Xmas, New Year and An Overdue Update!

Hi all,

Thought it was about time for an update, although not that much has happened in the scheme of things. The biggest being our change of address. Before Christmas we decided it was time to get out of shared accommodation; we know we didn't last long but at the end of the day it's hard enough to live with one other, let alone 7. And it's not costing much more to rent a place on our own, although I'm sure lots of people have bigger garages than our flat ... but it's cosy!

Hope everyone had a lovely Christmas and New Year. Both were fairly quiet, but given the weather it takes a lot of motivation just to get outside. We spent Christmas day in a cosy little pub for lunch which was nice, although quiet strange. It's weird for it to be so cold over Christmas when all i've ever known is warm, Aussie Christmases.

Our first real Christmas tree;


My favourite present, Harrods Bears (aren't they cute!!);


New Year was spent in front of the telly watching the New Year entertainment going on in London. Mike was sick and it was cold and raining. So fairly uneventful.

The question of homesickness keeps coming up, and generally speaking neither of us has been overly homesick (no offence to anyone who thinks we should be pining for them). I miss Murphy and Monty, but other than that we're both fine. Having been here for a few months now, certain food and smells seem to cause lots of memories and daydreams from home. Australian wines tastes better, and taste more distinctly Aussie than we thought when we first arrived. I haven't had vegemite on toast for ages because it send me into a weird daydreaming trance, which I just don't have time for of a morning, and Dixie Drumsticks are a delicacy (extremely expensive to buy over here, and rationed when we recieve them!).

So that about all to update on, see I said not much had happened. In the near future we're off to France and Dublin (booked), and possibly somewhere a little warmer for a weekend if the budget allows. Hope everyone is well and we'll try to update again soon.

Mike and Krystle xoxo

The Best Experience in the UK (so far)

So, having established that the website does still work, prepare for a torrent of posts.

Also in November Krystle and I went to our first Premier League game. Football is about the only thing that people in England really care about. Now that religion is dead, people worship at the alter of football and it is fairly much a 24hr a day, 7 days a week, media driven phenomenon. Everything is news and there is little that people talk about other than football. Tickets go for upwards of 150 pounds, so I was pleasantly suprised when Hamish, who I work with, found tickets for Fulham v Blackburn for 32 pounds.
Fulham are the club owned by the man who would have been Diana's father-in-law (if not for the French, or the Queen or whoever you blame). They're not a team doing particularly well but Blackburn are certainly a good team consistently in the top 6. We made our way to the ground for a 4.00 Sunday afternoon start. The ground is set in parklands on the Thames and is certainly a very nice spot to watch sport. Our seats were excellent, about 10 rows back behind the goal (in the picture just in front of the bottom of the letter L). The game was nil - nil at half time but really came alive in the second half. Both sides scored 2 goals, so it finished as a draw, but it was really enjoyable, and hopefully not the last game I see!

This picture is of the Fulham FC ground looking towards the cottage in the left hand corner.

On the road again

With winter rapidly arriving we took the opportunity to take the mini on another road trip before the snow set in and buried in the car in massive drifts. Having spent 12 months in the area in 1993, I was keen to revisit Oxford and so Krystle and I set off on a mild Saturday morning. Spring was holding in there, but not enough to take the roof off the mini. I had booked a pub room at a place in the little town of Dorchester-on-Thames, about 9 miles away from Oxford. First though we went to Oxford and took a trip down memory lane, visiting Cothill where the school I worked at is, and the surrounding area. We had lunch at a pub near the school that I used to visit and then drove back through Abingdon which Krystle liked and wants to go back to.

The pub was very nice, warm and welcoming. Our room was large and comfy and we decided just to have dinner at the pub as nights were now becoming less welcoming for travel. Dorchester-on-Thames is a tiny little town with a population of only a couple of hundred. It is really only a street, but has a large church, post office and no less than 3 places to drink. Always get their priorites right.

On the Sunday we went into Oxford and had a look round the centre of town. Everything looked much smaller than I remembered it. We took an historical visit to Oxford castle, parts of which are almost 1000 years old and was until recently used as a prison, one of its many functions over the past millennium. You actually climbed the tower, the oldest standing part of the building and got a really good view of Oxford and the surrounding area. We also ate donuts at Krispy Kreme which I'm led to believe has been part of the complex for most of the past 1000 years. So its traditional!

We headed back having decided to steer clear of the freeways, giving the little car a break. It cruises along at 100-105 km/hr but because its only a 4 speed manual starts to struggle above these speeds. That and most other cars are doing 125km/h +.

Happy Devali!!!

Hi all,

Apologies for not updating sooner, but here's what we've been up to in the last week and a bit. This week has been busy, and very noisy due to Guy Fawkes (some dude who tried to blow up Parliament a few hundred years ago) night, and Devali (some kinda religious thing where they blow stuff up). Last week we also had Halloween, which is a far bigger deal than at home. We had trick or treaters for 4ish hours so I was extremely impressed with the turnout. Anyway, it sounds like we live in a war zone as I type, and we were able to have fireworks one night.

We went to Cambridge last weekend. Had a look around on Saturday before going to the pub on Sat night. We enjoyed a leisurely trip up the canal on Sunday, before finding a pub for lunch and heading home. The boat trip was a great way to see all the old universities, bridges etc. We're off to Oxford this weekend, which hopefully will be nice too.

Thought I should answer the question everyone keeps asking too... yes it is cold, but so far I think we're coping okay. I've learnt from experience that despite there being blue sky, it is too cold to go out without a coat. I thought it was hilarious the first time i heard kids at school being reminded of the 'no coat no play' rule ... but where were their hats? I've since wondered whether this rule will get me out of playground duty.

Think that's about all for now. We've recently discovered that we can film stuff with the digital camera, but I will warn that the quality leaves a lot to be desired. If you're short of time, not reading at work on your employers time, or suffer from motion sickness, maybe give the filmed pieces a miss.

We drove down this street in Cambridge not realising it was blocked at the end.

And ended up like this:






The river at Cambridge (with the kind of boat we went for a cruise in):

A sign we saw that reminded us of the dangers of swimming in shallow canals that are easily comparable to the surf we know at home.

Our tour guide Paul who was informative, entertaining and very good at making the boat thingy go.

This is how our 'war zone' sounded. Our neighbours are either really angry with each other, or love their Devali, as this went on for over 5 hours.

This was the grand finale at our own backyard Guy Fawkes celebration.

Who Could Resist ... ?

On Wednesday night we headed to the Cambridge Theatre in London to see Kelly. Mike doesn't have kids at school this week (an inset week), and has next week off. I have this week off and go back to school when Mike has time off, so it hasn't worked out too well, but it's okay. Anyway, we went into London, found a pub for an hour or so, then saw the show. Believe it or not, Kelly appeared to be quiet talented.

Other than that, not much has happened this week. We went to dinner tonight with the year 3 teacher Mike works with, Sara and her husband Will. What could be better than a tradition English meal, in a traditional English pub?

We hope you're all thinking of us while you're enjoying 30 degree days. We're lucky if it's hotter than 10 degrees, and Mike has noticed cars are having a layer of ice form on the windscreen in the morning.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!!!

I know that technically it's not the 12th in Australia anymore (because you're soo far into the future), but HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!!! Hope you can get your present off Mum every once in a while!!

We were speaking about Dad's this evening whilst at a pub in London with Coraline (our housemate who can't drink with the Aussies!). A little back story, Paul very generously gave us some English currency at the airport and said wisely "tuck 20 pounds in the back of your purse in case of an emergency". This advice was taken and 20 pounds has remained in the back of the purse every since... with the exception of 2 times. Two emergencies in the time we've been here!! One: no wine in the fridge on a Friday night! Completely outrageous! And two: at the pub for lunch today with no money for drinks! We've been at pubs for lunch and dinner, drinking for a cause. Cheers Dad!!!

On the way home Michael commented that so far nearly all the good English experiences have involved a pub. ie, London Dungeon was crap ... the pub we had lunch in; good. Bad day at work is directly related to a good night at a pub. Thank god for 'Thank God It's Friday'!

**WARNING** Our post are officially crap because our lives are no more interesting than they were at home (we just drink a little more). We officially love our housemate Coraline because "she no speak no English no good" but she knows how to say #$%@!!!

Life's More Fun When You're Driving A Mini!!

Well some of you know by now, but others don't. Mike and I have recently purchased one of the coolest cars in Britain. We searched high and low for a warm, non leaking, reliable care and ended up with this:

It's sooo cute!! We're currently accepting name suggestions cause nothing seems to fit just right.