Anglophile's Digest

This is the end

2011-03-24T11:31:00.000Z

I know, you've seen it coming.

After really struggling to think of anything to write about, I figured I'd announce this is the end of this blog and I'm also stepping away from my blogging on Anglotopia. There are a lot of reasons, first of all that my "New English Adventures" just aren't that new anymore. I've well and truly settled into life here.

Also blogging is a very self-centered activity, and I don't mean that in a derogatory way or to offend or belittle other bloggers. Blogging really comes from a place of relating your personal place in the world- life from the perspective on oneself- and lately I haven't been seeing my life in this way. My life is so much more about the people around me and their stories which aren't mine to tell. Not to say that I've lost a sense of myself or that my life is defined by the people around me, but between my job, family life, volunteering and friendships my life has become a web of important relationships that are hard to put into writing, or interesting writing at least.

This isn't to say I'll never blog again, but for now thats where I'm at and I'm quite certain on this particular blog, its the end of "Anglophile's Digest" for good.

Thanks for reading and please keep in touch!

Good News All Around!

2010-11-20T10:52:00.001Z

I've got lots of good news to share!

First bit of good news is that I've now been well for a month. I haven't had any flare ups since mid October and most of the spots on my legs have healed. I've got no more blisters left healing, but my legs are still covered in purple marks where the worst spots were. Its possible some of these could take several months to heal. Its a good thing I'm not a Rockette!

The second bit of good news is that I GOT A JOB!!! I applied to be a Demonstrator for Dyson and got the call a week ago Friday that they chose me! They've been recruiting up and down the country to put brand reps in some of the 100 biggest Dyson retailers around the UK and I will be a sales rep in the best performing Dyson retailer in my area.

I'm very excited about this opportunity, so far I'm so impressed with Dyson. They are so organized and the company seems to work like clockwork, something that I really appreciate in an employer. They also have great benefits for their employees. I will only be working 13 hours a week but its exactly the little financial boost we need and I will also still be able to continue my volunteer work for the time being.

I have a two day training session down in Wiltshire (its about a 6 hour train journey to the South West of the country) which is a week from Monday, then I start work on December 4th. This is a permanent position but I suppose it will be trial by fire as I will start the first weekend in December in the biggest retail park in the area.

I've got a really exciting holiday season coming up with a swing-themed fundraiser Christmas show for Red Dreams. One thing the charity organizers have wanted to do is put the mentors and vocal coaches in the shoes of the students. That means public performances and recording. Its actually been a huge help to me preparing for my own pieces in the upcoming show and also recording a song for the Christmas charity CD. My students all have gone in and recorded songs and now that I've done it I know how terrifying it is, I recorded my song right after one of my students finished and she was giving me pep talks and pointers since she's an old pro at recording. It was a great little role reversal for her to be able to share some experience and knowledge with me.

I've really enjoyed preparing for this swing show. I love swing and jazz, but its definitely not my students' preferred style of music but I've been so impressed with the way most of them have embraced this new style of music. Usually they like to work on pop songs and things that are in the charts, so I thought I'd have a lot of push back from the students about learning songs that were written over half a century ago. Most of them have surprised me and are enjoying this style, putting their own stamp on it, and also because this style is much more challenging since they don't hear these songs on the radio constantly and are learning from scratch, some of my students are making leaps and bounds in their vocal abilities. I've seen some of my students really blossom in this process and its been really amazing and built up their confidence so much that they are doing things they've never been able to before. I'm really looking forward to the concert and joining my kids on stage.

I'm also looking forward to taking my Show Choir kids to Asda (a British supermarket owned by Wal-Mart) the week before Christmas to sing carols in the main entry way for shoppers. We'll be fundraising for Red Dream but it will also be lots of fun and for many of them it will be their very first public performance.

I'm also looking forward to having my own family Christmas meal in my own house this year. I love going around to Jason's family and spending Christmas with my family but I'm really looking forward to cooking a nice Christmas dinner and doing most of the celebrating right here at home. I'm already brainstorming about what I want to make, and Jason has taken up a baking hobby lately so he will hopefully be lots of help as well!

A Happy Post

2010-10-17T14:34:00.000+01:00

Well, despite my health issues I've been doing my best to keep up with my volunteering commitments like vocal coaching for Red Dreams.

Another project I started helping with at Red Dreams over the summer was a show choir. We weren't sure if we'd get enough kids interested and I've kind of taken it on as my pet project. The first few meetings we had 5-6 kids, then last night at our monthly rehearsal we had FOURTEEN kids show up. I didn't even know what to do with so many! It made me feel good that the kids keep coming back and are now bringing their friends as well, I must be doing something right!

We are getting a small group of them that have been coming since summer to perform a song they've learned on Radio Hartlepool. I'm really proud of what I've done with the show choir, especially getting them singing in harmony and it will be a big achievement for them to have a real performance.

We are also gearing up toward a big fundraising show in December. The show is going to have a swing/big band theme so all of my students are working on swing numbers to perform at the fundraiser show. I'm so glad the theme was chosen cause its really opening my students up to a whole new genre of music they've never heard before. They are really taking to the new style and putting their own stamp on it and its a great challenge for them step outside of what they normally do and try something different.

I've had a bit of a rough week with HSP symptoms, I had a bit of a flare up on Monday but things have been much better since then. It has now been 4 weeks since this started, so hopefully we are now at the end.

Another HSP Update

2010-10-11T13:21:00.000+01:00

Well, things seem to be coming to a painfully slow end. I've had no more "flare ups" and I have gotten a few new spots over the past week but all of them have been tiny, don't hurt or blister (they look like someone has dotted my upper legs with a red ball point pen) and within 24 hours they fade to barely detectable bruises and then disappear quickly. That is the good news!

However, the worst flare up I had two weeks ago had left my lower legs covered in blisters which are taking their sweet time healing. The worst ones are around my ankles and feet, which make it impossible for me to wear real shoes. I'm still relying on my flip flops which makes me nervous since it leaves the healing blisters exposed, but I'm taking care to make sure they remain clean and apply antiseptic cream a few times a day to aid the healing process. I just wish they would hurry up and heal already because really they are the last remaining traces of this disease that I have left on my body.

I'm now heading into Week 4, which hopefully means this is it. I just need to meet with my doctor once all of the spots have healed to discuss when to stop taking the Gabapentin, it can have mood altering side effects although I haven't had any that I know of. You will have to ask my husband but I don't think I've had any aggression toward others and while I did threaten to cut my legs off it was out of frustration and extreme discomfort, not any intent to harm myself. Anyway, the literature that came with the Gabapentin says in big bold letters not to stop taking it without consulting a doctor so I'll need to consult with my GP before I go off them. I had to slowly go on them, starting taking one the first day, then two the second day before going to the full thrice daily dosage. I imagine coming off them will be a similar gradual descent.

Anyone who has ever had a badly scraped knee or other healing skin lesion will understand the new phase of discomfort I'm in. As my body is working to heal the blisters there is a bit of stinging and aching and it makes it hard to find a comfortable sleeping position. I just hope my body will hurry up and finish the healing process already!

HSP Update

2010-10-02T13:51:00.000+01:00

I wrote my previous post on Monday, and Monday night marked my worst flare up of vasculitis yet. The back of my legs all the way from my calves to my thighs broke out in a hot rash. It was so uncomfortable I didn't sleep and decided to visit the doctor again that day.

The doctor printed out a leaflet from the NHS about HSP, which was nice to have since what I've found from Googling varied a bit, but the link I posted on Monday was very close to the NHS leaflet. He also did some tests and ascertained that I had a urinary tract infection so he prescribed me an antibiotic. He also prescribed me an antihistamine/sedative that would help me sleep.

He then called the hospital to consult with the medical team there and get their opinion on if there was anything they could do about the persistent burning/tingling sensation that was driving me to the brink of insanity. The doctor at the hospital advised the GP that the sensation I was experiencing was neurological which was why no topical treatments or antihistamines would relieve it. The doctor suggested an anti-epilepsy medication called Gabapentin that is als used to treat peripheral neurological pain.

I went home feeling much better that I'd left with something to treat my symptoms. Even though there is nothing they can do to stop the inflammation or the frequent flare ups of vasculitis, at least they are able to help me sleep and most importantly give me some relief from the neurological pain.

Monday night I slept for 12 hours. It was heaven. This week has been much better than last week. I've slept through night almost every night, I didn't have any flare ups until last night and the only complication has been the swelling of my ankles which can be helped with ibuprofen and staying off my feet.

The doctor told me the Gabapentin could take a week to have full effect. Last night I had a bit of a flare up with just a few small new spots but a return of a bit of the tingling sensation which woke me a few times during the night, but nothing too torturous. I'm hoping by Monday the Gabapentin will be much more effective in subduing that tingling should I experience more flare ups.

I can't believe today marks just two weeks since this whole ordeal began. It feels like its been much longer, and I hate to think this could last for a further 2-4 weeks. Still, the treatment of my symptoms has made the condition much more manageable than it was last weekend so even if the condition drags on for the full 6 weeks I am confident I can manage my symptoms.

More Unfortunate News

2010-09-27T07:23:00.000+01:00

I hate to just use my blog to vent about difficult things going on in my life, this year is just turning out to be a year of difficult things.

Last Saturday night while I was out with friends I suddenly developed a strange rash on my legs. It started as red spots all over that didn't itch or have any strange sensation or texture. They came on quickly and were nothing I recognized so I went to the ER. While at the ER my legs swelled up and the spots became raised and started to burn. The ER doctor (while shrugging his shoulders and looking bewildered) told me that it was probably an allergic reaction to detergent or new jeans. He told me that I needed to follow up with my GP on Monday morning, so thats what I did.

My GP at first thought it could be an allergic reaction but also said it could be a condition that can affect the kidneys. (Um, okay, way to drop that one in there Mr. GP!) He had me pee in a cup and told me to come in one day during the week to have blood drawn. So I did. Fast forward to Thursday, bumps are still there and the GP calls to tell me the urine and blood samples were both normal. Cool, but why do I still have bumps?

Then Thursday night things got a bit more tricky. First of all at night the tingling sensation on my legs got so bad I was unable to sleep for the entire night. Also, my ankles swelled up and became very painful. Jason got home that night so first thing Friday we called the doctor and scheduled another appointment. When I got in he had me pee in a cup again, said there was no protein in my urine but thought this was a condition called (insert gibberish here) and it usually clears up on its own. He then said if I wanted he could check me into the hospital because they could run more tests than he was able to OR go home and wait it out.

Clearly I chose the former of the options. So off we headed to the hospital. When I checked in at 4 I noticed that my right hand had started to swell, it actually looked as if I had broken my hand but I obviously hadn't injured it at all. I saw a couple doctors over the course of the night, first was a first year resident, then a rheumatologist who just happened to be assigned to the Emergency Assessment Unit I was admitted into. I'd been told by the nurses that he found my case fascinating, but I will hand it to him that he didn't geek out on me during our consultation.

Both of these doctors said it was most likely a condition called Henoch–Schönlein Purpura, or HSP for short. They told me that its a complicated condition to explain because not much is known about it but basically its an inflammation of the capillaries that is caused by an autoimmune reaction to certain otherwise normal viral infections. These spots on my legs are basically where capillaries have become irritated and burst. They also explained that in many cases it can affect the kidneys and the bowels, which is why they had me pee in many cups and took several vials of blood to send off for testing. They reassured me that they were monitoring my kidney function closely and my kidneys were functioning perfectly normal.

At first they said there was a possibility I could go home that night and come back in the morning to meet with the consultant since there wasn't anything they could do to treat me, then as it approached midnight the joint swelling started to get increasingly worse. Both of my ankles were so swollen I could hardly walk, both of my hands had swelled by this point and the right hand resembled a latex glove that had been blown up, also my elbows and right knee joined the club. After this sudden swelling the night shift doctor broke the news that she wanted me to stay overnight so they could keep an eye on my symptoms and by that point I agreed that it was probably the best thing. So despite having another miserable sleepless night, made worse by staying overnight in a hospital room I shared with 4 other women, I did have the peace of mind that if something scary happened I was in the right place.

Nevertheless, the night was hellish. Again the itching and tingling flared up during the night and made it impossible to sleep. In the morning the consultant finally came and did his rounds with the the other doctors and let me know that after watching me overnight they were quite certain this was a case of HSP, that there was no treatment for it short of steroid injections and I just needed to keep the skin moisturized and take ibuprofen for the swelling. They also said they would send me home after the rheumatologist came back in just to make sure he was on board with all their recommendations. He decided against steroids because he said it would make it very difficult to evaluate the condition and be sure to rule out any other factors. Also the steroids could make me even sicker. They told me that once all the blood tests came back (one takes 10 days) an appointment would be arranged for me to meet with the rheumatologist at which point he'd consult with me further and also do an ultrasound of my kidneys to keep checking that they aren't being effected.

So they sent me home and I've now been home for two nights.

Last night I didn't sleep much again. During the day I have very little itching and the spots seem to be flat and soft, then around 9-10 at night my legs become hard, a new crop of spots flares up and the old ones become raised and irritated. This has been a nightly occurrence for the past four nights now. The only good news is that the joint swelling has gone done almost completely.

Last night I actually felt like the itching sensation was going to drive me insane, luckily tonight was a bit better. Before bed Jason pressed a bag of frozen peas all over my legs which really helped relieve the itching and I also took a cool oatmeal bath to sooth the itching a bit. The relief was short lived and I've only had little spells of sleep tonight but the pre-bed routine seemed to dial down the itching a bit and I just kept getting up to press ice packs or cold towels all over my legs. Right now its 7am and I'm just waiting for this flare up to end so I can catch a few hours of sleep.

So I guess this could be my daily/nightly routine for a couple more weeks. HSP usually lasts about a month and clears up within 6 weeks. I should count myself lucky that this doesn't seem to be attacking my kidneys or bowels, but its difficult to count yourself lucky when you can't sleep during the night and are suffering with itching sensations that nearly drive you insane. I just have to hope this passes as quickly as possible and that maybe toward the last couple weeks of this the symptoms will become milder. Here's hoping and praying the end of this is near.

If you're interested, here is a good overview of HSP: http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/780452-overview

Summer is Here!

2010-07-26T00:16:00.001+01:00

Well, summer is finally here. I know you are thinking that its July, nearly August, so I must be a bit slow. The thing is when you work with teenagers and have a middle-school aged stepchild, summer is defined by when school is out.

I can honestly say that English summer totally sucks. The past 24 hours my friends and I have been trying to arrange one weekend over the "summer" when we can go camping together. Here is the problem, instead of three luxurious months off like American kids, British kids get six weeks and actually for some students this year its only 5 1/2 weeks. When you sit down and look at it, it fills up incredibly quickly.

Leeimi finished school on Friday so we we are planning to do lots with her over her 6 weeks off. First of all Jason and I booked a holiday to Blackpool with her, our first family vacation together and something I'm really excited about.

Let me pause for a moment because Max just let out a fart so smelly that he must need to go outside and do his business and exiting the premises for a few minutes should allow me some time to breathe and air out the flat.

Back, I hate interrupting my writing. I tend to over-think things when its not "stream of consciousness" and I'm never happy with any writing of mine that is over-thought. Back to planning out my six week summer.

First of all, during the six weeks holidays Red Dreams is really ramping up its programs while the kids are off school. I am getting involved in a show choir. We aren't quite sure yet how many kids we will get interested, but we are hoping with the success of Glee it will attract lots of kids and we will have a good sized show choir. I'm really looking forward to it, although it is a bigger time commitment, another three hours a week on Thursdays for the next six weeks. Other than that, here is my summer schedule so far.

Next weekend: relax before the madness

August 6-11: The Tall Ships come to Hartlepool! This will be both an amazing experience and a headache at the same time. I'm trying to stay positive but the idea of tens of thousands of people swarming my "front yard" for 4 days makes me panic a little bit.

August 13-15: Blackpool! Not sure what attractions/events we're going to go to yet, but we've got the hotel booked and I'm researching some stuff to do. Blackpool is like a seaside resort with a big amusement park as well, think Cedar Point and Atlantic City rolled into one.

August 21-22: Red Dreams Pitch Invasion, this is Red Dreams' own musical festival. I'd love to attend if I can, especially since I've been helping one of my students plan her acoustic set for the past few weeks. They have been my favorite lessons, she comes in with her guitar and we brainstorm ideas for her set and she tries things out and cares what I think.

For now that is all I have planned, but there is quite a bit of stuff I want to cram in between it all, including *hopefully* a camping trip.

This past week has been interesting to say the least. Last week while I was watching a favorite show of mine, Question Time on BBC One, they mentioned that the following week they would be in Hartlepool. Question Time is a town hall style political debate show, they travel around the country and each week in a different city/town they assemble a different panel of 5 politicians that come on and the audience made of local people gets the opportunity to set the questions and challenge the politicians. Its a great show and I love it so I decided to apply to be in the audience in Hartlepool and was invited to come be a part of it. The experience turned into much more than I had expected, and my brief appearance (in front of a national audience of millions of people) became one of the highlights of the show (this is what people tell me, I'm not tooting my own horn here).

I'm writing more about it later this week in my Anglotopia post so be sure to check it out on Wednesday and get the full story.

As for this blog, I've had a few ideas about it. One idea is to dedicate more time to it (oh joy!) I'm thinking every other Sunday is a good target. Sunday nights are probably the slowest for me so I think that will work. I'm also toying with the idea of making the move over to Word Press. I use Word Press for my posting on Anglotopia and I love it, and I'm especially getting sick of all the Spam comments here on Blogger. Word Press does a better job of filtering this stuff out. I think I get about two messages a day to approve comments, and they are all gibberish in Chinese characters and its really getting on my nerves and makes me think much less of Google and Blogger in general that it doesn't have the capabilities to filter out these blatantly Spammy comments. Unless of course my blog has become wildly popular in China and my Chinese fans are writing back to me in their native tongue. Doubtful, so I'm going to chalk it up to a giant Google fail. Sorry Google, I'm sure you're crying your eyes out over this and wiping your tears with $100 bills.

I'll let you know if I'm going to go the Word Press direction, but it does seem like something I would do doesn't it. I mean, I did switch to a Mac and an iPhone, so it would only make sense that Google should go the way of the PC.

Hello Again!

2010-07-07T13:29:00.001+01:00

Wow, its been a long time since I have posted. Sorry, I've cut down on all of my blogging over the past month. I've reduced my Anglotopia posts to every other week and this blog kind of when I have something to say. I keep myself pretty busy, with about 15-20 hours a week at the radio station and about 10 hours a week at Red Dreams. Yes I know that still doesn't add up to a full time job, but its all spread out over the week so along with choir practice on Monday and Tuesday it ends up that the only evening I have free is Wednesday and the only morning I have free is Sunday. It's nice to stay busy!

The big news to share is that yesterday I passed my Life in the UK test! I had to pass the test in order to apply for permanent settlement. It is similar to the test immigrants to the US have to take to become a citizen, and the test is the same for both settlement and citizenship. The test required lots of studying on a wide range of information from census statistics to the UK government and also culture and religion. It was only 24 questions and after weeks of studying it took me less than 10 minutes to complete the test. Now that I'm done I just need to fill out the application, pay the fee and send in all the necessary documents and wait for my visa to arrive, this one with no expiration date!

Vocal Coaching

2010-05-14T10:10:00.000+01:00

Lately I've been keeping really busy, through my volunteering at Radio Hartlepool I was introduced to a local charity geared at giving teens an opportunity to express themselves through music and creativity. Red Dreams charity was started by Dawn and Ian McManus after their 16-year-old son tragically died in 2007. He was a musician and poet and his creativity inspired them to start Red Dreams in his honor to give local teens an outlet for their creativity. They also have a recording studio on site so all the kids who come in have the opportunity to make their own recordings, and they can also help bands and singer/songwriters create demo recordings.

Red Dreams mentors bands, singer/songwriters, aspiring recording artists and kids interested in theatre and other creative arts. They needed some new vocal coaches so I put myself forward to come on board and join the team at Red Dreams.

I started a few weeks ago with just two students, and now I've got 8! They are all teens between the ages of 14-17 and have a wide range of talents and abilities, but I really love teaching them and watching them learn and grow. They work mostly on pop songs, whatever artists they are interested in at the time, and when they have finished working on a song they get to record it and sometimes even have it played on Radio Hartlepool during Red Dreams weekly slot on Tuesday during the Morning Show.

Vocal coaching is really rewarding for me, especially in this environment where the kids are just there to have fun and gain some confidence. Working with teenagers is definitely challenging but Red Dreams is a place they all feel like themselves and its such an amazing place for them to come to.

I'm really enjoying my volunteering with Red Dreams, I'll keep you posted on the progress of my students and post any links to recordings if they get posted up anywhere on the internet.

Happy Adoptiversary Max!

2010-04-29T22:33:00.004+01:00

Nearly a year ago on May 1st 2009, Jason and I drove to the Dogs Trust center in nearby Sadberge hoping we would be returning home with Max, a 2-year-old crossbreed who came to the Dogs Trust shelter as a stray. I still remember the feeling as we drove there hoping to pick him up. Over the couple weeks that we met with the staff at Dogs Trust and went through to process of applying to adopt Max I never allowed myself to get attached to the idea that we were taking him home. I didn't want to get my hopes up and risk having them crushed if something went wrong and we couldn't adopt him. The night before we were scheduled to go pick him up we went to the pet store to buy him some bowls, toys, a leash and some dog shampoo as he was still filthy from the time he spent as a stray. However, I wouldn't even let Jason take any of the tags off the new toys or packaging off the leash until the ink was dry on the adoption papers and I was sure we were bringing Max home.

It is a bit pathetic to say, and Jason still makes fun of me for this, but that day as soon as we had Max in the car and were pulling away from Dogs Trust I began to cry. It was a cathartic moment, he was our perfect dog and he was coming home with us. After a couple weeks of suppressing my emotions and trying not to get attached to Max I finally embraced the feeling that we were about to embark on a journey that would change both our lives and Max's for the better.

The first thing on the agenda (after a bath of course) was to fatten him up. When we brought Max home he was barely 40 lbs and so skinny that his ribs were clearly visible.

This was the first night we brought him home. Soooooo skinny! I can't believe how lean he was, especially his legs and chest!

Today Max weighs a bit over 50 lbs and our vet says he is at his ideal weight. As he gained weight we saw him transform into a completely different dog.

Comparing these recent photos with the photos above you can see how he has filled out in the chest and legs and no longer has ribs poking out!

Oops, someone forgot to tell Max he's no longer the dainty dog we brought home a year ago!

Early on we also learned a very important lesson, Max was going to require more than your run of the mill toys. He was on a mission to destroy every toy we gave him. Luckily he focused his energy on the toys and never on our furniture or belongings.

He was able to gut this stuffed penguin in a matter of seconds.

We had to opt for only tough rubber toys, and his favorite is his yellow ball which you see in nearly every photo of him on the beach! That is no tennis ball (he can easily shred those in just one trip to the beach) this is a solid rubber ball and the best £6 we ever spent since it seems virtually indestructible.

If you have been reading my blog for the past year, you probably feel like you know Max. He has a very unique personality and he endears himself to all he meets.

He also has some peculiar sleeping positions. Like this one...

... and this one...

Yes, it seems wherever Max goes a bit of comedy seems to follow

Furry, fast and funny but above all Max's favorite thing is to be close to us.

Happy Adoptiversary Max!

Over this past year you have made our best moments even better and our worst moments bearable. You know when it is time to play and when I need a snuggle and kisses. You have brought so much energy, laughter and love to our home.

Kitchen Remodel = DONE!!!

2010-04-23T15:49:00.000+01:00

Wow, this has been such a big project and I am amazed with the results. Here are some before and after photos.

I didn't take a ton of "before" pictures but here is one photo I took while Leeimi was helping us paint. You can see the old cabinets and the old blue walls. I love blue, and actually the paint color we chose "frosted steel" is slightly blue but the old blue was just a bit too much. The old cabinets were a really cheap vinyl covered chipboard and they showed every finger print and the finger prints were impossible to wipe off.

Ta da!!! I love the new color and the cabinets make such a difference. We also removed a cabinet that was to the left of the oven on its own, it kind of got in the way and made the wall a bit closed off. I think it looks so much better without that cabinet and since we gained another shelf on each of the overhead cabinets we made up the space there.

Here you can see the new cabinet doors on the left, and one of the old doors on the right. They didn't even have nice handles, just these plastic slats across the top to pull out.

The old drawers and base unit doors, and that shade of blue

The same area shown above with the new drawers and cabinet doors!

The new doors weren't going to fit our old cabinets because the old cabinets were much shorter, so we bought new wall units and installed them ourselves.

Here is a closeup of the new wall units. The area on the far right of the photo is where there used to be a single cabinet, I think it flows much better without it there.

I also got some new canisters for the counter, I wanted something with a bit of color but nothing too bold or modern. I love these little crocks with their green lids!

We had an empty wall so we decided to put in some shelves to create a bit more storage. Its a great place to display my nice wooden salad bowls and to keep pasta, flour, sugar, olive oil and of course a candy jar and Max's cookie tin there on the bottom shelf.

I am so thrilled with how this turned out and even more proud that we did all of the work ourselves. It was kind of an intimidating project but we learned a lot and feel like DIY experts now!

East Candy Gripe

2010-04-02T14:49:00.000+01:00

I love Easter candy, especially Starburst Jelly Beans, marshmallow Peeps and most importantly Reese's Peanut Butter Eggs.

Here, Easter candy is all chocolate. Instead of Easter baskets, kids get Easter eggs from friends and relatives which are big hollow chocolate eggs that usually come with a piece of candy in the box. They come in a ridiculous amount of packaging that is twice the size of the actual chocolate egg. Usually they have a couple pieces of candy or a little toy or prize in the box as well. I think they are a bit ridiculous. I could never eat that much chocolate.

This is representative of typical Easter candy in the UK. The large boxes are the Easter Eggs, then there are of course Cadbury Creme Eggs and Cadbury Mini Eggs. I can eat maybe one creme egg, and I'm definitely a fan of the mini eggs (you can get the creme eggs and mini eggs in the US) but every supermarket in the UK has at least one entire aisle stacked floor to ceiling with boxes upon boxes of various Easter Eggs from all the major candy companies. There are Mars bar eggs, KitKat eggs and Cadbury's makes several different kinds but the big eggs themselves are pretty much all the same, just a milk chocolate shell. The only thing that changes is the extra little pieces of candy that come in the box or little toys and trinkets. At least they are cheap, right now ASDA is selling most of their Easter Eggs for £1 each.

I am really missing American Easter candy this year, I really should have had someone ship me over some Starburst Jelly Beans, Peeps and Reese's Peanut Butter Eggs. I miss the vast variety of chocolatey and fruity candy available at Easter time in the US.

Home Improvement

2010-03-22T12:09:00.000Z

This past week Jason and I have been very busy with a big home improvement project. It was an ideal place to make major changes. This little "nook" that we have at the front of our flat is the first thing you see when you walk into the flat. Since the windows look out to sea it is the first thing that everyone looks to when they walk in our front room. This started out as a plan just to tear up the carpet and refinish the wood floor underneath, but it ended up turning into much more...

Phase 1: After tearing up the carpet Jason sanded down the floorboards. I had a moment of panic when the carpet first came up and the floorboards were dull and black with age and had large paint can rings all over. I couldn't have been more impressed with how beautifully they came up!

Phase 2: Painting the walls. This was not part of the original plan, we had only planned on refinishing the floor but then we figured as long as we have the area cleared why not paint as well? The new coat of paint makes this really look like two separate rooms instead of one room with a little nook. The darker shade instantly made the space look much bigger and created a sense of depth. The color is "cookie dough" although I think it looks like chocolate milk

Phase 3: Varnishing the floors. We bought a "yacht varnish" from a local hardware store. It was much cheaper than other varnishes made especially for floors, but I was really impressed with the results. It did take a long time to dry between coats, but I can't imagine that spending extra money would have yielded an incrementally better result. I am so happy with the way the floors turned out!

Phase 4: Finishing touches. The finishing touches were definitely not part of the plan when we set out to refinish the floors but as long as we had to take down the old curtains in order to paint the walls (home improvement is addictive) it seemed like a bit of shame to put the bland dusty old curtains back up. I knew exactly what I wanted and scoured all the stores looking for my vision until I found it. I love the chocolate brown with lime green accents and I think it gives the area its own unique look but also complements the red accents we have in the adjoining living room area. I bought the new rug a couple weeks ago and it goes great with the new curtains.

Jason also had an idea to get a bookcase to put in the room. (He will probably not be too happy that I revealed that he did have some creative input, he would have you believe that I did all the designing and he did all the labor.) I've got books and little decorative things stashed all over the house and I thought it was a great idea. We got the bookcase for quite cheap and had to assemble it ourselves (which you may remember is something I actually quite enjoy) and it fit perfectly in the space and is a great little display area as well as a practical storage solution. I love when form and function come together! To put a cherry on top I got a couple little lime green decorative pieces to put on the shelves and I think they give the whole project a catalog finish!

Last night we had our first dinner in the new improved space! I made Jason a special meal of penne pasta with a roasted vegetable puree sauce to reward him for all the hard work and elbow grease he has put into the project. I feel really confident about our upcoming kitchen remodel after seeing the results of this project and how well Jason rose to challenge.

It has always been my favorite place in the flat since I can sit there and tinker away on my laptop while watching the waves and the people walking along the coast, but now its just as beautiful a view inside as it is outside! I'm beyond thrilled with how it turned out, and even more happy with how cheap the project ended up being.

More Leave!

2010-03-13T12:42:00.001Z

Since Jason was sent home from the gulf early and he's now approaching the end of his Royal Navy career (only 2 1/2 years left!) he's kind of in limbo at the moment and I think they basically just don't know what to do with him. He checks in weekly with a Warrant Officer up at the base in Faslane outside of Glasgow and each week he gets told that they really don't have anything for him to do up there so he might as well stay home. There is a pretty good chance its going to continue like this for the rest of the month and he's just found out he won't be meeting back up with his crew until their leave is over at the end of May.

Its a lot of time off, but I think he deserves it and he's making full use of his time and doing what they sent him home to do which is to spend time with his daughter. I'm really grateful to the Royal Navy for everything they have done and for putting family first. We see Leeimi several times a week and our relationship with her grows stronger every day.

I struggle with how much to reveal here on my blog, its pretty much the most important thing going on in my life and at the top of my mind most of the time. However, its not my story it is hers and being a minor I don't feel comfortable telling that story for her. So I've resolved to tell the highlights, the birthdays, things we do together and photos here and there but for her privacy most of it I'm going to keep to myself. I want to talk about it and I know it would probably make a great story and some compelling blog material but this isn't tabloid news, its a child's life and some things still are sacred.

Luckily I've got plenty of other material for you. The long awaited kitchen remodel is finally getting underway, and we're going to do all the work on our own. We took the plunge this week (or rather I did, since I made all the decisions and forked over the cash) and we bought new door fronts and hardware for the kitchen cabinets. I'm really excited about it, the cupboards we chose are really beautiful and I love the brushed nickel handles we chose. The best part is that the home improvement store had a 50% sale on the door fronts and since we are doing all the work ourselves, its a steal.

The cabinet doors won't be delivered until April 14th, so you'll have to wait for a bit for before and after pictures. In the meantime we are going to be painting the kitchen and doing some other small things so I'll take photos as we go!

Max and Jason together again!

2010-02-25T16:10:00.002Z

If you haven't already seen this video from a few weeks ago when Jason came home, follow the link to see it!

Max greets Jason when he returns home from the Gulf

Along with having Jason home, my days are further brightened by the improving weather. The weather has been a bit nasty this winter but this week we've had some great times out on the beach with Max!

Also, this week was Jason's daughter's 12th birthday! We took her out to dinner for her birthday and she really enjoyed herself. She had a big birthday party this weekend with her friends and I have never seen so many birthday cards in my life! Nearly every surface of her home was stacked with birthday cards! I hope this will be a really memorable birthday for her.

We got her an iPod for her birthday, she was so excited!

We also got her a little stuffed dog since her foster family have 3 boxers

She is such a little character, always posing for photos

Where I've Been

2010-02-16T21:51:00.000Z

Physically I have been right here in Northern England, mentally and emotionally I have been on a roller coaster ride.

Since things seem to be sorting themselves out and the dust is settling I figured here and now is the best place to update all of you my friends and family and some complete strangers on the drastic turns in my life in the past 4 months or so.

Back in October while he was still deployed my husband Jason was notified that he possibly had a daughter that he didn't know about from a woman he had a relationship with long ago. It came as quite a shock to me but the situation was further complicated by the fact that the reason we found out was that the little girl, whose name is Leeimi and will turn 12 later this month, had been removed from a family member's home where she was living and was put into foster care and Social Services needed to make attempts to locate her birth father. For her protection and privacy I will not go into detail about the life she has had for these first 12 years, its not easy to relate and it is in the past and we hope she has nothing but positive things to come.

A DNA test was conducted and we just found out the test results about 2 weeks ago. After the DNA test confirmed that Jason was in fact Leeimi's father I contacted Navy Family Services and they arranged for him to come home early on compassionate leave so she could meet him. She has known since she was 8 that he was probably her father and has been eager to meet him so it would have been horrible if she had to wait another couple months to meet him after receiving those DNA test results she had already been waiting so long for.

Jason got home last Monday and it has been a very busy and exciting week but Leeimi is an absolutely lovely girl and considering what she has been through in her life she has turned out to be an amazingly smart, fun-loving girl. Leeimi currently lives here in Hartlepool with a very nice foster family and will most likely remain there until she goes off to college. We have been busy this past week seeing her nearly every day and each day we love her even more. She brings so much joy to our home when she is here and I am looking forward to getting to know her and making her a part of our lives.

Being a stepmom is certainly not something I had planned on, but if there is anything I have learned in these past few years things never really turn out how you plan them and its usually because you can't imagine the places your life could take you. I've only been in stepmom mode for a week now and its definitely an adjustment but I have loved every minute of it.

Its nice to get this off my chest and now it will be nice to update this blog with what is REALLY going on in my life instead of trying to dig for things to talk about.

Jason and Leeimi (hello dimples!)

Gorgeous Sunrises

2010-01-28T10:39:00.000Z

Winter means really short days, and I mean really short. Right around the Winter Solstice the sun wasn't rising until nearly 9am and it was setting just after 3:30 in the afternoon. Not a whole lot of daylight! However, it does make the chances of catching a spectacular sunrise much better, because, well basically there is a better chance of me being awake at the butt crack of dawn if it doesn't show itself until 9 am! It is getting earlier and earlier every day now and its rising at about 8am which is perfect for me to get some great shots on my morning walks with Max before I head over to the radio station.

Here are a few of the January sunrises I have been awake for! You can click on the images to see them larger.

The marine birds use the beach as a sanctuary from the snow

A very bright and very snowy early January morning

A glimmer of pink reminds us that there is a sun under all those grey clouds!

Max plays on the beach in mid-January as the sun rises

My First Curry

2010-01-17T12:30:00.002Z

It certainly wasn't the first curry I have had, but it was the first curry I have made myself and not from a jar. I have really challenged myself to eliminate as many prepared foods from my diet as possible and curry is a favorite violation so last night I figured now was as good a time as any to start practicing my curry skills with my favorite- Chicken Korma.

I decided to whip out my Jamie Oliver Ministry of Food cookbook. Its a cookbook geared toward beginners but there are a few great recipes in there I use quite often. For this undertaking I was really happy to have a cookbook for beginners to guide me through my first journey with curry.

I skipped a few steps just to get the hang of it. For instance I didn't have whole cumin and coriander seeds so I wasn't able to roast them for my curry paste as Jamie instructed. Also I forgot to buy groundnut oil and used vegetable oil instead. I definitely noticed that my end product lacked a little bit of depth because of this, but for my first trial run just getting down the basic steps and doing it once it worked out fine.

The first step was to make a curry paste, this was packed with lots of ginger, garlic, green chilis, cilantro, coconut, almonds and spices. I was surprised by how green this curry paste was, every jarred curry paste I have ever seen has been a brilliant red but because this was so fresh and had no added colors, it was flecked throughout with green cilantro and chilis. Luckily it looked a lot like Jamie's photos in the cookbook so I didn't let the color throw me.

Then I sauteed some thinly sliced onions with fresh ginger and something I had never cooked with before- cilantro stalks. That is coriander stalks if you are European, yes folks it is the same plant! In the US we call the plant cilantro and the seeds coriander, but here on this side of the Atlantic the whole plant is called coriander. I have always used the leaves and either blended the stalks together with the cilantro or else discarded them completely, but this recipe called for finely chopped coriander stalks, leaving the leaves aside (although there were plenty in the curry paste).

After this I added the curry paste I had prepared earlier, coconut milk, ground almonds, creamed coconut, chickpeas and some water and then I simmered it for awhile.

This is another place where I deviated from Jamie's recipe a bit. Jamie's book is aimed a lot at parents cooking for a family, so this recipe made enough curry to feed a family of 5 and I didn't have enough chicken breast for such a big recipe. Instead of adding the chicken breast at this step, I just made the curry sauce so I could split it in half reserving some to make a biryani which is kind of like a casserole you can make from leftover curry and rice. I simmered the curry sauce for about 15 minutes before splitting it in half and putting one portion away, then I added cubed chicken to the curry and cooked it for another 30 minutes while I boiled the rice. This alone was enough for dinner tonight and lunch tomorrow for me and then I can get another couple meals out of the other half.

I also noticed that I just happened to have all the necessary ingredients to make a mango lassi, which is basically just a mango milkshake made with fresh mango, milk and plain yogurt. Its a perfect compliment to any Indian meal because it is fresh and creamy and cuts any heat. Chicken korma is the mildest of all the curries, but even mine was a bit tangier than most because I was using fresh green chiles so the mango lassi went well with the meal.

This is the final product, although I cheated on the rice and used boil-in-the-bag stuff instead of steaming the rice like I usually like to but I had enough going on I wasn't going to split hairs over rice. I also didn't make the mini naan breads, I have tried to make them before but I really don't think they work unless you have a tandoori to cook them in, which I clearly do not. As I said earlier in the post, it lacked the depth that some other curries I have enjoyed seem to have but what it lacked in depth it more than made up for in freshness. It was the perfect amount of sweet and coconutty without being sickly or too rich and I really loved how good the freshly prepared curry paste tasted in this dish.

Well its not a job, but its the next best thing...

2010-01-14T07:48:00.004Z

My life feels like its getting back to normal now. Last week was kind of a wash, its never taken me so long to get adjusted back, but then again this is my first time going West and then coming back East to my life and routine. Its much easier going the other way.

After a rough first week of 2010, I jumped in right away this week with getting myself geared up for the next few months. After of a year of trying to get hooked up with some volunteer opportunities through the local volunteer placement agency I kind of took matters into my own hands. Long story short, starting today I will be volunteering every weekday at the local radio station, Radio Hartlepool.

I think I have a lot to offer a radio station, I'm good with words and what is radio after all but spoken words? I am really excited about the opportunity to become more connected to my community, and that is what Radio Hartlepool is about. Radio Hartlepool is a non-profit organization which started as an exclusively volunteer venture and still runs mostly on the blood, sweat and tears of volunteers.

So what will I be doing you might ask? Mostly I will be filling receptionist type duties, answering phones, greeting guests, making tea, and other admin stuff. On top of that I will also be learning a lot about how a radio station works, what goes into running a full time radio broadcast and dipping my toes into all aspects of station operations. It will be a chance for me to feel things out and see if maybe radio is a good career turn for me.

Maybe radio will be the thing for me, maybe it won't, but through helping out the station I gain so much needed local experience and references. It seems to be one of the major problems I have faced in my job search, no "local experience" or "local knowledge". Hopefully my time volunteering at Radio Hartlepool will broaden my local experience and knowledge and open doors for me.

I will be volunteering at the station weekdays from 9 until early afternoon, so it will at least feel like a part time job- just without a paycheck, but at least a sense of purpose and fulfillment should follow. I think it will do me a world of good both emotionally and mentally to have quite literally a reason to get out of bed in the morning, put on something other than pajamas and leave the house. I have gotten pretty comfortable in my home-based routine, but I am hoping this will be a good transitional period between not doing much of anything and gainful employment.

Carol Service at St. Hilda's

2009-12-18T11:40:00.006Z

I didn't post yesterday because I knew I would want to post about my experience last night. I have been trying to visit St. Hilda's since I moved here and I've only ever seen the outside. Well last night a choir I sing in, The George Colley Singers, provided the music for the Hartlepool Freemasons Carol Service.

I've never seen anything quite the same as a carol service in the States, although certainly similar services in the season of Advent. The way it works is that a series of lessons are read, last night there were 9 lessons read starting at Genesis, through prophecies of the Messiah in the Old Testament and then finally to many of the familiar passages of the Christmas Story. Between each reading, a Christmas carol is sung. At this carol service my choir did a short Musical Interlude halfway through the service where we sang O Holy Night, Be Still My Soul and an Italian carol called Bambino. The rest of the service we just led the congregation in the carols and threw in harmonies where we knew them to fill out the sound.

It was a magnificent service. Sadly I couldn't get any photos inside because it was too dark in there and I don't believe in using flash photography inside 800 year old sacred buildings. Its disrespectful and the light from flashes can damage the frescos, fabrics and other priceless art decorating these buildings which are irreplaceable.

I was really surprised when I entered St. Hilda's that it has been so beautifully kept and fitted with a lot of modern conveniences like beautiful modern lighting and heating. Although there is only so much you can do, the church was still absolutely freezing and while the congregation stayed in their coats and wooly hats, I was wearing this...

It should come as no surprise that I am easily the youngest lady in the choir.

A bit of history about St. Hilda's Hartlepool. Although the exact date is unknown, St. Hilda's church was built in the 13th Century by the Brus family. Yes, the same family Robert the Bruce came from and local legend has it that Robert the Bruce was actually born in the Brus family home in Hart Village and not in Scotland as Scottish history books tell us. It would certainly make sense as Robert the Bruce's father was the Lord of Hartness and owned most of Hartlepool. Both the original St. Hilda's church and the Hartlepool Town Wall were built by the Bruce family.

St. Hilda's Church

Hartlepool Town Wall

The site of St. Hilda's church is actually home to an even older sacred place dating back to the 7th Century. Before St. Hilda's church was built by the Bruces, St. Hilda's Abbey existed on the Hartlepool Headland and was founded by the Saint in 640 A.D. So the land where St. Hilda's currently stands has been a place of worship for over 1300 years.

Visiting this church is special, but getting the opportunity to sing in this space with a really talented group of musicians was a special Christmas treat for me and something I will never forget and hope to do again next year and in years to come.

Midwest To-Do Lists

2009-12-02T22:39:00.007Z

I don't know if I posted it here, but I am coming home for Christmas. I will be in Lake Orion from December 21th-27th and in Chicago from December 28th-January 2nd. I have a lot of feelings swirling around about this trip, it has really been a long time since I have been back and I don't know what to expect. My first priority was to find a place for Max while I was gone, I finally found a great kennel to board Max. Its a farm, and come on what dog doesn't love a farm? He will get lots of love and most importantly exercise and that was my main concern. It will be so hard to leave, but at least when I leave him I can convince myself he is going on vacation too.

So, now with all of that out of my mind, I can start thinking about what I am going to do when I get home to Lake Orion and when I get back to Chicago.

My Metro Detroit List

Dinner and margaritas at Sagebrush Cantina in downtown LO

A couple drinks at Hamlin Pub for old time's sake

A long visit with Barbie, we have so much to catch up on and there are some things that can only be said in person

A visit to Canterbury Village, I never realized how much I missed this until I went through a Christmas season without it

Christmas Eve service at King of Kings Lutheran, there is no substitute and its not Christmas without it

Starbucks, Starbucks and more Starbucks

My Chicago List

A visit to the Globe Pub, the place where Jason and I met

Good old Chicago brunch at Pick Me Up Cafe

Pints at the Irish Oak in Wrigleyville

Lunch with babies, sounds silly (and messy) but in the past year my group of friends in Chicago have had TEN beautiful babies (with another due any day) and I have yet to meet a single one of them

Get a haircut

Do some bargain shopping at Filene's Basement/DSW

I have A LOT of people to visit and drink wine with, I won't list them all here but you know who you are

Visit my old office and former coworkers

Eat LOTS of sushi

Starbucks, Starbucks and more Starbucks

Happy Thanksgiving!

2009-11-26T13:58:00.005Z

You are probably wondering what I am doing for Thanksgiving. You may remember last year I cooked an entire Thanskgiving feast for my in laws, all from scratch. I cooked for three days straight and by the time the meal came around I think I was too tired to really enjoy it.

Well, this year I am doing the exact opposite. I am just cooking a little meal for myself, but with all the basics. I didn't even really plan anything in advance and this morning I just kind of threw together what I had.

I bought a little turkey breast roasting joint at the supermarket and just checked this morning to see what I had to flavor it with. I made a rub of herbs de provence (leftover from last year's turkey roast) and then I just roughly chopped an onion and threw it all in the slow cooker. I needed a bit of cooking liquid so I just glugged in what was left of a bottle of white zinfandel I had in the fridge. I think for just throwing things together it will probably turn out to be pretty darn good! I have one of those divided slow cookers, so in the other side of the slow cooker I cut up some carrots and some sweet potatoes and I have those simmering in some chicken stock.

I bought some cranberry and chestnut stuffing, although it is the British kind not the American style. British stuffing isn't made with big chunks of stale bread, its made with breadcrumbs so its not quite the same but this will do. I also was able to find a jar of cranberry sauce! I think I will make some green beans and maybe some roastie potatoes as well if I feel like it when it gets closer to dinner time.

UPDATE:

Just finished my delicious meal, here is a photo of my spread. Once I saw how much I had I decided to nix the roastie potatoes and green beans.

And just if you are wondering if it smells good, Max sure thought so (that pink blur is his tongue)

Taking a Moment to Pat Myself on the Back

2009-11-12T09:55:00.003Z

I've been feeling very proud of myself lately. Although I certainly haven't done all of the things that I have wanted to accomplish after being here for a year (like finding a job) I have managed to do a lot of other things that I have every right to be proud of.

First of all, I have stripped this flat of all things granny and bachelor, and when I moved in there was a lot of both and its taken quite some effort to make this place really look nice without spending much money.

I think my greatest accomplishments are making friends and becoming involved in the community. I feel more tied to this community now than I ever did in Chicago. I supposed its easier in a smallish town to find ways to integrate yourself into the community, but I didn't dilly dally and I got involved right away and a year later I feel like I have become an important part of this community. Also, when I moved here I had zero friends, now I have two very close friends and about a dozen other friends and acquaintances which in a town where I have very little in common with anyone is quite an impressive number. After living in Chicago for a year I didn't have anywhere near that many new friends. Its not a popularity contest or anything, its just a matter of feeling like I belong and having a support system.

I am also really proud of myself for learning to drive here. It was really difficult and at the beginning it was one of those things I honestly never thought I was going to be able to do. It was probably the first time in my life I genuinely felt like I couldn't do something and I kept at it anyway. Its been a month since I passed my driver's test and those first few weeks were really rough and I wondered if I would ever get used to driving our car, but I forced myself to get in the car and go places I didn't necessarily want to go and put myself into situations that scared the living daylights out of me but now I am comfortable in pretty much any driving situation. I know a lot of people who after their driving test never quite built their confidence up to the point where they feel comfortable driving outside of town. It is very daunting, and I definitely couldn't do it without the aid of my satellite navigation system. I can see how easy it is to settle into the routine and never really feel comfortable driving on the big roads, it terrified me too, but I sucked it up and did it anyway because I felt I had to and its another thing I am proud of myself for.

Now on a less egotistical note, I have been considering putting my tree up a week early. First of all because I won't be here for a few days before Christmas so I will miss out on valuable tree time then, but also because it seems that all of the stores and shopping centers are already fully decked out for Christmas. Its one thing to be selling Christmas stuff, but our main shopping center has all of the Christmas lights up and Santa is arriving there next week! If Santa says its time for Christmas, well then I think its time. London had their official lighting ceremonies last week, and this week they are turning on the lights in nearby cities like Leeds. Why shouldn't I too be able to put up my Christmas decorations? So I think this settles it and I am going to put my Christmas stuff up a week from Saturday!

A final note, in case you don't read my blog column on Anglotopia, I am going to London for a day next week on Wednesday! I am really excited, mostly because I got such a great deal on my hotel and train tickets and there is nothing better than feeling like you are getting a good deal when you travel. I am just going down to London to see the sights and meeting up with some people from Anglotopia while I am down there.

I will give a full report when I return next week!

Remember, Remember the 5th of November

2009-11-05T11:07:00.003Z

Happy Bonfire Night/ Guy Fawkes Night!

November 5th is known as Bonfire Night and it is the celebration of the foiling of the plan to blow up the Houses of Parliament on November 5th 1605. Guy Fawkes kind of gets the bad rap, his job in the plot was to prepare the explosives, all of the actual plotting was done by a group of Catholic gentry including Thomas Percy who was from around these parts. Thomas Percy was at the time of his involvement with the plot the constable for Alnwick Castle and was basically in charge of all the properties belonging to his cousin the Earl of Northumberland and the Percy family. When you visit Alnwick Castle there is an exhibit set up about his involvement in the Gunpowder Plot, including some letters related to the plot that have been put on display for visitors.

My mom, me and my dad on the grounds of Alnwick Castle

If you want to read about the Gunpowder Plot, check out this Wikipedia article.

I am a bit worried about Max and how he will react to fireworks going off tonight. I know the sound of motorcycles and helicopters stresses him out, so I am bracing myself for the fireworks tonight. I think the best I can do is to keep the TV on and shut the living room door as most of the fireworks go off behind our building, and most importantly stay calm for him. There have been fireworks going off since Halloween and the big fireworks will be on Saturday night, so I will have to keep an eye on him over the next several days and try not to be startled by the fireworks myself!

Happy Halloween from Count Dogula

2009-10-29T18:36:00.005Z

Be afraid, be VERY afraid...

The very distinguished Count Dogula

Count Dogula flashes his fangs!

He may be a vampire, but he is also a gentleman

Showing those fangs again!

I vant to suck your blood and lick your face!

This is actually a child's costume set, it was only £4 at Tesco (kind of like the British version of Meijer) and he already had the fangs! I was surprised that he didn't try to shake off the cape, he just pranced around in it like it was no big deal.

Pumpkin Pie, and why it represents me

2009-10-25T12:26:00.010Z

Pumpkin pie is DEFINITELY an American thing, but what many people don't know about pumpkin pie is that it was actually created using traditional English baking recipes. English settlers were introduced to the pumpkin by Native Americans, they saw it had similar properties to some English produce and created pumpkin pie by substituting pumpkin for ingredients they were used to in England but didn't have access to in colonial America. The first pumpkin pies probably resembled mince pies, with a full covering of shortcrust pastry.

I think that is why it kind of represents me, the English settlers took something very American and adapted it to be a kind of American-English hybrid.

I have been craving pumpkin pie since last year but never had a chance to make one because I didn't anticipate that the pumpkins would be available only for a few weeks in October. This year a friend of mine from choir was growing pumpkins in his garden and gave me one of his a couple weeks ago. My mom also brought me a can of pumpkin when she came to visit this year, so now I have a freezer full of pumpkin just waiting to become some delicious holiday recipes. However, even though its only October I just couldn't wait another minute for a piece of pumpkin pie so I made one yesterday.

First I cut the pumpkin in half and scooped out the guts. I saved the seeds and plan on roasting them today for a little snack.

I placed the pumpkin halves on a greased baking sheet and baked them for 1 1/4 hours at 350º until the flesh was soft. I let them cool for a bit so I could handle them and scoop out the flesh.

Then I pureed the pumpkin, most of the recipes I looked at suggested straining water from the puree but my puree was incredibly thick so I never had to drain it. It was a really rich sweet pumpkin, perfect for pie making.

I quickly whipped up a basic shortcrust pastry in my food processor and chilled it in the fridge while I mixed up the filling. I used a recipe that called for beating 3 eggs then adding two cups of pumpkin puree, 1/2 cup of heavy whipping cream and 1/2 cup of brown sugar as well as a blend of cinnamon, allspice and ginger.

Once the pie was ready I baked it in a 375º oven for 45 minutes and it turned out perfect!

I whipped up some heavy whipping cream and confectioner's sugar (by hand with a whisk, it was hard work) for some fresh homemade whipped cream. The first bite was magical, it was instant taste memory and it was such a comforting taste. It was definitely worth all the work of making it totally from scratch!

I PASSED!!!

2009-10-15T14:37:00.004+01:00

Yes, I passed my UK Driving Test on the second try. According to everyone "All of the good drivers pass on the second try". I have had so many people say this to me, and it rolls of their tongue like they have said it a million times before. It is counterintuitive that the good drivers would pass on the second try, if they are good drivers why wouldn't they pass on the first try? I am alone in that assessment though, and it seems the rule is that good drivers pass on their second try so I guess that must mean I am a good driver.

I do a have confession though, and this confession will probably cause my family to disown me. I really really really miss driving the Toyota Yaris I learned to drive in. The ride was smooth and for a tiny car with a diesel engine it had a lot of get-up-and-go. I am now driving Jason's Vauxhall Astra. For those who don't know, Vauxhall is the UK branch of GM, or at least it was at one time. So the Vauxhall Astra is similar to a Chevy Malibu I think.

A Vauxhall Astra, similar to the one I drive

I am grateful to have a nice car to drive, but I have to say its a bit of a let down after driving around the Toyota Yaris for several months. The Yaris zoomed along and got up to speed so smoothly, but driving the Astra it feels like it takes a lot of effort to accelerate and its just clunky to put it in the nicest terms I can think of. I am getting used to it and starting to learn how to get it to perform at its best but it takes a lot more effort than getting the Yaris to perform like I want it to. Alas...

My 15 seconds of semi-fame (I kid)

2009-10-09T19:32:00.005+01:00

Check it out! Today I was quoted in The Guardian Life & Style section in this blog about parmo! The Guardian is a large, well respected national newspaper. (Although, this little article probably only made it to their website.) Still, I am flattered that this columnist quoted me in his article.

The parmo goes national

I am the "one American blogger" referenced in the article, and the article links to my original Anglotopia post about the beloved Teesside delicacy. Maybe I will become famous for coining the term "delinquent nephew of veal Parmigiana" and soon after pigs will probably fly, but one can dream.

This was a nice little ego boost today after a very stressful week.

Let's be serious for a moment

2009-09-30T13:03:00.004+01:00

I've been a bad blogger, I know. Failing my driving test kind of caused a lack of focus in me, or really I have been so busy distracting myself I have lost the ability to un-distract myself. So, I am forcing myself to focus for just a bit.

I am feeling okay about the whole failing thing, its a good thing in a few ways. First of all, I know that I can pass because really I already did once. Second, I know that I can drive well in the test situation. If this makes sense, before the test I was nervous about being nervous. I was afraid that my nerves would get the best of me on the test and it would cause me to drive badly. Now I know that I can drive exceptionally under the pressure of the test so I no longer need to be nervous about being nervous. And third and finally, I feel more prepared to drive on my own. To be perfectly honest before my test I was terrified of getting in the car and driving on my own. Even though my driving itself wasn't lacking, I think my confidence in being able to drive on my own without my driving instructor as a security blanket has really gone up since the test. The examiner obviously doesn't give any help during the test and I managed to get through the test fine without needing any reminders from someone and that is a big confidence boost and now I feel like in two weeks when I do pass I can hop right into my car and not be afraid of driving on my own.

As my blog has become more popular, especially with some of the Anglotopia readers coming over to read my blog, I feel the subject matter has gotten a lot less personal. I think I blogged a lot more about how I felt in the beginning, I was more keen to go into detail about how I was handling things emotionally and I haven't really gone into great detail about that recently since I know there are strangers reading this.

Whatever, here goes. I think I am handling things exceptionally well. One thing I resolved to do when Jason left was to really cut back on alcohol consumption. Not that I by any means had a drinking problem, but last year bars and free flowing beer were just so accessible. Going out every weekend was fun, but it really took a toll on my mental state and the depressive effects of alcohol really started to manifest themselves. I am certainly not going to stop drinking altogether, but I have resolved not to have alcohol in the house and only drink if I am going out with friends. Its made a huge difference. At the same time I have also cut out all snack foods, because if I can't reach for a glass of Sauvignon Blanc, the next best thing is a cookie or ten.

That Friday that I failed my test I seriously felt like a patient detoxing in rehab. I was a bit disgusted with myself that I have come to rely on wine and snacks to get me through difficult emotions. I felt the emotions so much more sharply when I couldn't reach for a glass or a sweet thing in shiny foil paper and I found it a bit alarming that I had dependence on these things. Don't worry, I didn't get the shakes or start sweating, just had a bit of a rough "Eureka!" moment.

Max has been such a big help, I never feel alone and he knows when I am sad and knows just what to do to make me feel better. He has really settled into our home well, and I think he feels like he belongs here now.

I failed.

2009-09-18T12:07:00.003+01:00

I won't go into too much detail because my current vocabulary isn't family friendly. I failed not because I made a bad judgement call but because the examiner did, and my instructor was in the back seat and agreed the examiner was premature in his action.

As I was pulling over on a fairly narrow and busy road the examiner suddenly grabbed the wheel. I knew immediately it was a fail, anytime the examiner has to take the controls it is an automatic fail. But I knew I hadn't actually done anything to make him grab the wheel. He apparently thought I was going to clip a lamppost with my mirror, but I was nowhere close. In order to be close enough to do that my wheel would have at least had to be running along the curb, if not over it and I was far enough away from the curb that there is no way I could have clipped the lamppost unless I had some special go-go-gadget mirror that extended and hurled itself into the post.

The rest of my test was great, at least I have the experience of taking the test. I am obviously really upset, but I am confident the next time I won't give the examiner the chance to make a call like that. Possibly he misjudged my ability and steering accuracy and thought I might veer in closer to the curb but next time I will make sure there are no gray areas.

It could be up to 5 weeks before I take my next test, I have to wait at least 10 days and then I will start checking the website every day waiting for an opening.

Beans on Toast

2009-09-10T14:01:00.006+01:00

Beans and toast is a staple of English cuisine. It might sound disgusting to you, but consider that English baked beans aren't like American ones. Heinz is the preferred brand of baked beans and its a simple recipe of white beans and tomato sauce and not much else. There isn't any molasses or brown sugar like in American baked beans so its a much more savory dish.

The other night I got home from choir and wanted a quick but filling meal. I looked in the cupboard and saw we had quite a stockpile of Heinz Baked Beans so I decided that after a year of avoidance I would throw in the towel and try out beans on toast.

My first step of course was to Google it. Surely it couldn't be as simple as making some toast and pouring beans on it. Was I to toast both sides of the bread or just one side? Well its a good thing I did Google it because had I just toasted the bread and poured beans over it, I wouldn't have been making it properly. The key ingredient left out of the name is butter. After I Googled it I found out I needed to butter the toast before putting the beans on.

I also had to Google cheese on toast several months ago. Its similar to grilled cheese but its an open-faced sandwich made under a broiler so the cheese gets nice and golden on top. However, had I not Googled "cheese on toast" I wouldn't have known I was supposed to sprinkle the bread with Worcestershire sauce before putting the cheese on. It might seem silly to Google these simple things, but it pays off because something like a dash of Worcestershire makes all the difference.

I wasn't too afraid of beans on toast as most Americans are because it reminds me a bit of an after-Thanksgiving meal we had in my house growing up. I am not sure what the real name of it is, but I have always known it as "sh*t on a shingle". Sh*t on a shingle uses the leftover gravy and turkey meat from Thanksgiving and is poured over bread. It was a delicious meal, and quite similar except we never toasted the bread but the concept of pouring something saucy and chunky on some form of bread is pretty much the same. Just like beans on toast, sh*t on a shingle is not the most visually appealing meal but still delicious.

I can't believe it took me so long to try beans on toast, and now I am being told the next step is beans on toast with a fried egg on top. One step at a time though...

Here is a video my dear friend Nikki shared with me with step by step instructions for making beans on toast:

British:
How To Make Baked Beans On Toast

This Week's British TV Review:

Jamie's American Road Trip

This series follows Britsh celebrity chef Jamie Oliver on his journey through American food. Each episode he explores different American cities, not focusing on the trendy foodie scenes but on the cultural food of these places. When visiting LA instead of stopping at low-carb bistros in Beverly Hills he visits the hood and samples Latin cuisine of the Mexican community.

In this week's episode Jamie visited Wyoming where he cooked "on the range" with real cowboys. He learned how to rope and ride, branded calves and even slept on the ground in the mountains rounding up some stray cattle. He cooked chili and baked beans in a dutch oven over an open fire and cooked for the chuck wagon at a rodeo preparing a simple beef roast flavored with coffee. I have to hand it to Jamie he really took this project seriously and delved deep into the fabric of American food.

Jamie's American Road Trip airs on Channel 4 at 9:00 PM on Tuesdays. Episodes available on 4oD.

Just call me Martha

2009-09-03T15:33:00.008+01:00

People keep asking me how I am filling up my days now that Jason is gone. Well, somehow I manage to keep pretty busy. My house is always clean, and lately I have always had baked goods on hand. Both of these things are brand new to me, not to say that I never cleaned but my home has never stayed this clean. I used to enjoy cleaning, then letting it get nice and messy, and then cleaning it again. Now I don't give it the chance to get nice and messy, it pretty much stays tidy and dust-free all the time.

When I was registering for my wedding at Bed Bath and Beyond with my maid of honor Christine I was going crazy in baking area when she chimed in with "Why are you registering for all of this stuff. I have never seen you bake Lisa." Well, she was right then, but its a new hobby I have picked up. There is something really satisfying about baking, the actual process is theraputic. Most batters require a good amount of elbow grease (I stick with the old wooden spoon method, no power tools for this girl) and its a good way to relieve stress and pass time. Next comes the part where your home is full of beautiful smells of baking. Finally, you get to enjoy something delicious.

One thing I have learned about this new baking hobby is that its not the best for a person living alone, and I need to stick to things that can be frozen and/or shared. For example, my peach cobbler was a bad idea since I quickly consumed the whole thing on my own but the apple-pecan muffins I made were perfect because I could freeze them and I have defrosted them as I need.

Well, I can smell the hazelnut blondies I am baking are almost done so I must go. Let me leave you with some photos and recipes!

Apple Pecan Muffins (reduced fat and sugar) from Ellie Krieger

Hazelnut Blondies from Martha Stewart

This Week's British TV Review:

Kingdom

I recently got ahold of the first three seasons of this show and I have been addicted. This show stars the quintessential Englishman, Stephen Fry, as market town solicitor Peter Kingdom (for Americans that means a lawyer in a small town). This show has a great mix of drama and comedy, with each episode finding Peter Kingdom trying to get to the bottom of his clients' wacky legal troubles. To the town of Market Shipborough, Peter Kingdom is more of a therapist than a lawyer and his talent seems to be helping his clients resolve their problems outside the court.

Stephen Fry is perfect as Peter Kingdom but this show would be nothing without the ensemble of cooky village personilities. First is his hormonal associate Lyle, fresh out of law school and learning the ropes under the tutelage of Kingdom. Peter's family is what makes the plot twist and turn with his sister Beatrice who is in and out of mental clinics and his brother Simon who is believed to be dead when his gambling debts drove him to walk into the North Sea.

The two other characters that drive the comedy of this show are Sidney Snell, a pungent villager whose mission in life is to be the thorn in the side of the Market Shipborough council. His partner in crime Ted along with being the town's pub owner also seems to show up everywhere in places you would never expect and is always spewing wisdom that would seem beyond his intelligence.

I absolutely love this show, and I hope they renew it for a fourth season!

The first three seasons of Kingdom aired on ITV.

Mustn't Grumble, BUT

2009-08-27T17:47:00.008+01:00

I usually don't complain much about life here, after all I chose it and pretty much knew what I was getting into. However, I have to say that the policy for using international driving licenses is really unfair.

It was actually my driving instructor who pointed this out to me and thought it was unfair. As a driving instructor he has taught people from all over the world and knows the system well and he brought this to my attention.

Any person with an EU driver's license, or citizens of many Commonwealth countries can swap their license for a British one, no questions asked. This policy has nothing at all to do with the driving standards in these countries. I am sure it is more of a "you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours" policy. Sadly, the US is not is not involved in the back scratching so Americans can't swap the driver's license for God knows what reason. It certainly isn't anything to do with the standard of driving.

For example, my instructor started teaching a Chinese student who had a valid Chinese driving license but when she came over could barely even move the vehicle because the standards to get a license in China are extremely low. She took a few lessons and then went back to China for a holiday and returned with a Hong Kong license. She swapped her Chinese license for a Hong Kong license, and then from there she was able to swap her Hong Kong license for a UK license. And this girl can barely even move her vehicle. He said there are a couple EU countries where the driving test is simply starting the car, driving down a street, stop the car, here's your license. Yet, even though the standard is so much lower, because they are EU countries its an even swap. I already took a driving test ten years ago and worked really hard to meet the standards of American driving (which aren't that different from here) and now I have to go through the whole process again while people who can hardly drive fly right through and possibly put people in danger.

I am glad that I have had to learn to drive again, the whole manual transmission concept was new to me. I just don't think its fair that people who can do nothing more than start up a vehicle and drive it in a straight line don't have to go through this process. Its dangerous, its unfair and completely arbitrary.

Alright, I will step down from my soapbox and hopefully that is the last time I need to gripe about red tape.

This Week's British TV Review:

60 Minute Makeover

This is a fun little home improvement show. Its kind of like Trading Spaces on steroids. On Trading Spaces they are given two days, and a budget. On 60 Minute Makeover, they have 60 minutes (actually, two 30 minute sessions with a tea break in the middle to let the paint dry) and they decorate 4 rooms in a house. They do all of this with a minute by minute plan for each room, an unlimited budget (with lots of freebies for product placement) and an army of helpers.

If you love home improvement shows, this is right up your alley. Its amazing to see what they can do in 60 minutes. To watch people lay carpet and paint four rooms in 30 minutes is pretty amazing and the organization it takes to pull it all together is pretty impressive as well. I even saw an episode where they tiled a bathroom.

60 Minute Makeover airs on ITV.

Camping in the Lake District

2009-08-20T12:49:00.009+01:00

Well, its been awhile. I hope you have been reading my posts on Anglotopia. If you haven't, check them out. I reflected on some of my original posts from when I started this blog a year ago.

Jason's leave was amazing, we spent a lot of time together, did some little home improvement projects and took a wonderful camping trip. Here are some of my favorite photos from our trip.

A shot from the top of Hard Knott, you can read about our treacherous journey here

The campsite was set in a valley, with fells surrounding on all sides

Fisherground Campsite

Relaxing in front of our tent

The country roads in the area were lovely

A view in the little village of Eskdale

We had to find a creative way to keep Max cool and hydrated. He loved the spray bottle!

Our camping neighbor Josh, he was Max's best buddy, and the adorable little girl from another neighboring campsite

All cooled off and relaxing

Max gets up close and personal

Max entertains all of the children in the campsite

Setting out on our hike to Stanley Ghyll Force (waterfall)

Jason climbed all the way to the top of the waterfall for this lovely view

Dipping my toes in the water after a wonderful hike up the waterfall

The nights were very cold so we let Max cuddle in to stay warm.

The fours weeks of leave flew by, but I feel like we made the most of it. Jason left for deployment this week so I am now left with a lot of time on my hands. Luckily I am getting closer and closer to my driving test which is on the 18th of September. I only have a few more lessons and I am doing really well with my driving. I can't wait until I pass my test and I can drive about freely!

This Week's British TV Review:

Four Weddings

This show was made for me. It is a kind of spin off of Come Dine With Me, which I wrote about several weeks ago. Instead of judging dinner parties, this is a show where brides judge each other's weddings.

Four brides are chosen and they all attend one another's wedding. After each wedding the guest brides have to rate the bride on the venue, the food, the dress and the overall presentation. After all of the weddings are complete the bride with the highest marks wins a dream honeymoon.

This show is a bit of a guilty pleasure, brides can get pretty catty and I love to watch the personality clashes and I especially love to watch the envious brides nit-picking the other's weddings. They often throw some non-traditional weddings and ecentric brides into the mix with themes like Renaissance (with a roasted wild boar at the buffet table) and a snotty Russian bride with a wedding dress that looked like it belonged in the Moulin Rouge and no shame in turning her nose up at her fellow brides.

Another interesting twist is that during the premier of each new show, viewers can log onto the Living TV website and rate the weddings themselves and also chat with each other and compare notes on the weddings. Its interesting to see how the viewer's opinions often differ with the brides.

Four Weddings airs on Living TV at 9PM on Monday nights. You can check out the website here.

I PASSED!!!

2009-07-30T14:47:00.003+01:00

Well one test down, one to go and I will be a fully licensed driver! I studied for hours, going through literally hundreds of sample questions and memorizing stopping distances, signs and speed limits on various roads. When I actually sat the test today I felt a bit silly for all of the studying I did because the majority of the questions were common sense things I already knew. Most of my studying was unnecessary but its best to be over-prepared rather than underprepared.

The part of the test I was most worried about was the hazard perception test. This consists of viewing video clips of driving situations and clicking the mouse when you see a hazard developing. The problem with this test for experienced drivers is that most experienced drivers will click too early and before the scoring window starts. After some practice I was able to figure out the scoring system and click at the right time so I passed this part as well with no problem.

There is a waiting list of about a month to schedule the road test so I will continue taking lessons until I can finally take my road test.

A Summer Day Out

2009-07-25T22:28:00.002+01:00

Today was a beautiful day and Jason and I took advantage of it by driving up to Crimdon Dene on the Northern outskirts of Hartlepool to take Max exploring in the nature reserve and beach. Here are the photos from our day out!

Crimdon Dene & Hart Village

Anglophile's Digest is on Vacation

2009-07-25T11:26:00.002+01:00

Sorry, I've got too much going on with Jason home on leave, taking driving lessons and other things at the moment so I don't have to time to blog every week.

I am still posting over on Anglotopia in the meantime, although I am using the next four weeks to look back at the year so I don't have to spend too much time coming up with new material for the blog. I might post an update here intermittently but please still continue to read Dispatches form the North on Anglotopia until I come back in mid-August.

Thanks for reading and thanks to my friends and family for all of your love and support.

All my love,

Lisa

Home Improvement

2009-07-16T18:35:00.004+01:00

Forgive me for being lazy with my blogging over the past couple weeks. I will be perfectly honest, I have been in a bit of a dark place lately. After Jason left to go back to the base two weeks ago it hit me that the next time he left it would be for far longer than I am prepared to handle. I haven't been able to shake the feeling for these two weeks and sadly its given me a nasty case of writer's block.

I haven't been letting my dark attitude get me down too much. I have decided on some projects to keep me busy over the next couple months. I helped my sister-in-law paint her dining room this past weekend and we made a bit of a pact to help each other out with home improvement projects over the coming months.

My first project is going to be my kitchen. When I first moved in I had decided I was just going to let it be the way it is until we can completely redo it, but over the past week I have looked at it and thought of some ideas to really make it work and make it flow with the rest of the place for not a lot of money. The fact that it is kind of a simple kitchen will only enhance the relaxed seaside feeling I am going for and I think after a good coat of paint, window treatments and some art on the walls and well placed accessories that it will be quite easy and inexpensive to transform it. I might even replace the cupboard doors if I can find a really good bargain.

Looking forward to this and other similar projects I have planned is a little glimmer in my dark mood. Still, please forgive me if my posts take a turn for the slightly depressing over the coming months.

This Week's British TV Review:

Relocation, Relocation

I just recently started watching this show. It is one of the many real estate and home related shows here in the UK. The concept of the show is to help home owners cash in their current city home (usually in London) and use the value of that home to purchase a "country" home or at least a larger home in a place where their money goes much farther as well as a "crash pad" in the city for them to use during the week.

There are two things that strike me about this show, first of all in many of these cases the father uses the crash pad during the work week while the wife and children stay at home in their family home. It strikes a chord with me because these people are basically opting for my lifestyle. My husband works away during the week and is here on the weekends and I can't say that I would choose this lifestyle if it wasn't sort of pre-ordained for me. Not only are they choosing this lifestyle, they have made an entire television show out of it!

The other thing that strikes me about this is that is makes me understand and appreciate the curious phenomenon that is the American suburb. Suburbs simply don't exist here. Once you escape the limits of the clustered cities and towns of England you reach nothing. There will be a far flung country home or farm house here or there but nothing resembling a suburban American neighborhood.

Its a bit sad really. In America when the city becomes impractical for raising a family people move to the suburbs. I think its a bit sad that for many people the option of working away during the week and being home on the weekends is kind of the next best thing. I don't think that kind of lifestyle would go over very well in the states but its kind of become all the rage here.

You can check out more about this show on the Channel 4 website http://www.channel4.com/4homes/on-tv/relocation-relocation/

Kindness of Strangers Tour: Monkey Business

2009-07-06T16:12:00.008+01:00

Mike Harling, author of Postcards from Across the Pond and my fellow columnist at Anglotopia, is on a "virtual" world tour visiting blogs all over the globe. Today Mike is virtually visiting Hartlepool and I have given him a place here on my blog for the day. Enjoy his virtual visit!

What day is this? Where am I? Oh, it’s Monday, the 6th of July. I’m in Hartlepool. And it’s raining. Forgive me if I’m a bit bleary this morning but my hosts – Lisa and her husband Jason – and I spent the weekend at Dockfest, Hartlepool’s premier music and comedy festival. I’m a bit old for that sort of thing but, frankly, there wasn’t much else to do after we exhausted the Monkey Hanging story.

As most of you know, Hartlepool is famous for having hung a monkey, which they mistook for a French spy, during the Napoleonic wars. It’s a great story, even if it’s almost certainly not true. As the town’s claim to fame, it’s also a bit outdated and unnecessary because in 1914 Hartlepool became the first place on mainland Britain to be bombed by the Germans. And because of that, they can also boast the first soldier – Theo Jones – to die on British soil in the Great War. That’s got a specious monkey hanging beat hands down.

We spent the early part of the weekend touring the local drinking establishments and discussing the relative merits of these stories, but then a group of locals began getting shirty when I suggested the monkey story had more myth than mayhem about it so we retreated to the waterfront and see what Dockfest had to offer.

It was a hoot! I saw Sean Lock – one of my favourite comedians – and listened to the Lightning Seeds and some local band called “Lithium Speed Dementia.” My ears are still ringing.

I know what you’re thinking, “but did you do any book promotion?” Well, yes. At least I think so. I have a fuzzy recollection of handing out business cards and my rucksack is empty, so I must have unloaded all the copies of my book I’ve been toting around. Unfortunately, my wallet is also empty, so I either gave them all away or bought everyone a drink with the money they paid me. Either way, don’t tell my wife; she keeps reminding me we’re supposed to be making money on this tour, not financing an unending binge. Easy for her to say; she’s safely tucked away in our flat while I’m out here working hard doing… uh, market research. Yeah, that’s it.

I have to sign off now; I hear people stirring and the distinct aroma of a full English breakfast is wafting into my room. These northerners are a hardy lot; I don’t think I’m ready to face much more than a piece of dry toast and a cup of tea but I suppose I’ll have to be polite and eat what’s put in front of me. I just hope they don’t include the fried bread.

Later today I’m leaving Hartlepool behind to move on to another destination. I’ll miss it. I had a grand time here, despite the weather, and hopefully I’ll be able to return some day. But if I do, I certainly won’t let on that I have doubts about their monkey story.

Visit Mike's blog at http://postcardsfromacrossthepond.blogspot.com/

I am DRIVING!

2009-07-02T12:35:00.006+01:00

I wrote a guest post on the blog "Pond Parleys" this week. The topic we discussed was manners, so go check it out here!

This week I had my first two driving lessons. I did amazingly well, my driving instructor Tony is really impressed with my driving and the progress I have made in just two lessons. It is such a huge weight off my shoulders to realize that I can do this, that I can do this well, and I don't need to be afraid of driving in this country. Well, maybe a little bit. A woman veered into my lane and then cut me off yesterday.

With each lesson as I am getting more comfortable with carrying out all of the steps of operating the vehicle little bits of my experience are settling back in. I am once again keeping my speed steady, staying aware of what is around me and steering smoothly. Instead of feeling like I am learning all over again (which is how it felt at first) I feel like I am really just supplementing my knowledge.

However, this learning experience still packs a lot of surprises. Even though I am used to the roads here in England and know the layout of the town very well the flow of traffic is so different here and the steps I have to take in operating the vehicle to deal with these situations are completely new to me. There are very few stop signs and stop lights and lots of situations where I have to make the choice between stopping and continuing forward fairly quickly. I can't just stop until I feel safe, this is a great way to get rear ended.

In just two lessons I have achieved shifting gears and taking off and stopping up to the test level. However, now the things I need to learn are the nuances of driving on English roads which is a whole different beast altogether. The good thing is that learning all of these little things is much easier now that I am comfortable and confident with operating the vehicle.

I think it is actually going to take me longer to take care of the red tape end of things like getting my provisional license and booking me theory and practical test than it will actually take me to master driving. I am confident that by the time I actually take my practical driving test I will be well settled into driving.

This Week's British TV Review:

Ross Kemp

Ross Kemp is a former soap opera star who turned his talent and recognition to investigative journalism. He goes far deeper than "imbedded" reporters and puts himself in some of the most dangerous places and situations to reveal the truth through his documentaries.

In 2006 Ross Kemp released a documentary series where he investigated the inner workings of gangs. More recently, in the series Ross Kemp in Afghanistan he followed the 1st Battalion of the British Army's Royal Anglian Regiment. He traveled alongside them during a 6 month deployment in the Helmand Province and his investigative reporting went deeper and closer than most journalists would dare to go.

In his latest documentary Ross Kemp In Search of Pirates he traveled to Africa and South East Asia to get to the root of the piracy problem in countries like Somalia and Nigeria. Ross Kemp puts his life in danger to deliver these fascinating documentaries and they are all well worth watching.

His documentaries are on Sky 1 so they are only available for free to Sky subscribers. Some of his documentaries have been released on DVD and they can also be found on bit torrent sites (but I didn't tell you that).

Driving Lessons

2009-06-26T12:24:00.004+01:00

Well, procrastinating is over. I have finally booked my first driving lesson for this coming Monday. Now that I have booked the lesson, I have no clue what I have been afraid of and why I left it until quite literally the last possible second to start my driving lessons.

I think I am a bit ashamed. After all, I took driving lessons ten years ago and now I am back to square one and I have to learn how to drive... again.

Learning to drive the first time around was an interesting experience. When I first started my driver's ed course when I was 15 I was by far the worst driver in my class. I remember my driving instructor telling me that the worst driver in the class always turns out to be the best driver by the end of the class because they have so much to learn. Most teen drivers don't pay much attention and slack off during class and never really improve in class but since I had so far to go, I really had to work hard to learn how to drive.

As a result, I think I am a very safe driver. I had one road accident when I was in college on Woodward Ave in terrible road conditions, other than that I have a clean driving record and have never had a speeding ticket.

Now that I have to take driving lessons again, I suppose I am afraid that my second experience as a driving student will be the same as the first and it will take me forever to master switching gears. I have to remind myself that I do have 10 years of driving experience, and the "easy" part of driving is actually operating the vehicle so I will probably learn very quickly.

Also, I made the mistake of allowing Jason to try to teach me to drive several months ago which was nothing short of traumatic. First there were vague instructions including the very helpful "just do the thing" and other completely incoherent instructions. Then he convinced me that I was driving the wrong way down a one way street (though I actually wasn't). At this point I realized that maybe I wasn't as bad at this as I thought and maybe it wasn't best to be taught by the king of speeding tickets.

I am feeling a bit more confident about the driving lessons now, wish me luck! I hope it only takes a few weeks until I am driving a manual transmission like a pro.

This Week's British TV Review

Come Dine With Me

This is one of my favorite British shows and I started watching it immediately when I moved here. It is a competition where 4 people take turns hosting a dinner party and rate each other's cooking and entertaining skills.

I love cooking and entertaining so its a fun show for me to watch and always gives me great ideas. Each show features a different host or hostess and follows them throughout the day as they prepare their meal. I love watching the cooks scramble to create an impressive feast, often attempting recipes that are beyond their abilities and failing to deliver.

There is also always a bad egg in every group, the snob who turns their nose up at everyone else's food and rubs everyone the wrong way. I love this "reality TV" dynamic of the show.

The prize for the show is £1000 which is awarded to the host who scores the most points after the guests (who all take their turn at hosting) score the night on a scale of 1-10. I love watching the smug snob of the group realize that their superior attitude toward everyone's food wasn't the best strategy when it comes to actually winning the competition!

This show is available on the Channel 4 website if you would like to check it out! (Let me know if the link doesn't work outside of the UK!)

Post coming soon...

2009-06-25T21:55:00.002+01:00

I had planned on posting today, then my niece called to ask me if she could come and stay with me for the day. She fell during PE class and bumped her head and they sent her home. She was okay, just a nasty lump on the back of her head, but my sister-in-law had to go to work so she came and stayed with me for the day. About an hour after she left Max got an upset tummy so I had to go boil some chicken and rice to settle his stomach.

Anyway, haven't had the time yet to sit down and knock out a post but I will be able to do it in the morning!

Car Boot Sale

2009-06-18T10:30:00.004+01:00

For those of my American readers who are confused, a car boot is the trunk. Don't ask me why they call it a boot, I still can't bring myself to say it. Anyway, this weekend I attended a Car Boot Sale in the parking lot of a local horse racecourse with my sisters-in-law Kirsty, Diane and Paula (Paula is Jason's half sister) as well as my niece Abbie and nephew Jack and Paula's son Lewis.

It was a lot of fun, although I was a bit disapppointed. It was like nothing I have ever seen. Hundreds of cars filed into the parking lot, lined up in neat rows with two rows of cars next to each other and an aisle on either side of each row. People bring their folding tables and all of their old junk and set it up outside their vehicle. I tagged along more for the fun, I didn't expect to make much money and I just brought a few bags of things. I don't have much to sell since I got rid of everything unnecessary about this time last year.

I have never seen a car boot sale in the States, I am sure there are places where people sell things out of the trunk of their car but I think by and large this is an English phenomenon. I think most Americans opt for the traditional garage or yard sale, but here most people that are lucky enough to have a garage either have it out the back or its tiny. Most people don't even have a driveway. Also, most front gardens are small and enclosed so they aren't well suited to a yard sale. Instead they load up all they can in their car and go to these car boot sales. It has kind of a flea market or swap meet atmosphere with all kinds of shady people crowding the aisles. If I really had to put my finger on an American equivalent it was like a having a park-wide yard sale at a trailer park.

I was looking most forward to haggling, but I was sadly disappointed that most of the people weren't haggling. The girls told me this isn't normal, usually people are eager to haggle for a better price and they were also frustrated with the reactions from people visiting our stalls. People would come up to the table and pick up an item and ask how much (everything was reasonably priced) and then when they were told the asking price they would wrinkle up their nose, set the item down and walk away. It got extremely frustrating. What is the point of asking the price of something if you aren't willing to actually work for a bargain. All of the girls expressed that they were annoyed so many of the patrons of the car boot sale seemed to be expecting things to be handed to them for next to nothing.

Given the greedy customers, I only sold two items Jason's broken digital camera for 50p and a panini press for £3. Not much but it was enough to get myself something to eat from the burger stand. The girls did better, my sister-in-law Diane sold lots of Jack's old toys and made about £70. Kirsty and Paula both let their kids do all the selling themselves and let them keep their earnings for pocket money. It was funny to watch them wheeling and dealing with customers and that alone was worth going for!

This Week's British TV Review

Deal or No Deal

I know Deal or No Deal is also on in the US, but in the UK the show is much different. There are no sleek briefcases being carried by scantily clad models. Instead, red boxes are carried and opened by future contestants. They all stay together in a hotel and get to know each other and appear on the show every day until it is their turn to take a shot at the big prize. Other than that the structure of the show is pretty much the same nail-biting excitement that makes Deal or No Deal a hit.

There is a different dynamic to the show since all of the contestants get to know each other so well and often strike up close friendships. As they go along in the game they give each other advice and encourage one another. I much prefer it to watching bimbos with briefcases.

I also really like the host Neil Edmonds who also hosts the British version of Are You Smarter That A Fifth Grader? (called Are You Smarter Than A Ten Year Old? here) and I think he is a great game show host. I definitely prefer him to Howie Mandel, who I think is a bit scary looking.

I've Got Some Good News and I've Got Some Bad News

2009-06-11T10:32:00.010+01:00

Bad news first, the job opportunity I had lined up fell through. The investor dropped out so they are unable to pay any employees. I might still have an opportunity for some freelance work with them in the future if a new investor comes on, but for now I am back to the job search. I am okay, I had been sensing for some time they might have some financial trouble and I was concerned that I might start working and a few months later the money would dry up. I am glad it happened before I started working so I can get right back into the job search game.

One advantage is that granted I don't get a job within the next month or so I will probably be free while Jason is home for his pre-deployment leave. It will be great to spend whole days with him before he disappears for 6 months. Also, what had originally been a plan for a camping weekend we can now turn into a camping week.

I LOVE camping, some of my best memories with my friends have been while camping and it just brings out something really wonderful in people. Jason has never been camping so he is very apprehensive so I have to keep reminding him of the finer points of camping:

Bathing is discouraged, as is shaving. This is the only time he will ever get away with not shaving while in my presence.
Having a beer with breakfast is totally acceptable. While camping there is never a time that isn't appropriate for popping open a beer.
Our cuisine will consist of all his favorites, steaks, burgers, hot dogs, sausages and jacket potatoes baked right in the hot coals of the fire.
Comfort is paramount, so wearing scrubby jeans, holey t-shirts and thick comfortable jackets and sweatshirts is highly recommended.
Most campsites have electric hookups, so we can bring along the laptop and watch movies at night if he would like.
Camping is a dog-friendly vacation. Max will be able to enjoy the great outdoors with us.

I am especially excited because this will be my first camping experience in Britain, and Britain has all the makings of perfect camping conditions. There is tons of wilderness and beautiful scenery, which always makes a camping trip special.

Also, the climate is great for camping. There is nothing worse than camping in the heat especially after a humid day when your tent is a sauna. (This might be a good time to point out that I only consider it camping if you sleep in a tent, a motorhome or a cabin is cheating.) English weather is perfect for camping since you can count on it not getting too warm and you can comfortably keep yourself covered up and impervious to insects. The nights cool down to a comfortable sleeping temperature but they never get terribly cold in the summer either.

I am having some trouble finding a campsite. I have narrowed it down to the Lake District but of course there are countless campsites in the Lake District and I don't have a very good idea of which ones are the best. I'd like to get the camp site booked sometime soon, I don't know if camp sites fill up fast here but August is a busy holiday time so its best to book as early as we can.

Update: It turns out most campsites in Britain don't allow campfires. What is up with that? What good is camping without a campfire? What do you sit around? Anyway this actually works to my advantage as it drastically narrows down the number of campsites to choose from. Jason and I have decided on this place www.fishergroundcampsite.co.uk. It fits all our requirements, great location in the Lake District, campfires and dogs allowed!

This Week's British TV Review:

The Gadget Show

This is the ultimate geek show, in fact I think they should change the name to that. In some ways its like Mythbusters but with (more) electronics. They take the latest gadgets and latest technology and put them to the test to see if they live up to their claims.

Usually they will have a theme for the week. For example one week they had an outdoor adventure theme where they tested high tech walkie talkie systems, rugged digital cameras and GPS navigation systems for hikers. They put the gadgets through the ringer in the unforgiving terrain of Iceland with tests like tethering the digital cameras to the back of a 4x4 and dragging them through a rocky lava field. It is amazing to see which gadgets really live up to their claims and which ones are a rip off.

They also will showcase some of the latest fun gadgets like portable media players, computer software and peripherals and gaming systems. If it is even remotely techy, they will check it out. There are several web episodes available online at Five.tv

Getting Rusty

2009-06-04T21:10:00.000+01:00

It has been almost a year since I last had regular work. I should be starting my new job shortly but there have been a few more setbacks in opening the new office so for the meantime I am still at home, enjoying time with Max and the beautiful weather.

Last night I was laying in bed worrying if my year long absence from the workforce has made my skills a bit rusty. I lay there awake trying to walk through the steps of creating a pivot table in MS Excel and some of the other more advanced functions of the MS Office applications that I used to be a whiz with. I also have noticed my spelling and grammar has become a bit lazy. I am cutting corners and not paying as much attention to these things as I used to. Its a really good thing that I have been blogging over the past year, otherwise I think my writing skills may have become truly appalling.

Big news this week was GM filing for bankruptcy and announcing the closure of several plants, including the Orion Plant in my hometown of Lake Orion, MI which is being put on standby indefinitely. I had a very surreal moment the other night when I was watching Sky News. Every night they air CBS news coverage, and in their story about the GM plant closures they were actually interviewing a plant worker in Lake Orion. Its always exciting to see your little hometown on national news, but to think that British viewers were watching footage of my town was a completely different feeling.

The GM crisis hits home just as much in Britain as in the US. The British division of GM, Vauxhall is also being effected by GM's financial problems. Vauxhall is being sold off to Magna Corporation as part of the liquidation which will start a new chapter in the history of one of Britain's most popular vehicle brands which has been part of GM since 1925. In fact, we currently own a Vauxhall Astra and Jason's first car was a Cavalier, a Vauxhall Cavalier of course!

Only time will tell how this crushing blow to the auto industry will affect both my hometown of Lake Orion and my new home country of Great Britain.

This Week's British TV Review:

Creature Comforts

Creature Comforts is funny claymation show created by the same team behind Wallace and Gromit. The show features little vignettes of claymation animals giving their views on a certain topic in a kind of mock "man on the street" format. The characters are always funny and watching the show really puts a smile on my face.

There is a US version of the show as well, but what I like about the British version is the range of accents. It makes it so entertaining because they have recurring animals some with very posh accents and others with strong Cockney or Geordie accents which just adds a whole new layer of humor.

There isn't much else to be said, you really have to see it! My internet connection is a bit slow at the moment so I haven't been able to get up a YouTube clip for you, but will post one when my connection gets better!

Anglophile's Digest is moving...

2009-06-01T23:30:00.002+01:00

...to Thursdays.

I am sorry to suddenly move my posting to a new day, but with my schedule this works out better and I promise it will also mean BETTER POSTS. I want to give my full attention to this blog when I am writing it, and the beginning of the week for me is the most hectic time so its best to move it to later in the week.

Stay tuned... there will be a new post on Thursday!

Summer Has Arrived!

2009-05-26T14:55:00.014+01:00

I apologize that I didn't post yesterday, but yesterday was a holiday in both the US and the UK so that lets me off the hook, right?

We have had the most picture perfect weekend. It was about 80 degrees and sunny both Sunday and yesterday and this weekend Seaton Carew played host to the Thunder Cat boat races which of course were directly outside our front window! It was really exciting to watch the boats race and the beach was packed which is great for business down here. I hope the great response from the locals and the beautiful weather encourages the Thunder Cats to return to Hartlepool in the future.

Jason and I also experimented with letting Max off of his leash on the beach for the first time and it was so wonderful. The only time we had to run after him was when a labrador tried to steal his ball, which you can see from the photos below he doesn't like to be without. Even though he ran off after the dog I am still proud of him for being civilized and not barking or growling at him. We had such a great time and he really got to let loose and run.

I have to admit that this weekend for the first time I experienced my first real pangs of home sickness. I heard reports from friends about the beautiful weather in Chicago and reminisced about the camping trip my friends and I took Memorial Weekend last year I was really missing that time with my friends and family. Luckily on Sunday the weather turned into the most beautiful day I have experienced here to date and Jason and I had a great time out on the beach with Max and everything just kind of came together and my homesickness soon passed.

I am really looking forward to this summer, and especially looking forward to not sweating when I step outside the door and not needing air conditioning. Jason and I are planning a camping trip probably sometime in July and I am looking forward to my first time camping here. I will share more details when we have planned our camping trip.

I hope everyone had a great Memorial Weekend!

This Week's British TV Review:

How Clean Is Your House?

You may have seen this show on BBC America already, so bear with me as I rave about it if you have already seen it. I love this show, and it always inspires me to go clean some room of my house after I have watched it. Britain's cleaning goddesses Kim and Aggie descend upon the homes of some of the most disgusting people who haven't cleaned their homes in literally years and bring along a full cleaning crew to clean and sterilize the house from top to bottom. They also teach the homeowners cleaning tips to cut down the time they spend cleaning and make the tasks seem less daunting.

I have seen shows that are about cleaning up clutter, but I like this show because it focuses on true cleanliness. When they visit the homeowners they "scare them straight" by taking swabs of places all around the house and coming back and showing them the types of bacteria that they have found thriving on the kitchen counters and bathroom floors. They have all kinds of interesting gadgets that can guage the number of colonies of bacteria on a surface and really give these people an idea of how their lifestyle can seriously damage their health.

If you get a chance to watch this on BBC America, definitely take the time out to watch it. Kim and Aggie are so fun to watch and you can also pick up some great cleaning tips for your own house!

Eurovision Song Contest

2009-05-18T22:00:00.000+01:00

I am going to combine my usual blog and television review this week.

This Week's British TV Review:

Eurovision Song Contest 2009

This weekend I finally got to experience something I have been looking forward to since I moved here, I have heard about it before and I was fascinated by the idea. This grand event I speak of is the Eurovision Song Contest. It is a competition involving all European countries, they all submit a song and those that make the cut are performed during a one night extravaganza. This year the Eurovision Song Contest was held in Moscow. I had heard so much about what happens at this competition I couldn't wait, one thing I heard was that the songs and performances are all ridiculous and over the top and that usually the country that wins is the one that has the least political enemies, so pretty much always a Scandinavian country.

The top 25 countries perform in one show, which is followed by a round of voting. Each country has a chosen jury as well as a public vote and they award points to their top ten choices. The bottom 7 receive 1-7 points in ascending order and the top three receive 8,10 and 12 points. There are great pains taken to make voting fair. Each country gets the same number of points to award and the biggest catch is that you can't vote for your own country. One interesting phenomenon is that countries with a lot of political upheaval often end up scoring very well because there are many displaced nationals living in neighboring countries. Turkey tends to have a good showing every year because there are so many Turkish nationals living abroad in Europe so they have a bit of a loophole and Turks living abroad can vote for their own country.

I couldn't wait to see this show, even if for a laugh. I suppose I have already fulfilled my duty as a British resident to not take the competition very seriously. I especially love the Eastern European countries entries! Here is one of my favorites from Romania:

Another favorite is the Greek entry, which was one of the songs favored to win. This guy is like the Greek version of Ricky Martin.

This year Britain tried to change their image in this competition. Britain has a reputation for not taking the competition seriously and always sending in their B squad so this year a huge campaign was launched to change this perception. Lord Andrew Lloyd-Webber was recruited to write the song and the artist was chosen through a reality show format contest. What do you do when you want people to take you seriously? Make it into a reality show of course! In the end a West End performer, Jade Ewen was chosen to represent Britain.

The song was heavily promoted all over Europe and hopes were high that this could be Britain's year! In the end Britain did do fairly well, winning top marks from Turkey and several top 5 showings from other countries and in the end Britain finished 5th. I think the European community voted for Britain as a reward for stepping up to the plate and sending in a top performer and composer team. Sadly, I think the performance fell flat. Andrew Lloyd-Webber's song "It's My Time" was incredibly cheesy, and Jade broke under the pressure and what should have been an impressive vocal at the end turned into a mess of undershot notes but the European community still awarded Britain an"A" for effort.

Going into the competition Norway was favored to win. I still don't get quite why the Norwegian song was so heavily favored but the hype was effective and Norway won the night by a landslide and became the most popular song in Eurovision history. The song was written and performed by a dashing young man named Alexander Rybak and although I think it was catchy, I don't think it was best.

My choice for the best was the runner-up Yohanna from Iceland. It was a great song and Yohanna is really talented. Iceland won last year so I think the voters decided to go for Norway to avoid a two-year streak by Iceland. I think this song is great, if only Lord Andrew Lloyd-Webber could have come up with something like this...

There was a clear "worst" performance of the night, although this wasn't reflected in the final scores. Before the Russian act went on the commentator mentioned that she was a "last minute addition" and it just so happened that her father is a Russian billionaire. The performance was awful and I found myself wishing Simon Cowell was somewhere in the audience to put her in her place. I won't even post the video because I like you all and it isn't something that anyone should have to listen to. Despite the terrible performance, Russia still managed to place 11 out of 25 finalists which is a great example of how political the voting is.

I can't wait for this event next year, it is so entertaining. I just hope next year Britain can put together a better act and maybe even win!

Rainy Days and Mondays

2009-05-11T20:44:00.007+01:00

I have been writing my blogs so fast lately I feel I am leaving so much out so I am going to start writing it earlier this week and try to keep writing a bit each night so I don't have to give you half-posts. First, this week I will return with the TV reviews. I know it has been weeks since I did this but I will definitely start up that little series again. Also, with so many personal revelations as of late this blog has kind of gone off topic and has become less about how Britishness is effecting my daily life so I will get back to that as well. I hope you all have continued to read my blog posts on Anglotopia.net if you needed your Anglophile fix!

My birthday was this week and it was my first here. It was my 26th, so I didn't expect much. I have heard it is the most insignificant birthday of your 20s and having just gone through it I have to agree. My birthday was fairly uneventful but I barely noticed so its not a big deal. I did get some fantastic gifts, our dog Max (which has changed my life), an iPhone (which has also changed my life) and a few other little things from friends and family.

This is about the time of year when I start waiting for the weather to suddenly warm up. That time of the year when the season of freezing and thawing that passes for Spring in the Midwest finally ends and the days start getting warmer. Here the summer warms much more gradually. We have had a couple days in the 70s and that is probably as good as it gets but it is rarely warm enough that I don't have to wear a jacket or sweatshirt out. I actually love this weather but it does feel strange, like I am waiting for something to happen even though I know it never will.

Truth be told I hate hot weather, anything over 80 degrees is too much for me and it can make Midwestern summers unbearable for me. Still, this is the time of the year I am missing, May and early June are the best time to be in the Midwest when people are so jubilant about the beautiful weather. Its not the weather I miss but the overall attitude of the people being elated just to be outside. I remember taking a camping chair out onto the back deck of my apartment in Chicago, turning on the radio and sitting out there with a glass of wine doing nothing other than enjoying the glorious weather.

England is internationally known for its "bad weather" but since I have arrived here I have noticed that this isn't exactly an accurate generalization. The peculiar thing is that it seems this idea is perpetuated by the English people themselves. When I tell local people that this winter was like paradise for me they think I am crazy, they can't imagine anything could possibly be worse than a gray English winter where the temperature rarely dips below freezing and the rare sight of snow only stays around long enough for a few fetching photographs. When I tell them I am looking forward to a mild summer they can't imagine anything worse than an English summer without any need for air conditioning. What could be worse than temperatures that rarely get warm enough to make you sweat, that persistent pesky cool and refreshing breeze, and sunny days interrupted by short and frequent light rain showers (usually promptly followed by a brilliant rainbow) that keep the whole country green and growing all summer long. Terrible weather indeed!

The Midwestern United States has, in my opinion, some of the worst weather in the world. Several months straight of sub-zero temperatures, followed by a couple weeks of freezing and thawing, followed by a humid and sweltering summer with temperatures regularly staying in 90s with little respite in the muggy evenings. Still, the people of the Midwest truly make lemonade out of lemons when it comes to the weather. Sweltering hot outside? Lets strip down as much as we possibly can, mix up a cold fruity cocktail and lounge on the beach all day. A blizzard outside? Lets light a fire in the hearth and make some hot cocoa! Some of the most enjoyable experiences of living in the Midwest are really no more than brilliant coping mechanisms to deal with absolutely terrible weather.

That is one area where Britain could take a feather from the hat of Midwestern Americans. Considering poor weather is far more rare in this part of the world than in the US, I think Britain could benefit from a new rainy-day attitude and start really enjoying those days when its just too gray and depressing to go out.

This Week's British TV Review:

Britain's Got Talent

The contestants on Britain's Got Talent have been popping up on YouTube and are already gaining fame in the US and this season is really fabulous. There are some fantastic acts, so many that I don't think Susan Boyle is a shoe-in to win the whole thing. There are some amazing dance groups and some kids with beautiful and incredibly mature voices. Its really an amazing season.

My personal favorites to win are "Stavros Flatley" only because nothing has made me laugh that hard in so long, and I like the idea of the Royal Family watching these guys strut across the stage. I think this kid has so much charisma, and its a really funny act. Click on the link below to see the video!

Stavros Flatley

The thing I really like about the British version of this show is the judging panel. Piers Morgan is on the show as well as British entertainer Amanda Holden and of course Simon Cowell. Its kind of nice to see Simon on British TV shows because although there is a bit of his signature harshness, he is definitely more laid back than he is on American Idol. I also like the British judges more because I can't stand "The Hoff" and Sharon Osbourne together. They have kind of all become charicatures of themselves and it makes it difficult to watch.

I also like that the prize is a spot in the Royal Variety Performance. It adds an interesting twist when you are watching and realize these people think they should perform in front of the Queen. It is absolutely hilarious to imagine some of the acts performing for the Royal family.

Welcome Home Maximus!!!

2009-05-04T17:15:00.007+01:00

Everything went smoothly with adopting Max (we have decided to make his full name Maximus) and continues to go really well. We were able to go pick Max up on Friday afternoon and he has settled in really well. The first couple nights we didn't quite know what to expect and it had been our intention to make the kitchen his sleeping quarters because we weren't sure if he would resort to chewing or destruction if he got anxious or bored during the night. After two nights of the heartbreaking sound of dog whining, but no destruction at all, we decided not to restrict him to the kitchen. He has settled on sleeping on the couch and we have all been getting more sleep now and he seems much happier.

I keep bracing myself for him to act up, but we haven't had any problems with him being left alone. We are lucky to have a dog who we can trust not to destroy our house when we are out or asleep. This week I found out that I won't be starting my new job until June 1st. The building we are moving into is a month behind schedule so they just don't have a desk for me yet and other things essential to my job are running a bit behind schedule. It works out perfectly for us because I will have a month to get Max settled in before I start leaving him for the day and hire a dog walker to come walk him in the middle of the day. Everything kind of fell into place perfectly.

I think it is safe to say that Max is an adoption success and I am so happy with our decision to adopt a dog that needed a home. There are so many dogs who need homes and love but are homeless due to no fault of their own. I think there are a lot of misconceptions about shelter dogs. When I told people we were planning to adopt a dog from Dogs Trust people gave me a laundry list of reasons why I shouldn't and it makes me sad that so many people won't give these dogs a chance.

Many people assume that shelter dogs will all have terrible habits they picked up from previous owners or that all dogs in shelters come from violent pasts and are there because they are aggressive dogs. This is so far from the truth and there are many dogs in shelters who have been left homeless because their owners could no longer afford to keep them or had some other kind of life change that created a situation where they could no longer afford to care for their dog. As I sat in the rehoming centre listening to the other dogs' stories, most of them had come from that type of situation.

I am so glad I didn't listen to the nay-sayers and decided to go ahead and adopt a dog. I think there are many advantages to adopting a dog. Most of all, on top of having a companion I feel like I have given this little guy a second chance at a happy life and every dog deserves the chance to live in a loving and happy home.

Here are some photos we took of Max, he loves to run and he especially loves splashing in the sea and playing football with Jason.

Good News!

2009-04-26T09:56:00.006+01:00

I want to apologize again for not posting. These have been the craziest few weeks but now there is lots to tell.

First of all, I interviewed to become the marketing manager for a a new website set to launch this summer. The site will be a place for buying, selling and breeding race horses and there will also be a social networking and chat area of the site. For the first few months the launch will be in the UK and Ireland but eventually my job will evolve to marketing to the US as well. I got the job and have already started to do some work but my official start date is May 1st. I have so much to learn and take in about race horses, betting and race courses!

The next bit of news is that Jason and I have begun the process to adopt a dog. With Jason going away again we decided it would be best for me to have a companion. We can't handle a puppy so we decided to adopt an older dog from a local rescue. Friday afternoon we visited the rescue and after checking out all of the dogs they had there Jason and I were both drawn to the same dog. He was a 2 year old cross breed, and although he was quiet and a bit sad looking he did come right up to the kennel fence and sniffed us and seemed curious. We took him for a walk and fell in love with him, he's a really good dog who has just had a bit of a bad luck in his early life and we can't wait to bring him home. He is already house trained and will sit and shake on command (and sometimes not on command if he thinks he will get another treat out of it) and I think he will be the perfect dog for us. The problem with his previous home was that the original owner couldn't give him enough attention and he had too much energy for her so she handed him over to the rescue. He doesn't have any behavioral problems and we have a couple miles of sandy beach for him to run around on so I think we will get along well. Here are a couple photos of our boy! If all goes smoothly we will be bringing him home on Saturday!

Those are the two big things that have been happening the past few weeks. I am sure to have lots of stories over the next few months as I settle into my new job and being a new pet owner!

I'm a Bad Blogger!

2009-04-22T22:47:00.002+01:00

I apologize for my two week absence. I have had a hectic couple of weeks. My parents were here for 11 days and left early yesterday morning.

I do have one very exciting update, I have finally had a job offer and will start work on May 1st. I will give more details later when all of the particulars are ironed out.

Now that my life is settling back into a normal order I will be back to blogging next Monday and I promise you a good one!

Quick Post

2009-04-07T09:10:00.004+01:00

Well, some of you may already know but I have been in the process of interviewing for a job this past week and I have to complete this very challenging project for my interview, which is why I didn't post yesterday. I will just keep this short and sweet because I've got to get back to work.

The big story in the media this week was the G20 Summit hosted in London and the Obamas meeting the Queen. The media on both sides of the pond seemed to be ready to pounce on anything they considered to be a break in protocol and I think they were a bit unfair in their judgements of every action taken by the Obamas when they met Gordon Brown and the Queen. I wasn't sure why, Obama is always accused of being "too popular" in the media, which I think is what created the criticism in the first place. This was London's time to shine, a chance for Gordon Brown's government to redeem themselves and the Obamas came in and stole the show. I suppose I might be a bit bitter as well, and the British media definitely were.

I had to laugh that Obamas' gift of an iPod to the Queen which was loaded with photos and video clips of her was reported in the media as being an arrogant gift. However, in the next breath it was revealed that the Queen gave them a photo of herself, yet it was explained away as being just "the customary gift for dignitaries" so it wasn't judged so harshly as the iPod. So if I am reading this correctly, what the critics mean is that if the Obamas gave an iPod to every dignitary they met it would make it okay? I doubt they would agree, but it seems like a bit of an unfair double standard and I think it is very much the American way to treat people as equals. I think when you know you are going to get a framed photo of someone as a gift, an iPod is a clever symbol of American culture to give as a gift. I think one thing that this week proved is that the far right media's constant whining about Obama being a "rock star" couldn't be further from the truth, and the media aren't afraid to put him to the test.

Here is a little article from Mental Floss about the proper protocol when meeting the Queen (got this from my friends over at Anglotopia). My personal feeling is that if you aren't a subject of the Queen all bets are off. It certainly may not be the traditional or even polite thing to do, but I feel a bit bad for the Queen that she is always treated so formally and I think she might need a hug or a high-five every once in awhile.

Ships at Sea

2009-03-30T22:17:00.005+01:00

We had terrible weather last week. Please save your "at least you didn't get two inches of snow" stories. We are talking four days straight of gale force winds rocking my home here people! I opened the window once to take a photo of the sea and it felt like I was being punched in the face by an invisible man. I didn't get much sleep last week and now that the weather has calmed down I am finally catching up on sleep and getting back to normal so this is going to be a shorter post than usual. Also I am making oven baked fish and chips at the moment so when the timer goes off I am done writing.

This week I spent a lot of time watching the ships coming in and out of Teesport. I have noticed over this past week that some of the larger vessels, tankers specifically, have been met by an escort of tug boats. I don't see this a lot, the tugs operate mostly just on the river when the ships have already pulled into the mouth. The last time I saw tugs actually come out into the sea to meet a ship was when Le Clemenceau was towed in, but I have seen it twice this week. There a few reasons I can think of, one being that with many environmentalists' scopes trained on Teesport just waiting for the tiniest slip up at the docks they are being especially careful about any vessels coming in that are carrying any type of hazardous material.

Anyway, back to the topic. When I saw one of these ships being towed in I was curious about it, and I could read the name on the side so naturally I Googled it. Then I found this great website where I can track all of the marine traffic coming in and out of Teesport.

www.marinetraffic.com

This map is powered by Google Maps so you can zoom in and out and explore just like on Google Maps. If you click on any of the colored markers it will show you all kinds of details about the vessel. Its been fun looking out my window with my binoculars and checking out the different ships coming in and out of the port. Well, fish and chips are done. Thats all I've got for this week! The TV review series will definitely be back next week.

God Save the Queen

2009-03-23T11:55:00.021Z

Over the past several months I have learned a lot about Britain's patriotic songs. One thing about singing in choirs is that patriotic songs often make a great finale for performances in the community. Just as my involvment in American choral groups means I know the words to The Star Spangled Banner and can also sing many other American patriotic songs, I have had to learn the British patriotic songs for the two choirs I have joined in Hartlepool.

Many Americans think that The Star Spangled Banner should be replaced by America The Beautiful as the US National Anthem, and Britain is no different. God Save the Queen is performed at sporting events, but it fails to stir the hearts of the British and most prefer the song Land of Hope and Glory and believe it should replace God Save the Queen as the British National Anthem.

The good thing about British Patriotic songs is that the tunes are all familiar to me. God Save the Queen is set to the tune of My Country Tis of Thee (or probably vice versa, but this is from my perspective) and Land of Hope and Glory is set to the tune of Pomp & Circumstance known as the Graduation March to most Americans.

There are also two other well known patriotic songs, Jerusalem which is a hymn set to a famous William Blake poem and Rule Britannia which also has a familiar tune. I like Jerusalem, but I can't actually bring myself to sing Rule Britannia because I can't get past the imagery it conjures. Play the clip below and see what images come to mind, and I am sure you will agree that this is a song that just doesn't need words (the distinctive chorus starts at 0:35).

Rule Britannia is a song which is most distinctive in its instrumental version. It is often used in TV shows and movies when the setting switches to London and clips of Buckingham Palace, Big Ben and Tower Bridge are shown to immediately switch the minds of viewers to this new locale. Just like Hail to the Chief always conjures images of the US President, Rule Britannia always conjures images of London tourist landmarks for me and I can't manage to sing this song because I can't seem to get over the stigma that the song actually has words.

There is one thing that struck me as I read and learned the words to these patriotic songs and it made me appreciate America's songs much more. One thing about British patriotic songs is that they were mostly written during the time of Imperialism and the days when the sun never set over the British Empire. Lyrics like "Wider still and wider shall thy bounds be set. God, who made thee mighty, make thee mightier yet." from Land of Hope and Glory reflect a time of colonialism and divine right that don't seem very relevant to modern Britain.

Many Americans don't take the time to learn or understand the words to The Star Spangled Banner but I do think they are important and still relevant to modern America. I suppose if the USA had a history that spanned more than a couple centuries we might have some more archaic patriotic songs, but The Star Spangled Banner is representative of a major turning point in American history and an event that would forever shape the North American continent and the world. Even if Americans don't know what ramparts are, I still think The Star Spangled Banner is a good choice for our national anthem.

In the end I suppose it doesn't matter how relevant the British patriotic songs are, people really love singing them and take so much pride in them and I guess that is what really counts.

This week's British TV Review:

Horne & Corden

BBC Photo

Horne & Corden is a spin-off sketch comedy show on BBC 3. The comedy duo James Corden and Matthew Horne come from a very successful sitcom Gavin & Stacy and this new sketch comedy show was much anticipated, but I think it fell a bit flat. As I watched the show there were some moments that amused me but nothing that made me laugh out loud. The sketches were a bit too short and by the time I caught onto what was going on with the characters the sketch was over and they had already moved onto the next segment.

Something about British comedy either really works or fails to deliver and so much British comedy revolves around cross-dressing, nudity, swearing, drinking and bodily functions. It could be the legacy of great comedy acts like Benny Hill and Monty Python that make generation after generation of British comedians follow this formula but after you have seen the originals do it so well, a show like Horne & Corden just seems like something I have seen before.

I believe Horne & Corden were hoping to mirror the success of the show Little Britain, another male comedy duo who have made an amazing career out of the same type of sketch comedy. I guess when it comes down to it, some comedians do better sticking with sitcoms and playing one character really well and others like the Little Britain duo can handle the quick wit that is necessary for writing characters that work in a sketch comedy format.

It wasn't terrible, and there were a couple sketches that amused me but for the most part the sketches left me scratching my head and wondering what part I was supposed to laugh at.

If you want to judge Horne & Corden for yourself the first two episodes are available on the BBC iPlayer. Please be warned there is some strong language.

St. Patrick's Day

2009-03-16T00:38:00.000Z

I was curious to find out whether the English celebrated St. Patrick's Day with the same gusto as Americans. Americans tend to adopt any holiday that would allow them to partake in cultural drinking, regardless of how much the holiday is celebrated in its region of origin. The Irish and the English don't have the best history so I thought there was a chance that the English wouldn't celebrate St. Patrick's Day at all, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that they do celebrate. I think Americans take it MUCH more seriously, but still the English do have their own St. Paddy's fun.

This weekend I went with my friends Nikki and Sara to a local music venue, its actually pretty much the only bar in town that has live music. There was a fantastic Irish band on and it was such a great time. It really struck me as I enjoyed the music how much traditional Irish music resembles Bluegrass. Banjo, check. Fiddle, check. Boot stomping rhythm, check. I have heard other American bands who do a lot of Irish covers but this was the best Irish band I have heard to date. (Although they were a local group, so I am sure if I went to Ireland I could probably hear better but this was close enough for me.)

I feel like fewer things are new to me these days, in the first months of this blog I had a hard time narrowing down what new thing to talk about that week and now I feel I really have to dig deep so I am going to start a new "series" to keep things fresh. I watch a lot of TV, and although most of the shows on British TV are American, there are are plenty of domestic programs I can watch but I haven't been very adventurous lately because there are just so many familiar American shows to choose from. So I am going to try to watch one new British TV show every week and I will write a little synopsis and review here. A lot of shows are available online on network websites like BBC and ITV so if the show is available online I will make a note of it in my review in case you are interested and want to check it out on their website.

For my first review, I will ease you into British TV with a brand new franchise of an American series...

Law & Order: UK

This is a brand new series, and I think it followed the proven Law & Order format very well except it wasn't as corny as the American L&O shows can often be. Pretty much, cookie cutter Law & Order but with wigs in the courtroom.

The first show was good, it was a case that dealt with a baby who was killed by carbon monoxide poisoning. I won't give away the details but I think it was a good place to start because it addressed a lot of very relevant issues.

The only point of contention I have with the show is the name. All of its precedents have pretty specific descriptive names like "Special Victims Unit" and "Criminal Intent" but this one is a really vague "UK" which I think is a bit broad since it is limited to London.

I don't think I will watch it religiously, Law & Order and a lot of the other crime dramas are the kinds of shows you can turn on any time and follow without knowing a lot of background so if it happens to be on, I will watch it but I won't be marking my calendar to tune in.

This show is available on the ITV Player

First Impressions

2009-03-09T00:15:00.000Z

I apologize I didn't write anything last week, whenever Jason is home it is never quiet. In fact, there is usually something noisy in every room. The TV is always on in the living room, and either the radio or the iPod dock is usually on in the kitchen or the bathroom and there is usually a King of Queens DVD playing in the bedroom. It makes it hard to sit down and write something with so many distractions everywhere. During the week when he is gone, there are days where I don't turn on the TV all day. More often than not its pretty quiet around here when its just me.

The one very good thing Jason and I did while he was home was nail down the details for my parents' visit coming up in April. I am really excited because my parents have never visited England before and don't know anything about where I live. I have been trying this week to remember my first impressions when I arrived in Britain, and here are just a few I remember...

"Wow, its hillier than I thought."

This was the first thing I thought. It was customarily a very cloudy day when my plane was landing in Manchester and the first thing I noticed when my plane descended under the clouds was how hilly the terrain was.

The next thing I thought was "That is a lot of sheep". The first living things I saw when my plane was making its final descent were thousands of sheep dotting the hills surrounding Manchester. The English often make jokes about the Welsh and their sheep, but England seems to have sheep everywhere you look so I can't imagine there can be that many more in Wales. Those who live in glass houses...

Believe it or not, the "wrong side of the road" thing didn't throw me for too much of loop because everything is completely switched around so it feels the same in many ways. What did confuse me was the zig zag lines on the side of the road. It looked like the painting machine had a major malfunction, but this actually means that you can't park in or block the area.

photo from Flickr

On the way to Hartlepool we stopped at a Little Chef, which is a chain of roadside cafes, and I was surprised by the selection of condiments including brown sauce (a delicious blend of malt vinegar and ketchup) salad cream (still haven't figured out the difference between salad cream and mayo, but apparently there is one) malt vinegar, English mustard (a very spicy mustard that will instantly clear your sinuses) and French mustard, and of course ketchup and mayonnaise.

photo from Flickr

I was also really surprised by how different the tea is. I don't know what it is about American tea but it is weak and flavorless compared to English tea. American tea takes several minutes to brew and is still weaker than a cup of English tea that has brewed for barely a minute. The color and consistency of English tea is a richer and more reddish-brown than American tea and appears to be more like the concentrated consistency of coffee so it makes sense that most English drink their tea with milk. English tea without milk would be a bit too strong, but American tea with milk would just taste like milky water. I have no idea what makes it different but there is a definitive difference between them. I have heard this could also have to do with the water in England being much harder, but I don't see how they would change the tea so much.

Another thing that surprised and really amused me was that the Ford Fiesta is still very much in production here. The Fiesta had a short life in North America, where compact cars don't dominate the market, but it has been a popular car in Europe since the mid 70s and has remained popular ever since. Every time I would see a shiny new Ford Fiesta I would laugh hysterically. Now I have had to get used to seeing the Fiesta everywhere, especially since my father-in-law drives one.

The 2008 Ford Fiesta

photo from FordEurope.net

I don't know what my parents will think when they first come here, their experience will probably be much different from mine and they will probably pick up on things I haven't thought about for a long time. I am sure my dad will be curious to pop the hood of some of the cars and check out the 1.4 litre engines. My mom will probably enjoy things like the horse drawn carts that clip-clop past our road here every day at about 10am (this isn't a joke, I am dead serious). She will surely enjoy the daffodils that should be blooming everywhere and kind of grow wild in these parts. Maybe they will pick up on things I have never noticed, but I am really excited for them to experience England for the first time.

No post this week

2009-03-02T22:22:00.002Z

Jason is home for the next few days so I will just be doing my Anglotopia post on Wednesday instead of both blogs this week. Sorry, I promise a good long post next week!

Job News

2009-02-26T16:13:00.001Z

Well, I didn't get the job. I found out yesterday morning. The good thing is that I applied for a position this morning that I saw on a job board and actually got a quick response from the recruiter and had a nice long talk with him about my experience so it has given me a little boost.

You may notice the new design, I was getting tired of the colors of the old template so I decided to switch it up.

The Credit Crunch

2009-02-23T10:20:00.002Z

I have mentioned before during the election that I like to keep politics out of my blog, so if you think my views on the economic crisis are "political", well... too bad. I don't think my views are politically influenced at all, they are based on my experience and observations.

This week I had only my second job interview in two months. Both of the jobs I have interviewed for have been a step down from my experience level and a 20% pay cut from my last job (adjusted for exchange rate and cost of living). I think the biggest problem right now is that when I go into an interview I don't know that I am the only overqualified candidate. Its quite possible all of my competition are equally experienced people who were laid off in this shrinking marketing industry and would be willing to do anything related to marketing.

I first started hearing "Credit Crunch" used to describe the financial crisis when I moved over here to the UK and to be honest I am sick of hearing it, it just doesn't seem like an appropriate description. This is an economic crisis and "credit crunch" sounds like some kind of fad workout.

The economic problems in the North of England are worse than anywhere else in the country, and based on the culture of spending over saving its probably much worse here than in most parts of the US. I have discussed this with many of my friends and they point out that most working class people don't save. They don't have retirement funds and often not even a savings account. Its just not a part of the culture to encourage saving. Even with my tiny (and getting tinier) 401K I am already far ahead of most of the working class people here in the North in terms of savings, even those who have been working for decades longer than I have. I heard a statistic on the news the other day that as many as 1 in every 250 mortgages are in danger of going into foreclosure.

I have been paying attention to the news lately and I am happy to see some positive things happening like executives' salaries being capped. If there is one thing that I learned from my time working in a very corporate environment and interacting on a daily basis with high-paid executives from Fotune 500 companies it is that a high salary doesn't always reflect the level of talent or value to the company. It is easy to tell the difference between an executive who has made it to the top through their merit and which ones have made it to the top through their charisma, or else just plain nepotism and cronyism.

The one defining difference is that the executives who are talented are always without fail penny-pinchers down to the cost of copy paper and staples and in times like this even their own salaries and bonuses. They understand that running a business is about making the most of every penny. Keeping a tight reign on the bottom line is always their top priority. The execs that fit the mold of the latter are usually focused on what they need to do to get the next bonus or business trip/all expense paid vacation. These people drain a budget so fast because on top of how expensive they are to keep, their value to the company is usually in the red. Their departments are usually hemorrhaging money due to poor management and terrible business strategies. They mimic the moves of savvy colleagues without considering the relevance to their own initiatives and jump onto trends way too late.

I think a big reason we are in this financial crisis is because the scales were tipped far off balance and there were far too many of the charismatic and well-connected execs and not nearly enough of the people at the top who are actually talented and accomplished businessmen.

As evidence of this, I was watching a session of Parliament the other day and they were questioning the heads of several failed banks. Out of all of these men who were the heads of major banks, not a single one had any banking experience at all. Not even one of them. How does someone become the head of a bank without having any experience or education in banking? It is pretty irresponsible to put someone so overqualified in charge of people's money.

Countries the world over are capping salaries and bonuses and I had to laugh out loud when I read quotes from some critics claiming that these restrictions were going to "chase away talent". Quite the contrary. This is going to cut the fat and open doors for the truly talented and conscientious execs to take their places. For every overpaid exec there are plenty of experienced and talented people waiting for the opportunity to get into those top positions and actually do something with them. This is the time where the scales need to be tipped in the opposite direction, its time for some house cleaning and its the only way for businesses to keep afloat in the face of such a huge financial crisis.

There is still a long way to go though, of the £1 billion given to British banks meant to go to small business loans and other loans to stimulate the economy, only about £12 million in loans have actually been granted. It appears its going to take a lot of hand-holding to get the banks and businesses through this crisis.

One thing happening here that makes me a bit sad is that while the bankers and executives are moaning over cuts to their 6 and 7 figure salaries, the working class people who are struggling are still willing to make sacrifices for others. I hear stories on the news all the time of workers banding together and offering to cut their own hours in order to save a coworker from being laid off, all of this is happening while the people at the top are resisting pay cuts and would rather sacrifice someone else's job than their own lifestyle. Its incredibly sad that in this crisis the people taking the brunt of the load for corporate irresponsibility are the average people.

I am really encouraged by the level of international cooperation. There are blanket changes being made and governments aren't trying to solve their problems on their own. They are really looking to the international community and coming together to present a united front against corporate irresponsibility. In an environment where corporations have a foothold on every continent this is really necessary to reign in corruption. I don't think it would be possible for any plan to work without the cooperation of all the world governments affected by this crisis.

Its hard to say how much worse this crisis will get or how much more my job market may shrink, but this is definitely a time where I am really grateful that Jason pretty much has 100% job security and I know we will get through this okay.

As I post this at 10 AM this Monday morning I haven't had any news about my job interview. As soon as I get some news I will post, so keep looking out for it over the next couple days.

Two British Dishes

2009-02-16T14:22:00.002Z

This week I successfully baked two British dishes. The first was a batch of scones, which were fairly simple and the second was a batch of homemade Yorkshire puddings for our Sunday dinner yesterday.

This Saturday was the first Valentine's Day that Jason and I have ever spent together. He had planned a special dinner for us and I planned a special breakfast for us. For this special breakfast I baked a batch of homemade cranberry scones, and for an extra Valentine's Day touch I made them heart shaped.

Yesterday I decided to try my hand at Yorkshire puddings, which you may remember I have mentioned in earlier posts. Yorkshire puddings are a light airy dinner roll made with flour, eggs and milk. Traditionally they are cooked in hot lard or beef drippings but I used sunflower oil instead.

Yorkshire puddings are notoriously difficult to make. I did some research and found out there are basically three essential steps to successfully baking Yorkshire puddings. The first important step is to blend the batter well and then leave it to sit for at least 30 minutes. Leaving it to sit is supposed to make the batter smoother so its easier for them to puff up.

The second and probably the most important step of making Yorkshire puddings is to be sure the oil is piping hot. To bake Yorkshire puddings you put an empty Yorkshire pudding or muffin tin into an oven and turn the heat up to the maximum temperature. Then after the oven has completely heated you pour about a tablespoon of oil in each hole of the tin. Then the tin is put back in the hot oven for 5 minutes until the oil is smoking hot. If the oil isn't hot enough the Yorkshire puddings won't rise so this is the most important step to get right.

The third step is to pour the batter quickly and keep the over door closed. You must pour the batter into the tin as quickly as possible and slide it back into the hot oven. If you take too long to pour the batter the oil will cool too much and the puddings won't rise. Another important step is to keep the oven door closed for at least 15 minutes. It is hard to resist the urge to take a peek and make sure they are rising but if oven door is opened prematurely the puddings will fall before they have crisped enough to hold their shape.

As you can tell from the instructions above Yorkshire puddings are easy to screw up. My research did pay off and my Yorkshire puddings puffed up perfectly! They may look lopsided and deformed but this is actually exactly what they are supposed to look like. They are crispy on the outside and soft and a bit chewy on the inside. They are great with a bit of gravy poured over them and they are a great pairing to Sunday dinner roasts.

We had a great Valentine's Day weekend together despite the bad news we recently received. Jason will be returning to Bahrain in September and he will be deployed for 6 months. This news came a week after we found out the Jason's brother Thomas will be deployed to Afghanistan in April. Its going to be a very difficult 6 months for me but I am happy to have good family and friends here to support me.

If you are interested in making scones or Yorkshire puddings, I have posted the recipes below in two separate posts. Please note the measurements are in metric so you will need a kitchen scale for these recipes.

Yorkshire Puddings

2009-02-16T14:12:00.003Z

From Jamie Oliver's Ministry of Food

3 eggs
115g plain flour
a pinch of salt
285ml milk
vegetable oil

Whisk the eggs, flour, salt and milk together really well in a bowl to make your batter. Pour the batter into a jug and put to one side to rest for 30 minutes before you use it- this will help to make it smoother, giving you wonderfully light and crispy puddings.

Turn up the oven to the highest temperature and let it preheat fully. As it's warming up, put a muffin tray on to a baking tray and place on the top shelf of the oven. When the oven is up to temperature, carefully remove the trays, close the oven door and add a tablespoon of vegetable oil to each muffin hole in the muffin tray. Pop the trays back into the oven for 5 minutes, until the oil is smoking hot. Open the oven door and slide the shelf with the trays halfway out. Quickly fill each muffin hole 3/4 with batter, then slide the shelf carefully back into the oven. Leave the door shut for at least 15 minutes, and don't open it even to check on how the Yorkshires are doing, otherwise they'll end up sunken. After 15 minutes the Yorkshires will be crisp and golden with soft, fluffly centre. If you prefer them to be crispy all the way through, turn the oven down to 150C/300F/gas 2 and cook them for another 10 minutes. Remove the tray from the oven once the puddings are crisp, golden and puffed up. Serve as soon as possible.

Fruit Scones

2009-02-16T13:58:00.004Z

From Jamie Oliver's Ministry of Food

120g cranberries, sour cherries or raisins (any dried fruit will do)
orange juice for soaking fruit
450g self-raising flour, plus a little extra for dusting
2 teaspoons baking powder
120g butter
salt
2 large eggs
5 tablespoons milk, plus a little for brushing

Preheat oven to 400F/200C/gas 6. Soak dried fruit in a small bowl with just enough orange juice to cover them. While they are soaking, you can either pulse the flour baking powder and butter in a food processor just until the mixture starts to look like breadcrumbs or you can rub them together by hand. Transfer to a mixing bowl and make a well in the middle. In another bowl, beat the eggs and milk with a fork. Drain your fruit in a sieve and add them to the beaten eggs and milk with a good pink of salt. Then pour your beaten eggs, milk and fruit into the well in the flour mixture and stir well, adding a splash more milk if necessary until you have a soft, dry dough.

Dust a clean work surface and your rolling pin with flour. Roll out the dough until its 2cm thick. Using a 7cm round cutter, or rim of a glass, cut out 10 circles from the dough and place these on a non-stick baking sheet. Dip a pastry brush into some milk and brush the top of each scone. (If you like your scones a bit sweeter, I would suggest dusting them with a bit of granulated sugar at this point) Bake in the preheated oven for 12-15 minutes, until risen and brown. Take them out of the oven and place them on a wire rack to cool.

Serve with butter or clotted cream and jam.

Scones hold their shape very well when baked so I used a heart-shaped cookie cutter to cut out my scones, but any large shape cutter would work.

Where do aircraft carriers go when they die? Hartlepool of course!

2009-02-09T10:12:00.001Z

For months now we have been hearing that a retired French aircrafter carrier, The Clemenceau or "Le Clem" as it was fondly known to the French, would be making its final journey right here to Hartlepool to be recycled. It has been controversial and dubbed the "toxic ghost ship" because the ship contains 700 tons of asbestos and environmentalists worried about moving the ship, even though France or its previous address in India hadn't the facilities or technology to properly dissasemble the vessel. I am not sure what the environmentalists wanted to do but I think despite the hazard its best to take it here where we have the largest dry dock in the world and a company with a proven track record who does only this type of work. Currently there are several retired members of the American fleet awaiting the same fate as Le Clem in the dry docks of Hartlepool.

The papers finally reported mid-week that Le Clem had set off and would be arriving on Sunday around mid-day.

I woke up early Sunday morning and made myself banana pancakes and set up my computer in front of our front window so I could watch all of the action as I type. I was armed with my camera, a telescope I don’t know how to use and a pair of binoculars. Its time for… TOXIC GHOST SHIP WATCH 2009

9:12 Midway through my second banana pancake I spot a strange silhouette on the horizon. Its resemblance to a familiar Battleship gamepiece tips me off that this is the aircraft carrier I am waiting to see.

9:30 The Clemenceau, which is being towed, has begun swinging around to face Teesport (South, about a mile down the coast from me)

9:45 A bird dives into the sea in the foreground. The positioning and scale is perfect and looks like an aircraft landing on the deck. Wish I had my video camera out.

10:30 The Clem has swung around AGAIN and is now facing the Headland (North) again. I am puzzled as to why they would be towing this thing around in a tight circle, this seems to me a dangerous thing to do with a vessel containing nothing other than 700 tons of asbestos

10:43 The Clem is definitely going around in circles. My theory is that they are in a holding pattern until the tide is all the way in. The tide here is pretty extreme but it takes a long time to come in. For the ship to pass safely into the docks the tide will surely need to be all the way in.

As a side note, two pigeons have just perched on the gutter outside the window and they are cooing at me. I am really glad I shut the window earlier for exactly this reason.

10:57 Four tug boats have just left Teesport and are headed toward the ship

11:24 Managed to fiddle with the telescope and have looked at the ship. It is massive. Its hard to tell the scale of things that are so close to the horizon but when you see it next to the surrounding ships the scale begins to come into perspective.

11:44 Pigeon flew in front of the lens as I was observing the ship at the closest magnification and I nearly had a heart attack. I am leaving no details out here folks. I have heard accredited news anchors say much stupider things while trying to fill airtime during live coverage.

12:03 The tugs have made their rendezvous with "Le Clem" and she is beginning to make her advance. Some details are visible with the naked eye.

Also a group of young men has gathered on the promenade that I have seen surfing here before. Might see some surfers out today.

12:18 As it comes closer I can see through the telescope how dilapidated it is. It looks like a computer generated image from one of the apocalypse movies. A bit spooky...

12:37 Le Clem is not far off from the coast now. I can see the entire length of it as it moves closer. It appears to have 4 tug boats towing it, two in the back and two in the front to keep it as steady as possible. There is also a larger green ship out front leading the ship and its entourage of tugs.

12:52 The ship is moving parallel to the beach, probably as close in as it will get until it swings in to Teesport. It is creeping along at a snail's pace.

1:27 I went down to the beach to take some photos of the last moments before The Clemenceau pulled into Teesport. The Clemenceau has now safely entered the mouth of the Tees River and will never again sail the high seas.

A surfer getting a front row seat

Le Clem crossing in front of the snow capped Moors

I sent some of these photos into the local paper, The Hartlepool Mail, and they may be putting them in there today.

Last night at around 10 it started to snow again, and this time it was the beautiful silent and gentle snowfall I am used to. This morning was lovely, here are a few photos I took just few minutes ago of the snow-covered sea front.

Only in England...

2009-02-02T13:08:00.007Z

It is nearly 10 pm here and I am just now finishing my post. No, I was not busy today. I was just stuffing my face with the delicious pulled pork I made from my leftover Sunday dinner pork roast. It was delicious and I am sorry to say totally worth putting off blogging for.

Aaaaaanyway...

My favorite British TV personality and comedian is a man called Stephen Fry. He is shamelessly hoity-toity but still doesn't take himself seriously at all. He is Hugh Laurie's partner in crime (Laurie is known to his American audience as House, M.D.) and they wrote and starred together in several comedy series here. He is currently the host of my favorite show, QI.

QI is a sort of quiz show with Jeopardy-like questions. The pivotal difference is that all of the contestants are comedians. Here is a clip of it:

QI-Astronomy

Stephen Fry recently did a show for the BBC where he traveled to all 50 states in the US. It was a wonderful series and after the series aired he did an interview on a nightime talk show where he made an interesting observation. He made the comment that we have a wonderful phrase in the US, "Only in America" which he said is remarkable because it really captures the essence of the American spirit. It usually refers to situations like when a man rises from poverty to success or when someone invents a fantastically useful tool. There is always a sense of optimism when you use the phrase "Only in America".

Fry said that by contrast, whenever you say "Only in England" it usually means something terribly disappointing has happened. In some ways I experienced this briefly on our "mini-break" to the Lake District but only for a fleeting moment and in the end the amusement outweighed the disappointment.

On the third day of our trip the weather cleared up as much as it was going to and compared to the impenetrable fog of the past two days it was all we could really ask for. I had the spectacular idea that I wanted to see the Irish Sea coast. So, I got out my guide to the Lake District and our Garmin GPS unit (here they call it a "sat-nav") and I put in the postcode of the nearest seaside town on an A road. I figured because it was a road on the map it must be alright and since the town was also on the map there must be something there as well.

It is a credit to Jason's driving ability that we got there and back in one piece (that and the sat-nav) because the road we were on was approximately the width of a sidewalk (or "pavement" if you are English) and there seemed to be a hairpin turn every couple hundred yards as well as steep 15% grades. It took us nearly an hour to travel about 20 miles.

I had hoped in vain that I would see a spectacular West coast sunset that would rival the lovely sunrises I see out my front window but when we arrived this is what we saw.

After driving through what can only be described as a ghost town we came upon the only living things on the beach. These sheep. This is when I muttered "Only in England..."

The beach itself was actually pretty neat. The whole beach was covered in smooth stones in every shade of gray, white and brown. Sadly I did not get to see even a hint of a sunset since the drive took longer than expected and even had we arrived earlier the clouds were so thick I doubt there was anything to see.

Overall our trip was fantastic. We took a cruise on Windermere which is England's largest lake and I took some nice photos. Here is a link to the photo album.

Busy Weekend!

2009-01-27T11:20:00.002Z

I am so sorry that I didn't update my blog yesterday. I had a bit of a crazy weekend with the Hartlepool United vs. West Ham game on Saturday and my niece Abbie's dance competition on Sunday. Jason and I are getting ready to head out to the lake district for the rest of the week. I am going to be really lazy and instead of giving you an explanation I will give you a link to the Wikipedia entry for the lake district so you can read more about it. I will be sure to take a lot of photos and fill you in on everything next week.

Wikipedia: The Lake District

This was kind of a last minute opportunity so we have been busy getting things straightened out so we can leave for the week.

Also, remember to read my column on Anglotopia tomorrow!

Someone's in the Kitchen

2009-01-19T09:48:00.009Z

Today I am going to tell you a little about cooking in England, it has been a huge challenge for me to catch my stride in shopping and getting around the kitchen here so there is a lot to tell. First, let me direct you to the left column, you will see a link for "Anglotopia> Dispatches from the North". This is a new column I am writing for a website called Anglotopia which is a site dedicated to British culture. I am really excited for the opportunity to write for Anglotopia. If you check out the site you will notice that as expected there is a lot to do with London on the site, so I am really excited to offer a Northern perspective. Maybe the North East Tourism Board will thank me for relaying the message to Anglophiles that the North is definitely worth a visit! I will be updating my column on Anglotopia on Wednesdays, and my posts will show up at the left so if you would like you can feel free to check it out. I won't be writing about all the same things since it is a different audience so it shouldn't be too monotonous if you want to read both.

Now, back to the subject of this blog! Those of you who know me well know that I love cooking. I was so excited when I moved here and realized I would have my own kitchen, not a kitchen I shared with two vegetarian roommates, a kitchen that I could work in every day at my leisure. In my first couple months I wrote a lot about my frustrations navigating the UK supermarkets. Now that I have sorted my courgettes from my aubergines and have figured out that ham is bacon and bacon is ham, I am left with another dilemma altogether.

For Christmas Jason bought me Jamie Oliver's new cookbook "Jamie's Ministry of Food" which I believe is only available in the UK, so sadly you can't go out and buy it because its a fantastic cookbook. Jamie Oliver was one of my favorite chefs to watch on the Food Network and I love his rustic no-fuss style of cooking so I love this cookbook. Up until I received this cookbook, I had been working from American recipes. The big difference is that in the UK recipes are composed of weight instead of volume. For example, instead of a recipe calling for 2 cups of flour it might call for 500 grams of flour, and I just pulled those numbers out of my head and don't have a clue if those two are anywhere near equal.

That is my problem, I can eyeball a cup but I have no idea what 500 grams looks like. I think it will be difficult for me to learn to judge amounts the way I do with American style cooking, because a cup of sugar and a cup of nuts are going to appear exactly the same but 500 grams of sugar and 500 grams of nuts will probably appear completely different. I purchased a digital scale to aid in measuring my ingredients but often when I am in the kitchen I like to substitute ingredients or add a half cup more of something if I really like it, so making recipes my own is a bit of challenge with metric cooking.

The other sad thing about this is that it makes it difficult for me to share my favorite recipes with my American friends. I suppose I could go to the trouble of measuring out ingredients and transferring them to a measuring cup to convert it for my friends it is just an awful lot of trouble to go through and too many added steps when I am trying to prepare dinner.

Another inconvenience is that the kitchen equipment itself is much different. The ovens here are roughly half the size of ovens in the US, which is really disappointing for me when I am used to a nice cavernous oven. Below is a photo of a typical English cooker (yes, they call it a cooker here).

At the very top is what is called a grill here, it is really more like a broiler, the flame comes down from above and the food you want to "grill" (or if you are American, broil) is placed on the tray below that slides out. The stovetop is called the "hob" and is pretty much the same as an American stovetop with 4 burners but it just goes by a different name. Finally at the bottom is the tiny oven.

Just in case you are wondering, what we would consider a grill is only called a barbecue. You don't say you are grilling out, you would say you are barbecuing even if there is no barbecue sauce involved. This has been the most challenging for me because when I think of a grill I think of a grate that is heated from underneath and here it is basically the exact opposite. Also, although toasters are available, most people make toast in their grills. It turns out that although I am a fantastic cook the one thing I can't ever seem to get right is toast. I almost always get distracted and leave one side in for just a little too long and it doesn't take more than a few seconds to go from perfectly browned to charred and black. The grill's heat source is an open gas flame, so I supposed it is kind of like trying to make toast with a giant blow torch and I can't get the hang of it.

Finally, while I am on the subject of kitchens, I know in my Thanksgiving post I briefly mentioned what a typical Sunday dinner is here. Although it might be common in America for families to sit down to a family meal, as with most things here the definition of "Sunday dinner" is much more finite. Ever Sunday, British mothers cook a roast of some kind, usually beef, pork, chicken or lamb and this is served with roasted vegetables like carrots and parsnips, sometimes Brussels sprouts and stuffing balls (which are exactly what they sound like, its like a meatball but made with stuffing), and always brown gravy and Yorkshire puddings. The meal is usually served in the mid-afternoon between 2 and 4 o'clock.

There is never any change to this formula, and like clockwork every Sunday every house in the UK smells like roasting meat and veggies. There is an option for those who can't cook or those who are hungover from Saturday night. Most restaurants and hotels have a carvery ever Sunday. It is a buffet style dinner with a carving station at the front with beef, pork, chicken and lamb and then all of the other Sunday dinner staples. It is a common topic of conversation here to discuss which place has the best Sunday carvery.

I have recently started adhering to this custom and the past two weeks I have made a proper Sunday dinner before Jason has to drive back to Scotland for work. Last week I made a roast leg of lamb and yesterday I made a roast pork loin. I of course still add my own flavor to it by seasoning my roasts with lots of herbs and garlic, but I think I will soon become an expert at preparing roasts.

I hope you enjoyed my post this week, thanks for reading!

Whitby and the Hartlepool Headland

2009-01-13T12:27:00.012Z

This weekend Jason and I decided to take a drive out to Whitby. I had never been there before but it was definitely worth seeing. Everything about the trip was not quite what I expected. I didn't realize quite how close we were to the North Yorkshire Moors which is a national park area of what here is known as "hills" but I think by American standards they could be called low mountains. The term moor does not actually refer to elevation but rather to the vegetation. The moors are covered in a spongy acidic earth that is layer of peat covered over by a dark bushy moss.

Sadly we chose a cold and windy day to go make the trip and didn't wear our warmest clothes since it turned out to be colder than forecasted. At the top of the moors everything was covered in a beautiful layer of frost and snow.

Whitby itself was not quite what I expected. I expected a small village but it was actually a good sized town and it reminded me a lot of Durham except it was on a beautiful harbor. The highlight of Whitby is the headland where the ruined remains of Whitby Abbey are hauntingly perched.

Whitby Abbey was founded by the Abbess of Hartlepool, St. Hilda in 657 AD. The first Abbey fell to viking attack in 876 and was later resurrected in 1078 by William de Percy. During the Dissolution in 1540 the Abbey was destroyed by Henry VIII leaving the ruins that stand today. Bram Stoker was a frequent visitor to Whitby Abbey and it is believed that Whitby Abbey was his inspiration for his legendary novel Dracula. It is no mystery why this site inspired Stoker to write Dracula.

Had the weather been a bit warmer we probably would have explored inside a bit more but we will probably do this in April when my parents come to visit and the weather is nice.

Keeping with the theme of headlands and St Hilda, Jason took me up to the Hartlepool headland yesterday afternoon to take some photos of St. Hilda's. The original monastery of St. Hilda was founded in 640, but the church that stands on the headland today was built in the late twelfth century.

The weather yesterday was beautiful (51 degrees and sunny) so Jason and I had a nice walk around the headland. The town wall surrounding the headland was built by the famous Bruce family (also know by their Norman name "de Brus"). The most famous descendent of the Harltepool Bruces was Robert the Bruce who was considered one of the greatest kings of Scotland.

The town wall, built by the Bruce family

Waves crashing on the sea wall

The lighthouse and a Russian cannon

We had a great weekend, it turned out to be more eventful than I expected it to be. Thanks for reading! More to come next week!

A little update, this news story came out today! Study queries monkey legend roots

Happy 2009!

2009-01-05T15:30:00.013Z

Jason and I had a fantastic New Year. We went to the Staincliffe Hotel which is just down the road from us here on the sea front. Neither of us had been before but we heard from many people that it was a good night so we had high expectations and we were not disappointed. We didn't know exactly what to expect but we got a nice champagne reception in the bar before the ballroom opened. When we went into the ballroom we were pleased to find we had our own private table, all of the groups that booked had their own table and it was all set up very nice. The only snag was that our name was misspelled on our table!

The meal was delicious. For an appetizer they served "lobster parcels" which were puff pastry parcels filled with lobster meat and topped with a nice sauce. After our appetizers were served the waitstaff started bringing out the platters of food to the buffet tables on the dance floor and it was a huge spread. The best part was the beautiful seafood platter!

There were fresh mussels, prawns and smoked salmon and a big whole salmon in the middle. It was some of the best seafood I have ever had. There was a DJ and great music and dancing all night, although Jason and I didn't do much dancing ourselves.

The one big disappointment was that at midnight there was supposed to be a bagpiper and he never showed up so we missed out on that. The New Year celebrations in Scotland are so well known that many of the English have adopted some of their traditions, and across the world the Scottish song "Auld Lang Syne" has become the official anthem of New Year's Eve. The festival is called Hogmanay and the party in Edinburgh is considered the best New Year's Eve celebration, rivaling Times Square in New York. One tradition is to eat "haggis, tatties and neeps" at midnight.

I know tatties and neeps sounds a bit x-rated but it is Scottish slang for mashed potatoes and turnips. Haggis is made from "sheep's pluck" which is the heart, liver and lungs mashed in with onions and spices and traditionally boiled in the sheep's stomach for three hours. I had never tried it before, and had no desire to, but as with black pudding I don't feel right saying I dislike it unless I have actually tried it. So I did...

It wasn't terrible, but it wasn't good enough to make me forget what it was made of. It also had a very unappealing texture, so after this one bite Jason happily finished the rest.

Overall, it was a great way to ring in the New Year.

Now that 2009 has commenced, that also means the return of the reality show Celebrity Big Brother. Big Brother is HUGE over here, probably the biggest show on TV. Before it started I kind of dismissed it and thought it was going to be a lot like American reality shows which I don't usually follow, but Jason wanted to watch the first show when they entered the house so I watched- and I got hooked.

There are three American celebrities on the show, La Toya Jackson, Vern Troyer (famous for his role as Mini-Me in the Austin Powers movies) and the rapper Coolio (famous for his 90s hit Gangsta's Paradise). There are 8 other British celebrities on the show, some former pop stars and TV presenters and even a Scottish Socialist politician.

The thing that sucks you in is that it is on almost all the time. They have recap shows every single night and then after the recap shows they go to live footage of the celebs in the house, I found myself awake at 1:30 AM watching Coolio practicing Tae Kwon Do in his bathrobe out in the back garden of the Big Brother house.

I think that is what the big difference is from most American reality shows. American reality shows are mostly overproduced and far from real, they squeeze one week of footage into one 30-60 minute show. They splice together video and sound clips to shape the story however they choose. I am sure there is some production for the highlight shows, and they do pick and choose which parts of the house and which conversations they are going to show live on the air, but in the end it is hours on end of live un-edited footage of "celebrities" getting bored in a house with no other stimulus but each other's conversation. I have been totally sucked in.

Hopefully I can pull myself away long enough to get some things done and get some sleep!

I hope everyone had a wonderful New Year! Thanks for reading again this week!

A Family Christmas and the Boxing Day Dip

2008-12-29T11:41:00.011Z

I am sorry I did not post last week, things got really busy with Christmas coming up so I took a little holiday break from posting. I promise not to disappoint on this post.

Today is our one year anniversary! I can't believe that this time last year we were getting married! Jason was thinking we would have to exchange gifts that had something to do with paper but I told him since its not 1870 we really don't need to follow that tradition if we don't want to. I didn't see the point in us getting each other things that may or may not be useful so I suggested that as a joint gift to each other we get a Blu-Ray DVD player. Right now the sales on items like this are really great so we were able to get our Blu-Ray player for 25% off. I figured since it is our anniversary it should be something we can use together and we do watch a lot of movies. We have a subscription to something similar to Netflix/Blockbuster Online and we can get Blu-Ray discs through this service for what we already pay each month.

Backing up, my first Christmas here was a lot of fun and very memorable. On Christmas Eve we did go to church. It was a very nice service and the church was really beautiful and it looks really old but by English standards it is actually a fairly new church, built in 1886. The oldest existing church in Hartlepool, St. Hilda's, was built in the late twelfth century. The service was very nice and surprisingly similar to what I am used to at home. I was expecting it to be much different but the whole liturgy was almost exactly the same as the Lutheran liturgy so I felt very comfortable there.

We went to a 6pm service so after church we headed out to a pub. The first place we went to was horrible, I just don't want to hear "The Thong Song" after coming out of a nice peaceful Christmas Eve service. After that we headed to a quieter pub and were fortunate to run into some friends there so the post-church festivities weren't a total bust.

Christmas morning was fantastic! I asked Jason for a food processor, and I thought that was going to be my "big gift" so after I opened that I was happy and content and figured the rest were just little things. The last box I opened I thought was going to be a sweater, but it was actually a brand new laptop! A MacBook Pro! I really needed a new computer so I was over the moon! After we played around with our new toys for awhile we headed to my in-laws' house for Christmas dinner.

The night before when we were at the pub someone asked me if I was bringing anything to Christmas dinner, and I said yes to which they responded "That is so American!" I guess here people don't bring a dish, its always just the host who cooks the meal and the guests just bring drinks. My mother in law had told me that I could bring something if I wanted because she wanted me to feel at home so I brought over my traditional cinnamon Christmas bread and party potatoes.

Before dinner, everyone opened their Christmas crackers. They had little jokes inside, a small trinket and of course a paper crown.

Me wearing my paper crown!

Jason and Abbie

Kirsty and Abbie reading their jokes

After we had way too much to eat everyone relaxed and we played some Wii games. Jason's sister Diane and brother Thomas both stopped by with their kids after they had Christmas dinner with their spouses' families. It was nice to see everyone for Christmas day and exchange gifts. My in-laws really spoiled me this year and made me feel at home.

In England the day after Christmas is also a holiday known as Boxing Day. Traditionally Boxing Day is meant to be a day of giving gifts to less fortunate people. However, most English people don't know this is the traditional meaning of the day, it is more or less like Black Friday in America. It marks the beginning of a shopping season. The day after Christmas is the day that all of the "January sales" begin so this is one of the biggest shopping days of the year. It is also a day for adults. Christmas day is all about the children so Boxing Day is a day when the adults like to unwind, especially those who had to prepare a big meal for their family the day before. The pubs are very busy on Boxing Day and everyone just kind of kicks back and has a good time.

A local tradition here in Seaton Carew is the Boxing Day Dip. This is an event where people raise money for charity and then wear silly costumes and jump into the North Sea. The North Sea is always very cold and on December 26th the air is only slightly warmer. Jason and I walked down to the beach and it was pretty funny to watch. Everyone who is running meets at a pub up the road where they get a little drunk to prepare themselves and then they all jog across the street and down the beach and into the frigid water. I took this video, and below are some photos of the event.

Overall, my first holiday season in England has been wonderful. I didn't feel like there was anything missing, and although I did miss spending Christmas with my side of the family, my in-laws made me feel comfortable and welcome.

Winter

2008-12-16T17:25:00.001Z

It is strange for me to hear and see pictures of winter in the Midwest. I am instinctually bracing myself for it, but in my mind I know that I am off the hook. It has gotten cold a few days, and we have had a tiny bit of snow and ice but it never lasts more than a day and the cold is never anything in comparison to what I can handle.

I asked Jason if the grass on the promenade in front of our building dies during the winter but he tells me it stays green year round. See, I accepted that there wouldn't be snow, but I can't quite wrap my head around the idea that there won't be total desolation. Granted, the leaves did fall off of the trees but there aren't really that many trees around here to begin with. I almost don't believe him, I am still anticipating that grass will die and turn brown.

I am happy to report that I am finished with my Christmas shopping. I basically finished it all last week. Jason doesn't read my blog, so I guess I can reveal a couple things I bought for him. His "big" gift, which also turns out is one of the smallest, is a new G-Shock watch. Jason's current G-Shock is being held by a rubber band so I found a great deal online and upgraded him to a nicer G-Shock. I also got him a new Wii game which was something he asked for. Its a WWII game that requires a gun attachment. I am a little surprised that he wanted a first-person shooter game. He doesn't really like guns, so this surprised me a little bit but it does look like a good game.

Jason comes home Friday and then he is on leave until January 3rd, which I am very excited about. This weekend I am hoping he will help me bake some Christmas cookies. His culinary skills don't go too far beyond heating things up, but when it comes to the "assembly" step of baking he is actually really handy. I hope he will not find the task of helping me with Christmas cookies too girly, but I'd like to have something to give our neighbors and some other people.

I am very excited for Christmas this year. I am hoping it will be a really memorable one since it is our first in this place and as a married couple. I ran the idea of going to church on Christmas Eve by Jason, and he didn't turn down the idea, but he did say that they usually go to the pub. So, basically the exact opposite of going to church.

We don't regularly attend church but it would be nice to go and the service probably wouldn't be that different to me. Most churches in England are either Church of England or Catholic which makes it easy. The Church of England which is also called Anglican is the same as the Episcopalian church in America. The Lutheran and Episcopalian churches do share many things in common and agree on much of their doctrine so it does work out in that sense. Not sure if we will be able to go to church or if we will opt for the pub, I can't really think of any way we could compromise on that. I don't think having a pre-communion cocktail before the late Christmas Eve service would be a great idea, but if it is going to happen anywhere it would happen here.

Christmas in this part of the world

2008-12-08T19:33:00.005Z

We put our tree up the day before Thanksgiving because it just worked out that was the best day to put it up, so we have had it up for a couple weeks now. I am so grateful for artificial Christmas trees because the fresh ones here leave much to be desired. This is the typical Nordman fir, which is the most common species of Christmas tree available here.

The tree is very sparse and kind of short and squatty so when you have a tall tree, it is incredibly wide. I also think the way the branches stick straight out instead of sloping down makes them quite harsh looking. I just feel all around it is a really unattractive tree, so I am glad we opted for the artificial variety. We bought a 7' "Virginia Fir" and I really love this tree and I am glad we will be able to keep it for a long time.

This year is also our first Christmas together, we got a few "Our First Christmas" ornaments for our wedding since we got married right after Christmas, but this little one is my favorite because it is really fun!

We don't have a fireplace or a chimney here, but we do have a very nice radiator cover over the radiator in the living room that serves as a mantle. Jason just varnished it so it really adds a lot to the room. We hung our stockings here and its also a great place to display my Snowbabies. Snowbabies are little figurines I have been collecting for probably a little over 10 years now and I love to put them out every Christmas.

I remember as a kid in school we always used to study the ways people in different cultures around the world celebrated Christmas and we learned how to say "Merry Christmas" in many languages. I never once remember learning about the different customs in England, but now I am learning there definitely are quite a few.

First of all, people don't say "Merry Christmas" here, they say "Happy Christmas". Its funny to me because I think the word merry is a far more English word. Words like canny and fancy are still very much part of their everyday vocabulary, so why on earth did they stop saying "Merry"!

Another thing is that some of the Christmas carols have the same exact words, but the melody is completely different. So far two I have heard are "O Little Town of Bethlehem" and "Away in a Manger". Also, some of the carols, although they have the same tune, have slightly different words. My favorite is Deck the Halls! Along with adding an extra "fa" to the middle of "fa la la la, la la la la", the lyrics in this version are much more... festive.

Deck the hall with boughs of holly,
Fa la la la la, fa la la la.
'Tis the season to be jolly,
Fa la la la la, fa la la la.
Fill the mead-cup, drain the barrel
Fa la la la, fa la la la.
Troll the ancient Christmas carol
Fa la la la la, fa la la la.

See the flowing bowl before us
Fa la la la la, fa la la la.
Strike the harp and join the chorus.
Fa la la la la, fa la la la.
Follow me in merry measure,
Fa la la la, fa la la la.
While I sing of beauty's treasure
Fa a la la la, fa la la la.

Fast away the old year passes,
Fa la la la la, fa la la la.
Hail the new, ye lads and lasses,
Fa la la la la, fa la la la.
Laughing, quaffing, all together
Fa la la la, fa la la la.
Heedless of the wind and weather,
Fa la la la la, fa la la la.

Also, while the English do tell their children that Santa Claus (or Father Christmas) is from the North Pole, they also call the place he is from Lapland. Lapland is actually the farthest northern province of Finland. As a kid I always thought that Santa's workshop was somewhere in northern Canada or Alaska. I couldn't imagine being a kid and thinking that Santa's workshop is just on the other side of the North Sea, about a 4 hour plane ride away.

Another new English custom is the custom of Christmas crackers at the Christmas dinner table. These Christmas crackers are a cardboard tube covered in wrapping paper and tied at each end. One person pulls on each end of the cracker and when it opens, inside is a small gift or a motto or fortune as well as a paper crown. After everyone has opened their cracker, they all wear their paper crowns. I am certainly not too proud to wear a paper hat, but it is something I can't imagine Jason doing so I am really looking forward to this.

(I don't know any of these people, I just got this photo from Google Images)

I am really looking forward to Christmas this year. It is our first Christmas together as a married couple and I hope it is a very memorable and special one. This season goes by so fast, so remember to enjoy every minute of your holiday season this year.

The Holidays are Here!

2008-12-01T18:20:00.006Z

I am sure you are curious about how my very ambitious Thanksgiving feast turned out. I am happy to report that after two days of non-stop cooking, all of my dishes turned out great. My turkey was done on time and came out moist and tender, my apple pie was the perfect amount of sweet and tart, my homemade cranberry sauce was just the right consistency, basically everything came out exactly the way I wanted it to and my in-laws really enjoyed the meal. At first they were a bit reluctant to try things they weren't familiar with. The English are not very adventurous when it comes to food, and even things that they could identify the contents of they were skeptical to try but as some would try a bit of one thing and tell the next person that is was good they started to get a bit bolder and at least tried pretty much everything. The biggest hits of the meal were definitely the "party potatoes" which we went through two large casseroles of and the apple pie and apple cranberry turnovers. I boiled two sacks of potatoes, probably somewhere in the neighborhood of 25 medium sized potatoes, and every last bit of them went. I am so proud of myself that my first big meal was a success. I have never made so many dishes for so many people and there were no catastrophes.

The feast

The dessert spread: apple cranberry turnovers, apple pie and pecan pie

There were a few changes to the meal from what I posted last week. Sadly I was unable to find a baking pumpkin so there was no pumpkin pie which was a big let down since I really wanted everyone to try it. Instead of pumpkin pie I made pecan pie which I thought was equally traditional but also it was equally foreign to them. Some of them really loved it and for some it was just too sweet but its also a dessert that is too sweet for many Americans and the ones who didn't care for the pecan pie really loved the apple pie and the turnovers.

I was also unable to find poppy seeds so instead of lemon poppy seed bread I just made lemon bread but it was still a hit and there wasn't even a crumb left at the end of the night.

The only other small hitch was that the cream of mushroom soup I used for the green bean casserole didn't have a lot of flavor. Next year I will have to look for a better brand or bring some over from the States. I already have a list of some canned ingredients I will want to bring back with me in my suitcase on my next trip back home.

Another wonderful thing that happened for my Thanksgiving meal was that I wasn't the only American there. My former roommate and maid of honor Christine was vacationing in Madrid this week and her vacation took an unfortunate turn for the worst so in order to salvage the rest of her vacation she bought a very last minute ticket from Madrid to Newcastle and arrived on Saturday afternoon. It was so wonderful to have her here, even if it was just for a couple days.

Yesterday afternoon Jason and I took her to the nearby city of Durham. Durham is a very charming city which looks like it was ripped from the pages of a Dickens' novel. The winding cobble-stoned streets and picturesque town square make for one of the most whimsical places in England.

Christine and me on a street in Durham

The main attraction in Durham is the cathedral, built in 1093 and completed in 40 years it is one of the only remaining Norman cathedrals in England to retain most of its Norman craftsmanship. Most of the great cathedrals in England like York Minster and Salisbury feature Gothic architecture and in many ways if you have seen one you have seen them all. Durham's unique Norman style is more open and in my opinion creates an almost angelic effect.

Durham Cathedral is also a place of great political and military significance in the North of England. One of the most fascinating periods in Durham Cathedral's history was during the 17th century when Cromwell closed down the cathedral and used it to imprison roughly 3,000 Scottish prisoners of war during the civil war between England and Scotland. The prisoners were kept in very inhumane conditions and they also ransacked the tombs of the cathedral, beheading and dismembering all of the sculptures. Today you can still see some of the older tombs topped with nothing more than a rough stone torso as a reminder of this dark period in the cathedral's history. Most of the 3,000 Scottish prisoners died there and their bodies were dumped in a mass unmarked grave which wasn't discovered until 1993.

Despite this dark period, Durham Cathedral is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been and it is a place I will most likely visit over and over again in my lifetime.

The cathedral from the outside

The sanctuary

The rose window as viewed from St. Cuthbert's Shrine

Jason and I also decorated for Christmas this week but I will post those photos in my blog next Monday. I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Two Thanksgivings

2008-11-22T23:25:00.009Z

It is currently 4°C which is about 39°F and when I woke up this morning there was actually a layer of snow on the ground! I had been told that even when it does snow it usually doesn't accumulate down by the sea because there is too much salt in the air and on the ground, so I suppose this is some kind of miracle.

So, what do you think adventurous Hartepooligans do when it is nearly freezing and there is a blanket of snow on the ground? They surf of course!

There are currently about 7 surfers out there, I see them out often and I suppose the water is frigid year round and they wear wet suits, but their heads are still uncovered and with the air as cold as it is, they must be certifiably crazy.

This week I will be cooking two, thats right, TWO Thanksgiving meals. Thursday night I am making a small non-traditional meal for Jason and me and then on Saturday I am cooking for 12 people at my mother-in-law's. People in England obviously don't get work off for Thanksgiving, so that is why we are doing it on Saturday. I am really grateful to my in laws for coming together to celebrate a holiday which commemorates Puritans leaving their country to escape religious persecution. I know they are all doing it to be supportive of me and it means a lot to me. I don't actually think they know what Thanksgiving is all about but its a good opportunity for everyone to get together for a nice big meal to kick off the holiday season.

So, for my small dinner on Thanksgiving day I am making a recipe of Ellie Krieger's, Turkey Roulade with Cider Gravy. It kind of combines all of the Thanksgiving staples into one dish and it looks amazing. I will probably make mashed potatoes because Jason can never get enough mashed potatoes and probably pick up a pie or cheesecake for dessert.

On Saturday, I am pulling out all the stops and cooking most of the traditional dishes. This will be my first time cooking a big meal for so many people and I hope my meal doesn't crash and burn. I will be planning for it all week, I have already started organizing my recipes and typing out a grocery list categorized by supermarket section. I think if I get as much as possible done during the day on Friday then Saturday morning I can pop the turkey in the oven and warm everything up and it will all go smoothly.

My First Thanksgiving Menu:
Olive Cheese Balls (a family recipe)
Roasted Turkey with citrus and herbes de Provence (a Giada de Laurentis recipe)
Turkey Gravy
Stuffing
Party Potatoes (a family recipe)
Green Bean Casserole
Jewel Roasted Vegetables (an Ellie Krieger recipe)
Zucchini Bread (a family recipe)
Poppy Seed Bread (a family recipe)
Pumpkin Pie
Apple Cranberry Turnovers (an Ellie Krieger recipe)

My challenges here will be finding a baking pumpkin and making the pumpkin pie from scratch because my sources have revealed that canned pumpkin isn't available here. I have also heard that French fried onions are difficult to come by, but not impossible. I can hopefully recruit some family members to bring an appetizer, salad or rolls.

I am thinking of introducing a new English food to the Thanksgiving meal, Yorkshire puddings. Yorkshire puddings are kind of like a cross between a dinner roll and a croissant. They are shaped like a hollow dinner roll but they are light and a bit flaky like a croissant.

I haven't learned to make them homemade yet because as I understand they are quite difficult to make. The tins, which resemble shallow muffin tins, must be filled with oil and then placed in the oven until the oil is piping hot at which point the batter must be poured in quickly so that they puff up properly. They are a bit bland but I love the way they soak up gravy. I think my English guests would really miss it if I didn't serve the meal with Yorkshire puddings (called Yorkie puds for short) because they traditionally have big roasts every Sunday afternoon and Yorkie puds are always a staple of the Sunday dinner. Wherever there is a big roast and gravy they expect to find Yorkie puds on the table and I don't want to disappoint.

On a less festive note, I am sick for the 4th time in about two months. I was curious as to why I keep getting everything that comes my way. My diet is good, its not like I have a vitamin deficiency or anything. Then I did some thinking back to my science classes and my addiction to Discovery News and developed a theory that my immune system isn't used to the strains of viruses and bacteria here. I know that viruses and bacteria genetically mutate with each generation, some more than others, but I can imagine that being separated my an ocean that the flu and cold viruses here probably don't even remotely resemble the viruses my immune system is accustomed to. To test my theory I did some research online and it turns out to be true. That is the root of my repeated illnesses, probably also the time I spend with my niece who is most likely always carrying around things from school so I have a lot of exposure. I suppose it is a really good thing I am not a teacher, I would be sick constantly! I don't know how long it is going to take before my immune system adjusts but I think I should probably take some supplements to help me ward off all of these unfamiliar diseases. This is something I never thought about before I moved here but now that I am experiencing it, it seems logical.

As long as we are talking about illness, I have to confess a mistake I have been making in interpreting the local dialect. When I have been sick, my in laws have asked if I was "poolie" or so I thought that was what they were asking. I had no idea what they were talking about, but by process of elimination I figured out they were asking if I had been sick because it was the only thing I had been for the past week. The other day, someone said it again at choir but they must have enunciated a bit better because suddenly it clicked in my mind what they were saying.

Here, instead of pronouncing the word "poor" like "pore" they pronounce it "poo-er". Instead of asking if you are sick, they ask if you are "poorly", pronounced "poo-er-lee". Now say that fast and drop a consonant like the English are so very good at doing, and you get "poolie". I suppose it makes more sense, but it has taken me months to figure this out!

Today Jason is returning after three weeks away! He took a week off so he could be home with me for my Thanksgiving and we will also be shopping for our Christmas decorations this week! Have a wonderful Thanksgiving everyone!

The Eleventh Hour of the Eleventh Day of the Eleventh Month

2008-11-17T00:36:00.003Z

This Tuesday was Armistice Day. I didn't realize until now that this is the one non-religious holiday that America and England share. In America, Veteran's Day is also commemorated on the day of the Armistice. Having experienced both holidays in both countries I am sad to say that America's observation pales in comparison to the honor which the English bestow on their veterans on this day. If you asked the average American what date Veteran's Day is, if they aren't looking at a November calendar chances are they couldn't tell you. I am sure this week on Tuesday when everyone turned the page on their day to day desk calendar, more than one office worker turned to a coworker and commented "Hey, did you know today is Veteran's Day?" I find it sad that Americans need a small italicized reminder on their calendar or date book to remember such an important day in our history. By contrast, if you asked a British citizen what date Armistice or "Poppy Day" falls on they will quickly answer "the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month".

For the month preceding the holiday, everyone wears a paper poppy on their lapel. The proceeds go to the British Legion and one of the most amazing things is that every single television personality makes the poppy a permanent part of their wardrobe for the month leading up to Armistice Day. Even the contestants on The X Factor (Britain's version of American Idol) wear a poppy on their outfits on stage. I guess it could be compared to the American flag lapel pin, no Member of Parliament would be caught dead without one pinned to their suit.

British Legion's Paper Poppy

I suppose here both World Wars quite literally hit closer to home. The British isles were heavily bombed by the Germans and there are still reminders everywhere of the death and destruction. Here in the North, one of the biggest reminders is the depressed economy.

Before the World Wars, Hartlepool was a major English port and a hub of industry with several dozen shipping companies calling the port of Hartlepool home, accounting for nearly 250 ships. Hartlepool's position as a major British port made it a strategic target for the Germans. On the morning of December 16, 1914 Hartlepool became the first town in England to be bombed by the Germans. On this day over 1000 shells rained down on Hartlepool from German ships. Guns on the Heugh (pronounced "Yuff") Gun Battery in Hartlepool fired back around 150 shells with more accuracy than the German ships and initiated the first and only land to sea attack from the British mainland and severely damaged the attacking ships. Despite this contribution, World War I and the following Depression crippled the once robust Hartlepool shipping industry only to be revived again during World War II. Yet again, this prosperity made Hartlepool a prime target for the Nazi forces and Hartlepool was raided from the air 43 times during the course of World War II. This once and for all cut off the Hartlepool shipping industry and it has never recovered since.

Hartlepool homes destroyed in December 16, 1914 bombing

Hartlepool's story is similar to many other English towns, which is maybe the reason that Armistice Day and honoring their veterans is such a hallowed tradition here. Particularly in the working class towns of the North where the economic effects of war are still relevant decades later, these stories still hit close to home and in many cases the people who lived through them are still around to remember.

Last Sunday nearly every town in the country held their own "Poppy Parade" with veterans and active members of the British Armed Forces marching through the center of town to be honored for their service. In London in front of the World War I memorial, 3 surviving veterans of World War I were honored. They were all well into their 100s and all in wheelchairs, but still proudly wearing their uniforms and displaying their medals. Jason marched in a Poppy Parade in the Northwestern town of Barrow-in-Furness which his ship HMS Walney is named for after an island off the coast.

If you don't know the significance of the poppy, it comes from a poem written by a Canadian soldier during World War I.

In Flanders Field
by Lt.-Co. John McCrea

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

Newcastle, New Couch and Bonfire Night

2008-11-09T16:53:00.004Z

I have definitely had a busy week! Tuesday I took the train into Newcastle which is such a beautiful city. It was my first time actually going into Newcastle proper and it was wonderful to be downtown in a city again. Arriving by train in Newcastle is really breathtaking. From Hartlepool the train runs along the sea coast. After three months I have grown accustomed to the sights and sounds of this area, but moving along the coast through this very different terrain I was again reminded that I do live in a different country with a very different landscape. When the train pulls into Newcastle it is elevated to about the roof level of most of the buildings so you are looking down into the streets and then the train passes over the River Tyne. This moment passing over the river in an elevated train I couldn't help but feel nostalgic. I could see myself living in this city and really feeling at home.

Tuesday night I obviously stayed up very late watching the election results roll in. The first results came in at about midnight and I stayed up until about 3 am at which point enough states had been called and I had a pretty good idea that unless there was a major upset in California the election was pretty much determined. I got a text message from a friend of mine in Chicago who was attending the Obama rally, and I am so glad she texted me awake because I was able to watch the rally in Chicago live on TV. This week it has been nice for me to see live coverage from Chicago, probably not something that will happen much in the future. Without sounding too politcal here, I have to say that one thing I have found amazing over the last few days is the coverage that has come from all over the world. This election might have divided the US, but throughout the rest of world people are dancing in the streets hoisting American flags that are actually not on fire. Some of you may be disappointed in the results of the election and some of you may be elated, but as an American living abroad this is the most important thing to me and its very encouraging.

Wednesday morning I got a call that my couch would be delivered the next day!!! Before purchasing a new couch Jason and I had only this very ugly loveseat which I only just recently learned was left here in our flat by the previous owner. This new development made the mystery stains all over the loveseat that much more foreboding. Here is the old loveseat:

Here is our new corner sofa! I absolutely love it, and it fits perfectly in the living room as if it was made to measure. I also love that the section at the end is a footstool so if we have company over we can move it anywhere we would like for additional seating and two people can easily fit on it. I also love the that the frame is covered in leather but the cushions are fabric. I love the look of leather but the fabric cushions are warmer and more comfortable.

This week was also Guy Fawkes Night, also known as Bonfire Night. Always associated with the rhyme "Remember Remember the Fifth of November." Guy Fawkes Night commemorates the foiling of the Gunpowder Plot in 1605 which was a Catholic conspiracy to blow up the Houses of Parliament as well as the King and much of the Protestant aristocracy. The day is commemorated every year with fireworks displays, and bonfires where effigies of Guy Fawkes are burned. These bonfires are also a convenient way to get rid of bulky waste like furniture once every year.

Guy Fawkes was the plotter who prepared the explosives meant to blow up the Houses of Parliament but the plot also has a connection to Northumberland. Henry Percy was one of the principal conspirators and his family domain was Alnwick Castle which you may remember from an earlier post, My First Visit to an English Castle.

The fireworks display in Hartlepool was right here in Seaton Carew so Jason and I were able to walk down to the beach to watch them, along with Jason's sister Kirsty and our niece Abbie. It was a great thing for us to do together before he left for three weeks.

Today all over England there are "poppy parades" in every town, Jason marched in uniform in a parade in Barrow which is a place associated with his ship HMS Walney. November 11th will be Armistace Day so in next week's post I will go into more detail about this holiday which is obviously of great importance to our family.

Happy to report...

2008-11-03T21:49:00.005Z

I am BUSY! I feel like I have been going going going since Friday. I won't give you all the details but this weekend I went to a Halloween party and met some new people, and the best news is that tomorrow I have a meeting with a recruiter that specializes in marketing and media jobs.

I think I am going to delay posting until tomorrow after I have met with this recruiter. I am sure everyone is probably more focused on tomorrow's election than they are on my blog. Please excuse this brief semi-political commercial (I promise its purple, no blue or red here). I make it a point not to make this blog political in any way but I think this is important enough to make an exception just this once.

On that note, please remember to vote tomorrow. Here in the UK, the citizens do not have the luxury of choosing their own leader. First of all the ultimate head of state is the Queen, and while she is in many ways more of a figurehead rather than an actual policy maker, for all intents and purposes she is the head honcho for no reason other than her place in the royal bloodline. The British people do not get to vote on the Prime Minister, either. The public elects a political party, and then it is up to the party to appoint a Prime Minister. Imagine if it was up to American politicians to choose the President! We as Americans have a unique privilege to decide who will lead our country and it isn't something that should be taken lightly or for granted.

No matter how long the lines are at polling centers, its your right and privilege as an American to vote. I know its easy for me to say that because I voted absentee a month ago from the comfort of my living room, but I believe it is important to first and foremost educate yourself about the candidates and then get out there and vote. Its not too late to do your homework!

If the sense of responsibility to your country isn't enough to motivate you to get out there, Starbucks is giving a free tall coffee to anyone who voted.

I will report tomorrow on my experience with riding the train alone for the first time in this country, and any news on the job front.

Happy voting!!!

English Pub Culture

2008-10-27T00:39:00.003Z

Ahhh yes, Ye Olde British Tradition- drinking. This weekend Jason and I went for "a night out" together. I mostly went for his benefit, as I have begun to find the pub culture a bit boring. I promise to explain later.

I put "a night out" in quotations because here, a night out is far more specific a term than it is in America. In the States, if you tell someone you are going for a night out it could mean a whole spectrum of things. It could mean that you are going for dinner and a movie or that you are going to get dressed up and see a play or that you and some friends are going to go out and have a rowdy time. The possibilities of what a night out in America can mean are endless.

In England, "a night out" means that you are going to drink in at least one pub and plan on drinking for the duration of the evening. More specifically in Hartlepool, the qualifications for a night out are even more stringent.

First of all, there seems to be an unwritten dress code. It could be an instinctual thing, some kind of genetic code that is only strong in the blue-blooded English and not those of us who have been tainted with German or even (gasp!) Scottish blood. I say this because I obviously always miss the memo. The dress code isn't usually the same from one night to the next, or from one weekend to the next. It is mostly a female thing since most men have two or three "night out" shirts that they rotate. I never seem to get it right but luckily my style is understated enough that my faux pas go unnoticed.

Women always seem to be dressed the same. Saturday night, most of the night-outers were wearing leopard print and/or sequins although there was a sect of people wearing sweater dresses and leggings. There are usually only two or three different variations of outfits and then if you go out the next weekend thinking you are onto the pattern, they have changed the encryption again and everyone is wearing two or three completely different styles.

Secondly, there is a strict itinerary that everyone follows, but everyone takes a different shift. I think it might be something where upon turning 18 the new crop of drinkers is given their itinerary and this remains with them until death.

The intinerary goes like this: You always begin in the same pub and after having no more than two drinks you move on to the next pub. Repeat this until closing time. The order in which you proceed to the pubs is always the same. For this reason a night out in Hartlepool means that even though you never stay in the same place for more than a round or two, you continuously see the same groups of people coming and going. Like clockwork, you see the same groups of people leaving as you enter the pub and then continue to see familiar faces as you finish your round and the next shift arrives and then the whole cycle starts again.

For this reason, I find pub culture in this town very boring. I never meet new people since my group is always on the move, I never get the chance to settle in before moving on to the next place (there are very few tables and chairs in the pubs in which to settle) and I am usually uncomfortable from trekking from "the top end" of town to "the bottom end" while dressed up more than I would like to be. It is normal (but thankfully not mandatory) for women to wear cocktail dresses out, and for the younger and wilder crowd the equivalent of what you would wear to a bachelor or bachelorette party.

Coming from the cozy and quiet "come as you are" pubs of Chicago this all seems like too much trouble for me. I prefer to stroll down the street in a t-shirt and jeans, park myself at the bar and have a lively conversation with my dear friend the bartender. The bartenders here are more like the cashiers at a fast food restaurant. You give them your order which had better be one of the things they see on the touch screen in front of them, they quickly bring it to you, you pay, you walk away drink in hand, end of transaction.

Also, despite the "shaken not stirred" stereotype about the English, in my experience no bartender in England is capable of making a cocktail that doesn't give you the recipe in it's name. Basically, if it isn't a Jack Daniels and Diet Coke or a vodka and Red Bull they can't make it and God save you if you order something else and they actually give it a try. The vast majority of people drink lager, usually Fosters, Carling or Kronenbourg. Second to lager is cider, Strongbow being the most popular but there are several brands. After that are ales which is basically any dark beer like Guinness. Never fear if you prefer a fruity cocktail because Britain's solution for having poorly trained bartenders is to bottle everything under the sun. You can get a wide array of cocktails in a bottle and this fourth category of drinks is called "alchypops". Even though the option is there, drinking a premade screwdriver out of a bottle just doesn't do it for me. That basically covers the options you have when you go out, although I have found there is usually a refrigerator behind the bar stocked with things like Corona and other more "exotic" drinks that are more to my liking.

It isn't all bad because one thing about all the moving around is that you have more opportunity of running into people you know, and we almost always do. Still, the malarkey I described above is precisely what is implied when someone asks if you are going for "a night out", and I am always expected to know what this means and follow suit to fulfill all of the night out qualifications.

Here in England we have turned back our clocks a week early, so for those of you in the Eastern time zone I am only 4 hours ahead and those in the Central time zone I am only 5 hours ahead. Next week when the US follows suit we will be back to the usual, but this week I will enjoy feeling a bit closer to home even if it is just a technicality. Thanks again for reading! More next week when I will be reporting on my first Halloween weekend here!