Oh! What's Occurrin'?

Our friends Rob and Sally introduced us to a British TV show called Gavin & Stacey. I'll admit that a good deal of the jokes go straight over my head, but I do get enough of them that I am hooked on this show- HILARIOUS.

Background for anyone who hasn't seen it:
There is a boy (Gavin) and he falls for a girl (Stacey) through work-related phone calls. The problem is, he lives in Essex (an area just north of London), she lives in Barry, Wales. Some background I needed for the show is that there are evidently strong stereotypes associated with being from Essex; additionally, the Welsh have stereotypes of their own with which to contend.

The story goes that Gavin and Stacey fall in love and get married, except they are from two completely different worlds, and must quickly adapt to their new life together. Each have a best mate who plays a vital role in anything either of them do. Stacey's best mate is Nessa, "an incomparable woman with an extraordinary life history", whenever she shares stories of her past experiences, it just makes the audience (or at least me) go, "wait, what?" Gavin's best mate is a simple guy named Smithy, who loves food and beer, is very protective of Gavin and although he can't stand Stacey's friend Nessa, she does wind up pregnant with his baby. Gavin's parents are key players in the story, as are Stacey's mother and Uncle Bryn (which means "hill" in Welsh) and they provide just as much humor as every one else. I highly recommend it! (On BBC America and available on iTunes.)

The point of giving Gavin & Stacey background? Ben and I woke up this Valentine's Day with nothing to do. With plans like that, we went a bit crazy and decided to drive to Barry Island (an old amusement park/seaside town in South Wales where Stacey and Nessa are from.) I'm not going to lie to you, it was a silly thing to do it was, but what the heck, neither of us had ever been to Wales, and why not? It was crackin'!

There is one scene in Gavin & Stacey where Gav's mum calls it Barry's Island (to which his dad responds "It isn't Barry's Island, it doesn't belong to man called Barry.") The scene was comical in itself, but after googling it on the map, it's not even an island! Barry Island is a peninsula! Ben and I spent a good 2 hours wandering around the shoreside, playing the 2 pence arcade games (where fictional Nessa works, there was a sign saying "Nessa has the day off"), and just wandering the promenade looking for sights from the show. It somehow turned into a fabulous adventure of a day that completely shocked the both of us! (We even had lunch at a chippy and had curry sauce with our chips!)

The drive was actually quite nice (aside from some Rugby traffic once we got near Cardiff), our GPS lady took us on a rather unusual route through mid-south east England - but once we got to the M4 everything was fine until we got to the bridge. There is an impressive bridge across the River Severn (that separates South Wales from South England), that charges a toll going westbound - into Wales. There is great discussion about this toll on the show for it is £5.10. Ben and I teased each other all morning about how this trip is costing us gas and five pounds, 10 pence (we even double checked that we had the 10p)! However, when we got there, it was actually £5.40!! I know it's only 30p more, but come on! That is a pricey entrance fee for any country! (Ben's coworker says a friend of his will drive all the way around because he refuses to pay to go to Wales!) We figured the extra 30p is compensation for the toll booth attendants putting up with tourists asking "What's occurin'?"

The Pagan Gods Must Hate Me

When I visited Ben back in April, he took me to Stonehenge. For some reason still unknown to us, the whole monument was closed, even the parking lot. We parked on the side of the road, with several other tourists, and took the best pictures we could through the fence. Obviously, I only got to see the monument from one side. Enough to be impressed by the size of the stones and awed by their placement; but still disappointed I didn't get the full Stonehenge experience.

Last week, Ben and I bought a car. We figured our first trip should be back to Stonehenge. (Pam and Joe got Ben and I a year-long English Heritage membership for Christmas - which means we get free entry to any English Heritage listed monument, castle, ruin, abbey, etc. in all of England). Because it had snowed the previous week, Ben and I threw all our winter clothes into our new spacious back seat, and headed north/west. While there was absolutely no snow when we left home, there was still a good 6-8" on the ground in Amesbury.

We got there around 10, the parking lot was open (improvement from our last outing) but there were already 3 tour buses in the parking lot. When we saw a 4th one turning in, we hurriedly bundled up and made a dash for the entrance. While Ben and I were excited about the monument and surrounding areas covered in snow, it presented a bit of a safety hazard and we were told only "part" of the site was accessible.

Since only part of the walkway was open (usually you can circle around the stones- albeit with a wide berth), I still haven't seen Stonehenge from all sides. We stayed for a while, listened to the hand-held audio guide you get, but soon the cold (and the 7 tour buses full of, um, tourists) got to us, so we decided we'd just come back another time...perhaps we'll call first to make sure it is actually open. ;)

Our New (to us) Car

I know I'm severely behind in my postings, but I just couldn't wait to break this exciting news! We bought a car! After months of talking (and arguing) about it, we finally got our immobile butts in gear and spent all last weekend test driving every mid-sized, 5-door hatchback currently being sold in the UK. We went to 10 different dealerships (Renault, Honda, Volvo, Seat, Audi, Peugeot, BMW, Mini, Toyota, Volkswagen), and even went to some 2 and 3 times. As a side note here, I gotta say, I am rather disappointed in this country's capitalistic nature- some dealerships were closed on Sundays, some dealerships simply didn't have any cars to test drive, and at some of the dealerships we visited no one even acknowledged us- even after 15 minutes on the lot!

After taking our long list of possibilities, we narrowed it to a short-list of only 2 cars: a Honda Civic and a Seat Leon. The Civic put up a good fight, but in the end, we are now (or will be in another day) proud owners of a Seat Leon (which I've been told repeatedly is just a VW Golf in Spanish badging).



It's a 2006, 2.0 T FSI Sport 5-Door Hatchback in Black Magic Metallic. For me, it has heated front seats, bluetooth capability, stereo controls on the steering wheel, dual climate control, and back-up sensors. For Ben, it has a manual transmission and a turbo.

Couple more comments on the UK car buying experience:
- We didn't drive off the lot with our car! So, we went in, said that's the car for us, did some negotiating...talked finance, got everything sorted and then were told when we could come get the car. What? Honestly, the sales guy at Toyota told us that it took them 10 days from signing paperwork until car delivery (Seat is doing it in 2 days), so we were prepared, but still, what is it that takes them so long? I just don't get it. Ben drove by the dealer today, the car is still parked out front- same as it was yesterday (and it's still listed on the dealer's website).

- Dealerships are only open until 5 or 6 pm; some not opened on Sundays. When do (employed) people find time to buy cars??

- This is just a UK thing, but since we don't have SSNs here, their credit check was... sketchy? We told them our names and where we lived. From that alone they gave us a financing option. How does that work!?! We could only finance the car in one name (since we're not married), so we opted for Ben (good thing, cause apparently one can't get financing without at least a learner's driving licence (spelled British-ly). The sales guy wasn't sure if we could register the car in both our names (again, since we're not married), but he'd try.

Doesn't matter! At noon tomorrow, we'll have a previously-used, new-to-us Leon. We've already decided where we're going this weekend. ;)

But I'm NOT a morning person!

For the second day in a row, Ben and I woke up before dawn. Since I'm not a morning person, I'm chalking this trend up to our internal clocks still being a bit off. But since we woke up at 4:30 am, we decided to walk down to the breakwater (Nobbys Head) to watch the sunrise over the Pacific Ocean (which is new for me, I mean the Pacific is usually west, the sun SETS over the Pacific, not rises!). It was a nice brisk walk, and we were certainly not alone - bikers, joggers, people out waking their dogs. It was a beautiful morning to be out walking along the coast line of Newcastle.

After checking out of our hotel, we got back in the car and drove north some more. Decided to make a stop off in the Port Stephens area, in the town of Nelson Bay. Somehow we managed to NOT take any pictures; there wasn't much there to see anyway - well, other than a gorgeous beach with crystal clear blue water - but those seem to be everywhere around here! ;) We were hoping to get some lunch, but it was only 11:00 - and they didn't start lunch until noon (See, this is why I don't get up early, you have to wait SO long for lunch!!).

Back in the car, we continued our journey north to Port Macquarie. I smile each and every time I see the word Macquarie on an Australian map. A few months ago when Ben off-handedly suggested Australia (who knew?), he recommended I read Bill Bryson's In a Sunburned Country (published as Down Under in the UK). Since I've enjoyed some of his other books, I took to this one instantly, plus it was nice to have something to read on my bus commutes into Seattle. Anyway, Bryson comedically analyses the over-use of "Macquarie" in Australian geography. Evidently Lachlan Macquire was the governor of New South Wales in the early 1800s (and popularized the use of the name "Australia"- at the time, the entire country was collectively being referred to as Botany Bay - imagine, the whole continent being called "Botany Bay") If you have a moment, seriously, check out the list of things named after this guy!

We didn't see much of Port Macquarie, but we liked our hotel - outdoor hammocks on the 6th floor and a heated pool and spa on floor 1, all of which we visited ;) If that wasn't nice enough, there was a pretty decent mexican restaurant next door ;) The place had ceramic place-mats with common Spanish words and their translations - for example, por favor= please. Nothing unusual or unknown to us, but the "Hola" translation was G'Day Mate. It made us both laugh a little bit ;)

Manly: Not just an adjective

Because we ended up going to sleep at 1 pm on Sunday, neither Ben or I had eaten anything for almost 24 hours. We woke up at 3:30 am, unable to sleep any longer, but doubtful we'd find anything open at such an hour that would serve food. Like any good addicts, Ben and I took the opportunity to watch all our queued TV shows ;)

Finally, it was 6 am, never have I ever so intently watched a clock hoping for 6 am to come! We ventured out, in our summer vacation best, and promptly ran into rain and wind and general coldness! We re-found a french cafe with covered sidewalk seating (which we had eaten a croissant - our only Sunday food- at the previous day). Ben ordered a Big Breakfast and I ordered a crepe. For some reason, my crepe took it's sweet time getting to me, so long in fact, Ben had FINISHED his brekky by the time I got my food. *For the record, there were only 2 of us at the table, NOT 5. ;)

After breakfast, we checked out of the hotel and drove wildly around Sydney, and out through some super posh suburbs. We stopped off for a bit in Manly, but it was kinda chilly and overcast. We did have some success, we got lunch and bought Ben a cossie (swimsuit). The sales guy was trying his hardest to teach me how to say "Cairns" while Ben was trying on suits...I never did get it...After walking around a bit more, we returned to the car and started heading north again....

Australia

I'm in the process of updating my blog to reflect the next 33 days I'm spending in the massively gigantic and grossly underpopulated country of Australia. The southern hemisphere, my first crossing of the equator and my third continent.

After just a short (cough) 22-hour flight from London, Ben and I arrived in Sydney, and thanks to the magic of the Earth's rotational axis, currently in the midst of summer. (As miserable as sitting on a plane for 22 hours is, I would gladly sit in any extremely confined, monumentally uncomfortable, restrictive seating arrangement for 22 hours every December if it ushers out 1ºC in favor of 24º temperatures.)

We had initially tried to check into our hotel around 9 am; not-so-fresh-or-rested from our "double sunrise" flight, we were desperately hoping for an early check-in. Unfortunately, that didn't happen, but we were able to check our luggage at the hotel and we were off walking the streets of Sydney.

The day went as expected, both of us being completely disorientated (our internal body clocks have NO clue what time it is), in a foreign country (just because they speak English, does not mean its the same language!), and being completely and totally overwhelmed (33 days in a country with a long itinerary of things to do and see ahead of us). We did as best as we could, got a rental car, got a cell phone, found our hotel (actually, found 2 of our hotels), saw the Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge, bought my first Australian souvenir, and tried to kill as much time as possible while exerting as little energy as possible.

Finally around 1 pm, we returned to the hotel and were able to check in. While neither of us wanted to nap, or at least not nap very long, soon we were both asleep, and remained so until around 3 am the next morning...oops.

We didn't get to see much of Sydney, but neither of us are too bummed, at the tail end of our journey we'll return to Sydney (in time for New Year's Eve) and will have plenty of days to see as much of it as we can. In the meantime, we're off up the coast. The first leg of our journey has us driving up Australia's Holiday Coast to Brisbane - with stops in Newcastle, Port Macquire, Coffs Harbour, Sufers Paradise and finally Brisbane. More about that to come...

The longest 5 to 14 weeks ever!

After waiting 4 months, 18 weeks, or 129 very long days, I FINALLY got a decision on my HSMP visa. Not that I've been anxiously waiting and counting the days...

I've been expecting a decision all week, and had contemplated calling the Home Office for my decision. I have just been too nervous. Early last week the UK Border Agency posted on their website they were processing applications from May 19th, and people on trackitt.com (a forum website that other UK immigrants share their thoughts, fears, experiences, etc) with higher reference numbers were posting decisions and people with application dates after mine were as well, but I was just too nervous!! That and the HO is open from like 9 to 4 (which is 1 am to 8 am for me); totally not convenient.

So, I just checked my mail, every day, and hoped that I'd get a package with all my documentation and an acceptance letter. And when I got home from the gym Friday night, I had a notice saying that I had a package waiting for me at the post office.

I barely slept any Friday night, just waiting for the post office to open so I could finally just KNOW. I woke up early and got to the post office at 9:01. By 9:03, I had ripped the package open; finally, I had my decision. My application was approved.

I'm still in a state of shock. Technically, I've been waiting for this letter for 4 months, but I started the application preparation well over a year ago. It's so weird that it's finally here, and my move over is imminent! I am very, very excited.

Next step is applying for an entry clearance. It is a much quicker process; I apply from an embassy in Los Angles (and not the Home Office in the UK). I have to submit 3 months worth of bank statements certifying that I've maintained a minimum balance and get some biometric data taken. Sounds easy enough, but I'm sure I'll end up worrying unnecessarily over that part of the process as well. ;)

Overdose or Allergy? Neither, Respiratory Infection.

A few weeks ago, I developed a cough. Didn't think much of it, didn't come along with any other symptoms, just an annoying cough that kept me awake at night. I was at Target so I decided to just grab a bottle of Vick's cough syrup. After 2 days of accidently (and unknowingly) taking double-dosages, I noticed my hands were swollen, red and itchy. Since I noticed this at 6 am on my way to my personal training session, I took 2 Advil and called it good (cause my legs were still killing me from Monday's session and there was no way I was going to make it through another round of squats, lunges, and stiff leg lifts without pain killers). But by that evening, my hands and feet were so itchy and red and swollen. I rubbed in some hydrocortizone cream, took another dose of cough syrup and went straight to bed. When I woke up Thursday morning, I still had the rash on my feet and hands, but now it was starting to appear on my knees. I decided I was going to head into work for a few hours to pass off my assignment, and then head to the doctor.

Turned out Thursday was not a quick day for me. On Monday, the company I work at, Safeco, was bought by Liberty Mutual (not all that publicized due to all the other business shake ups of late and the collapse of another 'mutual' in the Seattle area...) so when I got to work on Thursday, there was a mad dash project to strip our training down so Liberty Mutual employees could start training on the Safeco products. I was swamped all day, didn't even have time to eat lunch, but didn't even realize it until 6 pm. My hands, feet, and legs were still itchy, so I decided to make an appointment to see a doctor, that night. (But being brand-new to my health insurance plan, I had to find one first!) Found one provider that was still open, in the town I lived in, so I hurried there straight from work. Unfortunately, she was a complete idiot.

Best she could surmise it was an "allergic reaction" but she couldn't figure out why I had it, and prescribed quite an extensive dosing schedule of prescription strength anti-histamines. When I got home, I checked the label of the Vick's cough syrup- big warning: Discontinue use if redness, swelling or rash occur. Oh, and I'd been taking 30 ml doses instead of their recommended 15 ml max in 24 hours. OOPS!

I stopped taking the Vick's and after 4 days on the prescription anti-histamines, I still have my rash, and have developed quite a cold to go with it!! I was TOO sick to make it to my personal training session this morning, and even called in sick to work. Went back to the doctor and was diagnosed with an upper respiratory infection (by a different doctor). Got another round of drugs (Glad I picked the job with the better health plan!), and am currently waiting for things to improve...

Bought High, Sold Low

Often times I get asked if I think I made the right decision leaving Florida. Usually, I don't know what to say, on one hand my life is so completely different (in good ways) than what it was, but on the other hand, I miss so much about my former Florida life (i.e. my kickass Florida friends!). So every once in a while, I wonder if I really did make a smart decision.

Well, I think I got some proof of a smart decision today! My very observant bike-riding friend Keri made my day (week, possibly my month, depends on when I hear from the visa people ;) ). She was riding her bike through my old neighborhood a few months ago and saw a For Sale sign in my former front yard. Then a few days ago, she noticed the sign was gone. Prompting her to do a little investigation on the Brevard Property Appraiser website and found something TRULY shocking!!

You can check out specifics here, but the basic idea is that I sold my house in September 2006 for $300,000 (sold for $350,000 with $50,000 cash back on signing). But the shocking part is, the guy who purchased my home recently sold my house for $200,000. So in under 2 years, the value of my (former) house dropped over a hundred grand!

This makes me believe I finally made a smart decision, I bought low and sold high...unlike the most recent seller ;)

I'm a Stinky Magnet!

No, I'm not stinky, but I do have an uncanny ability to attract very smelly people.

Seriously! Today I was surrounded by stinky people where ever I went! I was standing in line waiting for the bus this morning and this homeless man wandered up and totally violated my personal space circle - and he just reeked of alcohol - REALLY strong! (Technically, I'm not sure if he was in fact homeless, but I couldn't think of any other reason for smelling like that at 8 am on a Monday morning!) Then on my ride home from work this evening, at the last stop downtown, I see this man literally throwing out his cigarette as he was stepping onto the bus, and even though the bus wasn't full, I just KNEW where he was heading, right next to me.

So then I figured, it's just the bus. Stinky people ride the bus...but then, I was at the gym tonight? Yes, I know, people are working out, it's sweaty, there is a certain level of expectancy for stinky, but this "older" guy got on the elliptical RIGHT next to me (Not sure why that one since there were about 20 others empty!), and he just smelled BAD from minute one. It may have had to do with what he was wearing, one of those track suit outfits, with the warm up pants and jackets? (Notice I didn't mention a t-shirt? That's because he wasn't WEARING ONE - and he had his jacket completely unzipped. COME ON!)

I have to say though, the stinky gym guy did motivate me to hustle my buns - I was going to do 5K on the elliptical no matter how long it took me. I averaged just shy of 12 minutes for the first two miles, but I did that third mile in under 10 minutes - breathing through my mouth the WHOLE time.

I'm hopeful that stinkiness is only a Monday thing and the rest of my week will smell just fine ;)

Taking the Plunge

After going out to dinner for my sister's birthday, and having more bites of her ice cream dessert than I care to admit, I was completely guilt-ridden and decided to head to the gym. Friday nights are the time to be at the gym!! Or, not, as it was almost completely empty! It was great- I felt like I had the whole place to myself (with only two or three other people there). I did my usual 40 minutes on the elliptical, 20 on the stair climber, then moved over to the weight machines.

I was doing this arm/tricep one, guess I was doing it wrong cause this guy stopped me and showed me how to do it right. (Yeah, I wasn't even FACING the right way!) I recognized him as a trainer who works there - even though he wasn't in uniform and was there to obviously just work out. But he helped me on all sorts of machines for the next hour and I decided I was hooked, so I promptly signed up for 6 sessions with him.

My first session with Tyler is next week - I'm actually pretty excited. I've been having a lot of success at the gym on my own, seeing results every week, but I figured I could definitely benefit with some guidance. I've been toying with the idea of getting a trainer, and after realizing just how clueless I am when it comes to weight-lifting, I decided to just go for it.

I must say though, I am a little shocked at how much it costs! Fifty minutes with a trainer is more than I make an hour, which just kinda surprised me. But I realized December is only a few short months away and I need to get movin'!

It HURTS to be American

For a couple of weeks now, I've been participating in a diet challenge with my Florida friends. And although I no longer have TSE as a goal, the gym is the ONLY place I get to watch TV. For the past 2 weeks (or to practice speaking British, sorry, English), for the past fortnight, I've spent many, many, many hours in the gym watching Americans compete in the Olympics. I watched swimming, diving, gymnastics, and more beach volleyball than I thought I'd ever watch in my whole life. The key though, as I watched, I walked and jogged on the treadmill, did whatever you want to call it on the elliptical machine, lifted weights, stretched, and even rode two types of stationary bikes.

And while some of my friends are suffering from post-Olympic blues I have found TV salvation in the form of the Democratic National Convention. Again, since the ONLY place I get to watch TV is in the gym, I found myself working out for long stretches of time while Michelle Obama spoke on Monday, Hillary Clinton spoke on Tuesday, Former President Bill Clinton spoke on Wednesday, and finally while the Democratic Presidential Nominee himself, Barack Obama spoke this evening.

The most painful part of it all was how off I was on my timing of the speeches! I was finishing up a half-hour on the elliptical when Hillary took the stage, and I ended up on a stair climber as she expatiated on about no way, no how, no McCain. By the end my legs were BURNING!! Then again tonight, I was almost done with my half-hour on the elliptical when Obama took the stage. I ended up on that elliptical machine for 87 minutes! I burnt over 800 calories on that machine tonight alone. We'll see how able I am to walk up and down those steep hills of downtown Seattle tomorrow morning!

This week of speeches inspired me. I'm a Democrat through and through (and hate admitting when I do harbor some conservative tendencies), but I'm inspired to watch next week's Republican National Convention. I was moved by some of the things Obama pledged and riveted by some of the shots he took at McCain's offensive attacks. I'm curious to see how those are going to be answered. If nothing else, it's another week of TV to get me back to the gym, and perhaps the RNC can bring something worthwhile to my life, a few extra burnt calories? I highly doubt I'm going to be so interested that I'll stay on a stair climber for 50 floors, but we'll see.

But sadly, when it's all over, it'll be a very long 3 weeks before the Fall season starts up and returns gym motivation to me in the form of The Office, 30 Rock and Dirty Sexy Money. That is when my blues will set in, but really, I'm so TV deprived right now, I'm open to the idea of watching just about anything.

Catching Up

Now that I seem to be overwhelmed with time (since the Border Agency is working at a snail's pace) I should post about what's been happening in my little corner of the world...

It's been 14 weeks since I've applied for my HSMP visa. The UK Border Agency website says it takes 5 to 14 weeks...but also says they're just now processing applications received 19 weeks ago. Looks like I have ANOTHER five weeks to go, just for a decision. (And according to my online obsession, trackitt.com - a forum website for other like immigrants to share their stories, problems, suggestions, etc- a lot of Americans are getting denied.) I've submitted additional paperwork twice now, and just hoping that everything goes as well as Ben believes it will! ;)

Secondly, since I seem to have quite a bit of time left before my visa comes through, I decided to get a job. While being unemployed had it's benefits, I was mostly just bored and frustrated with waiting on a visa decision. Getting a job wasn't a problem, once I put my heart into it I had two interviews on the same day, and a resulting tough decision on which one I wanted more, but gave me great negotiating leverage! Happy to say that I'm a Senior Instructional Designer for Safeco (a NW-based insurance company, Mariner's fans know who I'm talking about). I've only just started, but so far seems to be going better than that last tribulation! Oddly enough, I'm working with an ex-WY co-worker, who's been working there for a few weeks; it's been nice having someone to show me the ropes so to speak. I'm located in one of those big-city high-rises in downtown Seattle (sadly I'm only on the 2nd floor), and I've been utilizing Issaquah's brand new transit center, and riding the bus in and out of the city every day. This week has been rough, who carries cash and coins anymore? Enough exact change for every morning and afternoon ride?? I had to get creative this evening and wait until after 6 to go home (when bus fares are non-peak, and are 75¢ cheaper. I have a wallet of $5 bills, but I didn't have singles for the $2.25 bus fare!) I'm getting a September PugetPass so hopefully it won't be a problem anymore.

And of course, if you've talked to me at all in the last few months you'll know all about the Cabin project my sister and I are knees deep in. We inherited my grandmother's cabin in 2004, but only recently decided that it was time to put it on the market. Only we didn't realize just how much work it needed to get it ready to sell. Practically every weekend (and weekdays when I didn't have a job) has been spent at the cabin; repairing, priming, painting, cleaning, painting, taping, sanding, painting, replacing everything. Interior painting is done and new flooring has been ordered, so I'm hoping we're nearing the end of a very long summer project.

So that's about it! Add in missing my boyfriend, that's pretty much all I've been up to lately!

Making Lemonade

I got laid off. I hate that. Not so much that I'm going to miss my job (co-workers, yes; job aids, NO), but now I'm left with the challenge of finding a new one. For one, it's such a weak economy, but secondly, I hope I won't need one in 6 to 8 weeks. The timing sucks, but I'm going to look on the bright side, I can apply for unemployment and I'll definitely NOT miss my 29 mile (each way) daily commute!

The Countdown is On!

From the USPS.com site:

Your item was delivered in GREAT BRITAIN at 10:27 AM on May 16, 2008.

UPDATE: I checked my credit card this afternoon and the Home Office has already processed my application fee - I'm not sure if this actually means something or not, but I'm excited!

I've only just begun

For the past, oh I don't know, 10 months I've been obsessed, yeah, that's the proper word, with the Highly Skill Migrant Programme Visa process. For anyone who is not as OCD about the HSMP as I've been, a little background - in order to move to the UK without an employer sponsor-ship nor wanting a "spousal/dependent" visa, I opted to apply for the Highly Skilled Migrant Programme visa. This visa is awarded on a point system, and the applicant receives points based on age, education level, past earnings and UK experience (which has been puzzling me for 10 months now- if I already work in the UK, why would I need to apply for a visa that would allow me to work in the UK?). The goal is to get a minimum score of 75 points. Since I get 10 points for being 29, 35 points for having my master's degree, I was left needing 30 points from my "past earnings" - income earned in any 12 month period of the last 15 months. For this, I would have to earn GBP 29,000, which would vary between $56,000 to $62,000 depending on how the dollar was doing (and over the last 10 months? Not well.)

After working non-stop, including on vacations and working any overtime I was able to, I FINALLY hit my income target! To celebrate, I bought myself a ticket to visit Ben in England for a week. Once I got home, I put my head-down and really worked on preparing my application...I am happy to write that after a bit of a crazy situation dealing with the post office, my application is on it's way to Sheffield!

Let the 5 to 14 week countdown commence! (Again, I should probably provide a bit of background - the HSMP site states that 50% of applications are decided within 5 weeks, and 95% are decided within 14 weeks. Key word is "within" but with such a wide window, I'm hopeful, but I'm still a realist at heart.)

Now is when I really have to get busy planning my move- I've got everything from storage places, international cat transport services, to UK job hunting on my plate. Something tells me the next 5 weeks might just fly by!

Coming Soon

I've been toying with the idea to start blogging again. Really, I was waiting for something interesting to happen. But today I was looking at the calendar and I realized it's now March, meaning April, and my application date, is getting closer - I just HAD to find myself a countdown 'ticker'.

Yes, I'll blog again when things start to get interesting... ;)

Eastern European Adventures: Part 2 - Prague...12 Years Later!

In 1994, I was an exchange student in Köln, Germany, and my host family took me to Prague, then a recently-dissolved Czechoslovakia. Last time I was here, the city was still adjusting to Western influences, everything was cheap (combo of the de-Easternizing process and a strong US dollar), and it was HOT (mid-June!). This time, Prague has definitely modernized since then, and while not using the Euro, things have gotten a little more expensive, and it was still fairly warm!

We got to Prague around 6 am, bought open tickets for Berlin, stashed our luggage, and hit the dark streets. We got to Charles Bridge (Karlův most) around dawn, which all those photography hints are right- perfect lighting for picture taking! Unfortunately, my battery was dying and my back-up was already dead- NOT a good combo for a clear, sunny day in Prague! We found a cute little coffee shop for some breakfast, and I saw a plug in the corner of the room so I plugged in my battery pack to charge. An hour later, we were back on the bridge and I was taking pictures like crazy! Then we went in search of the Astronomical Clock (Pražský orlojgot). We got there at 5 minutes to the hour (perfect timing!) watched the saints march on through, and then wandered around the Christmas Market set-up in the exact square I had sat in 12 years ago, sweating my bum off waiting for the clock to chime the hour (it turned out it was broken and I never did see the chiming back then). By this time, the sun had really burned through the clouds and it had turned into a bright and sunny day! I even took off my coat! December in Prague? I was thoroughly impressed.

As we did in Budapest, we took various trams around the city and jumped off when the mood struck. We walked all around (for the second day in a row) and I saw a lot of things I didn’t see my previous visit (of course I saw things then I didn’t see this time too). We ended our day with a visit up to the Prague Castle, with more pictures and more shopping at the little booths lining the Old Castle Stairs (Staré zámecké schody). Truly the most perfect day we could have picked to be in Prague.

Then we returned to the train station to find that the train to Berlin was leaving from a different train station, so we headed back to the metro to go to the other train station. Along the way we stopped off at a convenience station for an authentic Prague souvenir and candy for our train ride to Berlin.

Eastern European Adventures: Part 1 - Budapest

The last of my “European Adventures” was a fast-paced journey through some of Eastern Europe’s capitals. The first stop was Budapest (Buda and Pest). After cleaning my BSN room all day, packing, and studying for my last final, I checked out of my dorm, walked to BI, took my International Firm final (which fortunately for me, was pretty easy), then I was off! My final ended at 18:00 and our Eskspressbus left Oslo S at 18:40 – plenty of time! When we arrived at Torp, I had made the world’s largest blonde mess-up…I had booked our tickets for the 12th, not the 11th. BIG OOPS! Oh well, after some negotiating and credit card usage, we were back on track. We got to Frankfurt just fine, suffered through our 5-hour overnight lay-over (along with SEVERAL other passengers!) and checked into our flight for Balaton (PLUS I got yet another passport stamp!). Since it was now 6:00 and I hadn’t slept for almost a day, I was out the moment I sat down on the plane. Unfortunately, I slept right though the thick fog and the announcements saying that Balaton was fogged out and we were being diverted to Bratislava, capital of Slovakia. Wasn’t on my list of capitals, but hey- I got a stamp from Slovakia, and technically (only *technically*), I made it to yet another country! We landed 30 minutes late (and a whole other country and currency away) and waited around for about an hour for a bus to come pick everyone up and drive us to Balaton. If we had been thinking, we should have just figured out how to get to Budapest from here, but being tired and SO VERY disorientated, we just followed the masses and boarded the bus to Balaon. Seriously, 4.5 HOURS later, we FINALLY got to Balaton! And talk about your Eastern European cities! The airport? I swear to God was an old bomb shelter or army barracks- it was seriously like we’d gone back in time to WWII. Once we got there, we ran into the airport, hit the cash machine for some HUF, and bought tickets on the first bus headed to Budapest (leaving in 5 minutes) – another 2 hour bus ride later- we FINALLY got to Budapest! So really, I saw a lot of Hungary- more than I thought I would!

Once in Budapest, we found out hotel- which was VERY cool- we had a balcony/terrace with an amazing view of the Buda Castle and the Pest embankment (including the Chain Bridge). We had a wonderful dinner- delicious and the cheapest I’ve had in over 6 months! It was great!

Wednesday morning, we got up bright and early and hit the streets! We went on an inadvertent tour of Budapest’s train stations. We needed to get our tickets for a night train to Praha (for that night) but every train station we went to, we were told to go to another one. Finally, we got to Keleti (West) train station – and after standing in line (and the window shutting in our faces) we FINALLY got out tickets and then we had a little over 7 hours to explore the city. We started with the Parliament building- which was an impressive sight. Then we wandered around, took pictures and accidentally found Vörösmarty tér (and Europe’s Largest Christmas Market???). We drank some Gluhewein, did some craft shopping, and even ate a “Hungarian specialty” – or tried to, it was NOT good, which I thought some kind of corn meal substance, sour cream, and something THEY called bacon (but I would not), kinda heated? Had a couple bites and that was it for me! We then headed across the Chain Bridge (one of the outstanding landmarks of Budapest, the first permanent bridge across the Danube, originally built in 1849. Sadly, that first bridge was destroyed by Nazi dynamite during WWII. The 1949 opening ceremony for the reconstructed bridge was held 100 years to the day after its original inauguration.) from the Pest side to the Buda side, in order to see the Buda Castle, which is on top of Castle Hill. Since neither of us felt much for climbing 100+ steep steps, we opted for the Funicular (sikló) ( the funicular is the easiest way to get to the Royal Palace, taking just a minute or two. Originally built in 1870, it too was destroyed in World War II and was not rebuilt until 1986.). Once at the top, we pretty much had Castle Hill to ourselves (being December and it was literally freezing, technically, below freezing with a temp of -2¬ºC, then with the wind? SO COLD!) Unfortunately, it was foggy and you really couldn’t see too far (at this point we just chalked Hungary up to being foggy in general!). But it was nice, and we saw the Castle and Matthias Church (Mátyás templom) (Officially called the Church of Our Lady, this symbol of the Castle District is universally known as Matthias Church because the Renaissance monarch, Matthias Corvinus, one of Hungary's most revered kings, was the major donor of the church and was married twice inside it.). After wandering around trying to take pictures of the impressive – but foggy view- we headed back down the funicular, and then jumped on the first bus we saw. We then jumped from tram-to-tram, and bus-to-bus and jumped off where we liked and just saw a lot of the city by riding around. Then it was back to the Christmas Market to get rid of our remaining HUF before heading back to the train station and Prague.

Speaking of which though- we’re headed from one Eastern European capital to another, through yet another Eastern European country- we were on a slightly less than luxurious train…flat out a very old, very sketchy, very dirty, very…Eastern European train…Remember that Russian train from Finland? We weren’t too far off here. But we had a very nice train car man to show us where to go – and warned us about all the passport checks at border crossings - last one of the three was at 1:00 am). Luckily we also had the room to ourselves, and the train guy warned us to lock the door to keep out pick-pockets, and I swear to God, I heard that door knob turn more than once in the middle of the night! By the time we got to Prague, I had 2 new passport stamps and a new appreciation for Norwegian night trains. Our first passport check, from Hungary to Slovakia, the official just looked at my passport cover- didn’t even open it! Guess having a US passport means something? I just couldn’t believe the guy didn’t even open it!

Final thoughts on Hungary? Aside from the fog, and the entire day bus rides, it was a lot of fun. Everything was pretty cheap- which was an welcomed change from expensive Oslo, but on the other hand, the country was very old and dirty- exactly what you would expect an Eastern European country to be... even though an EU member, they still have a lot of modernizing to do, but in the meantime, it was great place – would enjoy another visit, as long as it was NOT in the winter!

Sadly, I am that good!

I arrived in Dublin around 23:00, and all I had the energy for was to find my hotel and call it a night. I got up early on Wednesday and found one of those hop-on/hop-off bus tours like I did in London. The plan was to go all around the city for one lap, and then jump off at places of interest. Except the problem was my first bus driver was a singer (and I started to wonder if he was a little tipsy) so I got off pretty quick- I appreciate the “real Irish experience” but seriously? Danny Boy and Molly Malone sung off-key over a loudspeaker? Just so happened the next stop was the Guinness Storehouse. Which was perfect since I wanted to go there anyway! The museum part was MUCH more interesting and in-depth than Carlsberg was, but I can officially say: I’ve had my FIRST and LAST Guinness! Which I can’t think of anything more appropriate (I’m in Dublin, I’m at the St. James Gate Guinness Plant, it’s a Free- sorry, COMPLIMENTARY, Pint, and I’m 7 floors up overlooking the Dublin skyline!) Perfect! Add a Canadian CPA hitting on me and my experience was complete! After my pint, I actually had about 1.25 (I could NOT even get going on a second pint!), I hit the gift shop. Yikes! It was HUGE, and I was a bit tipsy- I think that’s the way they plan it though! They had everything imaginable there! Pretty funny to see baby accessories with Guinness written all over them…(sorry Evelyn, I refrained).

Jumped back on the bus and a few stops later, I came to the Old Jameson Whiskey Distillery. Since I employed the logic of “when in Scotland” I HAD to do the same with Ireland! (Plus the bus driver said the views from their lounge were even better than those of Guinness) But of course, I had a horribly blond moment, and my camera’s battery had been dying since Scotland, and well, it just died. So while I did go on the Jameson tour, and drank a shot of Irish Whiskey, I didn’t get to take any pictures ☹ But I’m not sure if the views were “better” than the Guinness, it was just a different part of town.

After this, I took the bus back around, completed the tour and stopped in Temple Bar at a Dublin Tourism Office to book a day tour out of Dublin. Since most of them operators weren’t running tours in the winter, I didn’t get to go on the one that took you through the streets of Killiney (where the rich and famous Irish live…I’m not going to give names if you don’t know- cause that means you don’t know me!). But I signed up for another tour to Wicklow (which is where, if you read my Scotland blog- Mel Gibson won his battle as William Wallace…Braveheart was 95% filmed in Wicklow County, Ireland, while only 5% in Scotland). I actually got the best seat on the bus for this tour, one advantage of traveling alone. I got to sit up front next to the driver (like where the tour guide would sit?) – which meant I was able to take pictures from the bus- while we were driving, and I got to see BOTH sides of the road when he pointed out things of interest. It was VERY windy again, and VERY rainy!

We then went to St Kevin’s Monastic Ruins. Still not sure what St. Kevin was known for…something about converting Pagans and keeping people (along with valuables) safe from the Vikings? Not too sure… After I got soaked being out in the rain, since my umbrella had gotten turned inside out for like the 48th time, and I saw a vicious looking mountain goat with the BIGGEST horns I’d ever seen on a goat, I gave up and returned to the bus…which I found several others had done as well, and the bus driver (for the passengers’ benefit only!) had pulled out a few bottles of Jameson. Why the heck not?

Then it was back into Dublin, where I found the HRC for Nicole’s shirt, and then I did the craziest thing ever. Let’s just say I put my stalking skills to use! Since no tour bus was going to drive through Killiney, I found a DART (Dublin Area Rapid Transit) and took myself to Killiney! I had read on the internet- Vico Street, overlooking Killiney Bay. That’s all I had to go on, but I knew Killiney was a very small town, so I just wandered. Believe it or not- I found the gates I was looking for! (but how ironic would it have been if I could write “I still haven’t found what I’m looking for”?) I took a few pictures, not my best work, but out of respect (or perhaps fear?) I was quick and headed back to the DART station. Turned out, I’d walked around the town for nothing! Literally like 200 meters down the road was the station, if only had turned right and not left! Oh well, I had officially made a pilgrimage!

Thankfully it was not raining in Killiney, which perhaps one of the factors that makes it so desirable? (That and I saw the view, I get it!) But when I got back to Dublin it was still rainy and windy so I decided to just head back to the hotel and get some sleep before my 8 am flight back to Glasgow, then back to Oslo. It’s strange for me to think about “going home” when really, it’ll only be “home” for another 3 nights. I cannot even express how sad I am that my time in Oslo is winding down and soon I’ll be returning home. Not that I’m sad to go home, in fact I’m very excited, but I’m sad to leave Oslo. Took me so long to get used to it, I finally feel comfortable here, and I’m going to miss all my new friends! But I guess I now have ample excuses to come back to Europe to visit! But before we all depart, we have a ice-skating, Nobel Day festivities and just one last weekend together planned. I will be heading to Budapest on Monday night, and everyone else will be gone before I get back to Oslo (of course I do get to see Katja again in Helsinki!).