These boots weren't made for walkin'

So I've been having a little bit of foot pain for the past month and finally went to the doctor about it today. I had an appointment a couple of weeks ago but then ended up needing that one for my kidney infection. So, I go into her office and she says do you mind taking off the tight on your right leg? So I shimmy up my skirt and take off my tights and she gets all flustered and was like I'm sorry, I could have shut the window. (the blinds are open and it is the road out there) I say, oh don't worry. It's like a bathing suit. I am not sure she knew what to do with me. Then she put in her notes "walking more than usual". I'm the sad American who has gotten foot pain because I'm doing too much walking. She also said I was a bit flat footed. Good times. Apparently, I need to go to an orthopedic shop and get inserts. She said she didn't know the name of it but it had old looking shoes in the window. Good times...

Off with their heads

So I work right across from a covered market that is older than our constitution. Was founded in 1774 or something. It has a couple of butcher shops in it and a fresh fruit market and is usually pretty standard. Well, apparently things pick up over the holiday season. There was a full on headless deer hanging upside down in one of the stalls. What the heck?!?! So gross!!! And there are all kinds of pheasants hanging up too. I may not be cutting through the covered market over the holidays. Learned that lesson!!

Book smart

Check out this report by our librarian... Some of our books are so old that they don't just toss them if something happens.

"It has been increasingly clear in the last

two years that certain areas of the corridor were

susceptible to infestations of insect pests, and

outbreaks of mould. A number of books needed to

be frozen to deal with the pests; some books were

sent away for treatment and some were wrapped

and frozen in the Deep Hall freezer."

Cold as ice

Each day I think wow it's really cold today this must be what they were talking about when they said it would get really cold but it just keeps getting colder!! Yesterday was so cold it was like waking up to a winter wonderland. All of the trees were encased in ice and it was really pretty. I walked by Christ Church which is probably the prettiest college in Oxford and there were tons of spider webs encased in ice. I have never seen anything like it. They were white and looked like silly string from Halloween. So today I was going to take a picture for y'all but the gardeners at Christ Church had already swept them all down. They don't play around over here! Everything must be pristine and tip top shape! I was seriously not prepared for this weather so bought 2 new sweaters (they call them jumpers) and wear them every week. Last week I am fairly certain I wore one of them 3 times. And I have a couple of cute winter jackets that are "Raleigh winter jackets" but those are just like a cute layer over here. I end up wearing my black puffy jacket to every occasion. Looking good over here... :) And my coworker yesterday said "are you ok" I feel like this weather may be breaking your spirit. Ha!!!

Viewer discretion advised

So I was walking through town on Saturday and came across these people. I'm pretty sure this wouldn't happen in the States. (Maybe in San Francisco-I've seen a random naked person there before!) I kind of enjoy the paler guy who decided not to go for the reindeer thong look and opted for high socks, white tennis shoes and a santa jacket.

Well I'll be

Guess who can dry clothes now?! I did a little test run last night and those puppies were dry this morning. The sheet was a little damp in places but this girl is not picky!!! I am so excited to get home tonight to finish doing the laundry. That's right, I'm living a crazy life!

Miracle on Brook Street

So my property manager said they will be installing a brand new washer dryer into my flat in the next couple of days. Mind you, this is probably going to be a crappy piece of machinery by American standards. But they have beaten my American standards out of me when it comes to a dry pair of pants. I have clothes hanging up for 4 days at the moment and they smell and I never really feel as though they are dry. I put the space heater on and point it towards a particular clothing item if I really want something dry. So, I am pretty excited to think that something may get 50% dry before it comes out of the washer. I hope it works just a little!!!!! I will keep you posted. :)

On the mend

So I am back at work and feeling much better. I do not recommend kidney infections to anyone!!

I learned a couple of things about the UK health system. They have some really great qualities like I could call this hotline at all hours and they would give me advice and talk me through things. Now the doctor on the other hand, there is a sign on the door that says "appointments are 10 minute intervals, if you need more time book 2 appointments" The thing is, you don't have to pay anything at all for your doctor visit. The negative to that is I don't believe they are quite as thorough as our doctors. For example, when you go in sick in the US they usually ask you to remove your top and then they check your lungs, etc. She just lifted up my top a little and felt my kidney and said "you are really hot". She did take my temperature though. At the end she told me to "wee in a cup" That's right... wee. :) I did that and gave it to the nurse but am not really sure what happened b/c they never told me the results. I guess no news is good news. So this weekend I wanted to get out of the house and went on a fun nature hike. The picture is the view from the Golf Club where the hike starts. They call Oxford the City of the Dreaming Spires. The picture doesn't really do the view justice. It was beautiful!

Crotchety ole Jane

So I've been home for the past three days with a kidney infection. I feel like I should be taken out like old yellerand shot! These things are not a good time. And then today my washing machine finally had its final spin cycle. I'm telling you that thing got too excited for itself. It broke and flooded my kitchen. These things always seem to happen at the best times. On a bright side, I'm hoping I can get a washer,dryer now. I've made a request. Someone from the letting agency is coming over later to clean up the mess. I went british on them and told them I couldn't be bothered because I was sick. Hope everyone is having a better week than me. What I wouldn't give for some Kraft Mac and cheese right now!

News flash

This was a headline in UK Yahoo news. You can't make this stuff up! A hooker is a position in Rugby and the guy's last name is Hore. Amazing.

New Zealand hooker Hore cited, England wait on Flood

Rain Rain Go Away!

So there is flooding all over the UK currently. I thought it just always rained over here but didn't realize the country could actually flood. The bridge that goes close to my flat was closed to through traffic. I will try to take pictures to show you because it is crazy. One of the colleges is Christ Church (where they filmed some of Harry Potter) and they have a large meadow that runs down to the river. Well, you can't tell where the river ends and the meadow starts. It's just patches of water. And the neighborhood pub has water right up to its edges! We are supposed to go to an event tonight in London and now have to take the bus in because the train has two hour delays. Kind of crazy! It's supposed to stop raining tomorrow though. I believe the weather is starting to sink in with me. It's a bit depressing and I think I have started to hibernate for the winter. Hopefully, it will stop raining soon and there will actually be some sun. I may have to plan a carribean trip next winter...

Tday

I hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving and had lots of family qt. I'm attaching a picture from my Thanksgiving. I think you will appreciate the amount of food I have managed to accrue on my plate. My sweet potato casserole was a hit. No one over here could wrap their heads around marshmallows on a sweet potato dish. I showed a picture to my coworkers and they were like is that a "pudding" aka dessert or do you have that as a side? "It just doesn't seem right". Then at the dinner some of the British guests were like this marshmallow thing is good. They weren't really sure what to do with it! And, I had to use the marshmallows that Kristin had from the States. The only marshmallows they have here are pink and white. It's a funny little country I'm living in! It was nice though because one of the French people there had family who owned a vineyard so she brought French wine and champagne from it. Was amazing!! We went around the table and said what we were thankful for. At the end I said I was thankful for seconds and went back to the kitchen. No one followed me. I was like oh... just me? Well, the more for me!! It is not Thanksgiving without seconds!!!

Pitty Party

So I was fine coming into work today until I realized everyone in the States was not going into work because they were home celebrating Thanksgiving. That and it was still about 3am for them. Definitely missing my family today. But, am so grateful to have the opportunity to be doing what I'm doing. And I get a half day tomorrow and will be spending Thanksgiving with some good people. Our Thanksgiving party is a bit comical with only 2 Americans out of 15 people. I guess that was kind of the original theme of Thanksgiving though right-bringing different people together? I'm taking it back to old school Thanksgiving with Brits, Frenchies, an Italian, and Australian and an Ukranian. You know, the usual! One girl actually asked if she should bring roasted or mashed potatoes. Silly Ukranian. And my friend Kristin (American) said one person asked about bringing chickens. HA!! Turkey... turkey!!!
HAPPY THANKSGIVING to all!!!

Yam tastic

So my American friend here is hosting a Thanksgiving dinner at her house on Friday night. I'm going to cook a sweet potato casserole for it. There are a couple of holes in my plan though. One being that I have not seen many sweet potatos in the stores here. This weekend I went on a sweet potato hunt to see what I was dealing with and all I could find were little baby sweet potatos. I don't know what I'm supposed to do with that. Also, I have no idea how to use my oven. I've only used it when British people are in it and have instructed me on how to turn it on. It has three pictures and none of them seem like "cook" to me. And none of them sound like "cook" when they are turned on. So to better handle this anxiety I emailed my boss earlier today and asked her if I could have a half day on Friday to cook a casserole. Now, in the States, I may not have been so honest. Seems kind of silly, but in the UK they have a better handle on the life/work balance. She wrote back "of course-happy feasting!". You have to love Europe!! I will keep you posted on how the casserole comes along.

A bit boring...

So now that I am more settled here I feel like I'm a bit boring on the blog. I'm sure it will get better when I travel and do other new things, but I'm sorry to be a bit of a bore. Please let me know if you want me to write about anything in particular. Happy Thanksgiving to all!!! I will be working and not eating turkey that day. :(

Bubble and squeak

So each Monday my coworker Bev receives an email from the Dining Hall with the weeks menu. It is the most exciting part of my Monday. I know... crazy life I am living! I had to share today's breakfast though. I don't get breakfast but it's fun to see what they have. I really don't think Black Pudding sounds appetizing and have never asked what it is. Then I have absolutely no idea what Bubble and Squeak is. Who came up with these terms? It's a heck of a day for lunch with you have Toad in the Hole and Bubble and Squeak on the side. :)

Black Pudding Bacon Fried Egg Bubble and Squeak

Gypsy Funeral

So apparently gypsies have 7 day funerals where they are just massive drinking parties. There is a gypsy funeral right outside of downtown and there has been a stabbing! These gypsies are crazy. I didn't even know Oxford was the gypsy type. The front doors of all of the colleges are closed. How crazy is that? Mom, don't worry, they think it's fine and are just taking precautions. Wonder what a gypsy looks like? All I've ever seen is My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding. They mostly just looked like rednecks. Hopefully, a gypsy is not reading my blog after a long funeral!

And you think cable is bad

In the UK you have to pay a TV licensing fee. Basically, you have to pay for the right to watch television. It's totally ridiculous and I have to pay £100 a month!!! That is on top of the money I already spend to actually have the cable. And I didn't even sign up for the nice package. They show you all of the channels and gray out what you didn't buy. So you will get all excited about a show and then realize that only the people who can afford fancy cable are able to watch that show. So there you have it... :)

A bit mental

 So I've been playing on a soccer team since I first got here. It's been a bit of a bittersweet experience. Most of the girls are great and a lot of fun to play with but there are about three that are real toads in the hole. :) I'm fairly certain they think the game is a life or death situation. Today I was told that I was not mentally in the game and needed to turn it on all the way. Guess what, I've been standing on the sideline for the last 30 minutes freezing my arse off while you jokers have been keeping warm yelling at each other so yeah, you are right I'm not mentally with it. I'm 34 and way past the stage of it being ok for some joker to yell at me like that. So basically don't think I'll be plaing for them anymore. On a funnier note, I was asked today if I watch the show Homeland. The girl described it as a show about a ginger terrorist. Hilarious. Poor red heads here, the british really have a go at them.

Terms of endearment

Not that this is a tender post but am talking about terms so thought I would use that title.

Funny words here that we don't use in the US of A.

Jumper is a sweater.
Boots are actually like soccer cleats. So I would say soccer cleats and they would say football boots.
Dressing gown is a robe and men are not afraid to say that they wear one.

And they really love to omit a noun after a personal pronoun. So instead of saying "I will come to your place and then we can head out" they say "I will come to yours and then we can head out"

The other thing that kind of makes me laugh but that is endearing... agh, now the post title is all coming together... is that there has never been one day that I am walking on the street where a person walking the other way and I just walk in a straight line and have no trouble getting out of each other's way. The other person will always make a move that will then lead me to make a move and then you almost always nearly run into the person. And they don't say excuse me here. They constantly say sorry.. sorry sorry. It's so funny that it is a cultural thing and most do it.

Toad in a hole

I'm able to experience all the culinary wonders that England has to offer by eating at our dining hall every day. Today I had "toad in a hole" which is pretty much a fancy pigs in a blanket. It is basically sausage wrapped in Yorkshire Pudding. It has taken me 4 months to realize what in the hell Yorkshire Pudding actually is. I was thinking it was a pudding or dessert. Well it's just this flaky puff pastry. Happy eating!

Christmas is upon us...

So I just got this email from someone at College. This place is amazing. Of course, this may be our Christmas bonus. Hey, I'm good with being paid in food! This goes back to the whole thing about dessert being called pudding. I won't get a big bowl of pudding. I shouldn't have posted this and had my parents thing I had slaved away in the kitchen to produce a British Christmas pudding!

"As always, you have the opportunity to receive a Christmas pudding.

There is a list in the Lodge; please tick against your name, by Friday the 16th of November, if you would like one."

Much Ado about Nothing

We had a work event on Saturday for our older donors. It was a really nice day and everyone was really nice. I was corrected for calling one person Reagan (pronounced like the President) instead of REEgan. Said it was very American of me. I wish these people would realize that I am in fact American so am probably going to speak like one. So the event starts with drinks at about noon (they don't play around over here) then moved to a three course meal where they are pouring wine freely. Then we go to a lecture about the creation of the Earth. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that you should probably not serve old people wine and a big meal and then sit them in a lecture. I was struggling to stay awake so I was not surprised to hear a couple of loud snores from the crowd. Too funny!

Then on Sunday I went to Bath and it is gorgeous. My friend Guiliana and I went and we took the bus up there. There was this annoying girl on her phone and there is kind of a code that you aren't supposed to talk on the bus. Well Giuliana looks at me and says "no, I am Italian, I must say something" So I think thinking she is going to walk up and gently say, excuse me but do you mind talking quietly since we are all able to hear you. No, she gets pretty close to her face and says in broke English "do you think we like hear your voice? No, we do not" And that was that. I wish I could do that! I would just be passive aggressive about it and cough loudly or give them the evil eye; totally effective methods. I took Monday off and have a lovely 4 day week and then was reminded this morning that it is college coffee day. I love Wednesdays! And, when it is your birthday you have to bring in baked goods. It's genius really because you only have to bake once but you get treats throughout the year. Kind of like Chinese birthdays (or so I am told)

Dinner is served

I was able to eat at the high table again last night. I hadn't eaten at the high table since my interview back in March. It was even crazier than I remembered it. This time it was kind of fun because I now know the kitchen staff and they were making faces at me while I walked by. So, for those of you who don't know the original story, I will walk you through the very posh/traditional evening.

You meet at 7pm for sherry and conversation and wait for the butler to come get you. That's right, the butler, dressed in a tuxedo (mind you it's a Wednesday night) comes to the door and leads you to the dining hall. Well the students all stand up and wait for you to pass through and you go to the front of the room where there is an elegant table set up for you full with candelabras and fine china. I had 7 pieces of cutlery at my place. How does one have 7 pieces of cutlery? Somehow, I used every single piece of cutlery though. First course was a delightful mushroom soup, then came baked fish with a sprig of asparagus. I thought the fish was the main meal until they brought out lamp chops, brocoli and roasted potatoes. Out of control! Then they brought us our apple pie dessert. If that is not enough, they then escort you to another room that is dimly lit and has a bowl of fruit on it along with candelabras of course. So then we pass port and dessert wine around and eat fruit. You know how the commoners do... And, to top it off, each person has a little fingerbowl of water where they can dip their fingers if they've gotten to sticky with the fruit. Just a normal Wednesday in Oxford!

Fall has arrived

Just wanted to share pictures of front quad now that the fall has arrived. I thought the campus was gorgeous in the summer but the fall is amazing! I started to think that maybe the Ivy Leagues got their name from the ivy here and they were up to the standard of Oxford and Cambridge. Just googled it and was nothing of the sort. :) Something about the IV roman numeral. Also, my office is the one on the bottom that has a clock in it. We are the office on the second floor with those three windows. There are four of us in the office and then our boss is the last window on the left.

Smart People...

are funny to me. I am emailing a bloke in Chicago and every time he writes me back he changes the subject line. Sometimes I have to go to dictionary.com because I don't know what the word means. They say that lifetime learning is good for you and makes you age well. I hope this is true because I am definitely lifetime learning here. On another subject, they call most desserts here pudding. It's a funny little world I'm living in. :)

The Butler

I was looking for our butler's email address on the system. Silly me I was looking for his first name. For instance, my email in the system would be Jane Mitchell. Well his is just Butler. Then our chef's is just Chef. No full names just Butler and Chef. Amazing.

Too smart for your own good

I am clearly not referencing myself here. I left Oxford a civilized historic place and returned to a wild college town. I guess kids will be kids regardless of how smart they are. Today i Went to get groceries around 2pm and this kid who looked about 15 to my trained 34 year old eye was leaning against the column of the store and was just spitting. He was in his Oxford robes and everything. So classy! Then tonight a couple of us went out and it just started to get crazy around us. One british guy came up to me and asked me what he should get his girlfriend for her birthday. By girlfriend he meant random girl he had just met at the bar. I told him he should sing her the Top Gun song and that she would be impressed by the gesture. Something must have gone terribly wrong because the next minute they are out in the streets and she is yelling at him and chasing him. He keeps going "woah a woah a woah" but doesn't know any other words to "you've lost that loving feeling" so it is not quite as romantic as I had first thought it may be. Also, this broad is crazy. I'm kind of laughing at them and she comes up to me and tells me I should leave. Don't have to tell me twice!! So I'm heading home and see another kid being taken way in the paddy wagon. I'm not sure what is going on but I hope the new kids on the block get it out of their system soon :)

Home again, home again...

Jiggity jog! I can't believe I am finally back to Oxford after a long passport/visa ordeal in the States. There is nothing like feeling like a foreigner in your own country! There must be an Orthodox Jewish Convention or something in the UK this weekend because there were about 50 Orthodox Jews on my flight. I've never seen so many Kosher meals in my life! :) Is that insulting? I'm sorry if it was. I'm fairly certain no Orthodox Jews are reading my blog though. Oxford feels like home now so that is a really good thing. Today coming to work I didn't mind the tourists taking pictures or the bikers almost taking me out. It kind of adds to the charm of the place. Come next week I will be complaining about the rain again but as of now I am pretty happy! And my coworkers put a fun shiny cowboy hat on my lamp on my desk so that was nice to come back to as well. Thanks again to the McKeevers and Adam for saving me in the City! You kept me sane when I was in a bit of a fragile state of mind. HA! Love to all!

Patience is a virtue...

At least that is what they tell me. I have so little patience this morning. So I'm sitting here waiting for the visa guy (my boy Ravi) to email me to say that everything is tip top shape with my visa. I called him at 10 just to reiterate my dire situation. He was not amused and said he would be in touch. So I am checking my yahoo like a crazy person who has just met a guy and is wondering if he has emailed her. Literally hitting check email every minute. I may go crazy if I don't hear something by noon. Someone told me today that I have a British accent. I don't believe they have ever been to the UK or have ever encountered a British person. Hell, I've been here about 3 weeks now so any start of an accent is long gone. Ravi, pull through for me boy!!!!!

hmmmm, where do I begin?

All was going so well. I was enjoying Vermont, I was having successful donor visits and then it all went downhill. I believe around Sunday (a week ago from this past Sunday) I lost my passport. I did not realize I had lost my passport until I was gathering my belongings on Wednesday when I was getting ready for my flight. As you can imagine panic struck. We aren't sure if I lost it on Sunday when I was lugging bags around Manhattan or if one of the kids got into my bag and hid the passport or threw it away. I don't think Brooke reads the blog so I am going to blame it on her child. :) That also makes me look a little better than just letting it fall out on the streets of NYC. Her really sweet three year old boy came up to me and said "um, Aunt Jane, you missed that flight huh?" Yes, Jack I did. The poor McKeevers ended up having me stay with them for eight days. They had only signed up for three! So last night to give them a break I came into the city and am now staying with my friend Adam. Thank God I have such good and generous friends. Yesterday I had to go into Brooklyn to have my fingerprints taken again. They say they have issued the visa now and hopefully I can get it soon but I am not going to breathe easily until I actually have that thing in my hand.

Nothing like feeling like a foreigner in your own country!

The United Stizzies

So I am on the train to NYC and am pretty excited about leaving the City of Brotherly Love behind. I had a great dinner last night with an alum but the city is just not my favorite. No offense to any die hard Philly fans out there! I've been trying to be cognizant of how much money I am spending hotels but it's landed me in Chinatown on many occasion during this trip. If Vermont had a Chinatown I probably would have stayed in it. :) Positive to that is they do a cheap pedicure but the negative to that is that sometimes it isn't the nicest part of town. For instance, there was a lovely gentlemen selling t-shirts on the street that said "Obama- Prizzy of the United Stizzy"  I'm fairly certain he did not approve that message! KT and Nichole are meeting me in NYC so I am so excited and then I get to stay with Brooke and Mike so am very excited about my NYC leg of the journey,. And just found out my brother is there until today so we are meeting for lunch!!

Big Willie Style

We had a nice event in Boston and one of the guys who was there has an email address of "circleofwillie@...."  Well, I told him I thought his email was funny. He said, oh do you get it? He says it's the blood vessels in your brain that are a circle and it's called the circle of willis. Right, that is why I thought it was funny... Sometimes it is better if I just keep quiet. :)

Moose on the loose

Or I wish it was...I am in Vermont for work and there are "moose crossing" signs all over the place. I have become obsessed with spotting a moose. Have never seen one before. I even dreamed about moose last night. Today, I was driving from Middlebury to the Bread Loaf School (near a Robert Frost trail) and the sign said "moose" and then below that was another sign that said "stay alert". I'm like sign, you don't have to tell me twice that I need to be alert. I'm always on the watch for moose! But the sign kind of has the opposite effect on me. Instead of watching the road in front I start to slow down and think I will see a moose just sipping water by the stream or hiding in the woods. I have seen no moose... I am fairly certain that Vermont is America's best kept secret. Or did everyone besides me know how gorgeous it is? I'm staying in \Burlington right on the lake and it is gorgeous. The leaves are starting to turn and the weather is beautiful. Loving rediscovering the motherland. :) I'm trying to fully take advantage of Vermont living. This morning I woke up early and went to a cafe to have blueberry pancakes and Vermont maple syrup, then I went for a very brief run by the lake and am planning on getting my Ben and Jerry's on for dinner tonight. Wish me luck on the moose hunt!

Kind of a big deal

I got "man of the match" yesterday for my soccer team. Basically everyone puts in 50 p (pence) after the game and votes on who they think played the best. We lost 10-1 and I got man of the match which I actually don't think is super flattering. Basically, everyone played really badly so I think I got it by being the least awful. But I'm taking the title and running with it. :) Of course it only lasts a week until a new "man of the match" is crowned. But I am tricking them and am going to be out for the next couple of weeks since I'm coming to the States for work. So they may crown another "man of the match" next Sunday but in my mind it will still be me. I can barely walk today though. I was taken out a couple of times and slide tackling is legal over here so I was slide tackling all over the place. I did have a talk with the team at half time and tell them that I was no used to such negative yelling and that they needed to make it a little more positive for me. HA!!! I mean one girl yelled at another girl and told her she was standing there like a statue and to move her ***. Can't play with people yelling at each other - no siree. :) I leave for Boston on Wednesday and am excited. I have not packed at all and am heading to London tonight for a work meeting. Oh and I went to the doctor today (which is 2 blocks away) to get prescriptions refilled and when I was at the pharmacy (one block away) I realized I had left my passport at the doctor's office. I sware... I'm having serious passport issues. It's crazy here though. Went to the doctor signed in, chatted for about 10 minutes, she gave me 6 months worth of prescription, I said thanks, didn't pay a thing and walked out. Go to the pharmacy, takes 5 minutes to give me 4 months of the prescription, I buy some kleenex and kind of keep the prescription out in case they need to charge me and all I'm charged is for the kleenex!!! I mean I'd heard you didn't have to pay but was still kind of in denial. Amazing!!!!

Hell of a day

I was supposed to meet a lovely couple that I met through Meredith in London today. I took the bus in and was already about 30 minutes late when I found out that the metro line that I needed was broken. Well I'm one to usually go into taxi/panic mode if my Normal route has been compromised (so dramatic). So I take a taxi to the Wimbledon station. Well it gets up to 45 pounds and I once again hit panic I have no more pounds/take to the streets mode so I have him pull over. Well I have been suspicious that the british are rubbish at giving directions but it was confirmed today. He said the stop is right at the end of the street. The end of the street in fact meant the street ended in two blocks and then I needed to take a right walk down a massive hill then go through another part of town and then would find the station on the left. So I finally get to the station and seeing as though I'm nearly 2 hours late, they are nowhere to be found. So I get the bus back into town and have to ask about ten people how to get the bus back to Oxford before someone actually gives me the right directions. It was like a bad game of hotter, hotter, colder, really cold. So basically I got home around 4pm and had left home at 9 am. Good times all around...

Can't teach an old dog new tricks...

So with my new life in England I thought I would have this fabulous fresh start and I would in fact be fabulous but it seems as though I am still quite myself. I play soccer with one new friend and I've probably hung out with him 10 times. I told him my passport story and he said "classic Jane". How does he already know that is classic Jane? How am I already a fool in two months? I can run from my old self but I cannot hide. Then this morning, I met a fellow who is one of the smartest people and I believe shook hands with the Queen earlier this year. I stand up to meet him and hit my legs on my desk and my computer screen falls towards him. I catch it because even though I am clumsy I am also quite quick :)  Then my boss says  something like "Jane forever graceful" CRAP!!! When else has she seen me be myself?!?! So here I am, in a new country, being my classic ungraceful self. :)

Adventures in clothes washing...

So I have a new temporary Italian roomate. She is moving back to italy in November but needed a place to stay for a bit. Tonight I was showing her how to use the washing machine and I am showing her where to put the washing detergent. She is like no Jane the softener goes here. That's right, I've been 'washing' my clothes for over a month with softener!!!! They are dirty as hell but couldn't be any softer! Glad someone who speaks Italian could help the poor English speaker out.

Just thought you would like to know

I have my tv paused because my washing machine sounds like it is going to blast off at any minute . I think it's because it has to spin the hell out of clothes since there aren't dryers in this country!!

That is all for now...

How the other side lives...

I had a meeting with my boss and two professors today and I got to eat in the "other room". It's where the faculty and head of the college eat. We staff eat in the dining hall (which in itself is pretty awesome) but they get a sign listing their lunch choices. Today I could pick from fish, lamb or pasta. Then we have cheese after our lunches. Then we go upstairs and have coffee or tea. In this room there are about 8 different newspapers of the day like in a nice hotel. In the staff section we eat quickly and then head back upstairs. No educational enrichment for us! So funny how we are kept separate.

Continuing on with my stupidity

It is a constant fight in the apartment to keep the musty smell away so the windows are always open or I'm always lighting candles. So this morning at about 8:30 I had the candle lit in the bathroom and was putting on lotion and turned around and the candle was up in flames. I guess a strong wind had come through the window and dropped some q tips into the candle because they were on fire. The fire alarm went off and now I've lost my nice bathroom candle. I left it at home filled with water in case it miraculously caught on fire again and burned the place down. Good times...

Travel restrictions

Just when you think you don't have any funny stories and you are settled into your new life you try to get on a train to Paris without your passport. Oh, what's that? I can't just hop on without my passport? Not so good! Crissy and I got all the way to London and I was sitting on the tube just going along when all of a sudden I thought "oh crikey :) I don't have my passport". I just got so used to traveling in England without it and I guess traveling by train didn't seem international enough for me. So, Kelly and her husband Ian were heros and got my spare set of keys from my office then went to my apartment and searched through my crap and then took the train to London. It was like my own little Olympic moment where they were passing me the baton. But I was more like one of those runners who gets disqualified because they step out of the line. I ran over two people with my suitcase and took off running the wrong way down the metro stop. I got on the final train to Paris and finally got there at midnight. Crissy had been there since 7. What a mess!!

Back by popular demand

Ok, so maybe only one person said they wanted me to write on my blog. You know who you are.:) Crissy has been here this week so that has been great. We were in London last weekend and witnessed carnival in notting hill. Picture Hugh grant posh neighborhood with Caribbean women and men in thongs and feather headdresses. One of these things is not like the other...it is basically a two day carribean dance and party festival. Basically it was awesome. I can't imagine how crazy the real carnival is in brazil. Some of the dancers actually had a party van going along with them and they would just take their drinks up to the side and they would get refills from the djs and party hosts in the trailer/long van.  Out of control. Tomorrow we are heading to Paris so are excited about that.

Let it ride

I haven't really posted lately because you start to get in the swing of things and this starts to become your life. I am finding that there are still a lot of differences. For instance, I find a lot of differences in soccer. First of all, they call it football here and we don't practice we train. This will be more interesting to soccer players, but you can sit on the ground and kick for the ball where you can't in the States. Also, they call it offside and not offsides. Another thing is you can't say "let it ride" because they find it distracting to other players. You can actually get a free kick for that. And when you go for a ball you can't say "I've got it" or "mine" you have to say Jane's ball or Jane goes. Which makes you seem a little crazy to be talking in the 3rd person! And they made fun of me the other day because I yelled "Go y'all!" from the sidelines and they said "we didn't think people actually said the word y'all". I'm so excited because Crissy is coming this Saturday and we are going to hang out in London for 3 days, Oxford for 4 and then Paris the following weekend. Tough times! We are going to the European version of Carnival in London this weekend so that should be interesting and should provide better stories for the blog... :) Feeling a bit bad for C though because it looks like the rain is coming back.

Quirks

Did you know that typically when British people introduce themselves they don't say their names. It's too personal to say their name early in the conversation apparently. Wednesday, I went to a soccer 5 a side (as it is called here) basically just a pick up game of soccer and I didn't know anyone. So I say to this guy hi my name is Jane, he goes "hi". That's it. No name... nothing. I mean I guess I would possibly understand if you are in a bar and it's a little too soon to share names but on the soccer field I actually have to call your name so you will know I am passing you the ball. It's so funny to think that just because we speak the same language that we would be the same. There are so many cultural differences though!

Crikey!!

I could not have been more of an American last night. I don't have a dryer in my apartment and was not ready to acquiesce to the British ways so found a laundromat up the road. Of course, it's raining when I head out for the dryers so I'm already thinking this may not be the best plan. And it's kind of a heavy load since all the clothes are wet and since I've washed everything I can possibly think of since this will be my weekly trip to the laundromat. So I get to the laundromat and it is £1 for each 4 minutes. Now I am pissed b/c I have just walked all the way up to the laundromat to realize that I probably can't afford to dry my clothes. So I put in £2 and I get a solid 8 minutes of drying time. Then I have run out of pounds so go to the corner store to buy a Cherry Coke and get change. Well then I'm talking on the phone and put the pounds in the wrong dryer. So I dried air for about 30 seconds which really cuts into the drying time when you only get 4 minutes per bloody pound. :) Basically, I spent £6 (plus 65 cents on a coke) to moderately try my clothes. I still had to walk back and hang half of them around the apartment. Good times...

The Gut and the Bad

So I think Gut means good in German but I'm not sure. Those are my people now after this weekend. I got in touch with my fun German friends from the soccer final and we met them at the German House. At first we thought we were going to be hanging out with the German athletes and their families but it turns out they were at the posh club next door. We were in the random room with picnic tables and German beer. You could see people on top of the German house being interviewed. But we common folk still had a good time though. The Germans won the hockey gold so the place went crazy. There was a German congo line and there was a lot of German chanting. The Germans know how to party!! It was really cool being in London over the weekend b/c there would be random athlete spottings everywhere. We saw two women athletes from the States (no clue who they were but they were rocking the USA athlete backpack and had seriously good bodies) That's right... I said it! :) HA! Then we were on the train on the way to the German House and we met the Angolan women's basketball team. It was so cool! They said there has never been a woman's basketball team from Angola in the Olympics. Then on Sunday morning we saw parts of the men's marathon. The vibe with the Olympics was so cool b/c people cheer for all athletes and they don't care which country you are from. Was just so amazing to be around all of it. Oh, so that is all the good.... The bad is that I washed all of my clothes last night thinking I would walk up to my neighborhood laundromat to dry them. Well, the wash took a little longer than I thought and then I had to meet my soccer team for dinner so I'm pretty sure I'm going to have to rewash the clothes tonight. I'm sure this is helping the musty smell in my apartment!

Things that make your head hurt...

Having to subtract 12 from a number when it's past noon here. I wonder if I will ever just look at 14:00 and go... oh man, it's 14:00 o'clock!!! I think people can see the wheels turning when I look at my computer after noon and have to count. Mom, you may be in trouble. :)

Also, something interesting about the game last night: anytime there was a call or a stop in play they would not show the replay on the big screens. We didn't see what you saw at home. I think they wanted to have crowd control if they made a bad call. My German girl, BB, made no bad calls in my mind though seeing as the States won! BB was the German ref who was the girl for which my new German friends were cheering. They were trying to convince me to celebrate the US win with them after. They taught me that X ing a beer means finishing it quickly. I told them it was crushing a beer and they thought that was the funniest thing. They would put their elbow up to make an X and then would say Crush it. Picture someone doing that with an Arnold Schwarzenager accent. Awesome.

Going for Gold!!!

Game day!!!

or as they say here "match day". I'm not really sure if they say match day but they say match for game so am just improvsing. I'm pretty stuffed up from either playing soccer in the hail or from the awful musty smell in my apartment, but it's not hindering my excitement for the game. I've got my red flats, white tshirts and blue cardigan laid out at home with the big American flag. I hope my seat neighbors are pulling for the US or don't mind that I will be a little bit obnoxious. So nothing too funny to share today. Just really excited for the game. Love y'all! USA USA USA :)

Growing Pains

I had my first night in my new apartment last night. As mentioned before, my washer/dryer is actually just a washer so my sheets were still not dry. I just slept in my comforter. HA! The mattress they gave me with the apartment is pretty crappy so I don't mind not putting my sheets on it. I'm having a mattress delivered tomorrow though so am excited about that. So I washed another load of laundry yesterday and now have socks, underwear and shirts hanging all over the apartment on door knobs and chairs. It's a classy sight. Then I put the refrigerator on a really low setting by accident and froze the hell out of my milk and cheese. So, we are back to square one on that. :) I did discover my local "sports bar" last night though. I don't have a tv yet and really wanted to see the USA vs Canada soccer game so decided to go across to the cool pub on the river. Well they don't really have sports bars here and only had one tv. The guy suggested I go to the Folly Bridge Inn where they have sports everywhere. He failed to warn me that it was an old school smelling of 50 years of smoking establishment. And by sports everywhere he meant two tvs and 3 old men playing dominos. In the bar were me, aforementioned three men playing dominoes, the owners and a big dog. I didn't care. The game was amazing. And the beer was only £1.70. Can't beat it!

Football, Olympics and Flats

I seemed to have done a lot this weekend. Friday night I went to the USA vs Serbia volleyball game. My friend Kristen and I took the train into London. The beauty of the train is you can get drinks to go in the train station. So we each had a lovely little cosmo in a can on the way to the games. It was amazing to be around all of it. I go to the women's gold soccer finals on Thursday. I really hope the US makes it! I need to get some more use out of my £2 American flag! Then on Saturday I moved my boxes into my new flat. Benefits of new flat equal: so close to work, awesome people watching of people going along the trail by the river, decent space, and tea maker.  Negatives of the flat equal: Currently smells seriously musty, washer/dryer promised by letting agency is actually just a washer, 70s orange curtains, and the carpet is the hardest thing ever. I had to put tennis shoes on to walk around the flat. I have to go by the store today to get some febreeze. Good stuff... Then yesterday we had another scrimmage with my soccer team. It was sunny when we started playing and then all of a sudden the bottom dropped out. Literally, I've not seen it rain that hard in forever. Then, just when I don't think it can get any worse, it starts to hail. I'm looking around like does anyone else realize we are playing soccer in the hail? I'm thinking any minute someone will come to their senses and call the game off. Oh no, we played the first 30 minutes and it was time for a break. Thankfully, they called it off then because there was no letting up in sight. Totally ridiculous! I dumped water out of my shoes after playing. Definitely was a little homesick yesterday and this morning. I know it will pass but I miss y'all! My coworkers are so great and have cheered me up.

Olympic Fever

It's really strange watching the Olympics in another country. Especially when that country is the host country. It's been so cool. I am still pulling for the States and have definitely gone out and bought a ridiculously large American flag but I am definitely also pulling for Team GB. Did y'all see the gymnastics where they won bronze? That was so good! I know you will all be watching the USA vs. Serbia volleyball match since it is sure to be thrilling. (couldn't name one volleyball player) You will have to watch out for me because I'm going with my new American friend Kristen. I can't wait!!!  I will be waving said obnoxious flag. I'm pretty sure we have nose bleed seats but it will still be really fun. Then I have tickets (actually ticket) since I am going by myself to the Women's Gold medal soccer finals. I'm so excited about that and hope the US makes it. I'll be sitting alone but some girls from my soccer team are going along with one of my coworkers so I can at least go with a group. Love to all!! Oh and I move into my place on Saturday and am SOOOOO excited. I killed it at Ikea last night. It was like shopping for college all over again. Had to buy random things like silverware holders and toothbrush holders. (not that I had either of those in college.... maybe more like when I went shopping after college?) You get the point...

Happy 1 August

For all of you Swiss people out there. I had no idea that August 1 was Swiss Day but now I do because we are hosting Swiss Day at Lincoln. My boss is on vacation so she asked me to be the representative for our office. Awesome since I know so much about Switzerland and I look like I'm Swiss. I couldn't stick out more. Usually we just have some cheese sticks and champagne and toast the flag but this year it's a bigger deal because really smart scientists are holding a meeting here. So there will be a guy from the institute of molecular sciences and some other science people. One person is from a university that is known for their scientific research so I googled them and found this funny news.

1 August 2012 is a special day for ETH Zurich. Heidi -------, the first female rector, is retiring due to age reasons after five years in office 

Poor ole girl is retiring because she is too old. How funny is it that they put it that way?

I'm sure I will have a blog post post Swiss Day lunch as well. :)

Very American of you...

I was told I was acting like an American yesterday by one of my new soccer teamates. I told her that I was in fact an American so would probably be acting like one quite a lot. She is not my favorite on the team... :) So yesterday was our first scrimmage (which they call a friendly). I thought we would just kick around and just wear whatever so I wore my soccer shorts and a tshirt. Well we get to the field and they have full on outfits for us. Red socks, red soccer shorts and red and black jerseys. I mean we are looking hot! And everything is huge because we are apparently sharing the jerseys with the men's soccer club. It was a good thing the jersey was large though because as aforementioned, I had worn my soccer shorts. Well, said soccer shorts have an underwear lining so I had no other underwear. Well, new soccer shorts are like net basketball shorts and have no such underwear lining. So I basically had to go commando the whole game. We all got dressed in the same room and I had the big jersey on and shimmied my shorts off and bent from the knees so I wouldn't moon any of the players. They may have said it was very American of me, but I think it was just very Jane of me. So embarrasing....

Doo be doo

So one thing that I love here is that they call parties or gatherings dos. So we have a drinks do or a bbq do. It's the funniest thing. They call bachelorette parties hen dos. (pronounced doooo) :)

Silly normal university American

So I thought I would start reading again now that I feel a bit more settled. Thought I was pretty clever figuring out how to request a book from the Bodleian Library. So I go over there today and I have to lock my bag up in a storage cube because you are not allowed to take your bag into the room. Clearly, they have some ridiculously old and ridiculously priceless books in this room where I am picking up Seabiscuit. :) So I go on up through the security checks and am like ok where is my book. They bring out Seabiscuit and say we have to keep your card. I say but I need my card. Then the guy realizes I am a silly American and that I think I can leave the library with the book. He says "you can't take books from the library". So then I think do you want me to visit my book every day? Even though Seabiscuit is no Chaucer, I cannot read it in one sitting. So I give them back the book and walk out. I just googled the public library and should have more luck there. So embarrasing! Just so you know how embarrasing this is and that I even thought I could check out a book there check out this link and fun facts: (dang Wikepedia, where were you yesterday when I thought I was so clever)

The Bodleian Library ( /ˈbɒdliən/ or /bɒdˈliːən/), the main research library of the University of Oxford, is one of the oldest libraries in Europe, and in Britain is second in size only to the British Library. Known to Oxford scholars as "Bodley" or simply "the Bod", under the Legal Deposit Libraries Act 2003 it is one of six legal deposit libraries for works published in the United Kingdom^[2][3] and under Irish Law it is entitled to request a copy of each book published in the Republic of Ireland.^[4] Though University members may borrow some books from dependent libraries (such as the Radcliffe Science Library),^[5] the Bodleian operates principally as a reference library and in general documents may not be removed from the reading rooms.

Lavender Farm!

Lavender Fields Forever

It was a gorgeous weekend! Sunny on Saturday and Sunday. It's kind of nice when it's sunny here because everyone is out taking advantage of it. It's supposed to be gorgeous all week. They are trying to get their weather act in gear for the Olympics. On Saturday we had a bbq at Kelly's house and then we played cricket in the park near their house. There were only four of us and apparently you can't play great cricket with four people. I still have no idea how to play the game. Then yesterday we went to a lavendar farm. It was gorgeous. Yesterday morning I had soccer practice (or football training as they call it here) For some reason I thought I had more time than I did. I got to the bus stop and had to wait for about 20 minutes. Then I had no idea which stop would get me to practice so I had to take the bus all the way into the center and take a bus back out. (I had gone to practice from work the first day so that was the only way I knew how to do it) At this point I'm 30 minutes late for practice. So then the bus drops me off and it's still about a 1/2 mile walk to the field. So I take off running with my backpack, looking like a total goober. I get there and we have to do sprints. I feel like I've already done sprints so am not pleased with this. Then I figure I will just walk back to my bus stop but this really fast girl on the team says she will walk with me. So I say fine and we start walking back. Well then the joker says she was going to run and I'm like sure, I'll run with you. So we aren't talking an easy pace and I'm like it's cool you can go ahead but she won't leave me!!! So finally we hit the road where she had to go one way so I slowed to a walk and then got to my bus stop. Well, the sign says I have 30 minutes until the bus comes so I figure I will stretch out and walk to the next stop. Well the damn bus sign was wrong and the S3 bus goes flying by me. So I take off in another mad sprint. I can barely walk today!!!!

Going for Gold!

Last night I played trivia with a new friend. They call it pub trivia here. She was kind enough to invite me to her work event. We played Olympic trivia. I brushed up on my Olympic knowledge via Google yesterday so was a trivia genius. Well, only on the 6 or 7 questions they asked that I had actually seen on Google. There were about 8 teams of 5 and we ended up tying with another team. So there was a sudden death and this ridiculously smart guy on our team shouted out the answer. I hadn't even processed the question by the time he had shouted out the answer. The guys had named us Team USA because two of us are American so when we won they started shouting "USA USA USA". I have no idea why we get a bad reputation abroad. But, we each won a 2012 Olympic mug. It's actually really cool! Then I got a taxi home but figured I would get some food while I was waiting from one of the food trucks that are always out at night. It was mostly kababs and curry sauces but I figured I would go for the cheese pizza. It took him about 10 minutes to actually make it while he was throwing sausages and curried fries at all kinds of people with no wait. Serves me right! I made my taxi driver wait for me while my pizza cooked. :) He said my southern accent was genius. Or some adjective like that. I prefer to remember it as genius. The sun has finally decided to come out here. Sunday and Monday there is an actual sun on the forecast and 0% chance of rain. I am convinced that they lie to us though. They put it a couple of days out and think you will forget that it was supposed to be sunny. I'm not falling for it weather.com....

A day in the life...

I figure I would give you a run down on a typical day for me here. Today is actually a really good day because it's sunny out and I'm actually wearing short sleeves. Mind you, it is a short sleeve sweater but my arms are getting to see the sun today. Am i encouraging visitors yet?! :) I walk to the bus station and then stand out in the rain typically waiting for the bus. It's a double decker bus so it's kind of fun and I'm a total American and always go to the second level and sit near the front so I can see everything. It's a weird feeling because I feel like people should speak another language since I am living in another country. It's like I'm shocked when I can understand them because they are speaking English. Not sure when that is going to wear off for me. So then I walk to work and walk through the front quad where every other day they are mowing the lawn. Then we have tea time at around 10am. Then we have our free lunch in the hall. We get to eat in the hall which is like a smaller version of the Harry Potter dining room. I am going to be as big as a house if I keep eating the desserts. Each day I tell myself that I won't eat the dessert that day but then they come up with something I can't resist. Yesterday it was cheesecake with raspberries! I can't wait to see what it is today. Then we have tea time around 3pm. Then I take the bus home around 5:30pm. Tonight I'm going to soccer practice. It's my first time meeting the team so I am excited. I'm really excited to move into my new place so I can just walk to work. Anyway, hope everyone is doing well!!

This and that...

I don't really feel like I have much to report. It continues to rain here. That is starting to get on my nerves actually. :) I went running two nights ago and was having a lovely run through the meadows at Christ Church. Then all of a sudden the bottom fell out. Here I am in the middle of a damn meadow and nowhere to go. So I went next to a really big tree and just started laughing at myself. Some jokers were still running in it. I was happy just hanging out by my tree. Then it started to hail. No lie... middle of July and I was stuck in a hail storm. What the heck!?! It passed fairly quickly though so I just resumed my run. It's weird what you miss over here. Like I would give anything to have a Target in Oxford. I realize it would take away from the poshness and grandeur of the place but man it would be nice. There is no place here where you can just go in and get random things you need. Kelly and I are going into London this weekend for a concert in Hyde Park. I actually have to go buy wellies (rain boots) on my lunch break because it is supposed to be very wet. I thought I was going to be so fabulous over here and my first two purchases are going to be wellies and a rain jacket. And who cares what you wear b/c you have to put a rain jacket over everything. Ok, enough ranting!!!! Hope everyone is doing well. Not so jolly ole jane without the sun. :)

Hip hip hooray

We just had a little retirement party for the Rector who is leaving soon. The party was at 11am and champagne was served. Not only was it served, it was also reserved. A guy was walking around refilling our glasses. Totally acceptable to be drinking champagne before noon. You have to love the European lifestyle!!!

Mind the torch!

I had an awesome morning today. I went to an Olympic torch event that Kelly helped organize. Met the Vice Chancellor of Oxford and then met a bunch of Gold Medal athletes. Two were from the 1948 Olympics that were held in London. Hung out with those twins from Facebook (really nice actually) and had my picture taken with Roger Banister. I also shook the hand of Seb Coe who is apparently the head of the whole London Olympics. Also, I was in charge of the replica torch so I had people waiting in line to take their picture with the torch. At first, I thought I was a famous athlete and was getting in the picture. Then the guy in charge came over and said "um, you can let them hold the torch" Oh,...right. My bad! So embarrasing! It was an amazing morning. Oh and on an embarrasing note, our alumna, Steph cook is a Gold medalist and we were saying goodbye and I literally almost kissed her because I don't have the two cheek kiss down quite yet. All is all it was a ridiculous morning!!!!

Posh Nascar

Kelly and I had free tickets to the Formula One race this weekend. It was an extremely random day. It started with us waiting in traffic for about an hour and then the security guards telling us to go a certain way which was basically the opposite way on the highway so we pulled over where some other cars were pulled over. Two other guys were as confused as we were so we decided to all be confused together. We started working towards the race grounds and it started to rain (shocking) and we were told it was about 4 miles so I threw my thumb out for a ride. This really sweet couple stopped and gave us a ride to the VIP parking. Apparently they were special guests of Ross Brawn. Kelly and I were not very savvy race goers so asked who Ross Brawn was. Apparently, that is asking a tennis fan who Nadal is. So then we were inside the VIP parking and Kelly's friend met us with the tickets. So then we went and watched some formula one action but it was so gross and rainy. Luckily Kelly's friend got us into the paddocks where all of the drivers and their crews hang out. We got to see two of the cars that were racing and saw the pit crew working on them. We saw people that were apparently famous but we had no clue. We just started taking pictures of people you were getting interviews. I think we embarrased Kelly's friend. :) We had gotten a ride in a golf cart to the vip xection but weren't quite as big time after the tour so had no idea where we were. Eventually two guys on a golf car came by and we asked them for a ride. They said, "where would you like to go" We said, we have no idea ...maybe to a beer cart? They said where are you from? And I said AMerica. They kind of chuckled and said "we know" but where in America. Oh, what gave it away?? HA! Then we watched the end of the race and went home. Very random day but very fun.

The grass is always greener...

no, really it is! The grass here is on steroids! It is so gorgeous and green. Mind you, I rather have normal looking grass if it meant it wouldn't rain as much. Literally, the guy on the radio this morning said "we are going to have a month's worth of rain in 24 hours". The grounds guy where I work mows the grass into perfect rows every other day. That's right, he mows the grass every other day. And you aren't allowed to walk on the grass. They have an area towards the back of campus where you can walk on the grass. It has a sign that says "croquet only". I'm working in a fairy land! And we have a butler. That's right, I said it. A butler. It's so crazy! Anway, this weekend Kelly and I are going to the Formula 1 Grand Prix race. And then on Sunday we are going to Christ Church to go watch an Alice in Wonderland race. It's celebrating 150 years of Alice in Wonderland. It started here in Oxford!! I hope everyone has a nice weekend.

Love ya!

Holy shirts and pants!

So I just realized that pants here are actually underwear. They call pants trousers and underwear pants. I've told everyone here that I only have two pairs of pants and that I'm going to have to wear the same pants over and over. So what they heard was "I've only got two pairs of underwear so will have to wear the same pairs of underwear over and over" Oh crap!!!! I have to set that straight tomorrow.

pictures

USA USA USA

Too much? I hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July! Nothing says Happy 4th of July like having a Peroni in an English pub. I wanted to share some pictures with you. These were taken on the roof of one of Lincoln's buildings. Our sweet IT person took me up there today because it was sunny for about 20 minutes. We had to go up this really small winding staircase to get there. But the views were so worth it!

In the words of Ice Cube...

Today was a good day! It started with me checking in at "the lodge" and signing up for a hot lunch. We get free lunch at work. We can choose from the hot meal of the day (spaghetti and meatballs today) or a baquette/sandwich. You can also choose a salad. I mean, I will give up some dental care for a free lunch! Am looking forward to what they will serve tomorrow! Then after lunch I went to check out a flat and found one that didn't make me freak out. I put down the deposit and am supposed to move in August 6. For anyone thinking about visiting, it's right on the River Thames and is across the street from an awesome pub. I'm just thinking about my visitors! And it's a 5-10 minute walk from work. Now, if I could just get a sunny day...Outlook is not good on that front though!

Big American in a Little Flat

Today was my first day it work and honestly it was a little weird going to work somewhere new after 9 and 1/2 years at MC. My coworkers are so nice though and they made me tea twice!! I went to look at another flat today during lunch and I had a bit of a panic attack. It was the smallest thing I have ever seen! I'm hoping the search goes better soon. Right now I just seem like a snobby American but I couldn't help it. Also I get free lunch at my new job. You walk in in the morning and there are two boards. You put your name down and sign up for hot or cold lunch. Or you can ask for a boxed salad or sandwich. It's pretty awesome! They have a chef and everything.

Compliments of the house

Last night I went to an Indian restaurant with my new friend and had the best meal. The Indian food is amazing over here! Apparently, the Indian restaurants are mostly Bangladeshi families. Anyway, it was delicious and at the end the little waiter came up to us and said "we are so lucky to have you dining with us that we would like to buy your next drink". Am not sure if it was because we are Americans but I am loving the American card if so. I made sure we tipped well so we would keep our reputation up and receive this fine service in the future. :) Kelly and I tried to look at two flats yesterday but it was a big mess. The first realtor just didn't show up to the appointment and actually there were 3 yes 3 number 14s on one road. There was a 14 on the left and then a couple houses down there was a 14 on the right and then a little farther down there was another 14. I'm not sure how mail is delivered or how people know where they live but it was quite confusing. The realtor was not to be found at any of the #14 abodes. So then we drove to the next one and it looked awful so we called and cancelled the viewing. There are two really cute flats that I'm looking at tomorrow during lunch. They are on the river! Also, yesterday, Kelly and I thought we were going to have a casual pub lunch and went to this awesome place called The Perch. Turns out it was a fancy affair and I had duck and she had the scallops. Nice $60 casual lunch! Ha!!! I'm including a picture of the pub. It was so gorgeous out back! Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend! First day of work is tomorrow. Have to figure out what I am wearing... I don't have much that is warm enough. They are about to see the same outfit for the next couple of weeks until my boxes get here!

Obama Sandwich

I think that if President Obama were to order a sandwich in Rome that he would in fact order one with pizza and meat in it...

This just in...

Prince Harry fancies cougars! Was on the news this morning. I'm just saying. :)

Things that make you go hmmmm

So, I'm on my third day of "living" in the UK. Which still doesn't feel real and I feel like I'm on vacation. I'm sure it will hit me at some point. Anyway, I'm already seeing some differences that are as Lisa Piercy would say "quite vexing". Here they are in no particular order: 1) They don't have freezers. This concerns me because where do they put their ice cream and where do they put their ice cubes. 2) I'm looking for apartments and all of the listings seem to talk about how wonderful the gardens are. It's like 200 square foot apartment and own garden. I'm like I don't care about a garden when my sink is in my toilet. I do not understand why there isn't just a tad more space in these places. 3) I really like how everything seems to be less wasteful but then sometimes I think they just may be behind the times. For example, my friends have a dryer and I think this is a luxury here. So I'm drying my clothes and after each load I have to take out this big plastic thing and duump the water out. Well, it's not like the garden needs watering because it rains every --- day here. So I'm throwing more water onto the lawn. Maybe that is why everyone's lawn looks gorgeous and all of the gardens are so beautiful. I do not mean to complain and be a sour puss American. There are so many positive things, but it is more fun to complain about the differences. Love to all!!! And Go Italia!!!!

My new digs!

The first picture is outside of where I will be working. They obviously were excited for my arrival, hence the balloons. Or it was open day. I asked them if it was a recruiting event and they said "um well, we don't really have recruiting events because we are the University of Oxford." Oh right... my bad. :) The second pic is the outside of my office. I'm on the second floor towards the left. I'm sharing an office with 3 other women. All seem so nice! I met with them today for a bit. I officially start work on Monday at get this... 9 am! Wooohooo!! Also, she mentioned that I should make my first trip back to the states in September. And yes, I was that girl taking pictures of her new place of business.

Oxford here I come!

So I've finally arrived in Oxford. They weren't lying, it is in fact cold and rainy. My first order of business is to go buy a proper rain coat. I'm heading into town today to find a bank and look at some flats. In exciting news, I think I may be able to see the Olympic torch come through. Kelly is organizing and event and she said I could possibly help with it. I'm going to get to see Roger Banister carry the torch!!! (for those of you who don't know-he is the first person to break the 4 minute mile) I didn't know that before. So, hopefully, that will happen! Just so glad to finally be here and get settled. Love and miss you all! Hope to be able to make some actual calls soon.

Worst idea ever

So my flight to the UK isn't until 3pm today and our hotel has cute bikes we can take out. Well, I'm sure many of you are thinking, hmmm maybe not a good idea to take a bike out into the crazy streets of Rome. Well I am alone and left to my own devices so I thought it would be lovely to take a bike down by the Tiber River and have a peaceful ride. Well, that did not go as planned. First of all, I had to take the bike down about 50 steps to get by the river. Once I got to the bottom, I realized that it was all small stones and that the "path" ran out in about 30 feet. So then I went to the other end and had to walk the bike up the steep hill. So then I think ok I will just ride the bike up top on the road around the river. So I cross a bridge and have to go left and am left having to cross traffic of scooters, buses, and small Italian cars. Then I cross that and then have to bob and weave through the streets. In 45 minutes I probably went 2 city blocks. It was a complete disaster! Hope everyone is having a good week!

Mamma Mia!!!

That is what Italians say when their team is in double overtime and offsides is called. Also, they like to yell "ah madonna" This must be much like our saying the Lords name in vain, but it sounds so much cooler when Italians say it. Tonight was amazing. My friend Domenico picked me up on his scooter and we went to watch the Italy vs. England game. We were in a piazza with about 100 Italians watching one of the best games I've seen in a while. Double overtime to penalty kicks. Italy won in penalty kicks and the piazza went crazy. People were throwing beer in the air, they were hugging each other and kissing each other. I was excited at first and then became the scared American who thought there may be a riot so backed away a bit. There was nothing but love in the area though. Then Dom (or DJ if he is in Jersey where he is actually from) and I got on the scooter to go say hello to his friend Mauricio who is in his Rolling Stones cover band. So on the entire 20 minute scooter ride to this fair Dom is beeping his horn and the two of us are screaming "dai Italia". Crowds are going wild and the streets were crazy with people so excited over the win. Life seems pretty good when you are on the back of a honking scooter driving past roman ruins yelling at Italians.

It's a bird, it's a plane

nope, it's a collapsable bidet! The Italians truly love a bidet. They will have a small as can be bathroom where you can barely get by but you better believe they will always make room for a bidet. We got to Rome today and I was washing my face and thought hmmmm, what is this. Sure enough, it was a collapsable bidet. I was going to try to provide before and after shots but cannot figure out how to do that on the ipad. Any suggestions are welcome. Would love to figure out how to save and download pictures on this bad boy. Thanks!

The hard part is over...

I am sure the Italians on the train from florence to Rome today had a good chuckle at us. not only am I lugging around three massive bags, one which the airport put a HEAVY sign on, but I'm also trying to help older women with their baggage. people couldn't get by our luggage we had so much stuff. Then we sat in the wrong seats and then I found our seats and they kept asking me where their seat was. I don't know, I've told you ten times it's 8c. So then I lose my cool and I'm like sit down, sit down, sit down. That's right I have to say it three times. Am gaining a greater appreciation for my mother! We are off to lunch now where I'm pretty sure I'm ordering some wine. Hope all is well! Ps is it hard to comment on this thing? I'm feeling no love. :)

Question...

Should I in fact be embarrassed that I told Meredith's president that Boyz in the Hood was an influential film?

The wingwoman perseveres

My wingwoman and her friend who have given themselves the name "double trouble" were giving the bus some valuable lessons in love the other day. I will share these gems with you so you can now know their secrets. 1) Bat your eyes (this doesn't seem to work for me b/c when I bat my eyes I look like I have terrets or have something caught in my eye. 2) Look helpless (I put this into action today when I dropped my gelato all over the floor in front of a rather cute waiter) 3) I think this one is look sad... Actually, I can't remember 3-5 and that is why I need these wing women. Today Mary Louise (said wing woman) spotted a rather cute waiter and so rang the bell that she has on her cane. She is not the most subtle wing woman but she gets the job done!

Same same but different

Last night about 5 of us went to dinner at a wonderful restauarant. Sansepolcro is great because you sit outside and people stroll back and forth. It makes for great people watching. Well these two guys who may have been a cute gay couple but more likely were two straight Italian men who were just really Italian kept walking by. The one had on a tshirt that said "same same but different" When they strolled by the second time I asked him in Italian if the t-shirt was from Thailand. He came up to the table and said yes. So then since I am so smooth I said in English "that's all I got" at which point they walked away very confused. Clearly, my 90 year old wing woman was not there to witness it. Actually, two nights ago they told me they had quite a bit of wine and left their key in the door. Then last night they were so hot that they propped their door open with their cane so they would have a nice cross breeze. They said the first night they left the keys in the door and had no takers and then last night they had the door wide open and had no takers and so they were very upset. Everyone on the trip hopes they will be as spunky when they are 90!

Dios mio!

So my Italian is pretty spotty and I am the only person in the group who speaks Italian. I'm trying to translate for people and have noticed that people will ask you for something and as soon as you start to ask the store owner, bus driver, etc the question (which sometimes takes a bit since as mentioned above-my Italian is spotty) they start to ask them in English. Which then makes the job that much harder because they clearly speak no English and now I am yelling my spotty Italian over their English and it's just not getting results. One extremely awkward example of this happened today. Someone needed some medicine to take care of an issue. So I went into a pharmacy with this person and was trying to think of the most discrete way to ask for some medicine. So I'm going in Italian " um I don't know what it's called but we call it immodi----" before I can finish the sentence the person blurts out "diarreah" really loudly. I was dying. I don't understand why people ask for my help if they are just going to go rouge.

Oh Italy how I love you...

I finally set up my wireless keyboard so can no longer blame by awful typing on the ipad. We had some down time today. We've been going going going... In three days, we've been to Anchiari, Asissi, Sansepolcro, Florence and some others. On our first day in Sansepolcro the mayor honored Meredith's president for Meredith's presence in the city. Or so I am told because I ran back to the hotel to get one of the alumnae their cane. (and possibly returned with sleep lines from a 20 minute nap) After the mayor thanked our president we went out into the square where these men in tights had prepared a special presentation for us. They did a flag presentation where they fight with flags and juggle them. It was extremely cool. You can see them in Under the Tuscan Sun. I had my picture taken with a couple and then the next day I was in the street and an Italian guy came up to me and said "Ciao Jane" I had no idea who he was until he told me he was a flag thrower... you know, the usual. We chatted a bit and he told me I should join him and his friends at a bar around the corner. I told him "che vediamo" (see you soon) because that is really the only bye italian phrase I know. But I never did see him because I was with the group and well he is a man in tights. My 90 year old new wing woman was very upset with me for not meeting him and is now giving me lessons in love. So we will see what she can accomplish. Tonight we are on our own and a group of us are going to dinner. Tomorrow we go to Daruto for ceramics. It's a shame I can't fit anything into my bags. I've already thrown two pieces of clothing away because they just weren't with it! I'm on a wear and toss regiment. Please email me at jmitche6@yahoo.com I miss you all already and know that once this trip is done and the reality of not just jumping onto a plane headed back to Raleigh hits me, I will miss you even more. HAPPY FATHER'S DAY to my pops and any other fathers out there. Jolly ole Jane out...

my cup runneth over...

we are in the Munich airport waiting for our flight to Florence. I know this isn't the true start of the blog but figure I am somewhere across the pond! I'm fairly certain that my post title is from some cheesy movie and I just can't seem to remember which. I couldn't really think of another way to express how much love and support I have felt during this process. I could not have done it without all of you. Truly i am blessed. The rest of these posts won't be as tender but am still just filled with love and appreciation. thank you for all your help. Much love! Tired ole Jane...