I've just published an entry on our shared blog, so I don't really have much to say here except that it's been nice to have a place to share my thoughts on life here. Our joint blog was fun but Chris has very specific ideas as to what is blog-worthy and as you can tell from my random postings, I like to blog about anything and everything :)
This is my last post here but very soon I'll be adding posts to my new blog about our life in Milwaukee.
http://karisann.blogspot.com/
I'm searching for a new MP3 player and through my research so far I've discovered that the world has become iPod-ized. Three years ago, I got an MP3 player that has worked flawlessly and I was hoping to get something very similar now for Chris. Back then MP3 players all had removable batteries and came with necessary accessories such as arm bands. Now, they have non-removable batteries (like iPods) and require charging but chargers must be purchased separately, as do arm bands.
Well, that's fine, except that accessories for MP3 players can be difficult to find. Sony is a top-rated brand on Consumer Reports, but I can't find a charger and there's only find one arm band type that will fit it. For iPods, on the other hand, the selection of accessories is vast - multiple types, colors, etc.
Although I'd prefer to stick with MP3 players, I think I may be forced to switch over to an iPod. I'm really glad I had my removable battery MP3 player for traveling Europe though. I can't imagine the hassle of finding outlet adapters to charge it in various countries.
kk
Consumer Reports has become my new best friend. I recently purchased a subscription to access online content and it's been invaluable because we have a lot of purchases to make in the near future. At the top of our joint list is a king size bed and at the top of my personal list is a TV (Chris thinks we don't need one). The world of TVs has become increasingly complex as well. Sorting through differences between plasma vs LCD vs standard picture tube TVs is frustrating. I miss the simpler electronic days.
We watched an interesting movie over the weekend called Into the Wild. I had never heard of it, but it's based on a real-life journey taken by Christopher Johnson McCandless (pictured below). I think the movie works better if you don't know the story ahead of time, so I won't say much here but I'd definitely recommend watching it.
Chris and I had very different reactions to the movie. He admired the guy for following his dream and I thought the guy was a selfish idiot. There are lots of online articles about him, which talk about the cult following of young men who now idolize this guy and think he's a hero. If anyone has seen the movie, or knows the story, I'd be very curious to hear your reaction.
Slowly but surely everything is returning to the way it was when we first arrived. I think I mentioned in a previous blog entry that we've been sleeping on mattresses on the floor for over a year now because the beds our landlords bought were so small and uncomfortable. Well, last night Chris put the beds back together and we were reminded as to why we hate these beds and took them apart in the first place.
We started out in the same bed last night but they're so small (not much bigger than a twin mattress) that Chris eventually moved to the other bed partway through the night. Shortly after he did, his bed collapsed. Luckily we had some spare parts from a previous time one of the beds broke, so Chris was able to get it fixed today.
A picture of our previous wall-to-wall mattressing.
After a 45 minute phone conversation with our Credit Union last night, Chris and I are both now approved for car loans. There was a very funny moment in the conversation early on when the member rep said she saw a name on our account and needed to know who it was.
I explained that it was my Mom and her name was on our account so she could make transactions for us while we lived abroad. This caused her to freak out telling me how she knew my Mom, and missed working with her so much (they worked together at TDS for a number of years). She then begged me to say hello for her. It's funny how living and working on the west side of Madison can very much feel like small town USA.
I'm now shopping for cars online and I'm a bit overwhelmed with my choices. I've only bought two cars in the past, both Toyotas, and both from people my Mom knew, never a dealership. I like small cars but am worried that might not be the best choice considering we want to have kids soon. Luckily my step-dad is a shrewd haggler and is willing to negotiate for us, so whatever we choose, we know we'll pay far less than sticker price.
I'm slightly addicted to magazines and was amazed at an opportunity I got today. I was on the US post office website changing our address (my Mom will no longer have to receive all of our US mail) and was offered the chance to subscribe to magazines at the same time. I thought this was very convenient but the best part is that the rates were incredibly low (less than $10 for a year-long subscription!), so I suscribed to five :)
I will soon be receiving...
Cooking Light
Good Housekeeping
BusinessWeek
Redbook
Entertainment Weekly
I'd also love to get The Economist but it wasn't nearly as cheap as the others.
We returned home yesterday from our final European trip...well at least for awhile until our kids are old enough to travel or be left with relatives :) We really enjoyed our 6 days in Paris! It's hard to believe that two weeks from today we'll be checking-out of our apartment and into the Novotel Hotel at the Birmingham airport.
I saw the movie Mamma Mia last night with three female co-workers. I thought it was a great movie but was unable to sing along like my co-workers and everyone else in the theatre. I had never heard of Abba before moving here but I can't imagine a Brit ever saying that. Their music is played often on the radio and is the subject of pub quizzes.
We started selling our stuff this past weekend and as Chris pointed out, it's as though we're reverting back to our life when we first arrived. Our dryer is being picked up tonight and soon we're going to need to put our beds back together. We've been sleeping with the mattresses on the floor because the cheap IKEA beds were uncomfortable and small...hence the reason we each need a mattress to sleep on.
In case you're curious what we've accumulated in two years, here's the list of everything we're selling. There are a couple reasons we have so many items. First, we know a lot of temporary England residents and each time someone left we ended up with some of their stuff. Second, we had initially planned to stay longer, which is why we purchased items like the dryer and a second fridge.
http://kuckmovingsale.blogspot.com/
Time feels like it's going really fast now. We leave for a 6-day trip to Paris on Wednesday and after that we only have 2 weeks left! People keep asking if we're packed yet, but that would be difficult to do considering we're only taking 4 suitcases home and we're still using most of the items that will eventually be packed.
I know it's cliché to worry about the next generation of kids, but I got an e-mail at work today that really made me wonder what sort of education kids are getting. They are definitely a text-message generation (even more popular here than in the US). Below is the e-mail I received from a 21 year-old student completing her final year of college.
"hi ya iu was wondering if u could help me please it you was unable to make enrolment how would you enrol or would I be able to send someone else with my paper work do u no when the enrollement date is x"
By the way, the "x" at the end of her e-mail indicates a kiss, which is very common in e-mails sent between friends here but I've never seen a student use it when e-mailing our office.
We got back last night from our 6 day trip to Athens and Berlin. We really enjoyed visiting both cities but are exhausted because although our trips are fun, they're rarely relaxing :) We still don't have home internet access, and at this point I'm assuming we won't before we leave, so it might take awhile to get our joint blog updated with pictures from our trip.
It's easy to forget how relatively cold England is in the summer until looking at forecasts for continental Europe. Most of my co-workers are still in long-sleeve shirts and it's rare to see someone without a jacket on outside. Today's high is 64° and the low is 54°.
I love mild weather, so I enjoy the cool summers here but tomorrow we will get our first taste of hot summer weather. We fly into Athens at 8:20pm and even at that time of day it'll be much warmer than our highest temperatures here in Birmingham.
Athens
Tuesday June 24
High 95°, Low 77°
Wednesday June 25
High 97°, Low 74°
Thursday June 26
High 94°, Low 74°
Berlin
Friday June 27
High 79°, Low 55°
Saturday June 28
High 86°, Low 55°
Birmingham
Sunday June 29
High 62°, Low 51°
I just finished reading the book Lipstick Jungle and loved it. Fabulous chick lit! I've heard it became a tv show in the States so I'm looking forward to watching the DVDs when I return home. I picked it up free with a magazine (only £3.20 for Cosmo and the book) last weekend in preparation for the long triathlon weekend and am very happy I did.
In the past two years I've become addicted to several forums. Prior to planning our move here I was barely aware of forums, occasionally overhearing an office co-worker talk about a parenting forum. Now there are several that I scan daily...which has become more difficult with no home internet access :(
The first forum I tried out was UK Yankee, which proved to be an invaluable resource because it's for Americans living in the UK. The members there provided advice on everything I could possibly need to know.
When I started planning our move back I discovered City Data which has forums for all major US cities. Initially I was using it to plan our move to San Diego, since I'm clueless about the area but it proved to be very helpful for Milwaukee as well.
Another Milwaukee site I've found to be helpful is Milwaukee Moms. I can't benefit from the parenting discussions quite yet but there's lots of other general information about living in Milwaukee.
By far my favorite forum is Trip Advisor, probably because I love planning trips and traveling :) For a long time I only used it to search for hotel reviews but it also has a great forum. There are so many members that popular cities have almost a hundred posts per day. Paris is one such city, so now that our trip there is rapidly approaching I try to keep up with all the current posts.
Trip Advisor is better than a guidebook in the sense that it's very timely information. For example, I recently discovered that the Metro line from the airport in Athens will be closed as of July 1 for the remainder of the year, which is helpful to know since we leave on Tuesday for Athens!
Country music often gets a bad rap as redneck music and artists like Toby Keith certainly promote that image, while artists like the Dixie Chicks get banned from the airwaves.
My Dad recently gave me Mary Chapin Carpenter's new CD, which is fantastic. A song in particular called "On with the Song" caught my attention, particularly the following lyrics...
This isn't for the ones who would gladly swallow
Everything their leader would have them know
Bowing and kissing, while the truth goes missing
Bring it on the crows, putting on his big show
This isn't for the man who can't count the bodies
Can't comfort the families, can't say when he's wrong
Claiming I'm the decider, like some sort of messiah
While another day passes and a hundred souls gone
I'm blogging from a hotel room in Taunton (SW England) right now. We're both feeling better, with many less coughing fits, so we made the trip here to support our friend Dario who is competing in his first half-Ironman. As much as we want to cheer him on, we passed on the opportunity to accompany him to the race venue today for his practice swim, race meeting, etc. Instead, we're hanging out at the hotel room, which is near a beautiful walking trail and a movie theatre. Chris is seeing Indiana Jones right now, while I take advantage of the hotel's wifi internet access. A real treat, since we still have no access at home.
I've also enjoyed getting a chance to read the paper (the Saturday paper here is like a U.S. Sunday paper). My favorite quote that I've read so far is in regard to how British weddings have gotten out-of-control. The writer states "Apparently the American style of sending the bridesmaids down the aisle one by one before the bride - which to the British eyes looks like a beauty pageant or a line of hookers displayed for selection - is gaining popularity." One of the advantages of living here is the perspective it's given me on American culture as seen through others' eyes. In fact, I often find myself dispelling ideas people have gotten about our culture through films. Brits will tell you in all seriousness that they fear visiting the U.S. because everyone carries guns.
It's been a very relaxing trip. It's nice to be away from home, without a long itinerary of things to see and do. In an attempt to make the most of each of our trips, we often find ourselves exhausted by the time we return home. Although we might be tomorrow as well, because we need to get up at 3am for Dario's 6am swim start.
Exmoor National Park, where the race is being held, is a beautiful place but it didn't seem to have any trails or places to walk when we were there Friday night. I'm hoping we find somewhere to walk tomorrow because otherwise it's going to be a long day of watching endless bike and run laps....a half-Ironman takes about 6 hours to complete. It'll be interesting to spectate with Chris, because I know he badly wishes that he too was competing.
It's been awhile since I've blogged, so I thought it was time for an update. Not too much happening here. We've been both sick since returning from the U.S. (just colds) so we haven't felt like doing much. We did go to a birthday party for my co-worker this past week which was fun. The weather was nice enough to sit outside while we grilled out. Michelle, the birthday girl, is on the far right in the photo below.
We still do not have home internet access, which has become increasingly frustrating! I'm at Chris' office right now to catch-up on e-mails. AOL has a different excuse every time we call but supposedly we should be reconnected any day now...we've heard this since April 25 when we first called about problem.
Tomorrow we're going to Chris' labmate's house for a BBQ which I'm looking forward to. I haven't seen her in quite awhile because she's on maternity leave right now (which is typically 9 months in the UK), so I'll get to meet her son for the first time tomorrow.
Next weekend we're going to Exmoor National Park in SW England to watch our friend Dario compete in a half-Ironman race. We're spending Friday through Sunday there, so I'm hoping it doesn't rain too much.
We arrived back in the UK early this afternoon. Long-haul flights are really boring, although the entertainment options have gotten better. There are now about 10 movies and 15 tv shows to watch, which you can start anytime and also pause, rewind, fast-forward but it's still a long time to be on a plane. I'm not sure that I'll ever get to go somewhere like Australia which requires almost 24 hours on a plane. 10 plus hours today was enough for me.
My last day in Madison was incredibly enjoyable! The weather was perfect, a virtually cloudless, low eighties day. My Mom and I spent the early afternoon reading magazines on a pier in Lake Mendota watching my step-dad fish (that's my Mom in the red hat below).
Later that day, Chris arrived back from South Dakota and my brother Branden came out for a grill-out. We ended the day by making s'mores in a firepit that my brother made in my parents' backyard.
Here's a photo of the boys (Branden and Chris) enjoying a beer together on the deck of my Mom and step-dad's house.
I cannot believe how quickly my time has gone. I've seen almost every relative and friend, signed an apartment lease, signed up for gym memberships and did some shopping :) We did end up choosing an apartment in New Berlin and joining the Princeton Club.
Tomorrow Chris will return from South Dakota, we'll pack our stuff up and fly back to the UK on Tuesday. This visit has really confirmed how ready I am to return home. I'm very much looking forward to being able to see my family and friends on a more regular basis. I was very lucky to get the opportunity to see many relatives during my visit. Below is a photo of my sister and I at Vitense mini-golf.
My Dad's family drove from Ohio despite his recent brain surgery (he's slowly recovering and gaining his hearing back). Below are my two brothers on the left and my sister on the right, with Dad in the middle.
My brother Branden and I spent the day apartment hunting in Milwaukee. I'm really glad that he volunteered to come along with me because it was helpful having him navigate and give his opinion on the apartments and neighborhoods we were looking at.
My first choice apartment at this time is in New Berlin and only a 12 minute drive from where Chris will be working. In fact, Chris hasn't even seen where he'll be working yet, so we took this picture just for him :)
Of course one of the main factors in selecting an apartment location is having a gym nearby, so I also checked out gyms today. We were both excited to find out that there is a Princeton Club location in New Berlin (there are only 3 total, with the other two being in Madison). I was even more excited today to discover that the gym in New Berlin is nicer than the Madison West location we used to workout at. So at this point it looks like New Berlin might be our new home.
We leave tomorrow with four suitcases all weighing exactly 50 pounds. We're both so excited for this trip. It'll be wonderful to see friends and family that we've missed over the past two years.
On my schedule so far is...
- Dinner at the Great Dane and a night out with our wine buddies Josh & Tracy.
- Apartment showings and gym tours in Milwaukee.
- Dinner at Pedro's with my Famous Footwear co-workers.
- Clinique makeovers and hot stone massages with my Mom (girl time, I love it!).
- A bridesmaid dress fitting for my friend's wedding in October.
- A whole day of shopping at Johnson Creek outlet mall with my friend Tracy.
- Celebrating my friend Torie's 29th birthday!
- Raiding my Mom's closet and shoe collection :)
An update for those of you who have been asking about my Dad's surgery. It went well, with just some minor complications which will hopefully be sorted out soon. Unfortunately, he's not recovered enough yet to the point where he can travel to Wisconsin. So I won't get to see him this weekend for my brother's graduation as planned. I'm happy to know that I can see him as soon as August though.
Superior Semicircular Canal Dehiscense Syndrome
http://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/inside/sum06/pg2.asp
The day of the surgery (May 8)
5 days post-op
Happy Mother's Day to all you mothers out there. It's freaky to think that I might have a child by next Mother's Day if we're able to conceive right away. It was a beautiful weekend here in England. High 70s and sunny, which is 20 degrees above the average high for May. We didn't really do anything outside, apart from walk to the gym and grocery store, but I always like having the option of outdoor activities :)
We do have every window in the flat open though and the fresh air is wonderful. Of course, we have bugs flying around now because the English are opposed to the idea of window screens. However to be fair, there are very few bugs here. It's quite strange actually, we were shocked that we didn't need bug spray once during our 10 day camping trip in France and Italy. Mosquitos are one of my least favorite things about Wisconsin.
Speaking of Wisconsin, I came across an interesting editorial while reading my future home's online paper. It calls for tougher drunk driving penalties in Wisconsin. It made me immediately think about how different it is here. I was surprised to find that it's rare to drink and drive. Designated drivers don't just drink less, as they would in Wisconsin, they don't drink at all!
I would imagine there are two significant factors, many more public transportation options and also much tougher drunk driving penalties. For a first offence here your license is revoked for one year. I had a high school classmate who was caught drunk driving three times before her license was revoked, and keep in mind that she was under the legal drinking age as well!
http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=749061
It definitely makes me think about the times Chris and I have driven after drinking, and how I want to avoid that when we return home. One particular instance that comes to mind is an evening at the Essen Haus when we both walked to the passenger side of the car, assuming the other was able to drive. We already have a plan for this upcoming Saturday evening which we'll be spending with our wine drinking buddies Josh & Tracy. They live within walking distance of my brother's apartment, so we'll be crashing their that night.
I can't believe we leave for the U.S. in just 4 days! We're both really excited. This morning Chris was talking about the "Mega Buddy" Diet Coke's he plans to get at Kwik Trip during his 8 hour drive to South Dakota. He loves everything about road trips, especially the junk food aspect! :) I have a long list of apartments and gyms to visit in the Milwaukee area during my time in Madison. I'm thankful for the oppotunity to visit before we move in July.
After spending the past two nights out, I'm really happy the weekend is here and we have no plans. Thursday night we went to The Glee Club (a comedy club) for Chris' labmate's birthday, which was really fun.
Last night we went to the Botanical Gardens for my college's party. The party was in honor of the college's 40th anniversary and therefore was 60s themed. Fancy dress (which in American English means wearing a costume) was optional and it was quite fun to see the outfits people came up with.
Below is a picture of my co-workers Michelle and Emma who dressed up as go-go girls.
I'm happy that we have a 3-day weekend (public holiday on Monday), but frustrated that our home internet access is still not working because it's going to make it a less productive weekend. It's become an endless cycle of us calling AOL, being assured it will be fixed, finding out it's not and calling again. To make matters worse, Chris and I are currently sharing a computer because his work laptop is being held hostage by IT guys who seem incapable of fixing it.
It'll still be a good weekend though. We're going to a BBQ at our friend Dario's flat. He has a cool roof terrace that he can grill out on, so that should be fun. Also, I'm seeing the movie Made of Honor with my friend Claire. Any movie with McDreamy has to be good :)
My latest addiction is the TV show Brothers & Sisters. Season 1 recently came out on DVD here and I've watched the first 14 episodes over the past couple weeks. My favorite character is the Senator played by Rob Lowe, this may or may not be related to the fact that he's gorgeous.
It has worked out quite well not owning a TV considering the number of shows we can watch online or on DVD using our laptop. However, I am looking forward to having a TV once again when we move home this summer. We probably won't get cable however, as Chris has a serious addiction to The History Channel.
Exactly 3 months from today we'll be moving back to the United States. I'm excited to finally know where, as it makes it much easier to plan the move. Although Milwaukee wasn't our first choice, financially it just made more sense, and there are a lot of positive aspects to living in Wisconsin. For example, Chris already has Ironman plans :)
We just returned from four days in Prague and in a little over two weeks we leave for our 12 day U.S. visit. We're both very excited to visit home but at the same time it's overwhelming how much we have planned in our short time remaining. In June and July, we're spending 11 days combined in Athens, Berlin and Paris, in addition to spending a weekend at Exmoor National Park in SW England.
Some people say I'm adventurous for living abroad but I certainly don't feel that I am. Especially after chatting with my friend Becky over dinner last night. She was recently accepted onto a summer program in Madagascar to study lemur behavior for 8 weeks and was all set to go until his she got a call with questions about her health check. It turns out she's allergic to an important medication she'd need to take in order to live there, so she's now looking for alternate programs. The most recent application she submitted is to teach art in Thailand. I'd admire her courage, as she would be doing this with just a couple other English speaking volunteers.
I would say it's Becky's young age (23) that gives her the freedom to be a world traveler, but an even more adventurous friend who's exactly my age (29) has been teaching in China for the past two years. She doesn't speak Mandarin and had never even been to China before accepting the job. I'm referring to a British girl named Claire who we met on our France and Italy tour last summer. We've kept in touch and she's told me that she's ready to move back to Europe but not the UK. So she'll continue to live in a non-English speaking country.
I, on the other hand, am most looking forward to returning home to all the familarity and comforts of the United States. Granted southern California may feel foreign at first, but I think I'll quickly adapt to the warm, sunny weather :)
I'm annoyed at the moment regarding the fact that we have to pay for all of Chris' expenses this week up front and wait to be reimbursed. It's not as though post-docs get paid the type of salary that allows for large disposable incomes. kk
I just got an e-mail from Chris saying that two big things which were suppose to be paid for ahead of time were not. Total cost = $750 (conference registration and hotel room). So I quickly transferred money tonight but it often takes a week for our pounds to be transferred into dollars, so hopefully it goes through in time. We can't use our UK debit card because it's a Maestro card which is accepted nowhere except the UK. The whole situation is extremely frustrating!
Another annoying factor is the fact that Chris had no choice in where he stayed, so for example we're awaiting reimbursement for the $300 per night hotel he stayed at in La Jolla, CA. At least Chris got to stay in a beautiful oceanside hotel for that price.
I'm enjoying being on my own this week. It's like a mini-vacation because I can eat cereal for every meal without having the protein policeman after me :) I don't like being on my own at night though. Our flat doesn't feel very secure and also our friend Dario was attacked this past weekend. He was out running during daylight hours in a very busy part of the downtown area when two guys jumped him. Luckily he got away with just bruises. It's so senseless, they didn't even take his Ipod, so what was the point?
Chris' interview in San Diego went well and he has been offered a post-doc position at The Scripps Research Institute. It's his first choice, so unless he's really impressed with the Milwaukee guy tomorrow I foresee that we're moving to California.
I did some calculations today to determine how we'll be moving and was surprised that it would be quite a bit cheaper for us to fly. To rent a minivan and drive to California would cost $3141 versus $1575 to fly, taking into account all of the related costs. Although we'd have to replace some things like my bike, it seems it would still be worthwhile to fly.
Just one more day until Chris leaves for the U.S. We're both so excited that the time has finally come. We badly want to know where we'll be living and Chris is excited to meet the men that he might be working for. He put together a very impressive looking poster for his conference in Atlanta. It's huge (3x6 feet), so he had to unroll it on the floor for me to see it. I, of course, understand nothing on the poster, but his data does seem to be presented well :)
It'll be a long, quiet week at home without Chris. My co-worker today was asking me if I'm going to have a girls' night at our flat while he's away. She wants to drink cocktails and watch Sex & the City with two other co-workers. I reminded her that we have no TV and it'd be a bit cozy for the four of us to watch it on the laptop, so she's coming up with an alternate plan :)
While waiting for a friend at a movie theatre last weekend, I came across some very amusing postcards in the lobby. I was especially surprised to see the first postcard below considering the amount of junk food sold at movie theatres. 
By the way, I was at the theatre to see 27 Dresses which is a great chick flick. My friend and I both loved it!
Chris has arranged his San Diego interview and it's in 10 days! He will fly to San Diego from Atlanta for a quick interview on Monday April 14 and then be back in Atlanta on Wednesday for his lunch meeting for the Blood Institute (Milwaukee) job. Of course, he'll also be attending the American Heart Association conference, which is the reason for his trip to Atlanta :)
I am so excited that we will soon know where we're moving!! Warm, sunny SoCal would be a shock to our systems after living in rainy England for two years. I think I could easily get used to 70 degree temperatures year-round :) Of course, Wisconsin would be wonderful as it's home to me and Chris loves the Wisconsin landscape for cycling, camping and sailing.
I was surprised to read a news story today that new coins are being released into circulation because at first I thought they meant additional coin values. However, it turns out they're just introducing new designs.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article3666992.ece
For those who are unfamiliar with the insane number of coin values we have, there are eight in total...one pence, two pence, five pence, ten pence, twenty pence, fifty pence, one pound and two pounds. I find the image below, which I found online, amusing because I'm not sure why a US penny is in the picture? Perhaps as a size comparison? Anyway, it shows all the coins, minus the 2 pound one.
Of course the reason for so many coins is partially because the lowest note (bill) is 5 pounds, so the one and two pound coins are used quite frequently. I've noticed that women's wallets here have a much bigger change part and most men's wallets have a zippered change area. Incidentally, I should also mention during this little British lesson that women's wallets are known as purses, and purses are known as handbags. Men still carry wallets though :)
Branden is headed back to London today, in hopes that his Monday morning flight takes off from Heathrow's Terminal 5. Chris is taking full advantage of having Branden here. Below is a picture of their 2-day Axis & Allies game.
Branden was scheduled to fly from London to Oslo this morning. However, chaos ensued when the new terminal 5 opened at Heathrow yesterday, so shortly after midnight he received an e-mail notifying him that his 7:15am flight was cancelled until Monday! So we have him back for the weekend :)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7318337.stm
The other front page news story today was in relation to the sentencing of two boys who murdered a girl and tried to kill her boyfriend because they were "goths." I was horrified to read that the parents of the killers joked and laughed in court about what they had done. It's not hard to guess who steered these two kids in the wrong direction.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/lancashire/7316601.stm
As I scrolled through the online news headlines earlier, I noticed a seemingly related article in Time Magazine about Britain's Out-of-Control Kids. The story is so dead-on as to what life is like here.
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1725547,00.html?xid=rss-topstories
Has chip and pin hit the United States yet? It's all over Europe and it's incredibly annoying when traveling. It's as though the system is designed entirely to keep tourists from making purchases. I'm curious if credit card fraud is actually any lower with the new system. I can think of a few examples that have annoyed us.
In Amsterdam all of the train ticket machines accepted Netherlands issued credit/debit cards only (no cash and no other cards). Luckily, they did have a ticket counter where you could pay cash after taking a number and waiting your turn with every other tourist that needed a ticket. It was worse than waiting at the DMV!
We didn't get as lucky this past weekend when we tried filling our rental car up with gas before returning it to the airport. Very few gas stations were open on Easter Monday. We found one open that was the unmanned type only accepting cards...and you guessed it, only French cards! We gave up as our car got lower and lower on gas (or diesel to be more accurate) and returned it empty. The charge hasn't come through yet, and I'm somewhat terrified to see how much it's going to be.
I don't really think about it here, but having visitors always reminds me that the UK is just as bad. We first realized this when Chris' Dad tried paying the deposit on his rental car and they would only accept a chip & pin card. I was reminded again this weekend when we were buying train tickets to get home from the airport and looked for a ticket machine which would allow my brother to use cash. It was really bad because the machines only accepted chip & pin and there was no ticket window to pay cash!
It's weird to be in the position again of deciding what's worth moving. Earlier this week at work a co-worker started making a list of all the things she wants when we leave. All are electronic items which she knows we can't take with us. The past two years have just flown by. I easily remember sitting in our Madison apartment making decisions about what to bring with us here.
Today as I packed for our upcoming trip to France, I decided to start sorting through our clothes. I tried on everything that had made it's way to the back to the closet and filled an entire trash bag with clothes that neither of us wears. It's so much easier to do it now then just before the move because I also remember frantically sorting through clothes in late June 2006, with my brother making multiple trips to Goodwill for us.
Another reason it's important to start making decisions now about what we'll take back to the U.S. because our first suitcase full will go with Chris in April for his Atlanta trip (his parents are meeting him there) just two weeks after we return from France. We'll be able to move quite a bit home considering Chris' trip in April, our visit home in May and then the eventual move home in July.
Chris and I are both sick, which means it's going to be a quiet weekend. Just colds, but annoying all the same. His is respiratory and greatly affected by his asthma. The timing is ok though. The forecast is for heavy rains all weekend and we have no commitments, with the exception of a 6 mile charity run on Sunday that Chris will no longer be able to do.
We're both hopeful that we feel 100% for my brother's arrival on Thursday. We're excited to see him and visit Normandy in France. The boys will also be spending some time in London at the Imperial War Museum. I never imagined I'd marry someone who enjoys reading about WWII as much as my brother. It's freaky how similar they are!
Chris' job search is moving very slowly but we finally have a lead, so we're clinging to that. Chris has been asked to a lunch meeting during his conference in Atlanta next month to discuss a post-doc opportunity at the Blood Center of Wisconsin (connected with the Medical College in Milwaukee).
It's so strange to think about moving back to Wisconsin. I never thought it was a possibility until now. Chris is so excited at the thought of getting back into triathlons and being able to collaborate with his former colleagues at UW. Of course, I'm excited at the idea of being close to most of my friends and family again. We'll know more after April 16!
I've been thinking today about how much free time we have living here and how little free time we'll have upon returning to the States...if all goes according to plan and we have kids right away. This occurred to me while picking up books at the library earlier today. I read more now than I ever have and I love it...well non-school books that is :)
Something else which I'm sure will not occur as frequently is having friends over. Tonight we had our friend Dario over for dinner and to play our favorite game (Catan). Chris made two Chinese dishes - broccoli & chicken and pork & mushrooms. In addition, he made homemade fortune cookies, which turned out very well.
We received part 1 of our UK tax refund which means we definitely can spend no longer than two years in the UK. We have tickets to return home on July 30 (we arrived here on July 31, 2006). We fly into Chicago and will drive to Madison to pick up all the items my Mom has kindly been storing in her basement for us. Chris has pointed out that we may need to rent a small trailer if we intend to take everything with us at once. Where will be going with this trailer is still unknown, but Chris is working very hard to obtain a second post-doc somewhere in the San Francisco area. Stay tuned...
Today is a pretty typical Saturday. I'm getting ready for our next trip by looking up train schedules, packing, booking reservations, etc because we leave for a 3-day trip to Amsterdam on Tuesday. Chris will be in lab all weekend working on the papers that he needs to get published before we leave in July.
Tonight we're meeting our friends Dario and Majd (Chris' labmates) for Chinese food and then going to a pub where Jun (another labmate) will be playing (drums and piano). I like that we now live in a "My Space" age because I was able to listen to the other bands that will be performing tonight. I discovered that I really want to hear an Irish duo named Fola who are performing directly after Jun.
http://www.myspace.com/folamusic
I've also been trying to sort out car rental insurance for our visit home in May and our move home in July. I've become increasingly frustrated while trying to figure out what our options are, partially because I'm searching from the UK so all my Google hits are UK related. There are lots of great options for UK residents, but from what I can tell we're going to be stuck with using the insurance offered by the car rental company which costs an arm and a leg.
Visa offers decent coverage if certain measures are taken, such as declining CDW insurance offered by the car rental company, however it's very basic and I'm not sure that Chris and I should rely on that. Particularly if we're going to be driving from the Midwest to California in August.
We're nearing the end of February, which is Chris' self-imposed deadline for obtaining a faculty job. So far none of the schools that expressed interest in him by asking for references have asked him to interview. Therefore it's onto plan B which is a second post-doc. There are many schools that's he's interested in, with quite a few of them being in California. I'm trying to be patient but I really want to know where we're going to be living in 6 months!
Lately it seems as if there's always something going wrong. I was reminded of this while sitting at home today waiting on the carpenters who were repairing the hole they created in our kitchen back in November. We got a call from the landlord saying they'd be here between 9-10am. Chris has mouse surgeries all week, so I was stuck staying home. I got three subsequent calls from the carpenter each giving me a different arrival time. They showed up around noon, discovered they had the wrong color wood, and left to go shopping. They finally finished around 3pm, which meant I wasn't able to go to work at all today. Sounds ok in theory, but I need to make those hours up and it feels like a complete waste of a day.
Since I'm bored, I thought I might bore you with photos of our on-going kitchen saga. It started in November when our washer stopped working. First the plumber came, he determined that the washer could not be pulled out due to the way the cabinets had been built around it. So then a few days later the carpenter came to remove a cabinet. Next the plumber came back and fixed the washer. Three months later, the carpenter came back to install a new smaller cabinet...actually a wine rack. I would imagine the worse possible place for a wine rack would be in the kitchen next to the oven. We certainly won't be storing wine in it.
A stuck washer in November...
A fixed washer, but missing cabinet in November.
A replacement "cabinet" installed in February!
As I mentioned in a previous blog entry, we had computer problems when our anti-virus software expired. Luckily, re-formatting the hard drive has seemingly solved the problems we were having. However, we now have new problems. For example, the space bar on our keyboard came off and so I'm typing this on an external USB keyboard. It only cost 9 pounds, but it's taking up valuable USB space (only 3 of the 4 are working). We could get all our laptop problems fixed under warranty but that would involve transferring our warranty to the UK which seems silly considering we're moving home this summer. I just hope nothing else goes wrong in the meantime. It's only when a computer is not working that you realize just how often you need it.
I purchased flight tickets to move home last night, but that didn't go smoothly either. We bought them through studentuniverse.com which offers discounted airfare to students and faculty. We haven't purchased flights through them since moving here but had bought quite a few when living in the U.S. Anyway, I didn't realize until after buying our tickets that they had to call the HR departments where we work to determine if we were faculty members. Apparently, you cannot simply be a staff member, you actually have to be a professor. Luckily, we were able to get the tickets cancelled. We think Chris would have qualified, but I definitely did not. So now it's back to the web to search for cheap one-way tickets home in July.
Today is Pancake Day, or Shrove Tuesday as it's officially known. Historically, rich foods such as fat, butter and eggs were used up on Shrove Tuesday because they were forbidden throughout the 40-day fasting period of Lent...so what better to make than pancakes!
We went to a pub for an engagement party last night (one of Chris' labmates is getting married). It's been awhile since we've been out with Brits and I had sort of forgotten how popular and annoying "rounds" are. A round is when someone decides they need another drink then asks everyone standing/sitting near them who else would like a drink. The idea is that someone different offers to buy everyone a round the next time around.
You can, of course, imagine the problem with this system. Not everyone wants a drink at the same time and people leave throughout the night, so each round has a different number of people. With a big group you might end up buying 20 drinks, but by the end of the night someone who's just taking their turn might only buy 5 drinks for the remaining people.
Nobody seems to really keep track or be offended if they'd had to buy more drinks than others. It's just an accepted practice when going to the pub. I've also found that Brits don't like it when people aren't drinking, so even when you say you're done for the night, the drinks keep coming.
The picture below, from last night, is of Yotis (Canadian labmate), Chris and Chris (boyfriend of a labmate). The Chris on the far right joined the picture of the two North American boys because he's wearing a Minnesota shirt :) He's never been to the U.S, he just liked the shirt. Those types of shirts are quite popular here which I find strange, especially because it's random states. Florida, New York or California would make sense, but instead it's often states from the heartland of America.
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Weather
The weather here has been fantastic lately, with temps in the 50s and lots of sunshine. Granted it never really gets that cold, but temps in December with mostly in the 30s and we got lots of rain, so I'm quite enjoying the difference. It's strange to hear birds and other spring sounds in January, it reminds me of April in Wisconsin. I've always hated cold weather, and as much as I'm looking forward to returning home, I'm not excited about the prospect of living in a state with long, cold winters again.
Income Taxes
I recently researched a tax clause we had heard about prior to moving here, in which teachers and researchers who stay in the UK less than two years are exempt from paying income tax. I never thought we'd be here less than two years so I never seriously looked into it but that now that it's becoming a serious possibility I've written to the Birmingham tax office for more information. The amount is quite significant and worth leaving in July for, as Chris pays 350 pounds/700 dollars per month in income taxes. On a related note, we just found out that our landlord will not allow us to a month-to-month lease after August, so it's all the more incentive to leave in July.
Famous Footwear
The company I worked for in Madison might be shutting down. There was always a rumor of this happening even when I worked there, as the company headquarters are in St. Louis, but I still thought I might go back to work there one day if Chris and I ever returned to Madison.
http://www.channel3000.com/money/15137831/detail.html
Pet Girl
I read a strange newspaper story here the other day about a girl who acts like a pet, and while I'm sure something like this could just as easily happen in the U.S., I'm almost certain that this kid would not be allowed to live off welfare like she does here. It's so depressing to think that my UK tax money is supporting her lifestyle.
Tasha Maltby, 19, told British newspapers she was the "pet" of her 25-year-old fiance Dani Graves. The articles go on to say that The couple, who live on benefits (neither one works) in a council house (free housing) and plan to start a family, have been friends for years.
"I am a pet," she told the Daily Mail. "I generally act animal-like and I lead a really easy life. I don't cook or clean and I don't go anywhere without Dani. It might seem strange but it makes us both happy. It's my culture and my choice. It isn't hurting anyone."
http://uk.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUKL2388251520080123
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=509713
I think it's interesting see the difference between how left-brained and right-brained people think. Chris and I are very obvious examples of predominantly thinking with one hemisphere. This was confirmed when taking the Right Brain vs Left Brain Creativity Test which was designed by researchers at The Art Institute of Vancouver.
Interestingly enough, it seems I'm better suited than Chris to be a lab scientist :) Some occupations usually held by a left-brained person include a lab scientist, banker, judge, lawyer, mathematician, librarian, and skating judge. Some occupations usually held by a right-brained person are forest ranger, athlete, beautician, actor/actress, craftsman, and artist.
Left Hemisphere Style
- Is planned and structured
- Prefers established, certain information
- Likely to read an instruction manual before trying
Right Hemisphere Style
- Is fluid and spontaneous
- Prefers elusive, uncertain information
- Trouble prioritising, often late, impulsive
I'm curious how many couples are like us and think very differently. It certainly works well when we travel because I plan it all out and Chris is willing to talk to anyone, no matter what language they speak, once we're there :)
I've never thought much about anti-virus software because UW provided free Norton software to all students. We were pleasantly surprised when Norton continued to work after Chris graduated but became very unhappy last week when we were suddenly cut off. I knew the day would come eventually however we had no warning, so almost immediately we were inundated with viruses.
I assumed we'd need to purchase new software but so far a free program recommended by Chris' labmate seems to be doing the trick. We're using the free version of AVG and I'm hopeful it will offer sufficient protection.
http://free.grisoft.com/
So my PSA for the day is - don't let your anti-virus software expire because trying to do work on a computer plagued with viruses is maddening! This is also a warning to my brother who was hoping to take advantage of UW's free software post-graduation :)
A student at work brought a website to the attention of a staff member yesterday. Turns out this website shares the same logo which we just started using when the college name changed.
Needless to say the higher ups at our very Catholic college are not happy! I'm quite curious to see what happens over the next few days. I highly anticipate a logo change.
http://www.abortionrights.org.uk/
kk
The college I work for was recently granted taught degree awarding powers, which essentially means it can now grant it's own degrees. This also means the name changed from Newman College to Newman University College...a small but annoying change in my eyes. The official change was yesterday which meant all new stationary and hours spent changing document templates. In general, a lot of time and resources wasted.
kk
The term college here is quite different than the U.S. In general, college refers to further education, which is what students do after they "leave school" at the age of 16. It reminds me of community and technical colleges in the U.S. So at age 16 you go to college and at age 18 you go to university. There are a few higher education colleges, which really confuses the situation. A higher education college offers university level degrees but cannot award it's own degrees, it has to be affiliated with a university. A "university college" can award it's own degrees but still isn't big enough (student and program-wise) to be a full-fledged university.
kk
Brits get confused when Americans refer to university as college. It's also confusing to them when I say I went to the University of Wisconsin and Edgewood College. They want to know the difference and I honestly have no idea. I assume it's similar in that larger schools which offer more programs (undergraduate, masters and doctoral) are known as universities and smaller schools are simply colleges. If anyone knows more, clue me in because I'm curious and wikipedia wasn't as helpful as usual when I searched earlier.
