Many London Updates Coming Soon

But right now I'm just too tired. Stay tuned for fabulous pictures of our London Thanksgiving, Windsor Castle with Rashmi and Siddarth, and good times to be had tomorrow in the English country side as we embark on an 11.5 mile walk.

I heart footballers.

Yesterday, I was introduced to the culture of football...not American football, mind you, but football as it is played in Europe (soccer). I love it! My future brother, Andy, is a die hard American football fan, which I have respect for, but I have always had a hard time paying attention to American football, because it's so slow moving, stops and starts so much, and I don't know the rules. Plus, I have never found American football players to be attractive...

But footballers here...whoo! These guys are serious athletes. They sprint for the entire 90 minute game. And they are, for the most part, really cute!

Yes, yes...some people argue that soccer isn't really very interesting because they hardly ever score. But the ALMOST score lots of times, which is when it gets exciting in the pub. Last night we were in this smoke filled place. I was one of about three women there and was surrounded by chain smoking, beer filled, Chelsea fans. We were also cheering for Chelsea, but it took us while to figure out which team actually was Chelsea, because we have not been Chelsea fans for very long at all, so we don't know the diversity of their uniforms. Last night they were in black. Anyway, it was good fun and I think I could actually get into this sport...at least for half of the game.

On Saturday I believe we are going to a rugby game. Another sport who's rules I don't quite get. I have noticed that when I guy gets the ball, the rest of them don't pile on top of him, like they do in American Football, but they make this huddle, called a scrum, around him. A friend who used to play rugby said that lots of young people in rugby leagues break their necks during this huddling, due to the immense pressure.

Rugby players are burlier than soccer players...not so much my type as footballers. Plus they don't wear helmets or anything and they tackle each other, so they are often missing a lot of teeth.

So...I heart football (or footballers). Especially when they take their shirts off!

Urban Foxes

Something I have forgotten to mention is the foxes that we have around here. They are like stray cats, almost, and live under houses in our neighborhood. We have seen them on walls, crossing a busy street, staring us down on our neighborhood sidewalk. We have seen more foxes in the past few weeks (or maybe the same fox) than in our whole lives. On one hand, it's very cool to see a fox. Foxes are very beautiful animals--cat-like and dog-like at the same time and extremely graceful and silent in their movements. The other night we stopped and the fox stopped and we had a stare down from about 6 feet away on the sidewalk. The fox definitely wasn't afraid of us.

On the other hand, it's sad to see a fox in the middle of an urban setting, because that means that we have encroached on their natural habitat. Foxes aren't supposed to be living under houses and perusing city streets and scaling walls and dodging traffic.

So I have mixed emotions about the urban foxes here, but I always hope that we'll see one while we're out in the evenings.

Running along the Thames in Greenwich=SKETCHY

After my two days of schlepping around looking at flats, I feel completely unmotivated to do anything in Central or North London and have, in general, lost my motivation to go around doing things by myself.

I don't really feel lonely anymore, even though I spend a large part of my days alone. And I'm still struggling with cultural differences, some of which are the same as before. We have a NEW washing machine (The old one flooded the kitchen..not our fault.) This one has no dryer...great. I'm not exaggerating when I say that it takes three days for our laundry to dry. It's cold and damp here which isn't ideal for drying clothes. Anyway, I have mastered the new washer on the first try!

The other day I was rudely informed that my American Credit Cards were not accepted when I tried to top up (that's what they call adding money to your accounts) my oyster card (tube pass) at a convenience store kind of place. That almost made me cry, since the people who were so rude to me were foreigners themselves. But then I got over it.

And I've been trying to do some online grocery shopping, which is a challenge, since some things (many things) here are called different names. For instance, I have no idea what pie crust is called. When I look it up, I get all kinds of options to purchase mince meat pie, pork pie, chicken pie, shepherd's pie, and other pie combinations that I have never considered before. "Courgettes" are zucchini. "Aubergine" is eggplant. Crackers are "biscuits for cheese." Ground beef and turkey are "mince." There is no such thing as black beans in the mainstream grocery stores here--but they have a million different kinds of kidney beans. They don't have black eyed peas...so we'll have to figure something out for our New Years good luck! Shrimp are prawns here and paper towels are kitchen towels. Kitchen towels are tea towels. Anyway, it's a challenge every time we try to grocery shop, but we're learning.

Language barriers and cultural barriers aside, I still can go running. Today I decided to bypass the killer hills in Greenwich park and go running along the Thames. That was a mistake. The Thames Trail runs along the river. The river in Greenwich, on good days, looks kind of pretty in an industrial, run down way. On days like today, it wasn't looking so hot. There were masses of trash on the shores and it smelled like a mixture of dog poop and rotten garbage. The trail starts out at historic Cutty Sark, where there was something being done by workmen with cranes on the historic ship that is docked there. I weaved my way through and ran past Greenwich Univeristy, behind Trafalgar Pub (also old, historic, tourist trap...but cool! We went there on Sunday. We were the only ones not enjoying Sunday roast.), hopped back on the trail, rounded the corner, and that is when the vague prettiness ended. My goal was to run to the infamous, not used, very ugly Millenium Dome, which looks like the superdome with cranes poking out of the top of it (part of the design), but I found myself surrounded by graffiti, barbed wire topped fences, abandoned shoes, and industrial ports. I was feeling more fearful for my well being than enjoying myself, so I turned around and went back after two miles. It was pretty disappointing. They are really trying to improve the community, and the Olympics are part of that effort, as they will be held in this area, but they aren't there yet. Parts of Greenwich are really nice and "gentrified" and other parts are pretty shady. We are on the cusp of the sketchy part of town right now.

This afternoon, I plan to go down to the center of Greenwich and poke around in some of the shops. I have spent so much time going other places, that I don't really have a good idea of everything that is right here.

Rashmi, Siddarth, and boots

Rashmi and Siddarth are in town visiting Rashmi's sister, so we all met in Canary Wharf, where Jim works, for lunch. Rashmi and I, to Jim's amusement, both were wearing our skinny jeans with boots over them--London Posers! Unfortunately, we did not catch this phenomenon on film, but we did get a nice picture of Siddarth, Rashmi and Jim before we all headed our separate ways this afternoon. Rashmi and Siddarth have already done more in the two days that they have been here than we have done the whole time we've been here (or almost)--very impressive! And they are doing it in style, as Rashmi looks quite the Londoner with her boots over jeans.

Here is a picture of me levitating in my new outrageously priced (GAP) skinny jeans and boots. Skinny jeans aren't so bad, really:

I can't believe what a follower I am.

For the past two days, I have been looking at more flats in the areas of Hampstead, West Hampstead, and St. John's Wood (which is near Hampstead, but closer to Regent's Park). I may not have a job, but I am worn out from looking at flats. And everytime I like one, it gets let by someone else before we even have a chance to think about making an offer. So, this is good training in patience for me (not one of my strongest personality traits) and I am learning to look and see what I like and get an idea of what kinds of flats we'll be able to afford...and not get too excited about anything. I still like Hampstead better than St. John's Wood, but you get a little more for your money in St. John's Wood, it would be an easier commute for Jim, and, near there is Abbey Road and Paul McCartney's rumored home (which I saw...the crosswalk, not the home. It looks like all the other crosswalks in London.) Very exciting!

The flat I liked the best today, which has already been rented by someone else since I saw it two hours ago, was at the top of a mansion block, large, lots of windows, a beautiful kitchen, and the potential not to allow cats...so it probably wouldn't have worked for us anyway since our cats are very much in our future in London. There were a couple of other flats with great windows and private gardens, which DID allow cats, so eventually we will find some permanent place to live. Once we are able to jump on a flat, we'll do it. We're just not there yet (big sigh...this is another lesson in patience for me).

Stay tuned to hear how Thanksgiving dinner cooked by me in a foreign country goes and whether or not I go to Stonehenge at the end of the week. 

Not fluffy crows at all!

Umm...the large, fluffy, menacing looking black birds are most likely not crows. It has taken two weeks for someone to point it out to me that they are the infamous London Ravens. But they are related to the crow! Anyway, I'm a moron. And they are huge.

Hampstead Heath....last one

People enjoying the day in the early afternoon on Saturday...in Hampstead Heath.