Goodbye for now-

I knew that having internet in my flat was going to be bad for my London experience. After having internet for a grand total of five days, I've effectively moved back home. I chat with friends and family on skype while I putz around my apartment, I watch SNL clips, stalk NY Times online, email my friends, and meander through the GFU happenings via facebook. And I haven't written in my journal in that whole amount of time. I love being so "close" to all of you, but when I'm close to you I'm far from London. And I came here for a reason. I was talking with my mom last night about all this, and she said that she'd be so sad if I came back home and realized I hadn't ever really left Oregon the whole time. If I keep on like this, I think that's how I'll feel. How small technology has made our world.

So, on that note, I'm going to disappear for a while. No blogging... canceling my facebook account... no skype... not calling home... no emails... disconnecting my wireless. I'm going to try to be present here... not Oregon. Because, honestly, this needs to be home for me right now.

I love you guys lots- if I didn't, I wouldn't be doing this. :) You're just so tempting to talk to all the time! If you have a giant emergency and need to talk to me, I'll still have my email... I just won't be using it for "home" purposes. Letters are still good... they combine communication and distance, which are two things I like.

I'll be back at some point. Cheers!

Goldilocks and High School Musical

This is a good week because my awkward, forty year old, male, long haired boss is in Dubai. When he's out of the office, I've discovered that he's fondly (<-- sarcasm) referred to as "goldilocks" by the other staff members. His hair really is something; it's longer than mine (which is getting very long... yay!) and quite red. He plays with it a lot while he spews marketing ideas that turn into pointless excel sheets for me to populate. But it's all worth it for the occasional time that his headphones get stuck in his long locks, and his facial expression transforms into that of a seven year old girl who just got gum stuck in her hair. Panic. Embaressment. And on my end... utter joy. :)

This is also a good week because I have SEEN people from home. In fact, I've given them the tour of my flat and talked to them face to face. Through skype, but whatever. I think skype will be a good thing, but it also puts me a bit out of my comfort zone. I'm used to London being mine, and this little world belonging just to me and Lisa. It's probably healthy to have my worlds collide a little bit, but it still unnerves me. It allows you to see into my life... not just read about it or hear about what I choose to tell you over the phone. Yeesh... goes to show you how ingrown I'm gettting. You're just not going to know what to do with me when I get back. It is wonderful to see faces though. I have such pretty people in my life.. it's nice to see their pixely faces through my macbook.

Also this week is my first meeting with both the girls and guys at my small group (pastorate). I really liked the girls last week, but I'm excited for a bigger group with a bit more diversity. One of the girls and I have hit it off pretty well, and I'm hoping that we can become good friends in the amount of time that I'm here. Ah, friends. What lovely things. :)

Also this week is High School Musical 3... in theaters. And HECK YES, I'm going to be there. Teenage drama? Zac Efron? Ridiculous dance sequences? School wide singing breaking out in the hallways? Sign me right up for some of that!

So, there you have it. I'm thriving, my friends. Honestly thriving. The newness has been conquered. I no longer notice the British accent. I have found little spaces of comfort in this giant city. I've learned to push my way onto the crowded tube rather than wait for the next train. I've had people ask me for directions, and actually known how to direct them... whether or not I got my left's and right's mixed up is another story. :) I've established routine and feel rather at home here. Don't worry; I'm not going to decide to stay here forever. I'll be ready to come home at the end of March, but until then, I'm thriving here.

sniff. cough cough.

Today I have a cold. My throat is scratchy and my nose is stuffy and I have the chills in this already freezing city. I hate being sick. Especially when I can't drive home and bundle up on the couch in my "sick sweatshirt" (a wonderful, oversized, embroidered, Winnie the Pooh number that I've had since about age eleven). Since it's Friday, that means my mom and dad will be home. He'll make a fire and she'll make blueberry muffins and then they'll read the newspaper. My mom always makes really good tea when I'm sick. And then she pampers me - tucking the blankets in around me and fluffing my pillows while I watch movies all day. I have a really great mom. I do not, however, have really great coworkers. When I told them I was sick, they said it was all in my head, and then went back to their computers. Ugh. Men.

Being sick makes me cynical, and so I have to tell you about this absolutely moronical (did I just make that word up?) lecture that my boss just gave our office about Starbucks coffee. Apparently, he's been to the states a couple of times, so he IS the resident expert on how the Sbux works. The fact that I worked there for the better part of a year doesn't matter. Did you know that when you walk down the street in America you will sometimes see eight Starbucks in a row? And each of those cafes caters to a different crowd... you have all the bikers that go to one, all the theatre people that go to another, etc. And this extreme segregation of social crowds is all due to their marketing! Brilliant people, those Starbucks execs. But according to him they don't even serve coffee- it's just this acidic brown stuff made by incapable baristas. Can you see the smoke coming out of my ears? Sometimes I just can't believe how stupid people actually are.

I got my absentee ballot in the mail a couple of days ago, and I am SO excited to vote. I love America... voting for my leaders and being part of a democratic nation. The Brits have such a funny perspective on our election. They just hate John McCain... they make fun of him for blinking so much, and they find the most unflattering pictures possible to put into the newspapers. Obama, on the other hand, nears the holiness of David Beckham. I hear from home that it's a close race, but you'd never guess it from what I read over here.

I bought the ugliest sweater in the entire world a couple of days ago for only £5. It's army green, a men's medium, bulky, and lumpy. But it's deliciously warm and cuddly. When I put it on, it sort of resembles a giant burlap sack, but I'm already fiercely in love with it. It's a cozy sweater that I promised myself I would never wear in public... only in the comfort of my own flat with the accompaniment of tea and a journal. But, here I am at work... with the ugly sweater. Oh dear.

I need to make myself some tea... owowow my scratchy throat! But before I do, I have to tell you about this fabulous Bible study I went to on Tuesday. It's comprised of people like me... graduated folk living in the quasi-adult-quasi-adolescent world. I've only met the girls, and they were great. I'll meet the guys next week, and I'm so looking forward to that. I miss having male friendships so much... Lisa does a great job filling the role of family and friend, but there's not much she can do to fill the steps of my guys. :) It'll be nice to bring a bit of balance back into my life with a small group of London friends.

Okay, tea time. I am going to go through withdrawls when I leave English tea. Seriously... at least four or five cups a day. It's a beautiful addiction. Love from here!

It's 5:30 and time for me to go home...

So here's a really quick update on the last few days...

Today I tried a "short cut" to work and ended up being a half hour late. Woops!

Today on the KUPL morning show I heard that they're going to remake the mini-series entitled "V." That might not mean much to all of you, but it's this horrible sci-fi thriller about aliens coming to earth, morphing into humans, and then very violently trying to steal our water. It also displays some of the most genius acting I've ever seen... possibly rivaling "Justin and Kelly: The Movie." Apparently ABC is going to remake it. Mom and Dad and Mattie- do you remember watching that when we had just moved to Virginia? Sitting on the floor, eating our gift basket contents, trying to see the 12" screen we borrowed from Daddy's work, and missing home like crazy? Now we can relive the glory days... sign me right up. :)

In better news, I have a church. An awesome church with an awesome worship leader. Maybe you've heard of him... Tim Hughes? He also rides my bus, and last night I grilled him about what service would be best suited for a temporary American transplant like myself. It's a great church, and I'm trying my best to worm my way into a little bit of community there. I'm in desperate need of some friends over here.

Today at work I had to go through this massive list of hospitals in the London area and convert it into useful information for my office. And I got to do the whole project on... you guessed it... EXCEL! The best part was that this list was accumulate in 1938 or something, so there were a ton of old abandoned mental institutions that I had to weed through. They didn't look pleasent, and I'm glad that I never had to live in one of those.

As of today, I've officially been away from home for six weeks. That is a ridiculously long time. I also discovered that my mobile plan is charging me twice as much to call home. Thus, I will be writing more letters. Maybe. But hopefully I'll just be too busy being involved at my church.

Lastly, the mouse. It went away for almost a whole week, so Lisa and I were convinced it was wasting away on someone else's glue-trap. In reality, it was just taking a holiday from our garbage, and is now back. I think that I'm procrastinating from fixing the situation out of indignance that I have to do it. At home, I could call any number of people to help me do this, and I'm bitter I can't do that here. Ugh rodents. Ugh forced independence.

I'm making curry for dinner tonight! And maybe watching High School Musical 2 again. Because, yes, it's just that good.

Write me letters!

Okay, bye.

A long post about things I like. And an update about the mouse.

Disclaimer – To my three favorite cousins, I’m going to say a bad word in here. Don’t worry; it’s not me swearing… it’s just an expression I heard someone use. But, you should still have your mom or dad read this first, and then they can decide if you get to read it or not. Okay? Love you guys.

In honor of my post about the things in London that make no sense or just make me mad, I’ve decided to post about some of the things that America should adopt immediately.
First, the stoplights don’t just go green, yellow, red. They also have a yellow right before a stoplight turns green, so you have a second to get your car in gear and zip along your way. It only makes sense, right? You have a warning telling you when to stop, so why not have a warning telling you when to go? Granted, I don’t drive here (I haven’t driven in over a month… weird!), but I can imagine how wonderful it would be to have warning both ways.
Second, Brits do this funny thing when they end a conversation on the phone- not in person- just on the phone. They start winding up and get ready to say goodbye, but as they do this their voice gets higher and softer. So it would sound like this: “It was lovely speaking with you. (An octave higher) Yeh, well I’ll see you tomorrow then. (Another octave higher in a very quiet voice) Okay, cheers (even higher) Bye! The “Cheers, bye!” part is very important- all good Brits end their conversations like that. Sometimes I just listen to people talk on their mobile on the bus and wait for their head to explode from the high pitch. And what’s funny is that this is not just something girls do- guys do it too. In fact, one of my coworkers just called me and he got all quiet-high-pitchy right before we hung up. It’s so funny to listen to… I’ll give you an impression when I get home next year. Only 177 days, according to a reliable source.
Oh here’s what I LOVE. Indian food in London is like Mexican food on the west coast. At the grocery store, they have a bigger selection of curry sauce than they do of spaghetti sauce. I’ve been in love with curry ever since I was ten and they had mission’s potluck at my church. I remember being a little leery of my dad telling me to try the spicy chicken that looked funny… but I did, and it was pure love. I think I ate about three helpings and maintained a strict philosophy that I would have curry whenever my circumstances allowed. And so at least a couple times a week, I make myself curry in my little, tiny apartment and revel in my small victory.
Another wonderful thing is the one pound coin. All countries should be required to produce a coin for one pound, one dollar, or whatever. It makes my wallet smaller and it’s just so convenient.
Also, I’m a little bit obsessed with some of the terminology and phrases they use over here. I’m trying not to let it infect my own way of speaking too much, because I know that you’ll (ahem, Emily) just make fun of me when I get home. But some phrases are too wonderful to pass up. For instance, when you’re trying to get something figured out, you’re ‘getting it sorted.’ They say decent and lovely all the time. Cookies are biscuits, and Lisa and I can’t figure out what you call a normal, American biscuit. Maybe they just don’t exist here. I call home on my mobile, I live in my flat, and I travel to work via (pronounced with an I rather than an E) the tube. I drink tea proper because it has milk in it, but apparently Lisa’s tea is improper because it’s sans milk. I go to the cinema for a movie and the threatre to see a show. I “top up” when I add more money to my tube pass or mobile or even when I fill up the sugar container at work. I ‘mind the gap’ so as not to step into the abyss between the station platform and the tube, and I get my food for take away rather than take out. It’s all very different, and I feel very legit (that word doesn’t exist here… I got blank stares when I used it) when I can speak the London language.

I like more things, but I’m not in the mood to talk about them right now. Guess what! Last Friday Lisa was working, so I went to see Grease. My Dad and I were laughing on the phone before the show… what if they all had British accents? Fortunately they didn’t… it was pure American goodness from the accents down to the giant hair and the fries (not chips). I snuck a Cinnebon into the theatre, and karma made it leak all over inside my purse. So, I’m still finding old Cinnebon sludge when I rummage for my keys or chapstick. But other than that, the night was great. Everyone sang the songs and a sixty year old lady in front of me got up and danced during Grease Lightening. It was a riot and I loved every bit of it.

Here’s an update on the mouse situation. I’m currently panicked beyond my ability to think rationally because the mouse only rummages when I’m there by myself. To this day, Lisa has maybe heard it once, and possibly not at all. I’m so freaked out that I’m hanging plastic grocery bags on all the knobs of the cupboards in the kitchen and using those as my garbage. I haven’t opened the dreaded mouse infested cupboard in almost five days. Lisa opened it once to see what she could find (I stood on the bed and mentally prepared myself for impending death), and just swept out a bunch of poops. We talked to the godfather's son about it, and he said it’s a bad time of year for mice, so he gave us these awful things called glue-traps with the explanation that mice “stick to them like shit to a blanket.” Well, we didn’t know shit stuck to a blanket, so this didn’t make sense to us. It did, however, freak us out because these things don’t kill the mouse… rather, the mouse just sticks to this pad until you dispose of it. I’m not even sure what that means, but I know that I’m sure as heck not doing it. I’ve head it squeak while it’s alive, and if I hear it squeak while it’s slowly starving away on that glue trap, I will feel like the worst sort of animal murderer. So, living with the live mouse is out. The glue-traps are definitely out. The next tactic will be finding that expanding caulky (sp?) stuff that you can squirt into holes and fill them up. I’ve seen my dad use it before, and I bet Lis and I can figure out how it works.

That’s all, I think. This moment officially marks the eighteenth hour in a row that I have done nothing at my job. Ha!

This and that...

Yesterday, I went to IKEA with Lisa specifically to buy a pillowcase for the bed. When we left IKEA we had bought candles, rugs, pictures,and lamps... and realized we had forgotten the pillowcase. How typical is that? We had a good laugh. But at least now our flat feels more like a home, and that alone was worth the trip.

Last weekend Lisa and I went to Oxford... did I tell you that? I feel like I might have. It's a college town- English style- so it sort of feels like you're walking with a bunch of equestrians and polo players. They do this fun thing called "punting"... which involves standing/balancing on the back of a boad and pushing it down a stream with a giant pole. No one can successfully do it with any sort of grace, and it was hysterical to watch all the college guys attempting to woo their lady friends by looking macho while they went down the river. Their facial expressions were of utter concentration and they didn't seem to be relaxing much at all... which I assume is the purpose of punting.

Today all three of my bosses are out of town, and it's only the relaxed people in the office with me. We've already had at least three conversations, which is unheard of in this silent place. They have convinced me to ask for an espresso machine becasue they say they think the bosses listen to me. I think that if I keep opening my big mouth, I'm going to get myself fired. I've also noticed that the men in this office go through milk and sugar like they're four year olds, so I have to go to the grocery store and buy them more today. I honestly feel like I'm babysitting adults sometimes. :) I think I finished all my excel projects for today (hurray!), so it should be more relaxing.

Lisa and I are convinced that we have a rat living in our flat next to the garbage bag, and have discussed the rodent situation at length- deciding not to kill it. We're both terrified of scurrying rats, but we're more afraid of dead rats. So, we sort of hold our breath everytime we have to open the cupboard to throw something away, because there's always the tiny possibility that thing will come darting out of the darkness and ruin our lives. On my bed, there's a blanket with fringe on it,and sometimes when the fringe touches my face in my sleep, I freak out because I dream that it's the rat's whiskers.

Anyway, I think I'm done writing. I really should do some work... or check out espn... or research about the vice presidential debate tonight which I am livid I can't watch.

Also, if you read this, you should leave me a comment. I honestly wake up the morning after I blog excited to check and see if I have any comments. Little connections to home make all the difference. Hugs from here-