The beginning of the end

I arrived in the UK in Mar 2003 then Germany Jul 2003 - Jan 2009.  I've lived in the UK since Feb 2009.  I realize I'm not doing a very good job of this blog.  In many ways, the UK doesn't justify a proper post, the life, language and culture just aren't different enough.

My life in Germany was a new adventure every day but in the UK...not so much.

I gained permanent residency here just like in Germany...and then I went on for citizenship here.  The US/UK allow for dual, something not open to me in Germany.

I've met many wonderful people here though the blog and didn't want to leave you hanging.  Nothing exciting happened, I just got on with a normal life here.

My UK citizenship ceremony is next week, and then on to a UK passport after that.  As the US and UK allow for dual, all good here.

Feel free to drop a line in the meantime or otherwise I'll try to do the same.

The view from my window

Across the street, they've taken a vacant building and they've started to gut it and built it up by one story. This was my view from my kitchen window today, on the zoom setting:

In the US, I've yet to see a Sikh construction worker, but here in the UK they are plentiful. So much so that the UK has published regulations, http://www.hse.gov.uk/foi/internalops/fod/oc/200-299/282_27.pdf regarding their exemption from wearing helmets on construction sites.

Open mouth, insert foot

Since I work from home most of the time, I accept packages for the neighbors on my floor. Having to take the 15 minute walk to the post office package distribution office is just a hassle if you miss your delivery. We're only three total flats and with very limited shared walls, so things are quiet up here, and both sets of neighbors are very nice. One is from Italy, a beautiful doctor who speaks fluent English, the other a young couple who work in London so are almost never around.

Usually I just slip a note under the door, 'Hi, I have a package for you, stop by before 10 or tomorrow after 8 AM.'

The Italian was lamenting a few weeks back that she doesn't have a boyfriend. As she is educated, gorgeous and has only been in the UK for six months, I was telling her that it's only a matter of time. She is, however, interviewing for the position, but most only last one or two dates before being dismissed. There is one who seems to be on a trial period, so I see him repeated in the parade of men...

So the flower guy drops off a huge vase of lovely flowers and a box of chocolates for her on Tuesday. She didn't drop by that night though, but sometime she works some unsocial hours at the hospital so she's coming in at 6 AM or some ridiculous time before I'm awake. Although strangely, I didn't catch her later in the day either. Finally at 9 PM, I hear the fine Italian leather boots clomping up the stairs and into her flat.

She pops over an hour later, I hear the telltale incessant knocking...apparently in Italy you knock low, but repeatedly until the person answers. Couple that with the shouting from the hall "Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet -er' It seems the Italians are like the Germans, my name loses the 'TH' in the middle. Slocombe always heads under the bed when A comes around. With most visitors Slocombe will stand in the bedroom doorway to evaluate them, with the noise of A, she isn't taking that chance!

A is always very sweet, however.
'Ah, het-er! Do you have a package for me?'
-Ah yes A, someone must really like you! (I point to the vase of flowers on the floor)

She just blinks and looks at me.

I pause for a minute, thinking: maybe I should not have put them on the floor? It's the safest place as the table is covered with books due to painting....and they were delivered in a cardboard box, so it's the box that's on the floor, not the vase...and I always leave the cardboard boxes by the door on the floor, it's not usually an issue.

Or maybe she's just appalled that I have masking tape and paint cans and paintbrushes in a 'in progress' state here. Although it is an 'in progress' job this week....so to further along this interaction, I slide the flowers out from my flat from inside the door to just outside the door at her feet.

She now has a deer in the headlights look. I'm racking my brain to try and figure out where the problem is...is is the language? Was I too forward in what I said? Did she mistake it for something else, but what?

I realize as I hear a footstep from her flat, that the boy toy must have been in the bathroom freshening up as they're on their way out, and she was probably popping round for the package in a spare two minutes, not realizing that it was going to be flowers, and I'm further now connecting the dots--that the flowers and chocolates were from a different boy that is now poking his head out the doorway into the hall.

Oops. Fortunately he was a good sport about it.

In case I'm missing Germany while living in the UK

No problem, I only need to drive 7 minutes to go to this one:

Or Aldi is 10 minutes in the opposite direction. See the sale advert on the wall next to the door? Just like in Germany.

Did you bring your change to get a cart? You don't need it for Asda, Tesco or any other UK supermarket chain, but you need it here:

The layout of the store is similar to the ones I've seen in DE. A row of beverages/candy, with dairy along the back. Selection here does seem a little different. I had to check out the two websites. I see Greek week is coming up in DE, not so in the UK. Although both are offering bicycle clothing right now.

Oh look--Schnittlaunch and Petersilie, and the little signs are in the same font/style as in DE. Cheaper! (Billiger!)


I had popped in after work on Friday, which is something I wouldn't do so quickly in Germany, just because I know the store would be packed with people buying a full cartload of items. Here, people were coming in just for a handful of things. (Although, they have competition next door from the low cost frozen foods place.)

Well, here's an improvement, I don't recall 'Butter Toffee' Popcorn in DE:


So we're continuing to propagate the myth of 'American Style' Pizza.

Overall--it's always good to have options, but it won't be on my regular rotation. Although it wasn't in DE either, as I preferred Pennymarkt or Aldi Sued there. Still to come in the UK--Aldi.

The week so far - to the library! to the farm!

Monday - Was feeling a bit under the weather. I'm blaming it on the rapid temperature change between Sunday and Monday, causing a bit of Foehnkrankheit. Most interesting--one of my colleagues called out on Monday due to the same. I preferred to muddle through with an Advil.

Tuesday - Very exciting, I went my local branch of the Essex Library System and picked up a library card. I had already signed up online. Most interesting to me-they did not ask for proof of residence in Essex, or any identification for that matter.

For the record--I love the library! I am strongly entrenched in the American ideal that education is the great equalizer. It's something that I missed while living in Germany. (Yes, there are libraries in Germany.) But in Germany:
A) You need to pay to join. That one goes against the very core of a library's purpose to me.
B) The dollhouse-sized library in Tiny town of B had only 20 books in English--classics and Grisham.
C) For me to read a book in German, I need to be able to note things in the margin, so that knocked out the rest of the library.

But I digress...so my new Essex local library is a little on the small size considering it's a town of over 100k people, or maybe it's reflecting the local reading style demographics.

I always check out a few sections to be able to compare bookshops or libraries, and one of them is the foreign language section. A little disappointing on this point--they have a lot of audio language learning sets--basically from 1950-1980--on cassettes. Who still has a cassette player anymore?? In particular, I had looked at the Polish and Czech sections--nary a single cd. Big German and French language sections, and a handful of Esperanto books in addition.

What did I end up checking out? Only four books to start, including The History of Love by Nicole Krauss. Yeah, it overlaps into the WW2 genre. The past few weeks, someone has had the history channel on at night and someone else has gotten sucked into watching way too many WW2 documententaries. We've watched Rommel in North Africa, Gurnsey being evacuated, Warsaw uprising and at least a dozen more including two hours on Churchill's wartime strategy.

Wednesday - the great weather returned and I was back at the farm for another three hours after work. Current sunrise/sunset times are 05.21/20.20, so I'm in early at the office, out at a decent time to be able to fit in a few more hours at the farm which is 11 minutes away from the office. Today I trimmed chopped and trimmed bushes and hacked away at brambles.

What else? A very long to do list of small details which I won't bore you with any further. :-)

Sunday in the UK

Since the car is in the shop, had a day at home catching up on things. Started the day with a proper coffee. This is my baby French press, purchased while in Guildford. It makes one cup. Usually I think it makes sense to try to do things as people do them locally, to experience how others live...but this is one of my few concessions to my American-ness. I will no longer tolerate instant coffee. When I lived here previously I actually gave up coffee, rather than continuing to live the lie that instant coffee is.

Late morning, made some mushooms on toast, topped with crumbled goats' cheese. Nothing too fancy, I sauteed them in olive oil and added some pepper and dried mixed herbs.

I reviewed the remaining mushroom stockpile, and set the majority in the freezer.

I messed around a little in the garden as the weather here was lovely in the early afternoon...

While I was outside, I had the washing on inside. In America, I don't know anyone with a drying rack. In Europe, I don't know anyone without one. The UK ones uniformly go upward rather than the Germany ones which go horizontal. Not sure that one design is any better than the other...

Caught up on some housecleaning with all of the windows open. When the sky went overcast around 15.00, I nipped over to Asda, which is open on Sunday from 10-16. Was off in search of some fresh cleaning supplies, which I found. I was also seeking breadcrumbs to top my cauliflower, but those I didn't find. Not sure if they sell what I'm looking for in the UK, will need to investigate that one further online.

Caught up on some paperwork, assembled lunch for the office tomorrow. Feeling relaxed and set for the work week.

Playgrounds in the UK

On Sunday it was chilly but sunny all morning so I took a short walk. I've been very impressed with the Essex neighborhood, and how these playgrounds seem to be seamlessly integrated into the local neighborhoods:




These three were all within a five minute walk of the residential neighborhood where I am. Somewhat interesting to me is that most of the time when I walk past, they are empty, even on a Sunday.