Before we came over here, we were under the impression that certain holidays were only celebrated in the United States - Halloween, Thanksgiving, Fourth of July. Although I love pointing out to the kids that of course they have Fourth of July in England, it comes right between the third and fifth of July. Usually that punch line is met with an eye roll or two. So in fear that I wouldn’t be able to find anything appropriate, I brought big Rubbermaid containers filled with some of our favorite holiday decorations over with us. Actually I think Halloween is slowly and surely being adopted in the UK. It started mostly in the neighborhoods with the highest number of American residents. Now it has caught on; with the fire being fueled by the biggest Halloween lovers of them all - the greeting card and candy manufacturers. Most of the grocery stores carry “carving pumpkins”, treat sized candy bars and Halloween costumes. It cost me about $8.00 for two pumpkins the size of large cantaloupes. I am glad that I brought our decorations with us because there are still not many decorations in the store. Mostly things like paper skeletons, pictures of witches, etc. No motion activated Frankensteins or battery operated flying bats, no scary music cds or cute Halloween t-shirts.
I had been told that there would be some trick-or-treating done in our neighborhood. Because we have lots of Americans, I am not sure whether that is the reason or if Halloween has truly been embraced by the British. I also understand that in the past there is quite a bit of the trickery in trick or treat here, regardless of whether one has been provided a treat or not. Apparently the local constables are not too fond of Halloween (but I think that is true in the United States as well).
So I purchased several bags of candy in anticipation. In our US neighborhood, we didn’t usually get trick or treaters because we lived on a rural road and until 2 years ago didn’t even have a sidewalk. Once we got the sidewalk it didn’t change because traditions had already been established and most people in our area went to a certain neighborhood. So Snake and I weren’t sure what to expect. Chizz had a work function and Kiki was at a soccer team dinner downtown. Because we live in 3 flat building with buzzers and a foyer, I knew many parents wouldn’t even try to navigate that tough security. So we marched down to our front stoop with our lighted cantaloupe-pumpkin and waited. Fueled with wine for me and Dr. Pepper for Snake, we waited. Not long. I think trick or treating starts earlier here, about 5:00. That is because it starts getting dark at 3:30 – no lie! We were pleasantly surprised; we had quite a few kids drop by. I would say as many British kids as Americans. Our candy ran out after about 2 hours.
Our scary hand trick or treat candy bowl was quite the hit. You know the one, it has the rubber hand in the middle of the bowl and it is motion activated, the minute someone sticks his/her hand in the bowl to get a piece of candy the hand goes down and a scary voice says one of three things “Want some Candy?, Trick or Treat or Happy Halloween”. Except our bowl is very old, the rubber hand has a rip in it and has some its stuffing showing. It is very temperamental, as some of us get in our advanced years, and doesn’t go off every time – only when it feels like it. Still, since the decorations are fairly simple here – this was the hit of the street. Parents and kids alike were touching the hand. I heard “that’s brilliant” more than “trick or treat”. Sadly this bowl will be retired this year, the replacement already on its way to our US address to be brought back to London next year. Maybe I should buy a gross and when someone expresses interest next year, I can pull one out and say “Want one? Only £20.00!” Trick or Treat!
Tuesday, October 31, 2006
Sunday, October 29, 2006
My Hero
As many of you know, Chizz sometimes has the knack of being in the wrong place at the wrong time - terrorist sites, Heathrow when he is supposed to be a Gatwick, SFO when he supposed to be at Oakland airport, the other end of a golf club that has just hit a ball that just sliced into the knee of a non-English speaking Japanese employee of the Korean consulate, etc. Well, it appears the shoe is on the other foot here. The other night when he was rushing off to the gym, Chizz was walking along admiring the architecture (or so he told me) when he noticed across the street what appeared to be a body on the ground between two cars. He walked over to get a better look and it indeed turned out to be a body on the ground, a body of a woman. She was conscious but understandably very upset. She had fallen down between the cars and either wouldn't or couldn't get up. Chizz tried to ascertain whether she had been injured but she was not very coherent. He wasn't sure whether she had a few drinks at the local pub to unwind or if she had hurt herself and was in some kind of shock. He was able to determine that she just lived a few houses down, so he went down to her house and brought back her husband. Between the two of them, they were able to get her up and get her to her house. She did not want an ambulance and we surmise that she had spent the preceding hours at the pub which probably caused her fall. Kind of a strange way to start your workout, which is why I don't go to the gym. Right.
So, yesterday Chizz and I decided we were tired of looking at the dead plants in our planter boxes and appointed ourselves building gardeners. We were going to set off to the local Homebase and pick up some plants. Kiki was off with friends and Snake was staying in to do homework. We went out our flat and into our building foyer, when Chizz stops dead in his tracks, cocks his head to one side and appears to be listening. I am thinking perhaps he heard Snake calling after us, so I say "Did you hear Snake calling after us?" Original, huh? He shushed me!! He goes to the apartment door of our neighbor and says "Are you okay?" We hear a feeble, "Help, I've fallen and I can't get up". I have to fight back the urge to tell her to use her Life Alert button. But she tells us that she has fallen and can't move to open the door. I have seen her around the apartment building before, she is unsteady on her feet and I think she is probably in her late 70s. I call 999 (the UK equivalent of 911) and ask for an ambulance but I explain to the operator that I am not sure how they are going to get in the apartment. The operator says that she will also send the police and they will get into the apartment somehow. Within 5 minutes, the ambulance arrives with 3 attendants. The attendants go through our apartment and the downstairs neighbors and determine the best course of action would be probably to smash her window and gain entry that way. Although they didn't ask, that was my vote too! The whole time this was going, Chizz was sitting on the floor talking to the woman, trying to keep her alert. She kept repeating that she had fallen, she couldn't move. Chizz was very soothing, trying to keep her calm. She did stop talking several times, we weren't sure if she had fallen asleep or worse. Finally, the police arrive about 10 minutes later. They assess the situation, climb through our window to the roof to see if there was a way to gain entry, go through the neighbors yard and see if they can get in that way. They decide the best thing is to break the door down. I am worried about this because we don't know how close she is to the door. If she isn't badly hurt at this point, a door falling on her might is most certainly going to aggravate the situation!! But they need to call in another police car, one that is equipped with the rammer (I am sure there is a technical police term for it but I don't know what that is). Several minutes later, another police car arrives and 2 officers are carrying in the rammer, which is basically a large, thick pole with handles on it. On the heels of these two policemen is a woman who turns out to be the neighbor's daughter. She has a key and the ambulance attendants are able to assist our neighbor. She recently had some new medication and it makes her more unsteady on her feet. Her son had spent the night but had left early that morning for work. So Mrs. H. probably had not been on the floor that long as it turns out but still all in all probably a scary situation for her. They checked her out medically and she was fine so it was not necessary to take her to the hospital. The daughter was very grateful that Chizz had heard her. Mrs. H. is actually 86 years old and apparently very stubborn and independent. She refuses to use a "stick" (cane in American) or have live in care. I have a feeling Mrs. H and her daughter are going to have some discussions about those issues this week. If the daughter had been 3 minutes later, she would have been cleaning up wood splinters all over her mother's entryway. Mrs. H. was not right by the door so if they had taken down the door, she wouldn't have been hurt but probably very surprised!
It was amazing that Chizz heard her, her voice was very faint. In this day and age, we all bustle about so quickly that sometimes we don't see or hear things around us. We all need to rely on the kindness of strangers at some point in our life. I am very proud of Chizz that he heard both of these women and took time to help them. We would all like to thing we would but lets face it there are quite a few people who wouldn't or couldn't be bothered. I am proud to be married to him. Now if I could just get him to remember which airport he is flying out of.
So, yesterday Chizz and I decided we were tired of looking at the dead plants in our planter boxes and appointed ourselves building gardeners. We were going to set off to the local Homebase and pick up some plants. Kiki was off with friends and Snake was staying in to do homework. We went out our flat and into our building foyer, when Chizz stops dead in his tracks, cocks his head to one side and appears to be listening. I am thinking perhaps he heard Snake calling after us, so I say "Did you hear Snake calling after us?" Original, huh? He shushed me!! He goes to the apartment door of our neighbor and says "Are you okay?" We hear a feeble, "Help, I've fallen and I can't get up". I have to fight back the urge to tell her to use her Life Alert button. But she tells us that she has fallen and can't move to open the door. I have seen her around the apartment building before, she is unsteady on her feet and I think she is probably in her late 70s. I call 999 (the UK equivalent of 911) and ask for an ambulance but I explain to the operator that I am not sure how they are going to get in the apartment. The operator says that she will also send the police and they will get into the apartment somehow. Within 5 minutes, the ambulance arrives with 3 attendants. The attendants go through our apartment and the downstairs neighbors and determine the best course of action would be probably to smash her window and gain entry that way. Although they didn't ask, that was my vote too! The whole time this was going, Chizz was sitting on the floor talking to the woman, trying to keep her alert. She kept repeating that she had fallen, she couldn't move. Chizz was very soothing, trying to keep her calm. She did stop talking several times, we weren't sure if she had fallen asleep or worse. Finally, the police arrive about 10 minutes later. They assess the situation, climb through our window to the roof to see if there was a way to gain entry, go through the neighbors yard and see if they can get in that way. They decide the best thing is to break the door down. I am worried about this because we don't know how close she is to the door. If she isn't badly hurt at this point, a door falling on her might is most certainly going to aggravate the situation!! But they need to call in another police car, one that is equipped with the rammer (I am sure there is a technical police term for it but I don't know what that is). Several minutes later, another police car arrives and 2 officers are carrying in the rammer, which is basically a large, thick pole with handles on it. On the heels of these two policemen is a woman who turns out to be the neighbor's daughter. She has a key and the ambulance attendants are able to assist our neighbor. She recently had some new medication and it makes her more unsteady on her feet. Her son had spent the night but had left early that morning for work. So Mrs. H. probably had not been on the floor that long as it turns out but still all in all probably a scary situation for her. They checked her out medically and she was fine so it was not necessary to take her to the hospital. The daughter was very grateful that Chizz had heard her. Mrs. H. is actually 86 years old and apparently very stubborn and independent. She refuses to use a "stick" (cane in American) or have live in care. I have a feeling Mrs. H and her daughter are going to have some discussions about those issues this week. If the daughter had been 3 minutes later, she would have been cleaning up wood splinters all over her mother's entryway. Mrs. H. was not right by the door so if they had taken down the door, she wouldn't have been hurt but probably very surprised!
It was amazing that Chizz heard her, her voice was very faint. In this day and age, we all bustle about so quickly that sometimes we don't see or hear things around us. We all need to rely on the kindness of strangers at some point in our life. I am very proud of Chizz that he heard both of these women and took time to help them. We would all like to thing we would but lets face it there are quite a few people who wouldn't or couldn't be bothered. I am proud to be married to him. Now if I could just get him to remember which airport he is flying out of.
Wednesday, October 25, 2006
Why I Hate My Washer/Dryer
There are many things I love about our new flat. I love the ceiling molding, how bright the living room is in the morning, the built-in bookcases in the family room/den, the curved archways between the living room and the dining room, the view of the trees from the upstairs windows, the mantel in the living room, which I am fairly certain is original to the house. It is a cute flat with loads of charm.
That is not to say that they aren’t adjustments you make when you move into a flat from a house, mostly in space. We went from a five bedroom house to a three bedroom apartment. We don’t have a lot of closets, a garage (which isn’t that terrible since we don’t’ have a car) or a laundry room. I never realized how much I loved my laundry room with its big washer and dryer until I moved into our flat and met our washer/dryer. I say met because I think of it like a human being, a human being I don’t like very much. First of all, it is in the kitchen. It doesn’t even know its proper place – a laundry room. Second of all it is a combo washer dryer – meaning the load goes through the washing process and then stays in there for the drying. These units are very popular here. Of the 10-15 places we looked at before we came, ¾ of them had combo washer/dryers. IT TAKES FOREVER TO DO A SMALL LOAD OF LAUNDRY. I can put a load in there before I leave in the morning around 10:00 a.m., come back well after lunch and it will still be going 5 hours later. Another thing, it has the capacity of a large mixing bowl. I can only put in two bath towels and maybe, if I am feeling a little defiant, a hand towel and that is it. If I overstuff it, by let’s say putting in THREE bath towels, the load will never dry. Now in all fairness, I shouldn’t say never because I usually will end a load after about 7 hours so I haven’t really tested whether or not it will eventually dry by leaving an overstuffed load in until it is dry. I think I should do the environment a favor by stopping it after 7 or so hours. Because laundry takes so very long to finish, there is always laundry to do. We are backlogged in laundry and we don’t even do Chizz’s shirts, we send them out. (Hey Uncle S. – you need to look into going multi-national, there are dry cleaners on EVERY block here!) The washer/dryer is on constantly. For a while there I thought I might be able to catch up if I set the alarm and did a load during the middle of the night. But I figured out that at an average rate of 6 hours per load, I would really only be getting in one extra load a day. Since we are talking mini-loads, it is hardly worth losing sleep.
Kiki leaves for college in two years. She will probably be the only kid that goes TO college with dirty laundry. Maybe she can take some of Snake’s.
That is not to say that they aren’t adjustments you make when you move into a flat from a house, mostly in space. We went from a five bedroom house to a three bedroom apartment. We don’t have a lot of closets, a garage (which isn’t that terrible since we don’t’ have a car) or a laundry room. I never realized how much I loved my laundry room with its big washer and dryer until I moved into our flat and met our washer/dryer. I say met because I think of it like a human being, a human being I don’t like very much. First of all, it is in the kitchen. It doesn’t even know its proper place – a laundry room. Second of all it is a combo washer dryer – meaning the load goes through the washing process and then stays in there for the drying. These units are very popular here. Of the 10-15 places we looked at before we came, ¾ of them had combo washer/dryers. IT TAKES FOREVER TO DO A SMALL LOAD OF LAUNDRY. I can put a load in there before I leave in the morning around 10:00 a.m., come back well after lunch and it will still be going 5 hours later. Another thing, it has the capacity of a large mixing bowl. I can only put in two bath towels and maybe, if I am feeling a little defiant, a hand towel and that is it. If I overstuff it, by let’s say putting in THREE bath towels, the load will never dry. Now in all fairness, I shouldn’t say never because I usually will end a load after about 7 hours so I haven’t really tested whether or not it will eventually dry by leaving an overstuffed load in until it is dry. I think I should do the environment a favor by stopping it after 7 or so hours. Because laundry takes so very long to finish, there is always laundry to do. We are backlogged in laundry and we don’t even do Chizz’s shirts, we send them out. (Hey Uncle S. – you need to look into going multi-national, there are dry cleaners on EVERY block here!) The washer/dryer is on constantly. For a while there I thought I might be able to catch up if I set the alarm and did a load during the middle of the night. But I figured out that at an average rate of 6 hours per load, I would really only be getting in one extra load a day. Since we are talking mini-loads, it is hardly worth losing sleep.
Kiki leaves for college in two years. She will probably be the only kid that goes TO college with dirty laundry. Maybe she can take some of Snake’s.
Thursday, October 19, 2006
Coming Soon To a City Not Near You (Probably)
Well, Kiki left this morning to go to Germany. The school soccer teams have a tournament there. She is very excited, I think because she gets to miss a day of school. She will stay in a local family's home, most likely an American family from the international school there. It is a whirlwind trip, they play 2 games in 2 days. I am not sure how much touring around they will get to do but I am sure she will have a great time. So in the past 3 weeks she has been in 3 different countries, Italy, France and now Germany. Wow. Kiki - The World Tour Continues. Buy the T-Shirt!
Wednesday, October 18, 2006
Guess Who Lived in Our House??
English Heritage runs this program where they honor individuals who have made an important positive contribution to human welfare or happiness by placing a round, blue plaque on the building where they lived or worked. We have 2 plaques on our house. Only about 20 plaques are placed a year, although the committee receives thousands of nominations. There are quite a few criteria including being considered eminent by a majority of members of their own profession, deserving of national recognition, having resided in the locality (where the plaque will be erected) for a significant time period within their life and work, they must be either dead for 20 years or have passed the centenary of their birth, whichever is earlier (more on this later) and be well recognised (British spelling of course) by “the well-informed passer-by”.
Keeping that in mind, who are these guys?
I haven’t the foggiest! I had to look them up and I will share my information with you so when you pass by you can be well-informed.
William Strang (1859-1921) was a Scottish painter and engraver. This is where the English Heritage system breaks down for me. A candidate has to be considered eminent by a majority of members of their own profession. How many engravers could there have been at this time? He was born in Dumbarton Scotland (sound familiar Bay Area readers?) Apparently best known for his etchings, some well known men sat for portraits by Mr. Strang including Rudyard Kipling, Robert Louis Stevenson and Thomas Hardy. He is also well known for his illustrations of Sinbad the Sailor, Paradise Lost and Pilgrim’s Progress. He lived here in our house until he died.
The second blue plaque is something of a mystery to me. I can’t find out any information about the organization that honored Sir George Alexander Macfarren (1813-1887). It is not an official English Heritage plaque because it is not round but obviously was designed to closely resemble the official plaques so as to confuse the well-informed passerby. In almost every entry about him, he is referred to as a prolific composer, not great, not good, he just did a lot. He apparently is best known among other composers for his lectures and writings on music theory. Macfarren became blind in 1860 and continued his career lecturing. He was knighted in the late 1870s and died “suddenly”, again in our house!!! The interesting tidbit we found out is that Sir Macfarren and Snake share the same birthday, 180 years apart. Coincidence? Maybe. Weird, definitely.
Okay, so the other day I am putting out our rubbish (another English word!) in the bins (!) and a man comes over to me. He is carrying his London map so I am clued in that he is a tourist. He is reading the plaques on the wall and asks me about the men. I tell him what I know and he scoffs at me, “I have never heard of them”. Well, I pointed out to him that these men had died quite some time ago. He asks me what you have to do to get a plaque and I explain the criteria, as I understand them. “Well” he says with a tone “ I have a friend who lives on this street and he is very famous, and you would know him if I told you who he is and he doesn’t have a plaque”. Like I am supposed to defend the plaques on my house as if I had some hand in deciding that they should be there! But in a way I am feeling very defensive of my guys. Who is this man to put down my historic dead guys? What has he done?? So I asked him “Is your friend dead or at least 100 years old?” He shakes his head negatively. “No? Well then. That would be it then, wouldn’t it?” I turned on my heel and went back in my flat.
Maybe they are boring, unknown to most people, old dead guys BUT they are MY boring, unknown to most people, old dead guys!
Keeping that in mind, who are these guys?
I haven’t the foggiest! I had to look them up and I will share my information with you so when you pass by you can be well-informed.
William Strang (1859-1921) was a Scottish painter and engraver. This is where the English Heritage system breaks down for me. A candidate has to be considered eminent by a majority of members of their own profession. How many engravers could there have been at this time? He was born in Dumbarton Scotland (sound familiar Bay Area readers?) Apparently best known for his etchings, some well known men sat for portraits by Mr. Strang including Rudyard Kipling, Robert Louis Stevenson and Thomas Hardy. He is also well known for his illustrations of Sinbad the Sailor, Paradise Lost and Pilgrim’s Progress. He lived here in our house until he died.
The second blue plaque is something of a mystery to me. I can’t find out any information about the organization that honored Sir George Alexander Macfarren (1813-1887). It is not an official English Heritage plaque because it is not round but obviously was designed to closely resemble the official plaques so as to confuse the well-informed passerby. In almost every entry about him, he is referred to as a prolific composer, not great, not good, he just did a lot. He apparently is best known among other composers for his lectures and writings on music theory. Macfarren became blind in 1860 and continued his career lecturing. He was knighted in the late 1870s and died “suddenly”, again in our house!!! The interesting tidbit we found out is that Sir Macfarren and Snake share the same birthday, 180 years apart. Coincidence? Maybe. Weird, definitely.
Okay, so the other day I am putting out our rubbish (another English word!) in the bins (!) and a man comes over to me. He is carrying his London map so I am clued in that he is a tourist. He is reading the plaques on the wall and asks me about the men. I tell him what I know and he scoffs at me, “I have never heard of them”. Well, I pointed out to him that these men had died quite some time ago. He asks me what you have to do to get a plaque and I explain the criteria, as I understand them. “Well” he says with a tone “ I have a friend who lives on this street and he is very famous, and you would know him if I told you who he is and he doesn’t have a plaque”. Like I am supposed to defend the plaques on my house as if I had some hand in deciding that they should be there! But in a way I am feeling very defensive of my guys. Who is this man to put down my historic dead guys? What has he done?? So I asked him “Is your friend dead or at least 100 years old?” He shakes his head negatively. “No? Well then. That would be it then, wouldn’t it?” I turned on my heel and went back in my flat.
Maybe they are boring, unknown to most people, old dead guys BUT they are MY boring, unknown to most people, old dead guys!
Monday, October 16, 2006
Where Old TV Goes To Die
We finally got our cable hooked up this past week and we now have TV. Just in time to watch the baseball playoffs. We have not had any television in our house in just about 8 weeks. I thought I would hear more moaning, whining and complaining about it but Chizz has been relatively good about it. The kids apparently haven't missed it at all, now if the computer were down that would be another matter. We got a sports package from our cable provider, which gives us sports from the US. We will get the baseball playoffs, some college and pro football and what I am really excited about LPGA. (Huh? Why would anyone in his or her right mind think LPGA is a selling point for an international sports TV package? Rhetorical, not a discussion topic.)
We have about 400 channels. We get some channels from the US. Our friend Marky will be glad to know that we receive Fox News because that is a particular favorite of his. We seem to be one season behind in our all of our favorite shows, Lost, The Office, Desperate Housewives. There are some interesting new shows that are candidates to become favorites. One is Suburban Shootout. This show is about gangs of housewives that run a picturesque small town. A new police superintendent moves into town and the gang wants to force his wife into joining. So they trick her into unwittingly blowing up a store, the Wicker Barn. It is a black comedy, one I will have to record and watch when the kids aren't around. We will have to learn how to block certain channels from the kids because there are things on TV here that wouldn't see the light of day in the US. For example, a show called Badly Dubbed Porn. I kid you not, that is the name of the show. I haven't seen it (yet) but I understand it involves soft porn movies with the dialogue removed and British comics ad lib and dub the movies. It is on at 4:00 a.m. so I don't think there is a chance the kids will see it but I think we will block it anyway. (Sorry Chizz!)
So I sat down to watch television the other morning and I made a few discoveries. First, there is Judge Judy here. I repeat Judge Judy has traveled the pond!! As many of you know, I love Judge Judy and tivoed (a new verb) her all the time in California. The best thing about that is that these are some of her older shows and I haven't seen all of them. Yay! Another interesting discovery, England is apparently the place old television shows go to die. I have never seen such a wide collection of bad, bad, cancelled television shows. At any given time I can watch Becker, Touched by an Angel, Knight Rider, The Rickie Lake Show, Starsky & Hutch, Bay Watch, The Rockford Files, Hope and Faith, Stargate, Dharma and Greg, Star Trek Voyager. The other night there was a channel that had 4 hours of back-to-back Becker episodes. What is wrong with these people?? I didn't even know they had enough episodes of that show for four hours. It is very scary.
Oh! I have to go. The A Team is on! "Pity the Fool".
We have about 400 channels. We get some channels from the US. Our friend Marky will be glad to know that we receive Fox News because that is a particular favorite of his. We seem to be one season behind in our all of our favorite shows, Lost, The Office, Desperate Housewives. There are some interesting new shows that are candidates to become favorites. One is Suburban Shootout. This show is about gangs of housewives that run a picturesque small town. A new police superintendent moves into town and the gang wants to force his wife into joining. So they trick her into unwittingly blowing up a store, the Wicker Barn. It is a black comedy, one I will have to record and watch when the kids aren't around. We will have to learn how to block certain channels from the kids because there are things on TV here that wouldn't see the light of day in the US. For example, a show called Badly Dubbed Porn. I kid you not, that is the name of the show. I haven't seen it (yet) but I understand it involves soft porn movies with the dialogue removed and British comics ad lib and dub the movies. It is on at 4:00 a.m. so I don't think there is a chance the kids will see it but I think we will block it anyway. (Sorry Chizz!)
So I sat down to watch television the other morning and I made a few discoveries. First, there is Judge Judy here. I repeat Judge Judy has traveled the pond!! As many of you know, I love Judge Judy and tivoed (a new verb) her all the time in California. The best thing about that is that these are some of her older shows and I haven't seen all of them. Yay! Another interesting discovery, England is apparently the place old television shows go to die. I have never seen such a wide collection of bad, bad, cancelled television shows. At any given time I can watch Becker, Touched by an Angel, Knight Rider, The Rickie Lake Show, Starsky & Hutch, Bay Watch, The Rockford Files, Hope and Faith, Stargate, Dharma and Greg, Star Trek Voyager. The other night there was a channel that had 4 hours of back-to-back Becker episodes. What is wrong with these people?? I didn't even know they had enough episodes of that show for four hours. It is very scary.
Oh! I have to go. The A Team is on! "Pity the Fool".
Wednesday, October 11, 2006
Ooh-La-La Paree!
We went to Paris for the weekend. (Boy I love saying that!!) Kiki & Snake had a few days off from school. I am not exactly sure why but I didn’t argue. Kiki is just back from her school trip to Italy, where she had a ball. She says now she is spoiled for Italian food because “I have had REAL Italian food so I know the difference”. Ok. She learned how to make pasta, where Prada, Gucci & Fendi are and had a famous chef make her (the group) dinner. She came back exhausted but happy. So she was barely back here 12 hours and we whisked her away to Paris.
We went on the Eurostar train and it was pretty nice. It takes a little under 3 hours to get to Paris, although it seems faster. We had told the kids of the last time Chizz and I had taken a train, which was from Austria to Paris, many, many years ago. It was about a 9-hour trip. We decided to eat on the train as to get the whole experience. The problem was we spoke neither French nor German and all the announcements on the train were in either French or German. So we would hear an announcement and go down to the food car and they were just closing up. Each time we trekked down there, the food car was not serving. We didn’t eat anything for over 9 hours and we were famished!! We later figured that the announcements said, in either German or French, something along the line of “The dining car is now open for ____ minutes or until the Americans make their way down here, which ever is first.” Of course, the kids did not want to make the same mistake. The announcements in our train were in French and English, although the English was pretty heavily accented and it was somewhat difficult to understand. So every time an announcement was made, we went to the bar car. We were not going to miss the opportunity to spend $4 on a coke and $2.50 for a bag of chips; we were not going to be denied!!
Heavily caffeinated and oil/salt ladened, we arrived in Paris. Our hotel was very close to the Eiffel tower. In fact you could see the Eiffel tower from our hotel room if you leaned way out over the balcony and someone held on to the back of your shirt. We walked around the Eiffel Tower area and met one of Chizz’s work colleagues/friends for dinner at a nice restaurant. Snake was very adventurous and tried escargot. He didn’t like them but I thought they were great.
We saw all of the highlights, Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, Musee d’ Orsay, the Invalides, Arc d’Triumph, Champs d’ Elysees, Notre Dame. We did make one tactical error. Apparently teenagers don’t like to walk the entire length of the Seine at breakneck speed to get from one location to the next. Who knew? After a small mutiny, the size somewhat reminiscent of another French revolution, we regrouped and the rest of the weekend went without anyone losing their head or eating cake (not really true, we ate cake!!). We ate at a quaint little courtyard restaraunt, where Snake discovered he like veal, we walked up the many steps to the Sacre-Coeur. Kiki and Snake mastered the Metro Underground system in no time. We walked several different districts, the Latin Quarter, Montmarte where we watched some artists work. We saved some things to do next time (Versailles, shopping, some battlefields –guess who). Speaking of shopping, Kiki and I walked by the Louis Vuitton store and I am fairly sure I heard angels heralding. We walked by twice and there was a huge line both times. Someday.
We continued our vacation all the way through the train ride home. Once we found that bar car, it was hard to leave. You know what the cool thing is? When we came home, we came home to London. C’est la vie.
We went on the Eurostar train and it was pretty nice. It takes a little under 3 hours to get to Paris, although it seems faster. We had told the kids of the last time Chizz and I had taken a train, which was from Austria to Paris, many, many years ago. It was about a 9-hour trip. We decided to eat on the train as to get the whole experience. The problem was we spoke neither French nor German and all the announcements on the train were in either French or German. So we would hear an announcement and go down to the food car and they were just closing up. Each time we trekked down there, the food car was not serving. We didn’t eat anything for over 9 hours and we were famished!! We later figured that the announcements said, in either German or French, something along the line of “The dining car is now open for ____ minutes or until the Americans make their way down here, which ever is first.” Of course, the kids did not want to make the same mistake. The announcements in our train were in French and English, although the English was pretty heavily accented and it was somewhat difficult to understand. So every time an announcement was made, we went to the bar car. We were not going to miss the opportunity to spend $4 on a coke and $2.50 for a bag of chips; we were not going to be denied!!
Heavily caffeinated and oil/salt ladened, we arrived in Paris. Our hotel was very close to the Eiffel tower. In fact you could see the Eiffel tower from our hotel room if you leaned way out over the balcony and someone held on to the back of your shirt. We walked around the Eiffel Tower area and met one of Chizz’s work colleagues/friends for dinner at a nice restaurant. Snake was very adventurous and tried escargot. He didn’t like them but I thought they were great.
We saw all of the highlights, Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, Musee d’ Orsay, the Invalides, Arc d’Triumph, Champs d’ Elysees, Notre Dame. We did make one tactical error. Apparently teenagers don’t like to walk the entire length of the Seine at breakneck speed to get from one location to the next. Who knew? After a small mutiny, the size somewhat reminiscent of another French revolution, we regrouped and the rest of the weekend went without anyone losing their head or eating cake (not really true, we ate cake!!). We ate at a quaint little courtyard restaraunt, where Snake discovered he like veal, we walked up the many steps to the Sacre-Coeur. Kiki and Snake mastered the Metro Underground system in no time. We walked several different districts, the Latin Quarter, Montmarte where we watched some artists work. We saved some things to do next time (Versailles, shopping, some battlefields –guess who). Speaking of shopping, Kiki and I walked by the Louis Vuitton store and I am fairly sure I heard angels heralding. We walked by twice and there was a huge line both times. Someday.
We continued our vacation all the way through the train ride home. Once we found that bar car, it was hard to leave. You know what the cool thing is? When we came home, we came home to London. C’est la vie.
Wednesday, October 04, 2006
George Bush, McDonalds & Me
I spent some time wandering around an antiques mall the other day. I read about this mall in the weekend papers as somewhere where actress Sienna Miller found a very chic purse that she carried to a recent premiere or something. It mentioned it also carried an eclectic (read cheap!) selection of furniture and odds/ends. So I thought I would mosey on over and see if I could find a trunk or chest that we could use as a coffee table. There are several of these types of malls here in London. They are comprised really of all these little shops and stalls together, each one individually owned but all the shops are under one roof. A lot of them carry silver, china, collectibles, a mish mash of stuff. On a weekday, this place is pretty empty but I bet on a weekend it is packed. All the owner/operators of the stalls sit outside of their little spaces passing the time of day with each other. I wandered in and out of several stores. It wasn’t really what I was looking for but I enjoyed looking at all of the stuff. I wandered up to another floor and in the corner were three shop owners talking the news of the day. I heard a woman say very loudly in her English accent “they had another one yesterday”. Some general tsk-tsking going on. Then she says “All these school shootings over there. It is the third one this week. I tell you America is one dangerous place. I wouldn’t go there!” More noises of general agreement from her companions. Then she says “Three things America gives us – ‘orrible violence like these shootings, McDonalds and George Bush!”
Certainly she had no idea I was American because I hadn’t spoken a word, I was just browsing. But it reminded me of this interesting phenomenon that goes on here that I have heard of but haven’t yet experienced. Some of the other Americans I have met have told me of stories where someone will bait you with a political point usually on the war and you are expected to defend the policies of the United States because you are a citizen. Like everyone voted for George Bush or, to use my experience above as an example, we all own stock in McDonalds and personally profit from every Big Mac sold. Hey! Wait a minute we do own stock in McDonalds, or my kids do (thanks Mom & Dad!) but I think you get my point. You cease being a person when you live in a different country you become the country you are from or at least its envoy and you are personally responsible for every bad decision (because lets face it, no one gets credit for any of the good deeds) your country has made or participated in since the Revolutionary War. Surprisingly enough, they still aren’t over that one here! Chizz tells story of going to a favorite pub on a Sunday afternoon with the Sunday paper. He had just settled in, ordered his first drink, looking at the paper when a woman next to him leaned over and said something along the line “Your president has made Tony Blair his poodle”. Hmmm. Apparently she had heard his accent when he ordered his beer and felt she should engage him in a little political discourse. He said he tried to have an discussion with her but it was obvious she had been there since Saturday reading the papers and was just looking for a little bit of a fight. He argued with her a bit and then went back to his paper. Personally I can’t look at Tony Blair the same way anymore.
I don’t think Kiki & Snake have encountered this yet because most of the kids they go to school with are American but I do think I need to prepare them with some kind of response should someone accost them along these lines. I think I am going to adopt something one of their swim coaches told them last year before a big swim meet. Our swim team is fairly large and we do seem to win a good portion of the events. This has caused some hard feelings among the other teams in our conference and sometimes the other swimmers will say mean things to our team members. Coach E has taught them whenever someone says something mean to them they are supposed to say, “I am sorry you feel that way. I am just here to swim fast. Good luck in your race.” And then they are supposed to move on. Now I have to modify that a bit because I think the British would be confused by the declaration that we are just here to swim fast. So I think we will say, “I am sorry you feel that way. We are just here to fulfill a contractual agreement. Good luck with your dental work.” Maybe I should work on that a bit. Anyway, go eat some Big Macs - my kids want to go to an Ivy League school!!
Certainly she had no idea I was American because I hadn’t spoken a word, I was just browsing. But it reminded me of this interesting phenomenon that goes on here that I have heard of but haven’t yet experienced. Some of the other Americans I have met have told me of stories where someone will bait you with a political point usually on the war and you are expected to defend the policies of the United States because you are a citizen. Like everyone voted for George Bush or, to use my experience above as an example, we all own stock in McDonalds and personally profit from every Big Mac sold. Hey! Wait a minute we do own stock in McDonalds, or my kids do (thanks Mom & Dad!) but I think you get my point. You cease being a person when you live in a different country you become the country you are from or at least its envoy and you are personally responsible for every bad decision (because lets face it, no one gets credit for any of the good deeds) your country has made or participated in since the Revolutionary War. Surprisingly enough, they still aren’t over that one here! Chizz tells story of going to a favorite pub on a Sunday afternoon with the Sunday paper. He had just settled in, ordered his first drink, looking at the paper when a woman next to him leaned over and said something along the line “Your president has made Tony Blair his poodle”. Hmmm. Apparently she had heard his accent when he ordered his beer and felt she should engage him in a little political discourse. He said he tried to have an discussion with her but it was obvious she had been there since Saturday reading the papers and was just looking for a little bit of a fight. He argued with her a bit and then went back to his paper. Personally I can’t look at Tony Blair the same way anymore.
I don’t think Kiki & Snake have encountered this yet because most of the kids they go to school with are American but I do think I need to prepare them with some kind of response should someone accost them along these lines. I think I am going to adopt something one of their swim coaches told them last year before a big swim meet. Our swim team is fairly large and we do seem to win a good portion of the events. This has caused some hard feelings among the other teams in our conference and sometimes the other swimmers will say mean things to our team members. Coach E has taught them whenever someone says something mean to them they are supposed to say, “I am sorry you feel that way. I am just here to swim fast. Good luck in your race.” And then they are supposed to move on. Now I have to modify that a bit because I think the British would be confused by the declaration that we are just here to swim fast. So I think we will say, “I am sorry you feel that way. We are just here to fulfill a contractual agreement. Good luck with your dental work.” Maybe I should work on that a bit. Anyway, go eat some Big Macs - my kids want to go to an Ivy League school!!
Monday, October 02, 2006
Kiki Has Left the Building . .er - Country
Kiki left this morning at 4:30 AM to go on her school trip to Italy. The whole high school goes somewhere this week. There were about 25 trips to chose from and you got to rate your top 8. Then they did a lottery, Kiki got her first choice. There were trips to Ireland, France, Poland, Germany, Spain, Scotland and all sorts of activities, golf, writing, water sports, scuba diving. If you happened to be watching the Abbey Road webcam at about 4:05 a.m you would have seen Kiki & I walking to school. I would have been the one lugging the suitcase with the squeaky wheel. "It's so embarrassing", even at 4:00 a.m. I think she was a little bummed that she had to leave on her birthday but there are worse places to spend your birthday. One of the places she is going to visit is a villa where they make olive oil and wine. The teacher said all the kids will bring back wine and olive oil if you want. We want. Lets hope the luggage handlers don't abscond with it or break it. You gotta love a continent where a 15 year old can carry wine in her luggage and no one bats an eye!!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY KIKI!!!!!!!!!!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY KIKI!!!!!!!!!!
Apparently We Do Speak 2 Different Languages
It was raining here yesterday. No surprise, everyone knows it rains quite a bit here in England. After the kids finished their homework, we decided to go see a movie. I wanted to see The Queen but it wasn't playing at the times we needed it to, so we went and saw Little Miss Sunshine. When Snake was looking up the times, he says "It says 'ST' next to the title, what does that mean?" I didn't know but off we went to the movies. Now you may be asking yourself, isn't Little Miss Sunshine rated R. Why yes, yes it is. But we have already established I am a bad parent (see It Doesn't Suck to Be Us post). In the States, a parent can buy kids R rated movie tickets and really no one blinks an eye. Don't ask how I know that!! (See It Doesn't Suck to Be Us post, I am a bad parent!!) Here the move is rated 15 which means no one under 15 should be able to see this movie. I was prepared that there would be few children in the movie but what I wasn't prepared for was the third degree given by the ticket agent. When I asked to buy one adult and 2 student tickets, he asked the kids ages and I told him 13 & 14 thinking of course he was questioning the ages for the student discount. He says the kids can't go into the movie. "Not even with a parent?" I inquired. "Only if you are willing to take full responsibility for whatever might happen." Like what? "Well" he says "they might get scared and cry." Doubtful. "or if they suffer an injury". By watching a movie? Not likely. "Other patrons could be uncomfortable". I am willing to take that risk. Nothing he could say could persuade me. Apparently he doesn't know how really bad a parent I am. Finally he allowed me to purchase the over priced tickets and we were able to go into the theater.
The movie was cute, enjoyable, not Academy Award material. I don't know why it was rated R or 15. There was no nudity that I could remember, a bit of swearing but I am sure they heard worse words when Chizz was putting together Kiki's dresser. There were discussions about suicide and drugs, both topics we don't shy away from in our house. So I am not sure why this movie rated an R rating. Actually, it was kind of an uplifting film. How the strangest of families come together when necessary. Not a message we necessarily should hide from kids. One of the interesting things about the movie was that it was subtitled in English!! Now I get the ST! Sub-Titles! I am not quite sure why this was subtitled. Do English audiences need subtitling for American movies? It could be because we talk too fast, different slang, our thick accents. Now in all fairness, I know when we rented Millions, the English movie about the kids who found money that fell off a train we used the subtitle feature in the movie for those same reasons. It made the movie more enjoyable. However, I don't think the theater showed Millions with subtitles when it was out in the theater. Curious.
Oh, for those of you wondering -- Kiki and Snake did not get scared, cry, suffer any kind of movie-related injury or offend any the other 15 patrons with their presence. Sigh of relief!
The movie was cute, enjoyable, not Academy Award material. I don't know why it was rated R or 15. There was no nudity that I could remember, a bit of swearing but I am sure they heard worse words when Chizz was putting together Kiki's dresser. There were discussions about suicide and drugs, both topics we don't shy away from in our house. So I am not sure why this movie rated an R rating. Actually, it was kind of an uplifting film. How the strangest of families come together when necessary. Not a message we necessarily should hide from kids. One of the interesting things about the movie was that it was subtitled in English!! Now I get the ST! Sub-Titles! I am not quite sure why this was subtitled. Do English audiences need subtitling for American movies? It could be because we talk too fast, different slang, our thick accents. Now in all fairness, I know when we rented Millions, the English movie about the kids who found money that fell off a train we used the subtitle feature in the movie for those same reasons. It made the movie more enjoyable. However, I don't think the theater showed Millions with subtitles when it was out in the theater. Curious.
Oh, for those of you wondering -- Kiki and Snake did not get scared, cry, suffer any kind of movie-related injury or offend any the other 15 patrons with their presence. Sigh of relief!
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