good time. the ham, olives, and bread are fantastic!!

i went to see a vivaldi concert later. sunday's highlight was the peggy guggenheim modern art museum. she lived in one of the palaces on the grad canal, and now you can tour her house which shows her collection. each room has pictures that show her in the room as it appeared when she lived there. picasso in the entry, kandinski in the living room, pollock in the hall... she really knew how to do it. the museum has a really good website, and here are two of my favorites:

http://www.guggenheimcollection.org/site/artist_work_md_126_35.html
http://www.guggenheimcollection.org/site/artist_work_md_92_1.html

i highly recommend venice. pictures from the trip are here:
http://www.ofoto.com/PhotoView.jsp?&collid=905706327105&photoid=416036327105

this weekend i'm headed to copenhagen, and i am very much looking forward to it. i love all things danish modern, and it will be good to see some newer stuff, even if it is 50 or so years old.

toad in the hole

2004-10-14T13:13:00.000-07:00

toad in the hole. for a reader in the u.s., if you were to name a dish toad in the hole, what would it be?

i found out night before last, when i joined a real english family for a home cooked meal. my good work friend c. invited me over to her parent's house, and her mom fixed us some toad, in a hole that is.

the dish consists of english sausage, arranged in a casserole pan, covered with yorkshire pudding and then baked all together. i am told that yorkshire pudding is pancake batter, but i found it to be more bread-y.

whatever it is, it tasted quite good, and it was a terrific time. c.'s dad designs and builds gardens, which anyone who's anyone in england must have. i told him about my earth boxes (www.earthbox.com). not quite proper english, but better than nothing at all i suppose.

their house is edwardian and very very old. in general i find that so much of here is so very old, it makes the oldest things in the u.s. seem relatively new. this old house would be this older house here.

i had a very good time. i will post about venice soon. there's just so much to tell.

highly evolved

2004-10-06T22:14:00.000-07:00

in reading the condensed history of europe, one topic that's covered across all ages is how societies spend their spare time, or whether they had spare time at all. egyptians carried out elaborate daily worship rituals, romans hung out at the bath, victorians socialized at parties. i think during the dark ages there really wasn't much spare time. having spare time marked an evolved society.

i was thinking about that tonight and how i think this age must be really evolved, because i went to a lecture at the british museum about the letters of the alphabet. the library asked 26 writer and designer pairs to each create a poster for a particular letter.

this evening, the teams for the letters e, k, and i spoke about their creative process developing the posters and took questions from the audience.

e and k!! what good fortune, i thought, these being the two letters with which i am most familiar. i will be an expert on these.

ultimately i'm not sure i understood the e, as the poster showed a periodic table of elements. i kept trying to make out how it looked like an e. somewhere in the writer's esoteric speech i expected a plainer explainer, such as, this looks like an e because... instead, he described the painful process by which he and his partner agreed upon the periodic table.

i'm not stupid, i realize element begins with an e, but by that logic, why not an elephant, or an ear, or an egg. ironically this pair seemed to struggle a lot more than the others with what to create. i think they may have taken it a bit too seriously. too much spare time perhaps.

the k poster is the largest edible poster in the world. there's a roundabout reason for it, but it would take too long to write. my friend and work colleague rj invited me and others from grant thornton there, because her fellow cambridge alum was the writer part of the k team.

and the i, i liked it best, so maybe that shows my ego.

bonnie wee good time

2004-10-06T22:00:00.000-07:00

like all trips here, part of the fun of scotland was getting there. i took my first intraeurope discount flight. easyjet! the crew was based out of edinburgh, so they spoke with scottish accents. the attendants wore neon orange quilted vests with big industrial zippers, which i expect would work for the landing crew on the ground as well.

like many days in the UK, on friday it was raining. the plane was late, i expected due to weather. the pilot announced otherwise, that due to the failure of auxiliary electric power, they needed extra time. basically no a/c and no overhead lights until we were off the ground. basically said in a way (and an accent) that did not inspire confidence in the quality control of easyjet. whoever conducted the flight announcement training for u.s. commercial pilots should look into coming over here.

i wasn't too worried, but my amusement continued with the safety announcements. it is a bad stereotype, and i feel guilty even thinking it, but one of the most memorable scottish characters i know of from american pop culture is a certain one of austin powers fame: http://www.imdb.com/gallery/ss/0295178/Ss/0295178/austin3_7612.jpg?path=gallery&path_key=0295178

i bring this up because the safety announcements reminded me of him:

"if yehhr travlin with a beeehhhhby, put the mask on yourself furst, then on the beeehhby..." (easyjet crew member)
"when i'm hungry, i eaht beeehhhbies!!" (mike myers)

they also explained what to do about "topping up" your life jacket.

enough about the plane.

i arrived friday evening, and one of the most spectacular features of edinburgh is the nighttime skyline. they light up the castle exterior with floodlights. it's situated on a craggy prehistoric rock that juts way up over everything else, so it's quite a sight at night.

my hostel was right next to the castle, and it was the best one so far. people seemed normal, and the building well maintained. it reminded me of a dorm, just with older, more hippie-ish people. there was a reading room and a hangout room, where weirdos sat around and sang to a guitar.

my one complaint was breakfast. many hostels include a continental breakfast of cereal, toast and coffee. i don't normally stay for this, as my hostel philosophy is to spend the least awake time there possible. but i knew i was in a less busy area and wasn't sure i could find food or coffee very close. i was visiting the castle first, so i wanted to stick close.

there was a guy who looked around 30, reading a book about philosophy, sitting at the table with the food, along with a sign listing breakfast prices. for £2, you got coffee, one croissant, one cup of OJ, and one bowl of cereal. no buffets here.

so while grabbing my roll i asked the guy if i should pay him. he said, "yes, and the only thing i ask is that you wash and dry your dishes and return them here."

the only thing he asks me? couldn't they use paper? i'm not a snob, and i suppose it's fine to wash your own dishes, but something about it just rubbed me the wrong way. maybe his tone? the thought that some backpacker who'd used the same towel for 3 months in 3 dozen hostels washed (or rinsed) my dishes before me. and £2? in america for that amount of money i could dine like a queen at the mcD's.

i didn't eat there the next day.

i toured the castle and the royal mile, as well as st. giles cathedral, where john knox started presbyterianism. and there were a whole lot of hills.

check out my pictures here: http://www.ofoto.com/PhotoView.jsp?&collid=531076707105&photoid=901776707105

bed on a bus

2004-10-04T21:48:00.000-07:00

scotland was fantastic.

but it's not top of mind at the moment. not even an hour ago, i carried the mattress i will sleep on tonight on a double-decker bus. yes, you read that right.

my bedroom has only a futon, and after a month of tossing about on the futon, on an air bed, and even on the floor, i broke down and visited the mattress store on tottenham court road.

all the real mattresses would take a week to deliver, but they had a compressed foam one rolled up like a fat, 40-pound, 6-foot tall cigarette. for £99 (about $200) it was mine, and i walked out of the store with it.

one of the first things visitors to london had always told me was that the taxis cost a whole lot. people tend to exaggerate, but hearing of £100 rides to hotels from the airport has made me leery of them. i have yet to take a taxi here, so why start now.

the bus to my house picks up right outside the bed store. i let a couple pass that were full, and when one came by with a driver who looked rather indifferent, i lumbered aboard. i put the mattress in this raised spot for luggage, which quite inconveniently is situated toward the middle of the bus. the end of the mattress stuck right into some poor woman's face. she didn't speak english really well, so i'm not sure she understood my apology.

at the next stop, about 50 or so college-age people all dressed up got on as a group, surrounding me and my poor mattress, squashing everyone. they were headed to some initiation ceremony for medical school or something. the red, two story sardine can rolled on.

i asked a polite young medical student wearing a tie if they planned to hop off before or after camden town, and to my misfortune, he said after. when i saw the familiar bums and rastamen, i pushed the stop button, grabbed the mattress, and parted the crowd, barrelling through the masses toward the rear exit, pushing the mattress in front of me.

i eventually escaped onto the mean corner of inverness and camden high road, where typically i keep my head low and try to avoid eye contact. the dealers congregate right under a camera labeled "CCTV." the police use these to record crime, and criminals have figured out no one will see them if they stand underneath.

sunday evening, when i returned from the airport, i was surprised to see a police trailer with a large swingout lighted sign, flashing alternating messages. "beware, thieves operate here!" "keep watch of your mobile phone."

that night there were no sketchy people. but tonight, no such luck. i wondered whether the mattress made me a more or less likely target, or just more of a curiosity. i will never know, because i just kept my look fixed on the door to my flat.

i made it in fine, and now the mattress should be expanding. perhaps the good rest will make my scotland post more creative and fantastic.

wee post

2004-09-29T18:00:00.000-07:00

excerpt from edinburgh hostel reservation email received:

===
Hi there
Thanks for you booking.
This is a wee note to confirm that I've booked your accommodation at the Castle Rock Hostel,
15 Johnston Terrace, Edinburgh on Friday 1 October, booking number 42.
I've charged a total of £12 to your credit card.
===

bicycling belgium

2004-09-28T21:25:00.000-07:00

i think i may have inadvertently deleted my previous blog, which makes me sad because of the good comments. i'm glad you enjoy my blog and don't want anyone to think i would delete their comments purposely. :)

my journey to belgium began friday after work. i took the tube down to waterloo station, where the eurostar train picks up the pretty people headed for paris. the people going to brussels weren't so pretty. i bet that sort of tells you something about how brussels and paris differ, but that's just a hunch since i've yet to see paris.

what's most amazing about the train is how quiet it is, and how lovely the fish look in the english channel (clare that's for you). on the england side of the channel, the train manager makes announcements first in english, then french. it's the other way around when you emerge 20 minutes later in france.

i arrived in brussels and stayed overnight at the jacques-brel hostel, which had a very lively bar on the ground floor. hostels are fascinating and yucky and so wonderfully cheap that i just can't help but stay there. once again, when i arrived people were already asleep in my dorm room. why would young people backpacking europe be asleep at 9:30?

the better question... why does the torch, i.e. flashlight, i purchased last week not have an on-off switch?!!? i discovered this at home and carried it anyway, unscrewing its cap and inserting the battery when i needed it. i bought it at a place on my street called £ plus, which is like a dollar store. only it's more of a two dollar store, the exchange rate being so unfavorable. what a ripoff.

the next morning i headed to brugge, which is a trading town near the belgian coast that's been around since the 13th century. the locals speak flemish, and most speak english, since now so many tourists visit there. you'll see from the pictures that it's lovely. it looks like a storybook, with its narrow cobblestone streets and horse drawn carriages.

i climbed the bell tower in the square and visited the groeninge museum, which has europe's best art by flemish primitives. check out this painting: http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/bosch/judge/ though it is not one i saw, there were many by this guy, and they were quite creepy.

i didn't find it too difficult to communicate, just a few times i felt i wasn't on the right wavelength. i went into a shop near the square where a woman was knitting and selling all sorts of stuff she'd made. she had a lot of yarn in different baskets. being a knitter myself, i asked her if the wool was for sale. i think she understood, and she shook her head yes. i then asked where it came from, as in, did this yarn come from belgium? she gave me a very perplexed look and said, "sheep, it comes from sheep." i smiled and left, as the belgian sheep seemed a little too coarse for my fine knitting taste.

i encountered more amusing language on the tour of the straffe-hendrik brewery. a flemish man whose family brewed this beer for centuries led the tour. like all tour guides, he had his memorized jokes and a repetitive wit, but it was all a little off. there were a lot of stairs on the tour -- really narrow ones -- and he kept saying to be careful, that he didn't want to clean up any blood. what? blood? and he kept on bringing up the health benefits of the straffe-hendrik beer, ezzhpeciallee for zhee ladheees. zhee ladheees, zhey get uh zhee consteepation when zhey travel, zhey should dreenk zhee beeer. the beer was quite nice.

sunday morning i rented a bike. i saw some nice windmills and then headed further out of town along some canals and to another even tinier town than brugge. in the beginning it was amazing how quickly and easily i managed. but then after a couple hours i realized i would have to cut the tour in the brochure short and head back to return the bike. i thought the route i devised back seemed pretty clear, but soon i found myself alone among cornfields and some cows. i rode along for what seemed like forever, and my legs became oh so much heavier.

eventually i came upon a flemish guy with a funny beard. they all wear beards just on their neck, and shave the rest of their faces. i asked him to confirm my location on my map, and he said he didn't understand english. i said i didn't understand flemish, but through hand signals he eventually got me going the right way. it's amazing how someone speaking a foreign language will just speak slower and louder, thinking that you'll understand. flemish doesn't resemble anything i'm remotely familiar with, so i just smiled and nodded.

those were the main events of brugge. next week -- edinburgh, then venice, then my most recent booking -- copenhagen!! check out my belgium pictures here:
http://www.ofoto.com/PhotoView.jsp?&collid=942504086105&photoid=732804086105

stonehenge and bath

2004-09-20T21:27:00.000-07:00

took a guided coach (bus) to bath sat. a.m., which stopped at stonehenge on the way. people said not to expect much of stonehenge, and i didn't, so i wasn't disappointed. they are rather large rocks, with the smallest in the formation measuring taller than a person. most of the stones are three times that big.

the tour guide on the coach narrated the passing english countryside. for awhile she discussed farming and ranching, and she kept talking about a type of cow we kept seeing -- a fabulous cow that would give a lot of milk etc. i couldn't quite understand her the first few times, but upon intense concentration i realized she was pontificating the virtues of the hair - eh - fehrd cow, or hereford cow, to those of us from texas.

on to the ancient city of bath. when the roman empire ruled britain, they discovered the natural hot spring and built a temple and a bath house there. it was popular for a few hundred years, and then everyone had to leave to defend the crumbling roman empire.

about a thousand years later, after a lot of dirt had covered up bath, people from london discovered the spring, and eventually around 1700 it had become a fabulous society type place to visit from london. so a lot of the tourist sites are the places these people spent leisure time. they peramulated down the street, drank mineral water from the reservoir at the pump room bar, and in general spent their time well.

i documented all of this in my photos you can see here: http://www.ofoto.com/BrowsePhotos.jsp?&collid=658358166105&page=1&sort_order=0

so i saw all that. and i stayed at the ymca. my first hostel experience was just as interesting as the ancient sites. hostels are closed during the day. i stopped by to make sure i had a bed reserved and asked if i needed to be back by a certain time, and the nice guy at the desk said they were open 24 hrs/day and to not worry about it.

i returned late, concerned that the younguns would be up partying, but instead i opened the door and this gigantic room with 8 or 10 bunk beds was pitch dark. couldn't see a thing. couldn't see which beds had people in them and which didn't. eventually figured out that i was so late arriving that just a couple upper bunks were left.

you have to do your own linens, which i didn't realize either. i couldn't see well enough to find a proper set, so a grabbed a stack of pillowcases, spread them out, and konked out. there was a lot of snoring and some 4:00 a.m. commotion about whether some guy at the door was someone's b.f. or not, but other than that it was ok. and it was £12, and that was the best part about it.

so this weekend in belgium... bring flashlight, claim bed early, and don't forget the earplugs.

for any regular readers of this blog i want to point out that up until now i haven't been posting the time correctly. all for now.

a sad but happy story

2004-09-16T13:06:00.000-07:00

joined a gym earlier this week. i've been a couple times in the mornings before work, and tonite i went to yoga. met a nice girl who just moved here, and we thought we'd exchange numbers.

i was giving her my work number and blanked in the middle of it. i know i know my new work no, and so i thought on it for a bit but she said no big deal and for me to give her a call. she left, and i went to the locker room, and when i looked at the combination lock i freaked out. i think the panic caused a further mental block to that part of my brain that accesses the ten thousand pins and numbers and logons i have to remember.

thoughts raced through my mind like having to wait outside the flat among the drug dealers yelling to t. to let me in. not thinking clearly, i imagined about a million scary scenarios of how i'd survive without a wallet or a key during the minute or two i stared at the lock before asking if they would just cut it off.

the bald lady at the front desk seemed weirdly OK with my story and reached for her big pliers. we went in the locker room, and she tried but failed to cut through my big American lock.

she said she'd have to get someone else and came back with a guy who could squash me like a bug. he had an austrian accent and a gap in his front teeth and said 'yaaah, staaand baak..' and snipped it. arnold junior! so then i grabbed my stuff and left. i've had that lock for years and used it yesterday. i feel stupid but relieved.

see my pictures here if you haven't already: http://www.ofoto.com/PhotoView.jsp?&collid=759432946105&photoid=607677946105

shaolin monks

2004-09-14T13:55:00.000-07:00

greetings from the internet cafe on camden high!

it's tues. nite and i have just returned from seeing the shaolin monks perform. went with coworkers. click to see more:

http://www.wheeloflife.co.uk/

my main thought about this was whether these were really monks. do monks do commercial things like take £12.50 in return for performing kung fu? why do monks do kung fu? aren't they peaceful? none of these questions were answered then.

===

this weekend did a lot of sightseeing. on friday nite took the tube down to covent garden, where i read and ate. it's a sort of open air market area. pedestrian squares are very common here -- places where you can shop or eat w/o cars.

http://www.covent-garden.co.uk/

===

and also this weekend on sat. visited the british museum, which features spoils of the british empire. mummies and elgin marbles are the highlights. i particularly enjoyed the e.m. which consist of parts of the parthenon. the sculptures and decorative plates in marble are all here in london, and greece wants them back:

http://www.museum-security.org/elginmarbles.html

==

sat. afternoon saw the nat'l gallery, full of impressive paintings, including this one which features mom's dog's smitty's ancestor:

http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/eyck/arnolfini/arnolfini.jpg

==

sun. morning went to the tower of london. william the conquerer built the castle starting in 1066, finishing his part 20 years later. the platform of execution for many important people is there, the one for all those henry 8 folks:

http://www.britannia.com/history/monarchs/mon22.html

the crown jewels are also there, which were slightly disappointing.

==

now i am enjoying falafel at a scummy internet cafe, probably where the next major terrorist attack is being planned. sorry for the lack in good posts. still working on the pictures...

Not enough time

2004-09-08T13:44:00.000-07:00

I have just a few minutes left in a little internet cafe and have no idea where to begin.

Staying here equals sensory overload. So many things seem different and interesting that I grow tired of even thinking.

I could start with my apartment. For hot water, you have to push a button in the closet and then wait 1/2 hour for it to heat. Push once for 30 min., twice for 1 hour, and 3x for 2 hours. I had a tough time this a.m. fixing oatmeal due to the strange microwave. All outlets have switches on them.

Speech presents differences too. I attended telephone training today. That's tel-EEEE-phone training, in English accents. The pound key = hash mark here.

Pop to the loo = v. common for going to the bathroom
50 pee = 50 cents or $1.00 for us Americans (expensivo!)
uni = v. common for college

There are so many more that I just cannot recall. I must start making notes of it.

Holly I ate fish and chips and they taste the same.

I still need to post pictures so this makes more sense. Sort of a stream of consciousness right now.

Internet cafe

2004-09-05T05:09:00.000-07:00

It is Sunday early afternoon. Michael and I stopped in a huge internet cafe to post.

Arrival sketchy, detained by immigration police at Heathrow airport. GT did not file work papers properly. V. interesting nonetheless. I collected my passport yesterday and now I'm legal.

Apartment is sort of loud and a bit of a mess. Like living on 2nd floor above times square. I like it though. Looking out the window in the a.m. it is obviously not the U.S.

Looking forward to posting pictures....

About to leave

2004-09-02T11:35:00.000-07:00

It's 1:40 on Thursday. Flight leaves at 5:10. New to blogging. I will surely have something more interesting to say on my next post. Thank you Holly for showing me the blog!!