One Week

"Chickity china the chinese chicken/ you have a drumstick and your brain stops tickin.' " Is anyone else singing the BNL song? Maybe it's just me.

Anyway, it's been one week since I left the US for the UK and I finally have some pictures to post! My shipment arrived today with the rest of my things so hopefully my flat will start to feel a little more like home. Although, pictures and other "stuff" can only help so much when I'd much rather have the real people here, instead of the pictures. But, so far so good! There are a lot of overwhelming and frustrating aspects but I'm enjoying things so far. Like I always used to say "It's an adventure!"

Here are a few pictures from around Wimbledon:

This is the road coming down from Wimbledon Village (the ritzy part) into Wimbledon Town (where the regular people live). I'll have to take some pictures around the Village later.
In the center of the strip...

Outside Wimbledon Station...On The Broadway, looking towards the Wimbledon Theatre.

I have some pictures of my flat and the area right around it, but those are by request only - you might be a stalker.

Whatcha gonna do when they come for you?

I finally bought a TV today. I have to go back tomorrow and pick it up. However, before I can watch it I have to buy a TV license.

Seriously?

Yeah. Seriously. Obviously my first reaction is "that's dumb." (I'm so articulate) I know we have plenty of taxes in the US, but taxing TVs?? Not only is there a tax, it's fairly substantial - 131.50 pounds per year. Multiply that by two to approximate the exchange rate and that's over $200 per year. I suppose in the grand scheme of all the taxes we pay, why not pay another $200?

It gets better. There are police to make sure you're paying your TV tax.


I genuinely wanted to know why they had the TV tax so I headed to Google. Is it a luxury tax? Socialism in action? Does collecting the tax just create jobs? Does it fund the BBC? The answer is that it's used to fund the BBC. Here is a link to the obligatory Wikipedia site - it never fails to have at least some kind of information, whether neutral or not. Here's another article that has some interesting background- again, not exactly unbiased.

Once I have a TV I can better judge my opinion on whether $260 a year is worth it for commercial free BBC. I'll see if it really delivers "superior programming." As an economist I would generally vote against another government run program but I suppose the jury's still out. It's similar to public schools I suppose. I pay taxes for public schools even if I go to a private school and I have to pay for the BBC even if I get cable. Hmmm...

Well, I don't think I've presented much of a cohesive post here so I'll go back to my first reaction- it just sounds stupid.

STRIKE

Today was my first day of work in the UK. Since I was going by train and was unfamiliar with the ticket lines and how congested things would be, I thought it would be a good idea to allow plenty of time. So I was out the door by about 7:10. I was in a good mood because of the Bengals win, and 7 am didn't seem quite as early when the sidewalks were bustling with other commuters. When I got to the station the ticket line wasn't too long so I figured I would have some extra time.

I got up to the ticket counter and asked for a ticket to Weybridge. The attendant replied, "There aren't any trains to Weybridge today."

"Why not?" I asked, trying to stay calm. They guy didn't say anything and just nodded at a flyer on the counter. The train workers were on strike today! As a result, the train service was drastically reduced, including the stop at Wimbledon. (Of course I would have no way of knowing this since I know nobody in the UK who would have mentioned this and I don't have a TV yet.) I politely asked if he had any recommendations on how to get to Weybridge.

"No."

Oookay. Thanks for the help buddy. Here I am, my first day of work and the only way I know how to get there is not out of service. There seemed to be some people taking buses to other train stations to catch the train but that was way beyond the scope of my knowledge to figure out in a reasonable amount of time and there weren't any taxis waiting in the queue.

So what did I do? I called a car service to bail out my pitiful-car-relient-american-self. Don't judge me. I don't have much incentive to figure out the public transportation when I've got a meeting to get to and the company is paying. Maybe after 2 years I'll know how to get everywhere.

Good thing I left early.

and he's back

I know the pre-season doesn't matter...but you have to agree that last night did. Of course, I don't have a TV or cable yet so there was even less a chance that I could see pre-season football here. So I was dying to get on the computer this morning to see how it went. Thanks to Kelly's email update, the Bengals blog and ESPN.com I know Carson is back!! Sorry about your night Brett but the Bengals are awesome! If I haven't mentioned it already, I'm coming home if we go to the Super Bowl.

watch your back

Congrats to Jack Bauer and 24 on their Emmy wins! I sure I hope I can get a station that shows the current season over here.

2 in 1

Not only did I accidentally publish my first post of the day twice (sorry Steve!) I'm actually posting a second time! Anyway, I just wanted to let you know the church I went to tonight was really cool. It is a lot of young people and everyone was really friendly. After church we went out to the pub (not really the same as a pub/bar in the US) because tomorrow is a holiday here. So I got to meet a lot of people and chat. I think there are about 150 people normally, most in their 20s and 30s, but there are all ages. The sermon was good and the band was good. Small groups are starting up at the end of September after a break for the summer so I think it will be a good time for me to get involved. Tomorrow I'm going on a walk in Wimledon Common with some of the girls I met tonight.

The church is called St. Andrews @ 7 and it is in some ways how I picture Echo in a few years. They are a smaller, young church planted off another church in Wimbledon and meet in an old, traditional church building. AND, as an added bonus, they meet on Sunday nights! So I can keep my sleeping in on Sunday routine :) Speaking of Echo, I hope it was a great last service before the re-launch! I was definitely thinking of you a lot tonight, I'm praying that things go well.

Reporting on location

Notice the new location in my profile.

Yes, I have officially arrived in London. I arrived on Friday, picked up the keys to my flat, drug my suitcases in the building and there I was. I threw some sheets on the bed and took a little nap. I was a little overwhlmed by everything and didn't really want to do anything but I headed out anyway. I wanted to explore the main strip in Wimbledon near my place. I check out all the shops, malls and supermarkets. I didn't buy anything (though I had a long list) because it was too much to take in. So I came back, laid down, then went back out to find some groceries. I ended up taking several trips for various things. I succeeded in getting some food and a hairdryer. I went to bed thinking "What the heck am I doing here?"

Saturday I slept in and took my time getting ready. I needed to go into Central London to go to the bank and sort some things out. So I took the train into the city which took about 15 minutes. Then I got on the tube to go up a few more stops. I hate stopping to get out a map so I wandered around for a little bit before finding the bank. After that I walked up to Oxford Street to go to some department stores. Again, I didn't buy much because I was so overwhelmed. It's hard to figure out how much I can spend and what I want to buy knowing I'll be here for two years. I don't want to be "temporary" the whole time but don't want to invest in a lot of stuff either. I think I'll eventually settle into something appropriate.

After shopping I went over to a couple's house who I had emailed before I left. Her mom is friends with my grandma. They are one of my "I know someone you know, do you want to be my friend?" contacts. hehe. Anyway, they live in Notting Hill so we took a walk around then I went to dinner with Jamie. They were really nice and I had a great time. It was just good to talk to someone not over the phone. I still felt a little uneasy when I went to bed, I think just because there is too much going on in my head.

Today I got up to check out a church in Wimbledon. It ended up being about a 20 minute walk. It was a nice church, mostly families. Tonight I'm going to check out a church in the same network but it supposed to be a little younger. For the rest of today I think I'm just going to hang out and unpack...

So far so good. The rest of my stuff is arriving on Thursday so it will feel a little more like home when my stuff arrives. My phone and internet will also get hooked up on Thursday. Right now I'm borrowing a local wireless network! I don't have my camera cord until my shipment arrives, but then I'll put up some pictures.

I'm here!

Just wanted to let you know that I arrived safely. I'm at an internet cafe with the slowest internet ever. So when I get my own connection I'll post some pics and write more. For now things are fine. I spent the day walking all over Wimbledon - scoping out the shops, trying to get a phone and find some food. Now I'd say it's about time to sleep! Thanks for all your prayers.

Famous Last Words

Well, these aren't really my last words, and they probably won't become famous...but the countdown is down to zero and that means I'm moving to London today. Words can't really describe how I feel...everything just feels surreal for now.

When I was a kid I used to love flying. I think the quote was, "I just love the whole flying experience." Although flying has lost a bit of it's lustre I guess I was destined for it. (Fortunately today I can take my book and an iPod.)

When I was finishing grad school I contemplated whether to stay in Cincinnati or move to Asia to teach English. Obviously I decided on Cincinnati and I know this was where I was supposed to be. But it looks like I was destined to live in another country either way- sorry Mom.

Plus, I've always thought it would be cool to live in a big city like New York for at least a year, just for the experience of it. Needless to say, it's all coming together. This is going to be an adventures. I think the excitement of it will carry me through for awhile until it all hits me. I won't have internet access for a week or so once I arrive but I'll try to find a coffee shop so I can post something sooner.

Cheers.

This weekend

Friday night I went up to Mt. Adams with some friends. I wanted to go to City View because, well, it has a great view of the city. Apparently the Cincinnati Reds knew ahead of time that I would be there, because they planned a fireworks show for after the game. So we were able to see fireworks going off over the city. Jackpot.

Saturday afternoon I went out to my parents for a British Invasion party. I wasn't sure how I'd handle saying goodbye to everyone but it was a great time. It was a little overwhelming but I'm excited about going so things went well - very little crying involved. It was great to see some friends and family from out of town, and of course all the friends and family that are in town, too. Thanks to everyone for coming out, I hope you enjoyed the chocolate bread pudding as much as I did :)

Sunday I slept in, maybe for the last time if I have to start going to church on Sunday mornings again. I'll have to look for a church that meets at night. Then I went to my grandma's for my "last supper" and took a nap in my favorite lawn chair at Mom and Dad's.

Last, but not least, tonight was my last night at Echo (in this case crying was involved). If you've read my blog you know about Echo Church. I can tell you the whole story sometime but the start of Echo Church was one big reminder to me of God's faithfulness. I love it when I can look back over time and see how God was working out his plan, all the while I'm just dawdling along wondering what is going on. I lean on these stories when times are hard and I can't see God working, just like God told the Israelites to pass down the story of the exodus so they would remember God's faithfulness. Anyway, Echo is the best church family I could ask for and I can only pray to find a community like it in London. I never thought I would be leaving so soon but I'll be back (you can't get rid of me that easily). I'll be praying for the re-launch and it will break my heart not to be there in person but I'll be there in spirit...and I'll listen to the podcast! Thank you to everyone for an amazing year, I love you all. It's been a joy getting to know you all and I know God has things beyond our imagination in store for Echo and for this city.

Closing Sale

Only 7 days left! Run out to Kroger now to pick up your canned goods and bottled water because the Cincinnati is about to close for 2 years. Hurry to Paul Brown Stadium, Mt. Adams, Newport on the Levee, Great American Ballpark, Union Terminal, Kenwood Towne Centre and Eden Park because they'll only be open for 7 more days. There are big discounts and clearance events going on to get rid of all their merchandise. After they close all of Cincinnati will be on a break for two years. You'll get off work but you won't really be able to do anything. The holiday is likely to spread to other parts of the midwest and even the country, for that matter. Why? Well, since I'm leaving the city and everything revolves around me it can't go on without me. Hence, the city of Cincinnati is closing it's doors in 7 days.

Wait.

What did you say? The world doesn't revolve around me? Crap. I think I've heard something like that before.

So, I guess that means things are going to go on without me. I suppose the world would be a scarier place if it didn't but it's kind of sad to think about all the things I'll miss while I'm gone. Groups will change, people will get married or have babies, and new inside jokes will form. To be fair, my life will go on and I'll get to make new friends and experience all kinds of new things. Change is hard but I guess we'd get bored without it. This is where I would give shout outs to everyone but I'm afraid to start the list since I would hate to leave anybody out and I'm not really in the mood to cry. I love you all and I can't imagine not seeing you! I know we'll keep in touch, I'll be home every few months and two years is not forever. (Plus, you can vacation in Europe.) Right now my emotions are on a real up-swing and I'm really excited about getting to London.

But seriously, you might want to head to Target and pick up some flashlights and batteries.

Today

WARNING TO MOM: Don't read this post!

The countdown is now in single digits. Yes, it's 9 days until I move to London. Things are really starting to hit me...I think I actually am moving, it's not just something I've been talking about for a few months. The movers are coming today to ship all my stuff except what I'll be taking in my suitcases. I'll be signing the lease anytime now and it will all be real. I still don't think it will really sink in until I get there and sleep in my new place for awhile.

Summertime goodness

Today I'd like to comment on a vital building block of summer, corn on the cob. Despite the recent controversy surrounding Wikipedia, I've included a link to their article on corn here. Hey, it's not life and death here so just read it for your own interest. While skimming the article I noticed a mention of creamed corn. Mmm, Grandma Hill makes the best cream corn, I won't eat it from a can. Do they have corn on the cob in Europe? I'm afraid the answer may be no, this article that provides a brief history of corn on the cob says that corn on the cob is purely an American "passion." How sad.

That means I have to enjoy as much of the melty, summertime goodness I can while I'm here.

The way I see it there are 3 essential elements to eating corn on the cob. The first one is salt and pepper. Second, a stick of butter. Not a tub of margarine- this results in serious complications of butter pieces sliding off the cob. A stick of butter is the real solution. You may might not not be familiar with this technique. However, if you put the corn down on the stick you can roll it around and the outcome is a perfect, even application of butter. Last but not least, corn pokers. To some this point may be disputable, but for me it is an undisputable element. I hate getting my hands dirty so I prefer not to have the melted butter all over my fingers.

There are only 2 minor downsides. The first is having the shuck the corn. Along with this point, there is the potential of finding little worms living in the corn. Sick. The only other downside is getting pieces stuck in your teeth, but this is definitely worth it and easily solved with a toothpick.

Finally, I'd like to close with a corny joke:

There are 2 muffins in an oven.
They're both sitting, just chilling and getting baked.
And one of them yells "Oh my gosh, it's hot in here!"
And the other muffin replies "Holy Crap, a talking muffin!"

Good News

So I suppose the trip was was all worth it, I now have a flat in Wimbledon! Here's a picture of the living room. My favorite part is the purple couches and the window seat. You can email me if you want more pictures. There are two bedrooms so be sure to get your trip to visit me on the calendar soon while there are still vacancies ;)

Everything is much smaller there. The kitchen is pretty small and the bathrooms are not huge but this was my first choice. It's right in the town centre of Wimbledon so I can easily walk to shops, restaurants and the station. I also looked at some flats in Clapham which is about 10 minutes closer to central London. Things were a little more expensive there and I thought Wimbledon was very cute and had anything I would need but was still close enough to get to work and to central London quickly.

There were a few flats I looked at in traditional looking, victorian style buildings. I love how these look but they weren't as nice on the inside so I'll just keep enjoying them from the outside.

In case you were wondering

Version 1:

Yesterday was the longest day of my life. You might not know, but I was flying from London-Gatwick to Cincinnati on August 10th, the day they arrested 24 terrorists for plotting to bomb 10 planes going from the UK to the US.

So, here's how it went down. I didn't really get up early enough to watch the news before I went to the airport, but I was grabbing a quick breakfast at the hotel restaurant and heard a snippet on the radio about how security was extra tight and travelers weren't being allowed to carry any items on the plane. Then, a guy at the reception desk was telling me the news said it could take 5 hours to get through security. He also said that terrorists had been arrested that day for plotting to bomb planes flying from the UK to the US. So that's about the extent of the information I had. When I arrived at the airport we received little plastic baggies to put our wallets and passports in...nothing else. We weren't allowed to take on any electronics or even books. By the time I finally made it through security (2 checks and one pat-down) the flight status board said my gate was closing. So I ran about 5 minutes to the gate, went through another security check/pat-down and boarded.

Well, it ended up taking about 1-1.5 hours to board the plane. When everyone was finally on Delta and the TSA had to clear our flight manifest. I'm not sure what that entailed but it took another 1 1/2 hours for the TSA to manually clear everyone on the list. If you're keeping track, that's about 3 hours that we sat on the plane before we actually took off. All of that time with nothing to do and nothing but a little bag of nuts and half a glass of water to eat. I remained remarkably calm that whole time and for the most part I was just glad we were actually able to get on the plane and leave the country since on the way to the airport I was figuring I was going to get stuck in the UK. I was also thankful that my family had been asleep most of that time and weren't worrying yet. (I hadn't been able to call since I ran to the plane.)

Then, it was an 8 1/2 hour flight. That's a total of 11 1/2 hours on the plane with no book and no ipod. So I had to watch all the movies. Fortunately one was The Sentinel, which I'd been wanting to see, and there was also a good episode of Alias. When we finally landed in Cincinnati, about 5 hours late we were told we'd have to wait for customs officials to come on board and de-plane row by row. Fortunately after 5 minutes they just let us off the plane.

Two hours later we were through customs. We had to do the typical immigration then waited forever for our bags as they re-screened them when they took them off the plane. It's at this point we heard about the liquids. I also saw a quick clip on CNN while we were waiting to go through the last metal detector and that's when I finally got an idea the extent of the news story. Until then I wasn't sure how big of a story it had been. I missed my chance at fame by walking by all the reporters at the airport when I got back. You can hear some other people describing it here. (I was sitting next to the little old lady on the plane.)

I was finally able to call my mom at about 7 pm when I got my bags back and was able to use my cell phone. That's when I really found out what was going on and that I had flown on the highest security level since 9/11.

Version 2:

My cover is blown. All along you thought I was going to London as a market research consultant. Unfortunately I was seen on BBC 10 arresting the terrorists in London and Birmingham. Let's just keep this between you and me though, I prefer my friends and family alive.

Cheerio

A tip for flyers from the Cincinnati airport:

The security checkpoint has some new machines. In addition to the metal detector, there is a new chamber that tests for explosive materials. You have to walk into this metal area surrounded by glass doors, the machine then shoots little gusts of air, similar to the ones they shoot in your eye at the eye doctor. Then you stand there for a few seconds as it detects whether there are any remnants of explosive materials on your body. So don't play with any fireworks before you head to the airport. Oh, and be sure to tuck in your shirt just to be safe.

Anyway, I'm in England now, I'll keep you updated on my house hunting today.

Party all night

Last night Kelly and I went to the One World Weekend party at the Cincinnati Art Museum. Now, don't judge a party at the museum too fast. The party was to celebrate the 125th anniversary of the museum and was based on the night clubs of Ibiza, Spain. We weren't quite anticipating how big of a crowd there would be. I went to pick Kelly up and as we were driving through the park to the museum we saw all these people walking from far away. We ended up parking on Gilbert, good thing we drove...I guess we saved a few steps. The party was pretty fun. There was wine and food tasting, a fashion show and several tours (which we kept missing). Inside there was a live rock band and outside in the courtyard there was a DJ spinning house music. It was a good time and we felt cool, like hip people in the movies, strolling around the museum with loud music and people mingling.

The One World parties are normally on Wednesdays. Each party is based on the food, art, music and culture of another country. They just released the schedule for the next year. It will be based on the culture of several of the hottest club cities- one of them is London. I would recommend checking at least one of them out, it's a good time.

interesting article

I don't want to comment on this article too much, but it's an interesting read about the church and politics. I can't comment on whether I agree or disagree on all the points. Honestly, I don't know exactly what I think, but it's something I know a lot of people are thinking about on some level.

I can identify with one quote by Brian McLaren on the "dominance of the evangelical identity by the religious right:"

“You cannot say the word ‘Jesus’ in 2006 without having an awful lot of baggage going along with it. You can’t say the word ‘Christian,’ and you certainly can’t say the word ‘evangelical’ without it now raising connotations and a certain cringe factor in people."

That should at least make you want to think about it.

side effects

In case you've been holed-up in your air conditioned basement, there's a heat wave going on. Record temperatures are causing all kinds of problems. Electric around parts of the NYC and suburban area is out. For me, that means I got to leave work early. The electric outtage shut down our networks and email server so there's not much work to do when your life revolves around a computer. Fortunately I have an air conditioned place to go home to. The only way this can backfire is if I have to work this weekend.

I'm a new person

Readers who know me probably know that last football season I acquired a new taste for football. Previously I really didn't pay any attention and had no idea how to even keep track of what was going on in a game beyond touchdowns. No longer. Last season I kept track of a fantasy football league at work and started rooting for the Bengals. I have to say, I've been sucked in. Now that the Bengals are in training camp I find myself reading all the headlines on Cincinnati.com about the Bengals and what's happening in training camp. By no means can I claim to know everything but I know things like Rudi Johnson has slimmed down this year and how if Ahmad Brooks can keep things clean off the field he could be a great addition to the team. I even added a Bengals blog to my RSS feeds. Things have definitely gone down hill.

I think Chad will be my new favorite player, afterall I have his picture and autograph. The choice is a little obvious but I'm okay with it. My previous favorite was Kevin Kaesviharn. I still like him but it's not likely he'll play much this year since Madieu Williams is back.

The real test will be if I can keep the flame going while I am forced to watch football alone in London. If you have a few minutes, check out the Premier League website and weigh in on which team I should root for. Keep in mind my criteria: a good name, good uniforms and reasonably good players ;)

a few links

Echo Church has a new website. Check it out here! Who wouldn't want to go to a church this cool?

Second, look at this data from Forbes. As part of their "Best Cities for Singles" list they ranked the cities according to the best night life. Somehow Cincinnati made it to the top of the list for night life but is number 32 for singles. Apparently Cincinnati only has good night life for married people. This is just another example of how statistics can skew the real truth of the matter. Now, I'm a huge advocate for the city. As you know, I'm always trying to convince others that Cincinnati is cooler than they think, but I don't think I would ever try to claim we have the number 1 nightlife.