Exciting News from the WTF House

We had some good news here. Both Kiki & Snake have been chosen to represent their school at a big swim meet in Zurich, Switzerland. Mucho excitement. They go at the end of February. It will be Snake's first overseas housing trip, where he stays in a local family's house. I hope the family is ready for that! Seriously, it is one of the best perks of going to school here. The kids are becoming independent,experienced travellers. Now they can teach us - because as you know as parents of teenagers we are so inept it is a wonder we can find our way home. The breadcrumbs help.

By Any Other Name

After we picked up Snake from the SAT test the other day, we drove to Stonehenge. You can see it right from the freeway, it is pretty strange. Although the rest in my family were less impressed, I thought it was pretty spectacular. They all thought it would be bigger. I guess I was impressed with the idea that here was this world recognized monument and I was seeing it for myself. Then when you listen to the audio tour and realize how difficult it must have been to get these stones in place, I think you respect it even more. A common misconception is that the stones were put in place by the Druids. They know from carbon dating that this was in place long before the Druids were in the UK, more than 5000 years ago. That there are any parts of a 5000 year old structure still standing is pretty amazing to me. A few years back, they put ropes up so you can't get too close to the stones anymore. Probably a good idea.

After Stonghenge, we drove towards Bath. Bath is a very popular destination and because of that, you can't get a hotel room for only one night. The dreaded two-night minimum reared its ugly head at us. I didn't know where to stay so I pulled out my trusty map and picked a town that sounded alright and best of all it had a Best Western! Not that I particularly like Best Western Motels but I knew what that would be like and with teenagers sometimes life throws you enough surprises, you need to know what your hotel rooms are going to look like. Where did we stay? Well, we stayed at Bradford on Avon. Now wait a minute, doesn't that sound suspiciously like another well known town in England where a certain famous playwright is from? Yes, yes it does. But it isn't. And actually it was pretty darn cute. The Avon river runs right through the town. Avon is pronounced like haven without the h. I always thought it was pronounced like the "Avon lady" that sold you makeup. Live and learn. Almost every building in town is made of stone, so it gives a really medieval look to the town. And the Best Western was the best of all. Our Best Western was in a refurbished mansion that was a gift to Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester in the late 1500s by Queen Elizabeth I. He was sort of her boy-toy and she gave him all kinds of things including this house and lands. They also claim that she visited him there. Although the building has been remodeled several times, there is still a bit of charm to it. The doorways are completely unlevel, and short. Apparently no one at that time was more than 6 ft. tall because the doorways were barely that tall. I find it pretty charming to stay in something as mundane as a Best Western motel and find it has some kind of historical significance.

So the next day, off to Bath which is famous for its, uh, Roman Baths. Again pretty fascinating stuff. The Baths were built sometime around 43 AD on Britain's only natural hot spring. The water temperature is about 115 F. The Romans didn't understand how a spring works or really what a spring was so they attributed anything unexplainable to the gods. They built a bath house and dedicated it to the goddess Sulis Minerva, a goddess believed to have healing powers. Over the years in excavation, they have found many interesting things in the spring. Apparently it was customary to throw money and other objects as offerings to the goddess in the water. That still happens today. At one of the cold baths they have set up, tourists still throw things,mostly money, in the water. Kiki was excited to see a 100 Japanese yen bill in the water until I pointed out to her that was roughly 80 cents. As you might be able to tell in the picture, besides money people also threw trash. Sigh.


The ancient Romans also asked the goddess for help with things. Historians found messages inscribed onto sheets of lead and pewter that were apparently thrown into the spring. Sometimes the messages were for wishes for good health of a loved one or some other sentiment. The ones I found the most interesting were the curses people asked the godess to enact for a particular grievance someone had committed. The curses were pretty harsh for some pretty petty stuff, basically "please gouge out the eyes of the person who stole my sandals at the bath the other day" or "a painful death to the person who took my ox" that kind of thing. Although come to think of it, I could come up with a curse to the offering. "Please break the legs of the person who stole Kiki's soccer sweats from the pool lockerroom the other day". Hmmmm. Maybe next time I go to the Baths, I will drop in a little curse or two of my own. Be afraid, be very afraid.

Especially for Auntie K.

We had a great but busy weekend here at the WTF household. The kids had a swim meet outside of London on Friday. The next day, Snake was taking the SAT at another high school outside of London. (No, we haven't been gone that long - he is taking the test in connection with a special program for middle schoolers.) Chizz & I decided it would be a good idea to rent a car,go watch them at the swim meet, stay overnight out in the hinterlands and then take Snake to the test. Then after the test we could take a drive out to see Stonehenge and Bath. I will write more about those visits probably tomorrow but I wanted to quickly mention something we saw when we were out in the hinterlands. I needed to choose a hotel near both the meet and the test so we wouldn't be driving all night or alot the next morning. The midway point? Slough. Now, those of you in the know, know that Slough is where the UK show, "The Office" took place. As a reference point, Slough is sort of the South San Francisco of the London area. As Chizz says, Slough combines the excitement of Benicia with all the charm of Los Banos. "The Office" originated in the UK and the US version of the show liberally "borrowed" story lines from the UK version when it first started. In fact the first few episodes of the US show are pretty much the same word for word except for a few minor changes for the US audience. Auntie K. has been a big fan of the UK "Office" for years. I remember that she used to record it on PBS all the time. The opening credits show various pictures of Slough and the surrounding areas. One picture sequence shows a sign that says "Slough Trading Estate". Trading Estate is an English term for office park. The Slough Trading Estate sign is synonymous with "The Office". When I was speaking with Auntie K. the other morning, I told her I was going to Slough, she asked if we were going to "Slough Trading Estate" and we giggled about that for a minute. Guess what? When we were taking the freeway exit for the hotel, I saw this sign:



It is the sign from the opening credits!! I was very excited and made Chizz drive very slowly so I could take a picture. Our hotel was right down the road from the Slough Trading Estate. I guess I can come back home now, I have seen all the important things.

Snow, Snow, Snow

This is the picture we woke up to this morning. Okay, well it would have been if we had been sleeping in the staircase. It snowed early this morning in London!! When we first woke up the streets and the sidewalk were blanketed with snow. It actually stuck. It is supposed to snow some more this morning and then rain, so I expect this will all be gone by the time the kids come home from school but who knows. Kiki was extremely excited, messaging all her friends.
Snake was a little calmer and Chizz was downright underwhelmed. It is pretty. Actually you have a whole different viewpoint of the snow when you know it is only temporary; you don't have to drive in it day after day, you don't have to bundle up for weeks on end, you don't have to shovel it off the sidewalk. We know that this will last the most a day or two so it is much easier to enjoy the novelty. The kids speculating whether they will get another snow day. Three years ago legend has it (the legend of the "Snow Day"), that it snowed so much local transport pretty much closed for a day and the school was shut down too. So much speculating on AIM this morning whether that would happen today. No way, this is not enough snow to even warrant putting on boots let alone closing a school but the kids love to "what if". So here are some more pictures of the neighborhood. If I get some actually snowing pictures later, I will try and put them on. It is going to make it so much easier to sit around and read my book with my blanket in my lap today! Yay! Snow Day!!

We're Baaaaaack! (And we are tired!)

Yes, after more than a week, 9 days to be exact, our internet signal has been restored. Apparently it was quite easy once you get through to the right guy, and that apparently takes 9 days. You would think that I would have loads to write about and I do have something to say about one thing that I will probably post tomorrow but I am just too tired today.Chizz took us on a country "walk" yesterday in Pangbourne, Berkshire county. But it was really a long hike, 9 miles. We walked through the English countryside which is basically mud from November through March, but that doesn't stop Chizz!! It was beautiful I admit grudgingly and there was lunch at a great pub. So I can't complain too much. The hike took us up some hills and we got a great view of the Thames River and the countryside. One interesting tidbit is that you are allowed by law here to walk through other people's properties, farmlands, fields, woods, yards, etc. So you find yourself climbing over fences, following the path outlined in your guide. At one point we had to walk through a field of cows. Chizz told me sometimes he has walked through pastures with a big sign that says "Careful - Bull in field". You have to walk very carefully. I have a picture to show what it is like.
I think it will pass the teenage censors I live with because no faces are showing. Although Chizz is pretty recognizable.

(He's the one not chewing the grass.)

Self Revelations

You know that you are the parent of a 13-year-old boy when two days before the 8th grade dance you receive an email from the room mom of your child’s class reminding you that his class is one of those chosen to provide snacks for the dance and your child has already signed you up for a snack.

You know that you are the parent of a 13-year-old boy when it is the first you have heard of it.

You know that you are the parent of a 13-year-old boy when you discover he has not signed you up for cookies, cupcakes or brownies all which you can whip up fairly easily but instead has committed you to bring Krispy Kreme donuts.

You know that you are the parent of a 13-year-old boy when he has no idea how many donuts you are requested to bring or which variety or where/when they should be delivered.

You know that you are the parent of a 13-year-old boy when you spend 2 hours researching on the internet (stolen signal provided by unnamed neighbor) the exact location of each Krispy Kreme franchise in London.

You know that you are the parent of a 13-year-old boy when you spend another 30 minutes researching the bus routes to each London location of Krispy Kreme to find one that does not require change of buses to get to said location.

You know that you are the parent of a 13-year-old boy when you discover it will take approximately 1 hour and 45 minutes on the round trip bus ride to get these donuts.

You know that you are the parent of a 13-year-old boy when you do it.

You know that you are the parent of a 13-year-old boy when 1 hour before you are supposed to meet your husband and his work associate for dinner, you are wandering the halls of the school with Krispy Kreme donuts trying to find someone to take responsibility for them.

You know that you are the parent of a 13-year-old boy when he comes home from swim practice and announces he is not sure he is going to the dance.

You know that you are the parent of a 13-year-old boy when you are sure that they don’t put as much wine in the bottle as they used to.

A Mighty Wind

Well it was the windiest I have ever seen or experienced here yesterday. We woke up yesterday and you could just hear the wind howling. It got progressively worse. The house just groaned all day long and the windows rattled loudly. I was seriously concerned about the windows breaking. By midmorning, I was steering clear of all the windows in our house. Rightly so. I don't think our built sometime near 1815 house was meant to withstand this kind of wind. I saw on the news later that the winds had reached 99 mph and that Lords Cricket Ground, about 1 block from our house, had suffered damage. Apparently parts of the roof had blown off and damaged cars parked nearby and injured 2 pedestrians. Yikes! Transportation was all screwed up, tube lines stopped, flights in and out of Heathrow delayed. Condoleezza Rice was to visit London yesterday and her flight circled Heathrow for 15 minutes until the winds died down to 77 mph so she could land. That still sounds fairly windy to me!! I knew the kids had acclimated to Britain when they told the story of the disruption of their walking home route by a huge tree that had fallen across a pretty major road. The police were diverting traffic and Kiki said they made them walk down a pretty "sketchy" alleyway!

To make matters worse, yesterday was garbage day. We get these small plastic bins for our recylcing items and the wind just blew these around like paper airplanes. I watched them blow through the air from my upstairs window. I would have only been mildly surprised if I had seen an old hag riding her bicylce in the air with a small dog in her front basket. It was just that windy.

Cultural Pursuits

I went on a tour of the Victoria & Albert museum this week. The tour was run by a company called "The Original London Walking Tour" and they are the very best. I have been on about 6 or 7 of their tours since I have been here and only 1 was less than great. I always get some little interesting tidbit that I repeat over and over to people (pretending I knew it all along).

The museum is named after Queen Victoria (duh) and her husband, Prince Albert. It focuses on design and art as it relates to design. That is not to say that it is museum showing "The Evolution of the Chair - From Rock to Bar Stool." But it shows important pieces of history that happen to be dresses, chairs, art, rugs etc. The tour takes you through some of the highlights of the museum, hoping that you will go back for more. I plan to. One of the great things about most of the museums here is that they are free for general admission. Sometimes a particular temporary exhibit might have a fee associated with it but usually most things are free. So it is great just to go for about an hour (Snake's limit) to look at a few things and then move on.

There were some interesting pieces. I saw this dress, which is called a mantua. It was basically a court dress, a dress you wore if you were at the English King's court in 1740. This one was considered modest because it was only 5 feet wide! Apparently there are some that could go up to 7 feet wide. Jeez, you could hide some good sized hips in that dress!! It is all held up with a hoop like contraption underneath. The tour guide was asked how one would sit down and the reply was that one wouldn't sit down. The ladies just kind of leaned everywhere. You also couldn't walk through a door unless you went sideways. Crazy!

Another interesting item was the Great Bed of Ware. Apparently carved sometime in the 16th century, the bed was originally at one of the many inns in England. It became widely known because it was so large, approximately 11 ft by 11 ft, incredibly ornate with large wood posts and it could sleep many people. Guest started carving their initials in the head posts, sort of a ". . . slept here" kind of thing. It is mentioned in many literary works of the time, most notably Shakespeare's Twelfth Night.

What I found interesting about the Bed of Ware did not really have much to do about this particular bed but a story that the guide told us about beds in this time frame. Apparently, there weren't such things as box springs or bed slats to hold the mattresses up. So they had an elaborate system of ropes underneath. Five or more ropes running the length of the bed about 6-8 inches apart and then five or more ropes running the width of the bed creating a criss-cross type of pattern. The mattresses were then placed on top of the ropes. The ropes had to be pulled very tautly with no slack or it wouldn't hold the mattress up and people would tumble to the floor. People were constantly worried about the ropes being tight enough. So that is where the expression "sleep tight" comes from.

And that is my one tidbit I am going to tell everyone, although you now know where it came from. Maybe I can find out where "Don't let the bed bugs bite" comes from, although I am not sure I really want to know.

Unconnected in a Connected World

We have been without internet in our house for more than 36 hours. I knew that we relied on being connected to the internet but I never realized how much until this weekend. We use the internet constantly all day long. Want to go to the museum? Check the hours on the internet. Does that ski resort get enough snow in February to go on a ski vacation? Check the internet. Kids studying for finals? The study guide are on the school's website, on the internet. I use the internet to stay connected with news from back home, reading both of the same newspapers I subscribed to when I lived in Northern California. It keeps me connected to the local issues and happenings, although I think I would be better off not knowing what is happening with the 49ers, Raiders and Giants! But it is inconvenient to be without something you rely on so much that it doesn't enter your mind you might be without it. I scheduled a Skype video camera session with Auntie S. this weekend that I had to miss because we have no internet connection.

The internet provider is working on it although they are not sure where the problem lies. I guess we may have to go back to stealing wireless signal from a neighbor again. If you see this entry on WTF before Monday, you will know that is what we did. If we can't get internet, we may be forced to hang out with each other a bit more. Wait!! There is always TV!!

(Almost) Run Over by a Prince (Maybe)

My friend D & I are taking a short sabbatical from our self-directed London's Greatest Shopping Tour. I think the holidays took it out of us. The stress of trying to find what you need when you are new in a country was sometimes overwhelming and I don't think we have it in us to brave the shopping areas for a little bit, like maybe a week or two.

So we have decided to partake in some educational interests. There are museums and points of historical interest galore in London. Yesterday we went to Apsley House. Apsley House is most well known for being the home of the 1st Duke of Wellington, who is most well known in Europe for defeating Napoleon at Waterloo in 1815 and most well known in America for the pastry covered beef dish named in his honor, Beef Wellington. The house sits at the edge of Hyde Park and is owned now by the English Heritage Trust but the family still maintains apartments there.

The house is just chock full of paintings, sculptures, silver, china etc. Apparently when you conquer an emperor, people just line up to give you things. There are portraits of every ruler of Europe of the time which were sent to Wellington in appreciation. Remember no photographs at that time, you couldn't just send him an 8 X 10 glossy with an inscription, "Thanks for saving our bacon, love Ferdinand." The thank you gifts just kept on coming. Shortly after taking Spain, Napoleon placed his brother Joseph on the throne there. Wellington and his multinational troops came rushing in and after a half-hearted attempt to stop them, Joseph left taking with him loads of looted goods from Spain, paintings, tapestries etc. Wellington's troops waylaid the caravan and although Joseph managed to escape, quite a bit of the artwork was recovered. Wellington sent word to the Spanish king and asked, basically, "What should I do with all this stuff?". The answer came back a short year later, "Oh go ahead, you keep it. It is the least we can do." So he did, artwork by Goya, Rubens, other masters. We saw a china set from Prussia, where each piece of china memorialized a victory by Wellington. In the basement, there is Wellington's death mask, as well a copy of Napoleon's death mask which was given to Wellington, and a lock of Wellington's hair cut from his head the night he died and placed in clear locket. Strange, but for those of you who know me, I like the macabre a bit.

When we came out of the house, it was raining pretty hard. D broke the primary rule of living in London (#1 - Carry an umbrella at all times). They didn't carry any umbrellas at Apsley House but they told us they did across the street at Wellington Arch (named for guess who?). We dashed across the street to this monument and went into the gift shop. While D was purchasing the umbrella, we heard a series of sharp whistles. The shop clerk told us that someone important was going to drive through the arch, so we needed to wait inside the doorway so we wouldn't get run over. This is not a thoroughfare but apparently when VIPs, usually royal family or important members of Parliament (i.e. Tony Blair) needed to cut through this roundabout they used the Arch as a shortcut. So when the motorcade comes close to the Arch, the police motorcycle shoots ahead and uses a whistle to alert the shop that they are coming through. The motorcade came through with several police motorcycles leading the way, a Range Rover, a Bentley (I think) and then a sedan, followed up by several more motorcycle police. They came through very fast and I couldn't tell who was in the car but the clerks thought it was Prince Charles. It took all of 5 seconds. At the speed they went through that Arch, if you inadvertently stepped in front of the motorcade you would have been smashed to smithereens. I wonder if the Royals have insurance for that - Arch mishaps.

One more interesting side note, at least interesting to me and this is my blog!! I couldn't remember which Napoleon was put on the throne in Spain, although I thought it was Joseph. So I did some research on the internet. I found out something interesting - another personal connection. After his family was persona non grata in France and basically most of Europe,Joseph Bonaparte snuck into the United States under the name Count de Survilliers. Subtle huh? Where did he land? Bordentown, New Jersey. Why is that interesting? Because I was born in Bordentown New Jersey! Well actually I was born at Fort Dix, New Jersey but my parents lived in Bordentown. Fascinating huh? Now he didn't stick around there, he only stayed for about 17 years and he ended up dying in Florence Italy. But it just goes to show you if you want to call yourself a world traveller, citizen of the world, bon vivant, dethroned despot, all roads lead through Bordentown, New Jersey.

So I Needed a Trip to the Museum to Tell Me That?

Well it has been a low energy week at the WTF household. I think it is a combination of post-holiday let down and the fact that Kiki & Snake have semester finals coming up. In addition it has been a pretty rainy week. So we have been keeping a low profile. Well today we could stand it no longer and gave the kids the choice of the Tate Britain Museum to see some art or the Science Museum. The kids chose the Science Museum. We took the bus down to the Museum. It is a pretty interesting ride, you ride by Harrods and the South Kensington area which is a pretty nice shopping area. (Note to me: I may take that bus again tomorrow and partake in some of the huge red sale signs I saw prominently displayed.)

All in all, I must say that the Science Museum is not really one that I would go out of the way to see again. We can certainly check it off our list and I doubt we would head back there. Most of the exhibits were displays where you just look at stuff. We have been to some great science museums where many of the displays have some kind of interactive component which makes it much more interesting for the kids and parents alike. There is a great science museum in Chicago and we really liked the Exploratorium in San Francisco.

They did have one exhibit that was interesting. It dealt with the power of the mind. There was an interesting part that talked about how the mind processes external stimuli and different brain waves. One of the few interactive displays dealt with the alpha brain waves that are produced by your brain when you are completely relaxed and not really thinking about much. This machine took those waves and converted them into energy which moved this ball in a box. Two people would put on these head bands that would measure your alpha waves. We watched several people "compete" against each other and see whose brain waves would move the ball further in the opposite direction. You "won" when you produced enough alpha brain waves to move the ball into your opponents area. Most of the competitions we watched were younger people, no older than 17, against older people in their 30's or 40's. Every time the younger person won. Kiki & Snake tried it against each other. Stalemate! For each inch Snake was able to move the ball, Kiki was able to move it back. It went on probably 3 times longer than any other match. It ended when we made them stop so someone else could have a turn. So what does it prove? That teenagers minds are not cluttered with enough complex thought to alter their alpha brain waves. Yeah right. Like I didn't know that already.

Happy New Year!!

It has been overcast and intermittently rainy the past few days. Our plans were just to stay hunkered down in the flat over New Years. We had 3 or 4 football games taped and ready to watch. It is easy to do that here and you really don't have to work hard not to hear the scores of the games you have taped. American football is not really on the radar. We had some chocolates from Belgium left and other assorted goodies. We were set.

There was a big celebration on the Thames. Fireworks etc at midnight. But they expected thousands of people and it wasn't my idea of a fun evening to be pressed among the thousands and possibly thrown up upon. Plus with the forecasted rain and fog, we weren't sure how visible the fireworks would be.

Around 11 p.m. we noticed the sky was pretty clear and we could see some stars. So we (Snake, Chizz and I - Kiki was at a party) decided to walk up to Primrose Hill and see if we could see any fireworks at all. Primrose Hill is not too far from our house, about a 10 minute walk. It is home to Jude Law (haven't seen him yet but I AM looking), Gwyneth (when she is in town) and a cute downtown area. Also, Primrose Hill is the location of a scene in 101 Dalmatians. Remember when the dogs are looking for the puppies and they start the "barking chain"? The dogs go up to a big hill that overlooks all of London and start barking. That hill is Primrose Hill.

On our walk up to Primrose, we could tell by the throngs heading up there that this must be a popular location for fireworks. People were streaming up in big groups, parties interrupted to go watch the fireworks. It was hard to tell exactly how many people were there because it was so dark, but I am guessing there might have been close to 1000. It was clear and we could see the London Eye perfectly since it was outlined in pink and blue lights. Right at the stroke of midnight the fireworks began and we could see them perfectly. The fireworks went on for about 10 minutes.

After the fireworks were over, we started to leave the park but then people starting setting off their own fireworks. It is legal to buy fireworks here and most of the grocery stores sell them. The quality of fireworks you can buy in the store here is amazing. Not quite fair ground but pretty darn close. This picture to the left is one of the Primrose Hill launched fireworks. We watched a "fireworks war" between two groups for a few minutes. It was pretty spectacular with the fireworks being right over our heads.

So many times we talk ourselves out of doing things. It would have been so easy to stay home that night, warm on our couch, watching football eating chocolates. But if we had, we would have missed the fireworks experience. I think we have found a new tradition for New Years Eve. Happy New Year and here's to a great 2007!