Au Revoir

Work has been crazy busy...but tomorrow I leave for Paris! That has been my motivation to make it through. Not that things are really going to slow down for awhile but this will be a minor break. I will be working most of the time but still, I'll have a day or two to explore. Plus the evenings I will be out and I loved Paris most at night.

Good thing I'm off my no-carb, no-sugar diet. Although I am still trying to stay with low-carb, low-sugar this week might be an exception. I'll feel good if I stick to only one pastry per day...hey, I'm not about dieting when there is culture to enjoy!

The problem with going on a trip is having to pack! I used to make lots of lists and start packing days ahead of time. I still do that to some extent, depending on the length of the trip, but this time around I've just gotten started tonight. The main problem with packing is all the decision making involved. My family knows I'm not very decisive but I'm learning to be better at packing. I have some handy travel sizes and I'm trying to be a little more streamlined. Hopefully soon I'll be a travel pro.

Speaking of

Speaking of snow...it snowed last night! Nothing major but we got a decent covering, probably about half an inch. It was enough to cheer me up when I looked outside the window today! Of course, London reacted the way Cincinnati might with all sorts of travel delays. Oh well, it was nice anyway.

Winter's here

Winter weather is here. So far it's been highs in the fifties but this week the temperature is dropping into the thirties. This whole walking everwhere thing could get a little less enjoyable. Still no snow, so I am jealous of that in Cincinnati. At least snow makes things look a little cheery.

Thinking about the cold makes me think about all the things I need to get through a long, dark winter. Number one: Cappuccino. Mmmm, I love it. I love the smell and I love the combination of steamed milk and espresso. Next I need candles. It gets dark at 4:30 so I need some flickering lights to lighten things up! Third, I need soft blankets. There's nothing better than piling on fluffy blankets- accompanied by candles and cappuccino of course. Unfortunately, I also need an umbrella since it seems to rain almost every day. [Again, I would prefer snow.] Fourth, I need my friends. I need them to keep me out and doing interesting things instead of holing up in my flat. And lastly, I need hope for the future. Aka. hope for spring, hope for the beach, and hope for sun. In February I'm going to Athens for a weekend. It won't be too warm but hopefully it will be sunny. And on Easter weekend I'm hopefully headed to Barcelona. Sunny days are ahead!

Let's see...

I haven't written too much lately because I haven't had anything really exciting going on. Work has been really busy and kind of frustrating. I just keep hanging on because I know next week I'm going to Paris all week for training!

I don't have too much news but here's a few thoughts on recent events.

- In case you missed it, there was major drama on Celebrity Big Brother in the UK. One more reason why I hate this type of reality show. Give me American Idol any day. Speaking of American Idol, they are showing that here so I can watch it!

- Saturday we went to see Babel. Did I like it? "Ehhh...it was okay." The filming itself was cool, and the soundtrack was great...but I wasn't overly impressed by the story. I'm not really sure what the point was. I guess it was to show a story that spanned 3 cultures but if you want to see an interconnected story across multiple cultures you can just watch The Holiday. I don't want to downplay it. It was good, and I guess I can see why it won a Golden Globe but I don't consider it a must-watch.

- Sunday was the last day of my two weeks without sugar...so I celebrated with a little chocolate Sunday night. Mmmm, so good.

- In a few weeks there is a presentation on global Human Trafficking. (Stop the Traffik) I definitely want to go check it out. This is something I'm really passionate about after visiting a home in Thailand that rescued young girls out of prostitution. Check out the site and see how you can make a difference.

- Last night I watched the first 2 episodes of 24. I finally figured out they are showing the current season here so I decided to watch here instead of on the slingbox. I'll be a few hours behind everyone at home but it's a better picture on a real TV! I just won't be reading any blog posts about 24 for fear of spoilers. It's nice to have Jack back.

- I wish I could have caught the Patriots vs. Colts game. Maybe I'll find a few highlights on-line. I hope this is Peyton's year. He seems like a nice guy and he is funny in the commercials he does (oh yeah, he's also a pretty great quarterback). I guess if it can't be Carson I'll root for Peyton.

Who's walkin' down the streets of the city?

"Everyone knows it's w[i]ndy..."

Today there were up to 80 mph winds in London (or 99mph, depending on which website you read). It crazy! I thought the last couple weeks have been windy enough but last night I kept waking up from the noise of the wind blowing against the building. You can read about some of the damage on the BBC. There are also a few video clips there. One website claimed they were the worst storms in 17 years. I was out tonight and someone was talking about seeing some news clips of people caught on CCTV struggling against the wind and the rain. Unfortunately I couldn't find those videos but I bet they are funny. Apparently there were videos of people holding on to lamposts just to stay standing. I can believe it. My legs were getting a resistance workout just walking down the sidewalk to get a coffee.

Tonight I'll wear earplugs so I can sleep.

NFL in London

Maybe next year I can catch an NFL game in London!

24 vs. Golden Globes

Which one are you watching?? If I could watch either of them live (I'll be asleep) it would be no contest - I'd definitely watch 24. "There's no time [to watch the Golden Globes]! Terrorists have undermined everything we work for!" Fortunately, Jack Bauer always wins. Why watch the Golden Globes just to see people running against themselves for the same award? I can see the red carpet pictures online or watch E for the re-cap.

As it is, I'll be watching 24 on the slingbox tomorrow.

whoa

Check this out. February 6th you can go see a live kidney transplant at the Dana Centre. I just got an email about it from the expat group I'm part of. I have to say I'm not sure what I think. On one hand it seems a little creepy, on the other hand it seems pretty cool. Maybe it would be like you're on Grey's Anatomy watching surgeries from the gallery....and it's free! I'm tempted to go but I'm wondering how close up the action is. If it's like the surgery channel on TV where you see everything close up I don't know how I'd deal with that. I'll think about it though.

Just for the taste of it...

Do you ever have one of those gotta-have-something-sweet moments? I have them about every 5 minutes. Well, maybe not that often. But since I've quit sugar I've tried to find something else to satsify my need for something sweet. (Of course the idea is to eventually stop the cravings) It used to be I would have a Diet Coke or a coffee. But, you may remember I also had to quit caffeine a few months ago. I definitely still drink decaf coffee but I was never a real fan of caffeine-free Diet Coke. First, it's just not as much fun without the caffeine, and I can taste the difference. Back when I drank caffeine I used to get disappointed when I went to a restaurant and saw that their Diet Coke was caffeine free. What a waste!

Now I have to say I don't mind drinking it. I would still prefer regular but since that leads to bad headaches I've decided I can live with caffeine free. Man, I am sounding old. I used to make fun of people like me who drank caffeine free, and you are probably making fun of me now too. My first few months here I never really saw any so I just got used to drinking Diet Sprite. Fortunately I've just discovered that they do have caffeine free Diet Coke here. Strangely, it was quite a nice surprise. I bought a big bag of ice and a 2-liter and was excited about it! It might not be the real thing but at least it's something close.

Here chicky chicky

Where can I get one of these?

Peer Pressure

I decided to go on the first two weeks of the South Beach Diet when I got back to London. I felt I needed to detox my body after all the sugar of Christmas. So, I've been sugar and carb- free for 6 days.

Well, almost. Last night was my friend Shari's birthday (Happy Birthday Shari!) so we went out to dinner with some friends. I was afraid this occasion could be a problem when I was planning my diet but felt like I needed to start anyway because I'd always come up with some excuse. We had sushi and for the entire night I managed to not eat any rice! The california rolls were tempting but I told them, "If I'm going to cheat on my diet it's not going to be with rice. I'll save that for chocolate!"

Then one of her friends brought out a surprise chocolate cake! OH. NO. After we sang Happy Birthday the waiter put dessert plates in front of everyone and she started cutting the cake. They were all looking at me!! What did I do? I caved. But I only had one very, very small piece.

It's a good thing they weren't offering me drugs. Remember, "Just say no."

Small World

Today after work a nice elderly man offered to give me a lift to the train station. We started chatting and I mentioned I was from the States. He then proceeded to make fun of my accent...I forgot how obvious it is that I'm American.

He asked where I was from and when I said Cincinnati he started talking about the Cincinnati Reds! I was surprised to hear someone here talk about a baseball team, especially Cincinnati- not the Yankees or something. He said, "Yeah, they used to have this guy, Pete Rose," as if he wasn't quite sure if I'd know who Pete Rose was. I don't know everything about sports but I have heard of him. Anyway, it was a pleasant surprise to talk to someone about home.

Naptime

Today I was jetlagged. Yesterday wasn't bad but today it really caught up with me. I was practically sleep walking until at least 10:30 am.

So...I took a nap at work. And I'm not talking about laying my head down in my cube for a few minutes hoping that nobody walks by (not that I would ever do that). It's "wellbeing week" at the office and they are promoting all types of healthy habits including naps [to increase productivty]. So, you could sign up to test out sleeping pods for a 20 minutes nap!
It's very "Mork and Mindy" looking but it was pretty relaxing. They slid a viser around to cover the front of the pod and had relaxing music playing in Bose noise-canceling headsets. Voila, 20 minutes of relaxation in the middle of the office! A company called MetroNaps sells them and puts their own in certain locations. If you go to their locations you have to, of course, pay to use them. I'm not sure if I'd pay for it myself but if someone provided me with one at work I'd definitely take advantage of it!

Accents...

Three weeks at home was great! I got to see so many people and didn't feel pressured to do it all in a short amount of time. It's also long enough to get re-attached to home...But now I'm back in London and I'm looking forward to the year ahead.

Spending time away makes me notice all the accents more. I'll eventually get used to them but the first few days back they always seem more pronounced. It's interesting that what Americans think of as a British accent isn't the only accent. Not everyone talks like Hugh Grant or the Queen. That accent is more of a middle class and up accent. The higher up the social ladder the more posh the accent sounds. However, my friends say you can tell what city a person is from based on their accent. I know this is true of some cities in the US but not as much as here. Can anyone guess how that might have developed? One theory I heard is that up until the last hundred years or so in Britain people didn't migrate out of their hometowns as much. I suppose that could make accents develop more uniquely.

Check out this website from the BBC. You can listen to recordings of people talking all over Britain. You can also click on the word map to see how language and word use varies across the country. It's all pretty interesting. Once you're done you can test yourself to see how good your ear is. I know I can't tell all the differences. They all just sound more Irish or more Scottish than "regular" British accents.

Restaurant Review: Vinyl

Last night I ate at Vinyl on Sycamore Street in Over The Rhine. I recently saw it in Cincinnati Magazine in a section on downtown revival and Dorota suggested checking it out after she saw it on a PBS special. They are all about "changing the city" so Aaron, Dorota and I headed there last night. If nothing else, the company was good! (Thanks for hanging out guys)

I'd say we enjoyed our experience overall. The first bonus is that they have a free parking lot! The atmosphere is pretty cool. The decor is retro diner chic with plenty of teal and chrome. There was world music playing in the background and the first Thursday of every month there is an international theme. This Thursday was Brazil and they had a special sampler platter available ($20). The shrimp and steak on the sampler were good but it also included an avocado shake which was not so great. It wasn't that bad but I wouldn't be interested in trying it again. Overall the food choices were mostly fusion cuisine with artsty, gourmet twists. [Can you tell I'm not a real food critic?]

For my main course I had Kobe beef sliders ($12) which were very good. The sandwich selections are in the $15 range but the rest of the entrees are over $20. The prices seemed a little high for the casual environment but I wouldn't say I felt ripped off. The food was very good but the main drawback was slow service. We probably waited about 45 minutes for our food (they blamed it on the porkchop special). There was a pretty good crowd there for a Thursday night dinner. I imagine they have a pretty busy weekend crowd after dinner as well.

All in all it was a fun, unique experience. Plus, it's downtown, so I would recommend checking it out sometime!

Fancy Dress Party

What did you do for New Year's Eve? Some of my friends and I had a fancy dress party. What do you think of when you read the term "fancy dress?" I imagine you're thinking of getting dressed up in your nicest formal clothes. It took me awhile to figure this out, but in the UK a fancy dress party is really a costume party. At first one of my friends mentioned she went to a fancy dress party where everyone dressed up like a different tube station. I thought that didn't sound very fancy but I just let it go and thought maybe I had misunderstood. Then I was watching Bridget Jones and she went to a fancy dress party where they wore costumes. Hence, I determined that a fancy dress party=costume party. Consider yourself enlightened.

Well, our fancy dress party had a superhero theme! You had to come dressed as your own superhero-no existing superheros allowed, complete with super powers and a cape. We had a blast decorating with Spiderman, Batman and Superman and creating our outfits. Check us out!
Yes, that is Superman hanging from the ceiling in the middle of the picture and yeah, I know we're hot. You can see more pictures on my webshots.