Glorious Greenwich…

Posted on 7 October 2006 by k

is very green.

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Today, we took the Docklands Light Rail to Greenwich to see where time begins (the Greenwich Prime Meridian–where Greenwich Mean Time originates). And we also saw the Cutty Sark—an old-style sailing vessel, The Royal Naval College of Greenwich, The Royal Observatory (we spied Pluto–the dog, not the planet), The Trafalgar Tavern (some say it’s famous?), the open-air market, and a huge expansive green park.It was a nice to see a new place. And, objectively speaking, Greenwich seems very earthy, but also a bit sleepy.

For those from the Triangle, you’ll be happy to hear that Raleigh’s following us…literally. There’s a statue of Sir Walter Raleigh in Greenwich.

See photos from Greenwich…

Posted in Adventure Travel, Europe, Life in London, UK | 1 Comment

Is that Nicole Kidman?

Posted on 7 October 2006 by k

G and I visited a comedy club last night for a show. Because we called ahead for tickets (and G had an American accent), they seated us right up front. Scary!

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After being reassured from the staff that the comics would be kind and leave us be, we kept our seats up front. The first comic was weak…the second was very good. And the third was Nicole Kidman. Well, almost. She has the red hair, and she is Australian, and she’s a dead ringer…but she doesn’t have the millions to go with the looks. She’s Sarah Kendall, an aspiring actress (she’s writing her own sitcom now..ala Seinfeld). Maybe she’ll be famous.The comics did pick on us a bit, but we learned a couple tricks. Here’s what to do in order to avoid the onslaught of a stand-up comedian:

  • If you’re not gay, don’t sit near the front with a friend of the same sex. Even if you’re friends or brothers, the comic will tear you to pieces.
  • Drink only moderately. Otherwise, the folks on stage will use your drinking habits to their benefit (two guys last night went through 4 bottles of wine in a two hour set–they were teased and weren’t with it enough to respond without giving the comic material–train wreck).
  • If the comic asks you a question, don’t give answers with too much personality. Keep it short and sweet. Smile so they’ll feel badly if they tease you.
  • Wear something VERY boring and non-descript.
  • Keep quiet.
  • If you’re with your partner, show that you like each other but DON’T be overly “lovey”. The couple next to us had had a bit to drink and they were leaning on each other and such (gave the comic lots of material).
  • Don’t sit upfront. The show is more fun if people who break all the rules sit up front–otherwise, the comic doesn’t have much material to work with.

Today, we’re off to Greenwich to see where time begins…

Posted in Life in London | 1 Comment

Well, I am in college…

Posted on 5 October 2006 by k

…I guess it’s fitting that we have a small fridge?

You know it’s bad when dreams of a ice cream worthy freezer sneak into your nights. Yes, that’s right. Instead of sugar plums, I now dream of a refrigerator that will hold enough food for an entire week PLUS stores of “staples” like frozen vegetables, meats, and fruit.

Exactly how small is it you ask? .67 cu. ft. in the freezer. And 4.48 cu. ft. in the fridge. It’s TINY.

There’s always a silver lining… in this case, a small fridge gives me yet another reason to eat less.

But, I also have a reason to eat more. After going to Cass for a week or so, I realized that everyone wears jeans. Since I only had one pair (yes, I’m a dork), I decided to go shopping for another. Classmates suggested Topshop (a trendy teen store) for this must-have item and I was pleased with their suggestion — the options were endless. BUT, the sizes here are completely different.

Having no clue of which size I was, I grabbed jeans that we entirely too small. I tried them on and it didn’t go well. Then, I grabbed the largest and second largest sizes on the rack. I tried them on… the second largest fit well, but I was concerned about shrinking. I happily purchased the store’s largest pair. Yes, that’s right. Their LARGEST pair.
They didn’t shrink.

Bad news? As low-riders to start, I’m concerned that they’ll dip from my hips to my ankles.

Good news? They’re the perfect length and look good with boots.

Posted in Life in London | 1 Comment

G’s Modern Office

Posted on 1 October 2006 by k
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Yesterday, we ventured out and about in London to film G delivering an Eagle Charge for one of his Scouts back in the US. To upload the files, we needed to venture to G’s office (since we still don’t have our own high-speed internet at home — supposed to be installed this week). Lucky me! I was able to see G’s office… perhaps you’d like a tour as well? Click here to see photos of G’s office…

We also welcomed a new member to the family yesterday. Meet Olie — he’s from China. Unfortunately, Olie’s a bit camera shy, I’ll upload better photos once G’s able to help me photograph him.

Olie’s a Chinese Elm tree, a bonsai. He’s 8-10 years old now — an anniversary gift from G. But yet, he’s still so small! When visiting the bonsai store yesterday to select Olie, another family was there to pick up their tree. Theirs actually looked like a tree with long wispy branches and an impressive shape. But, their Korean tree is 20 years old — they’ve had it for 4 years. We’ll have to shape and form ours so it will look like a mini tree. See a photo of 100 year old bonsais from Japan. See the Web site for Concrete Jungle — Olie’s halfway house.

Posted in Life in London | 2 Comments

Do they have pickles in the UK?

Posted on 1 October 2006 by k
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It’s Sunday. Grocery day. Many of you may know that this isn’t my favorite task, but it’s always an adventure in the UK. What shall we have for dinner this week? That’s how it all starts… we jot down some ideas, make a list of the necessary ingredients and head off to the grocery to make selections and to cart our finds home.

In the US, we made our list based on the “departments” and assumed store layout. During our first couple weeks here, we wandered aimlessly in search of greek seasoning, cornbread mix, cajun seasoning, green chili peppers, cilantro, minute rice, and tortillas (among other things) only to find that these things aren’t stocked in our corner store. Instead of raw ingredients, there’s a wealth of convenience meals and sauces to choose from — mostly Italian, Thai, or Indian. Not even the larger stores carry our staples… what to do? First, we roped our friends Nancy and Kyle into bringing some things with them when they visited last week (thank you Kyle and Nancy!).

And next we conformed. Instead of shopping in our normal American way, we’ve altered our habits and now enter the store without a list. Now, we simply look on the shelves to see what looks interesting and make up an impromptu plan as we browse. It’s a less organized approach, but we have tried many new things as a result — all with postive reviews.

Two weeks ago Red Thai sauce with coconut milk. Last week Putanesca and Eggplant Tortellini. This week’s newby is Curry. We like it in the restaurant; how will it go at home? We’ll keep you posted.

Posted in Life in London, Moving to London | 1 Comment

Drink Two Pints A Day, You’ll Live Forever and Glow In the Dark!

Posted on 28 September 2006 by k
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Sounds like my type of wonder drink… you, too? Well, we should venture to Bath. But, first I should admit that you won’t really glow. Sorry.

Like its name would suggest, Bath was once a hopping spa town where folks came to sit in its 116 degree (Fahrenheit) baths which were believed to heal the sick and weary. You might find a wealthy elite society lady alongside a lepper, an arthritic elder, and a common local — all came for different reasons, but bathed in the same mineral-rich water. Wealthy and ailing people would travel from all around to visit the baths in search of that miracle cure. Even today, folks will pay the equivalent of $1 for a glass of this mighty but smelly brew.

The truth is that this water bubbles (literally) to the surface after a 10,000 year journey below. That’s right… the water that we drank on Saturday fell as rain 10,000 years ago. And over the last 10,000 years, it’s been traveling below the surface picking up loose minerals before reappaearing above. And, we learned that it’s slightly radioactive — perhaps this is the reason for its curing powers? And maybe, just maybe, you really will glow!
Bath is also known for its beautiful stone buildings–all made from the local Bath stone (A similiar story to VT’s Hokie stone).

In addition to strolling about the town, we also enjoyed our first High Tea complete with scones, cucumber sandwiches and plenty of tea. What’s a real scone? They’re much better here than our American reproductions…they’re quite like a soft, buttery, slightly sweet American biscuit. You eat them with clotted cream (butter) and jam (jelly). Yum!
See photos from our weekend in Bath…

Posted in Adventure Travel, Europe, UK | Comments Off on Drink Two Pints A Day, You’ll Live Forever and Glow In the Dark!

Only a Phone Call Away

Posted on 26 September 2006 by g

We have a phone now! Actually, we have had our our home phone line hooked up for about a week, but we haven’t heard from you… :^). I know, I know. International dialing can be a bit daunting. The numbers don’t look anything like in the US and there are country codes and plus signs — what does it all mean? Well, don’t worry, I’ll walk you through it. And as an added bonus, we have unlimited calling to the US, so you can always give us a ring and then we’ll ring you right back to save on your phone bill.

For our UK mates that might be interested, the plan is called Talk 3 International and is offered through TalkTalk from the Car Phone Warehouse. It includes unlimited calling to the US, UK landlines, and about 25 other countries bundled with with unlimited 8meg internet for only £21 per month. It is an unbeatable deal.

Now, back to calling from the US. The first intimidating thing (and I speak from experience) is that the phone numbers don’t look anything like they do in the US. A phone number here might look something like

+44 (0)20 1234 5678

The country code is often included in European phone numbers because it is common to call between countries. This saves you from having to look up country codes all the time. The country code can easily be identified by the preceding + symbol. So, we tell that the country code in this number is 44.

Next is the 0 in parenthesis. When calling the UK from the US, ignore this leading 0. This is required only when making a call from within the UK. It is like dialing 1 in the US when making a long distance call, but it is always written as a part of the number here whereas in the US it is assumed.
Finally we get to the actual phone number. In the US, it is standard that area codes are three digits and all phone numbers are formatted in the same XXX-XXX-XXXX format. In the UK, area codes may be different lengths and the formatting of the phone number varies by region. For example, the area code for London is 20 and the phone numbers are eight digits. In Bath the area code is 1225 and the phone numbers are six digits. Once you get past that, you realize that all of the phone numbers are really 10 digits just like they are in the US.

The last thing you need to know is the international dialing prefix. In the US this is 011. (In the UK this is 00.) Now, let’s put it all together. So, in order to call this number from the US…

+44 (0)20 1234 5678

…you would dial it as…

011 44 20 1234 5678

Pretty easy, eh? Now we’ll be looking for your call — just remember the time difference!

Posted in Life in London, Technology | 2 Comments