An American's Life in London

Much delayed post!

2012-01-15T13:52:00.000-08:00

Hey All,

I hope everyone is doing very well. Sorry I have not posted as of late, I have thought about it, and actually written a couple posts, but have not had the chance to get them online. I guess in this post I will provide a quick recap of the rest of 2011, as well as the beginning of 2012!

2011

The year wrapped up very well for me. I was extremely busy with work toward the

end of 2011, but it was worth it because I was promoted, as of Jan 1, 2012! London is still a very exciting place, and I did not do that much travel toward the end of the year. I tend to do a lot of travelling early in the year, so toward the end of the year I was pretty chill. I had my good friend Leanne Eberle visit for Thanksgiving, which was a lot of fun!

It was actually perfect timing, because she was able to attend our friends 2nd Annual ‘Straysgiving’ dinner, which is her version of Thanksgiving for all the strays who cannot be with their families over this holiday. It was a great time, and she cooked a huge turkey and transformed her living room into an epic dinner for 12! I am really thankful to have found a great group of friends in London.

Christmas
Since I missed Christmas in Houston with my family last year, I was extremely excited to see my folks this Christmas! When I arrived in Houston on the 21st of December, it was pretty interesting how I experienced ‘reverse’ culture shock. I was amazed at how much space was around, and the fact that so many people were driving. You see, Houston is one of those cities where driving is the norm, and walking (or taking the tube) just does not happen that much.

Top 10 differences I noted when I was at home:
1. When you go to a store/shopping, you drive around the parking lot for 10 minutes looking for a spot that will save you a 5 minute walk...
2. When you do choose to walk somewhere, the sidewalk just ends when you come to a major intersection... What to do?
3. We went to a restaurant, I ordered a meal, and the server commented in his highest voice, “that is a FANTASTIC choice sir”. I was like, uhh, thanks. What customer service.
4. The fact my water glass was filled at all times when in a restaurant.
5. The fact that I did not have to ask for my bill once when we ate out.
6. The fact that you cannot get one meal that does not contain cheese!
7. How fruits and veggies last almost two weeks (they last less than a week here in London). What do they put in the food?
8. When you go to an outdoor shopping centre, you go to one store, get in the car, then drive across the parking lot to the next.
9. That you spend about $50 on gas every couple of days.
And the biggest culture shock I experienced...
10. Driving on the 16 lane freeway, and having to get over 7 lanes to the exit ramp.

I do have to say, it was funny how I started to ‘miss’ London toward the end of my visit. I missed my new friends (aka. Badgers). I also missed working out at my gym, being able to take the tube anywhere, and not having to spend hours in the car every day just running normal errands. I truly like to walk around when going places, it is not only healthier, but it is a great experience going place to place just enjoying your surroundings.

New years was also great this year. Since I am rarely in Houston over New Years, I really wanted to spend it this year with my big sis. In addition to her job, she is a pretty cool DJ. As such, we decided to go to her club for a fun night of dancing! It was such a great time, from the free entry, to the surprise complimentary bottles they provided, she definitely showed me a great time, thanks sis!

Mom, Dad – Thanks for showing me yet a wonderful time at home again. Avita, it was really great to see you and talk to see how things have been with you. I wish you much happiness and health in 2012. I love you all and will see you soon!

2012

So far, 2012 has started out with a bang! Work is going great. I am really happy to have found a job that I am actually excited to go to most days. I have plenty of trips planned for 2012 (Barcelona, Iceland, LA, Chicago, Milwaukee, Brighton and hopefully some others).

I also am starting to feel like London is my home. I have good friends, and have recently met someone who is making me really happy. Life just seems to be going great right now, and I hope it continues into this year. 2012 will be my year.

Thanks again for reading, and let me know if you want me to blog about something in particular.

My 30th and... Oktoberfest!

2011-10-07T11:42:00.000-07:00

Well hey all!

Hope everyone is doing well. I want to fist apologize about the delay since my last post. Things have been pretty busy over here in London. Well, in this blog I am going to be talking about the following adventures:
1. My birthday
2. Oktoberfest

Look who’s 30!
Well, to start off I was able to have my 30th birthday in London this year. It was both an exciting and memorable experience for me. August 1st not only is a special day for me because it is when I was brought into this world, but because it is one of the only days in the world when you can gather your close group of friends and have a great celebration! Well, I do have to say this year was quite different from last year. One year ago, I was in London for only a month when my birthday came around. I can still recall the people who came to celebrate with me too, and Melissa’s great cupcakes!

This year I decided to go to a place called the ‘Blues Kitchen’ in an area of London called Camden. I chose this venue because I had been there twice before, and it was a great time, with live jazz music and a great, chill vibe. Well, as the stars would have it, the night I chose happened to be a big time band there, and the venue was jam packed! Not my ideal choice, but everyone who came seemed to have a good time, and I was happy to be celebrating with my friends. Since turning 30, I think about how far I am in my life. My mom had had me before she turned 30, and I can’t image being a dad (not yet at least!). To think of how much time has passed is pretty overwhelming… Time flies as you get older. But, as a wise person recently told me, if time is flying by, I must be enjoying something!

Oktoberfest!
Next up, my trip to Munich (pronounced Mue-nig), Germany. My Bavarian friend Christian, and his girlfriend Geomayra, invited me to Oktoberfest this year. They knew how much I wanted to go, but hotels during this time of the year in Germany skyrocket 5 fold! As such, he offered up his house and I jumped at the opportunity. In total, we had Christian, Christian’s friend Christian (I know, confusing), Geomayra, Coleen (another American), and myself. I have been a fan of beer ever since my college days, so I was looking forward to the great German breweries that I had heard so much about.

Upon arrival, we were greeted by Christian and Christian in their Lederhosen! If you don’t know what a Lederhosen is, I would recommend you pausing and taking a moment to Google it. It is a leather overall outfit, composed of shorts and are typically green! Next, we were taken to Christian’s parents house in the city for an authentic Bavarian breakfast. And, to my surprise, they were in authentic Bavarian attire as well! It was such a great experience, because I was able to eat authentic German fare. They made, white sausages, German potato salad, cheese and crackers, and of course Pretzels with this great cheese thingy…

Man, Pretzels were everywhere! After breakfast, we left straight away for, what else, Oktoberfest!!! I was extremely excited and still did not know what to expect. We arrived at the fest at around 2PM, and I immediately saw people who thought the lawn was their bedrooms and were sleeping away… Well, I guess that is what you have to do if you get there at 10:00AM.

So, I am going to explain how Oktoberfest works…

1. First of all, it occurs at the end of September… Why you might ask? Well, because it’s there to welcome you to October!

2. Secondly, you only get served if you are SITTING at a table. No ordering from the bar. No sitting, grabbing a Stein and wandering around. No, you stand around and stalk people until you see one person getting up to leave, then you jump! Plus, once the inside of a tent is full, they lock the doors. So, the first day were wandering around for around an hour and finally found an open, but full, patio. After another ½ hour of wandering around the patio, I spotted someone getting up and ran over! Soon, our entire group was at the table (and that is where we stayed for the rest of the night). It was such a fun night, at first , we were mainly talking amongst ourselves, but as people around us kept coming and going, we soon stated to talk to talk to whoever ended up next to us. As you can imagine, people went back and forth to the bathrooms, so when you came back your seat at the table might still be there, but the location might have changed. If you are friends with me, ask to see some of my videos of the night, they are HYSTERICAL!

3. Lastly, you need to experience this fest once in your life. Every company in Munich reserves an area at one point for their employees, and it is a great fest for all ages (they have an entire carnival around). But really, make sure you get there once in your life!

On our last day, Christian and Geo took us to this amazing monestary, where the monks actually brewed the beer. We had a pint of blessed beer and 3 of us shared a pork knuckle... Yes, three of us shared a pork knuckle which was probably the size of my head! It was delicious and such a great experience.

I am writing this right now from Nottingham in the UK. I have been out here the past two weeks for work and it has been a much needed and welcome vacation (if you can call it that). I might have been working late nights in the hotel room, and getting room service every night, but there is something refreshing about leaving your house, staying in a new place and just relaxing (well, in my case working). But it was still nice to do something different... And for those of you who have not seen this yet, check out how the people of Nottingham park their cars!!!

Shout outs!

Lastly, thank you Meghan Gencev and Kathy Zdarstek for pushing me to write more... I love writing, but sometimes you don't think anyone reads it. Thanks for messaging me asking for more! Talk with you all soon!

4th of July, Picnics, Scuba Diving and Ziplining!

2011-07-25T14:28:00.000-07:00

Hey guys, I guess this will be my last blog… No, not my last ever, just the one that I will be writing as a twenty something. Yes, I will be moving into the world of the thirties. The decade where I might start to notice how fragile my body actually is. The decade where I start taking vitamins. The decade where I finally consider myself to have a career. The decade where I need to look for that special someone to have kids and settle down… Well, maybe I have a couple more years for that last one, but I have truly been reflecting on life lately. I have come to the following conclusion: I am happy where I am at now. I have achieved many of the milestones that I had set forth for myself, including moving in another Country, securing a great job I enjoy, and travelling more. Things I need to start to think about more are retirements savings, house savings, college savings… Man, I guess I need to start spending less and saving more. Is that what turning 30 means, balancing fun with the need to save and prepare for the future? Let me know your thoughts, I hope to hear from those of you older and wiser, younger and computer savvy, and then those in their prime, the early 30’s! I also wanted to share some funny quotes I found with you guys: "The only time you really live fully is from thirty to sixty. The young are slaves to dreams; the old servants of regrets. Only the middle-aged have all their five senses in the keeping of their wits." - Hervey Allen "30 is the new 20, unless your 20, then it's the new 40." - Dane Peddigrew "At twenty years of age, the will reigns; at thirty, the wit; and at forty, the judgment." - Benjamin Franklin For those of you who may not know, I have had three strong role models in my life, my mom, my dad and Benjamin Franklin. Yes, Ben makes my list. The reason I am impressed by this man is how me made a life for himself. He worked hard and thought strategically about what he wanted. He started planting seeds at a young age, to prepare himself for the future. If you need inspiration to do anything, read about him. It is petty interesting (PS. Thanks for the Ben Franklin Action Figure Kate!) Well, yes, I might be getting older but the fun does keep coming. Last week I went scuba diving for my first time with my friends Athena and Kim. It was a great time, and now I am contemplating becoming certified in order to be able to go myself. This past weekend, I ended up going ziplining in London (yes in London) at a place right outside the city. It was my third time to go, but it never gets old. Now, I am looking at planning a white water rafting trip in Scotland by the end of the year. Good times, good times. I know I probably could have planned these things back home, I just finally feel I am in a city that can handle Belton! Living in Milwaukee was great, but when you feel like you have been to all the restaurants around, and you know ½ of the city, then it’s time to move on. I had a brief stint in Chicago, where I thought I might be able to see myself, but when the opportunity in London arose, I jumped on it and have had not regrets. It is such an exciting city, that is full of life. The one thing I do get annoyed with at times is the fact that there are people continuously leaving. For example, my friend Leanne moved here after me, now she is already back in the states. My friend Alex came and went. Now my friend Ryan is leaving in October, followed by my friend Olivia in November… At the same time, London has a consistent influx of people from all around the world. People who move here and are open to making new mates (e.g. friends). It is a great thing. Looking at my group of friends in Chicago, I miss how close we were. I missed our 8th Annual Wine and Cheese this year. I missed my friend Courtney’s wedding. I missed Thanksgiving with my second family, the Judd’s. I missed Christmas with my family. Wow, I guess there are a lot of things I miss, but the ability to travel to many European cities is just so exciting. Especially since I know I will be back someday. My VISA was just extended until 2015, so I will be here for at least another 4 years, but then who knows! Maybe I hear Japan calling! Thanks for reading and hopefully this entry did not bore you. It was not my typical, but since I am travelling less, I thought I would just write about my thoughts. Talk to you all soon! Belton

San Sebastian, Courtney's Wedding and more!

2011-06-21T15:51:00.000-07:00

Hey guys!

Sorry it has been so long since my last post, but I have been winding down from my last trip… Where you might ask, well San Sebastian of course!

For those of you who have who don’t know where it is, it is on the Northern coast of Spain (yes, I went there again). I really think Spain is one of my favourite European countries. Why, simple, it has all the fun cities, Barcelona, Madrid, San Sebastian and Ibiza!!!

The trip all started one night when I went out for some work drinks with some friends. My friend Justin, the party planner of the office, asked if I wanted to join him and 11 (yes 11) of his friends on this trip. I jumped at the opportunity to go to a pre-organised event, especially one with so many fun people (I did not know many of them at the time, but knowing Justin I knew they must be fun). Further, when one of the attendees backed out, my friend Kim quickly jumped on board to attend.

I bid my time, and slowly waited for trip that was coming. I did not know much about the city before I went, but people kept telling me they had really good Pintxos there. I tried asking what that meant, but I only got one response, they are like tapas, but better. And boy were they right.

The cool thing about this trip was is that while it is a tourist destination, it is not crazy mainstream like other cities (e.g. Barcelona). As such, we had to fly into an airport an hour outside the city and drive to San Sebastion. Funny thing is when people asked where I was going at first, I told them Bilboa (which is where my plane ticket was to). I did not find out until later that this was not the case. Small mishap, but not as big as it could have been. Ok, so this is a little off topic, but it is a funny story and I think it would be fitting to share with you right now.

So as some of you know, I spent six months abroad in Australia when I was there for school (Go Monash). When I got back I ended up moving into an apartment building on Wisconsin Ave. in Milwaukee, WI, called the Majestic. After I filled out my application, I was unsure of what address to put from my stay in Australia. I really only had to give it to my parents, and when I cabbed it home we simply said Monash… As such, I did not know my address to populate so I just left the field blank. When the lady saw this, she asked where I had lived the past six months. I stated, Australia! Her response—get ready for it—“Wow, I would love to live in another Country, but I only speak English.”

Yes, I will say again, thinking I was going to Bilboa is not so bad compared to thinking that Australian English is not American English… Ok, back to San Sebastian!

So, we arrived late on Friday night, and it was pretty dark out. But, Justin, being the great organiser he is, found us two 5-bedroom flats (or apartments for you Americans reading this). To top it all off, we were right in the middle of the two beaches on a mini peninsula. Since it was late already, we immediately left to find food, had a couple drinks, then headed home to make the most of our Saturday. When I awoke, I was alone! Noo, I slept thought the morning and it was already 11 am. I turned on my data roaming and called everyone to see where they were. They soon came back for me and we started our day. First stop, the beach! Wow, it was such nice weather, and the beach was fantastic! We people watched, drank Cha-co-lee on the beach and just relaxed in the sun. One great thing about this place was there was NO AGENDA, no sights we had to see, no restaurants we had to get to, nothing but glories relaxation.

Most vacations I go on, I end up running from place to place trying to see all the sights, then spend way to much money on food and hotel. Here, our flat was spacious and affordable, and the Pintxos were everywhere so it was like never ending mini buffet’s everywhere. To explain what these are in more detail, picture walking into a bar, ANY BAR, and having it covered with finger foods. You are handed a plate, and you only pay for what you eat. You can eat a lot, or a little, it is up to you. And it has food ranging from Brie and prawns, to foie gras… And boy did I eat the foie. The Social was the place that introduced me to the foie, and it was $13 for a portion the size of a ½ dollar. Well in Spain, foie was a Pintxos and it was only 2 euro for a bigger portion and it was ever so delicious. Also eaten was cow cheek, and black pudding (I won’t explain that one if you don’t know what it is).

Overall the trip was a smashing success, and if I had to choose one more place to re-visit before I move back to America it would be this place. But, since I will be in London for the foreseeable future (no more two year talk), I have plenty of time to find new places.

Now I rarely blog about London, it is just that while I am at home, I tend to have less free time than I did when I was in America. Here, the parks are everywhere, there are tons of people coming and going, and the Museums are all free! One thing I did recently that is worth talking about is attending zoo lates here. Zoo Lates is essentially where they keep the zoo open until 10PM, sell beverages throughout the zoo, so you can watch the animals while sipping on a glass of wine. The highlight of the experience was the silent disco. For a £5 refundable deposit, you were handed a set of wireless headphones which enabled you to dance to music, while nothing was playing for others to hear… Let me tell you, this was hilarious to watch!

One thing I will say is this though, with all the good, comes some bad… I experienced this most recently on Sunday. One of my close friends, Courtney Tisius, was married in Austin, Texas. Due to the price of summer plane tickets home, I was unable to fly back home for the wedding. I was really bummed and wish I could have been there. I am happy to say though that a really good present is in the works, so Courtney, by the end of this year, I will have something in your hands that will truly describe our friendship. I love you and wish you and your husband all the best!

Well, I have to go, as this is a pretty busy week at work for me, as this week I get to travel for my FIRST time since coming to London. In the US, I travelled all the time, even spending six months in Seattle at one point. But this Thursday, I am taking a day trip to Belgium. It is weird to think I am taking a day trip to another country, but that is how things word over here.

Well thanks for taking the time to read this blog entry! Some upcoming entries include:
• My day trip to Belgium
• My 30th Birthday Party
• My friend Kim’s 4th of July Party
• Chelsea’s trip to London

PS. Sean and Wayne, it was great seeing you guys this past weekend. I hope you enjoyed London. Nate Bown and Josh Parkinson.

PPS. If any of the San Sebastian folks are reading this, you all rocked and I had a blast with you soon! We will be having our Pintxos in London soon so look out for the invite!

And LEAVE A COMMENT PLEASE!

Amsterdam and Paris!

2011-05-10T15:46:00.000-07:00

Hey All,

Welcome to my next blog entry! I hope you all have not missed me too much, but in the past month, I have travelled to the Houston (Texas), Manzanillo (Mexico), Amsterdam (The Netherlands) and Paris (France)! This blog will focus on the last two destinations, but I have slightly felt that I have been disconnected from the world because I have rarely checked my email in the past 30 days and I only worked 8 days in April! I guess one of the things I love most about living in London is the great ability I have to travel. Now, onto the next entry!

Due to all the Bank Holidays we had in April, I decided to book a fun multi-destination vacation! I started out flying into Amsterdam on Friday to Sunday, where I took a train to Paris until Wednesday.

Amsterdam

My friend Anne accompanied me on the first leg of my journey to Amsterdam. We arrived on Friday night and, after checking into the our accommodations, we set out to find a nice place to spend our first night. After walking around a bit, we saw this pub that looked like it would suit us fine. We sat down and proceeded to order Belgium beer after Belgium beer, in which each one was more interesting than the last. After a couple delicious brews, and some good conversation (I found out that the colour white is apparently “IN” right now), we headed back to the hostel to catch some Z’s.

When we awoke, I was awestruck by how beautiful the city of Amsterdam actually is. We walked around for a bit, fervently trying to avoid all the bikers constantly ringing their bells at us. Amsterdam is sometimes compared to Venice, because it is a city of many canals. For example, in Chicago or Milwaukee, we have one large river that goes through the centre of the city, however Amsterdam has around 5 large canals that form a circle around the city centre, meaning there is no lack of waterfront restaurants. After a delicious lunch at one of these canal restaurants, we headed on to the Free Amsterdam city tour. By the way, Anne had a yummy goat cheese, pine nut and pesto sandwich, while I had a mouth-watering Dutch cheese crepe. So good.

Free tours are something I try to do in all the cities I visit. While they are free to do, I always end up tipping the tour guide because the tour was so beneficial (most people do). But to the good thing is that if you are on a budget, you can just come and watch for free. Anyway, we did the tour and it was amazing to hear the history of the city. Probably the most interesting things discussed on the tour was the Anne Frank House and, of course, the Red Light District. I am one of those who has not yet read Anne Franks diary, however, after this tour it has moved to the top of my book list. I cannot believe that a girl at such a young age had to endure so my pain and suffering, only to not survive… To this day Amsterdam still has the house where Anne Frank and her family hid for over 2 years! It was also interesting to hear about the Red Light District and it’s origins. For example, it has existed almost as long as the city itself, as it was generally a port where many sailors landed, who immediately went looking for ways to release their long pent up desires. The interesting things is there is this LARGE church right in the middle of the district. The story behind it is fascinating. Apparently, back in the day, you could buy redemption for sins committed, and if you paid enough, you could even buy a ‘get out of jail free card’ to allow the forgiving of a sin you are about to commit. Well, since this church was in the middle of the Red Light District, it saw a lot of traffic. As such, the church kept adding on expansions to be able to contain all the ‘sinners’ seeking redemption from the church after their visit to the Red Light District.

On our last day, we ended up renting a Bike to use for the day… Wow, this is something I highly recommend and I actually wish we got a bike the first day we were here. We became one of the fervent bell-ringing bikers who bike everywhere in Amsterdam. We were able to see all the little side shops, ride along the canals, and, of course, visit the beautiful flower shops along the river. Amsterdam is now at the top of my list as my favourite European city! I wish I had more time there, but either way, I know I will be back to visit at least one more time before I head back to the States to live (whenever that might be).

Paris!

What an amazing city. Now, I really did not think this at first. I took the Eurostar from Amsterdam to Paris, and when arriving at the French Train Station (Gare du Nord), I was blown away by how NOT PRETTY France was. I was very immediately met by many ‘rough around the edges’ immigrants outside and was thankful that I arrived mid-day as opposed to later in the evening. I proceeded to find my hotel, which was located in the 10 Arr. I chose this hotel because of both the price and the central location. This was the first time I had used booking.com to make my reservation, I now wish I used my Platinum status with the Marriott to make a reservation with them. When I arrived at my hotel, if you can call it that, I immediately though of the movie hostel… While this was not a hostel, it still looked like something that you would find in a Saw movie, not something in Paris… Anyway, I checked in and I was told that the doors were locked promptly at 1AM. What??? Am I really staying somewhere that locks you in? No, I found out that I just needed to ring the bell and WAKE the night man if I came home after that. He then added on that between 3AM and 4AM was his time, so I needed to be home before 3 or after 4. Well, noted….

After checking in and such, it was close to around 8PM and starting to get dark. I went and bought a bottle of French wine, some cheese and a baguette and then returned to my room to settle in. Man, was the bread, wine and cheese amazing. I then went out to a couple of French bars a friend of mine recommended to see the city life. After a couple drinks I headed back to get an early start to my day the next day.

I woke up around 9, thinking that was early enough to start my day (I was wrong). By the time I took the train to the Eiffel Tower, I looked around and there was already a 3 hour line there! I guess it was mainly because this was a bank holiday weekend and it appears that all of Europe (and plenty of Americans) had decided to go to the top of the tower. I looked at the line and decided I would try later in the week, the lines were just too much. Next stop, walk along the river to the Louvre. Again, the lines were just insane and I could not justify standing outside in them for hours just to get in, so I went for yet another stroll. I ended up by the Cathedral of Notre Dame, and it was amazing inside. The line was moving quite quickly, so I hurriedly made my way inside. It was beautiful!

I also wanted to check out a specific museum while I was in Paris. As random as it was, I was in a short Sundance film back in my college days that eventually made it’s way to the Museum of Modern Art in Paris. Since I was one part of an exhibit at this museum, I thought it would be neat to visit the museum.
• http://davidrobbinsics.com/sundance
• http://davidrobbinsics.com/paris

Haha, the first clip is the actual short video I was in (yes, I had hair) and the second link is a link to the exhibit that was in Paris in 2004.

Well, after my day of touring, I met up with a friend of mine who took me to some fun bars for the night. Before bed, I was sure to buy my ticket to the Eiffel Tower for 12:30 the next day. When I arrived, the lines were just as long as the previous day, the only difference was I was able to walk right up to the front of the queue and get the ‘Reserved’ elevator to the 2nd level. Nice… Next, I went to the Louvre, but instead of going in the big pyramid entrance, I went in the ‘secret’ entrance in the tube. I avoided the three hour line in front, and went straight to the gift shop to buy my ticket. This was great because it enabled me to use the entrance for ‘ticket pass holders’ and a very short line. What a day!

My favourite thing about Paris was the fact that I simply enjoyed sitting at the little bistro’s and people watching! I had just come back from a long vacation where I was go go go, so it was nice to come back and have a nice relaxing one.

As usual, thanks for reading. My next blog should be coming out relatively soon as I want to write about the Royal Wedding! Also, I am going to Brighton (in the UK) and San Sebastian, Spain, later this month so I will be writing about that too!

Lastly, I added a new ‘subscribe’ function to my blog. If you like reading it, sign up for alerts when I make updates! Also, if you want me to visit a certain city and write a blog about it, you can also use the 'support' me function above!

Talk to you all soon, and thanks for all the support so far!

Mike's Guest Blog - Volume I

2011-04-20T14:18:00.000-07:00

Hey All,

Welcome back! Just as I am settling into being back in London I am off again. I leave for Amsterdam and Paris this Friday and will be back just in time for the Royal Wedding next week. Yes, it pretty exciting that not only did I move to London when a wedding was set to occur, but I will also be here for the Olympics next year (just ordered those tickets too). Well, this blog is written by my friend Mike who just came up for the weekend from Chicago to visit. Enjoy!

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Stuck in the UK Vol. 1 - by Michael Run

On my first trip to Europe I visited my friend Belton in London. We had the most amazing time! I really gained a lot of perspective from the trip.

When I fist got to London I had the pleasure of waiting in an hour and a half immigration line with an American girl from Missouri who had never been outside of the state in her life. Obviously we made a deep connection and I’ll never forget her, whoever she was. Then on the tube the line shut down and I had to transfer from train to train on the same line. Finally I made it to Central London where Belton met me and I was immediately treated to a mini tour of the most popular areas to see, including Leicester Square, Chinatown, Soho, Piccadilly Circus and Trafalgar Square. After that we grabbed lunch at a local spot, Pizza Express. From there I went and saw Westminster Abby and a few other popular landmarks, headed to BT’s place and crashed out for a couple hours.

Wanting to see some other friends, who were also in London, I left to do my own thing and went to Clapham and joined a few of the old boys for a regular smashingly good time. We hung out at a place called The Goat for a bit and carried on from there to another place or two. I can’t remember where I went but that’s only because it was such a great time. Took some photo ops and kept calm while partying on! After a great night out with friends and some good partying I remembered I had prior arrangements and I headed back to BT’s flat. Long story short it was a long day from the flight to walking around London and meeting a group of friends. Shattered…

So where was I, Oh yeah. So prior to coming to London I agreed to play paintball with a large group of Belton's friends, people I didn’t know. I call those opportunities. BT woke me up at 6:15am even though he told me we didn’t have to leave until 6:45. I told him I’d be ready to rock, I was ready to sleep. We proceeded to ride the tube to our stop and met up with a few of his friends who were joining us for paintball. From there we took the train out to the country side to some remote destination, Delta Force. Given the experience of the night before let’s just say it was a struggle for me. From the train we walked for a bit, finally reached the paintball grounds and found out we didn’t need to be there until 10. Sweet! Upon arrival they handed us a bunch of gear. Face masks, body armour, jumpsuits, paintball containers, etc. As it was my first paintball experience I geared up and got right. I felt like I looked really good in my gear because it accentuated all of my daring yet bold features. A lot of BT’s friends joined us and rightfully so it was a good bunch of peeps just looking to have a good time. On to the paintball…

It started out rough.

I was severally dehydrated and tired from the flight. I figured just get on with it and enjoy yourself. I was told it was 3.5 quid for a full days worth of paintball, what they didn’t tell you is that you need to buy a ton of paintballs to actually have a good time and shoot shoot shoot!!! Our group of 20 something was split up and we were to face each other. Interestingly enough I think the first few rounds were my best as I was shooting everyone in sight, didn’t get hit once and my team destroyed the non-competitive opposition (Go Orange!) Yeah you know who you are!

Anyways after the first few games I was in pain(literally); not only was I exhausted and craving water but I didn’t realise how much running around was involved. Upon our first break I immediately went and purchased a couple bottles of water. Crushed them, and that’s when I realised there was free water a few steps away. I was sweating so much and felt disgusting. My mask kept fogging up and I literally couldn’t see. I got rid of the useless body armour as it only made me sweat more, or was it my sweater? Got rid of that too. Everyone was wearing the same thing. All black jumpers goggles and guns. I couldn’t tell anyone apart from each other. No wait, ….I knew who BT was, not because of his distinguishing features but because the group had told the place that it was his birthday! They gave him a large pink target to wear. It was even better because Belton was so embarrassed. :)

As the next few games went on, I was able to feel a bit better and talk with a few new friends I had just met. Everyone was nice and receptive of this rookie Yankee in their midst. I started getting really tired right around lunch, which was included in admission. We received these personal pizzas which were 5 quid each and worth about 2. They tasted great to me because I was famished and relished a break. At lunch I met a few more people that I hadn’t even noticed were there before. But when you’re introduced with masks on it’s a little had. Again great people. Even though I was already introduced I was like who are you? Oh great to meet you!

After lunch I was about through with paintball and was wondering when we were going to hit the pub. It was about then I started to realize the other random group we were paired with was taking things a bit too seriously. I guess some of them were warned and asked to leave from being ultra-competitive and really too much. Rule breakers! I won’t stand for it! I only know this from what others said as I was just looking to have a good time and wanted to enjoy my first UK experience. The last few games were fun but I was terrible, seriously like 2-3 matches in a row I was shot as soon as they started. Maybe 30 seconds in. But I guess I was lucky as everyone else had bruises and welts afterwards, the worst that happened to me is I got hit in the jugular a couple times and on a joint in my pinky. If you’ve ever been shot in the hand with a paintball then you know how fun that is. Not too bad though, no bruises or welts. Wait, was everyone else cooler than me with battle scars and hideous bruises? Yea, that was the case. I was definitely the prettiest of the group, at least that’s what the ladies said once I put my mask on. They told me to keep it on because it was a good look for me. Well someone said it, I’m just not sure who they were. Well good enough for me.

For most of the day I was strong, alpha, but towards the end I was ready to move on. After paintball we headed to the pub. Finally! We had a few pints and I got to know the crew I was with a bit more. Luckily for me it was a bunch of Yanks who were super cool and wanted to get to know me a bit. It was at an awesome country pub just as you might picture one in London. Good ol’ Black Swan, I’ll never forget you Swany. We shared some stories, and while everyone else had to catch the train back, somehow BT talked a really cool girlfriend of his into giving us a ride back to the city. She was a regular honey badger of a sausage. We went back did our thing and got ready to go out for the night. Grabbed some dinner with some of BT’s friends from Australia, Ollie and Andrew, and proceeded to go out for the night. We ended up going to Shoreditch which apparently is a place to go for a great night out. My friends recommended it the night before. We met up with some more of BT’s friends at place called the Queen of Hoxton. The venue was cool, and the patrons seemed cool, there was only one problem. Too many people stuffed into an alcove. They shut down the upstairs where the rooftop deck was and told everyone to stand next to me. Perfect! After friends left we bounced straight away to another spot and took the tube back to the flat. I was knackered.

The following morning BT made me a full breakfast with a feta, mushroom and bacom omelette, blueberries, OJ and buttered toast. I was like umm what is this? Thank you so much man! I was impressed, I tried to offer to help cook and clean but being a gent he refused and carried on. Good lad! Later I learned his maid does his dishes, oh well excuse me sir! We can’t all be Swish’er sweet! Onwards and upwards…

We went for a walk to the London Eye and Big Ben during the London Marathon. I thought about jumping in for a few K but BT talked me out of it. It was really cool to see people cheering on the runners and we actually got to watch the end of the race right in front of Buckingham Palace, about 30,000 of them in all were participating in the worlds oldest marathon. After walking around a bit we caught the tube to go see London Tower. Which by the way isn’t one tower but twenty. Our tour guide Dave was hilarious and actually lives in the castle with his family. After seeing a couple other tour guides who were all facts and no fun I really appreciated him. We learned a whole lot of Londonite facts and wish I could tell you about a ton of beheadings but I won’t. I don’t want to cheapen the tour, you’ll have to go for yourself. Or pay me $35. It’s totally worth it, …once!

We saw the royal jewels and the largest cut diamond in the world. It was 326 karats and almost as large as my fist. All I know is that I’ll have one just like it. No, … Bigger... Craving some English treat we grabbed Fish n’ Chips of course and chowed down. So after that we met up with some friends went to a few pubs grabbed some dinner saw the canals and went out to again to a Jazz spot. Needless to say my adventure didn’t end there.

On my last day I walked around London. I went through Hyde Park and took some time to reflect on my latest adventure. I thought about all the cool people I met and the good times I had. It was a beautiful day. The Sun was out, the birds were chirping, squirrels were eating peanuts out of people’s hands. Oh London town, the mystery and awe. I walked down Oxford Street and hit up the British store of prominence Primark, where all the posh go to get their things. I joined in the festivities and splurged on the freshest gear one could find. When I was done pushing through the masses I managed to escape with enough time to get to another shop or two. Everyone was eyeing my bag, I knew they were jealous of my devilish good tastes. It was nearing time to go so I headed down to Belton’s work to meet him for lunch and one last hoorah. We had a delicious English Mexican fiesta with a couple of his co-workers and I was off. We did our goodbyes and I headed to the airport. It was a fast ride, much faster than on the way in. I made it with a few hours to spare. Good thing too because I found out my flight was cancelled.

Apparently the last flight from Chicago never came in and I was therefore out of a ride back to the States. I was crushed, another night in London! Nooo The worst! Quickly rang Belton but he must have been in a meeting or something and couldn’t get a hold of him. I had to ask him if I could spend one more night in his glorious flat. About 45 to an hour later I finally got a hold of him and he said no problem. I felt even worse when I found out I was entitled to 600 pounds compensation. I didn’t want to take advantage of the system but laws are laws. The only thing was he had plans for the evening so I had to figure out something to do for the night. Luckily enough for me one of his friends took pity was down to chill. Had some food and drinks and it turned out not to be a good thing to be stuck in London for another night. If you’re into that kinda thing.

The activities that occurred the next day, my real last day, remain a secret to you all. I dare not shed those stories upon anyone’s ears. They are the kind of thing that makes women swoon and men cry.

One thing that sticks out is a lot of people kept asking me why I went to London. I really only had one answer, because I wanted to. I only sleep to rest, wake up to live my dreams. You know? America!

I had a blast! Learned so much! All about joined up writing (aka. Cursive writing) to fancy dress (aka. A costume) and of course swimming costume (aka. A Swimsuit)! In fact I’m pretty sure I’ll be back in a few weeks hoping to hang out with a few new friends I met and rock London. One more time, we’re going to celebrate!

Mexico and Texas!

2011-04-12T13:52:00.001-07:00

Hi all,

So, while I know this is my London blog, this time I will be blogging about my first trip back to the US, with a quick stop in Mexico. Actually, the timing of my trip home was to attend this wedding.

Mexico (The Wedding)

When I moved to London from Chicago last year, it was not that hard. I mean, come on, I am achieving a long term goal of mine of living in a foreign country. Another reason was the fact that I was not truly leaving all my friends (because I knew I was going to see them at this wedding). Over the past ten years (since 1999) I have been lucky enough to meet one of the best groups of people, friend I met while attending Marquette University. It is amazing; they say that you meet some of your best friends while in college… Well, I have to agree, with the exception of my few high school friends (Emily, Courtney, Monica, Larry) most of my close friends are from college. And to top that, we have all been great friends for sometime now, from Kate, Christina, Eric, Jeff, Chris and many others from O’Donnell, to Tim, Scott, George, Erick and the Sara(h)’s during Junior year. The group even kept growing to include many others like Meghan, Kristin, Suzie, and Arin many more years later… (Don’t think I forgot about you Meredyth from Freshman Year at Dan’s Party!). The best thing about our group is that we are an interconnected group of friends, where one person is truly friends with many of the others in the group. This makes it easy to (1) see what others are up to, (2) randomly see your friends while out and about with other friends, and (3) get to see everyone when someone in the group get’s married. Well, that is the situation here, and I was excited to be a part of it.

Our good friends George and Meghan decided to wed in Manzanillo, Mexico. While I was excited to go to Mexico, I was not excited about the mode of transportation I selected. I first had to fly into Guadalajara, taxi to the bus station, take a bus to the Manzanillo bus station, then a car to resort. The good thing is Meghan (the wedding planner) had great taste and selected a great affordable venue inside Manzanillo that happened to be all inclusive (and I don’t mean just meals). It was pretty nice to be laying on a beach for a week having servers constantly coming up to you asking if you would like another Michalada (Beer, Lime Juice and Tabasco) or Miami Vice (½ Piña Colada and ½ Strawberry Daiquiri) – two of our groups favourites during the week. Another exciting part of the trip was the fact that the future bride and groom sent out a WEEK ITINERARY to the group of attendees. Weekly activities included ziplining from the tops of trees, deep sea fishing, snorking, and beach visits. Yes, it was truly a week in paradise, only with 15 of your closest friends. It was not only a wonderful experience to see two of my good friends tie the knot, but it provided me with the opportunity to hang out with ‘my group’ one more time. Now that I live in London, I realize I might see two to three of them at a time, but times like this wedding, times when we are all together again are going to be a rarity for me now. I need to enjoy it while I can…

Home (Houston, TX)

Wow, reverse culture shock is something that is pretty interesting. Actually, it is pretty cool when you live outside the US so long that when you return, you notice so many things that you simply took for granted before. For example, while living in London I typically don’t see the British flag displayed on a normal basis; however, while in Houston, I noticed that we proudly displayed our red, white and blue everywhere. It did fill me with a sense of pride to be from a country where we are so proud of our roots. That being said, it is also invigorating to be in a country that actually has roots, deep cultural and historical roots that is. But, as I mentioned, this blog is not about England, but rather about Texas, so let’s get back to that. First, I was extremely excited to see my parents. Especially since I flew in on Friday night and had to fly out the following morning to go to Mexico. I had not seen my parents in 8 months and I only had one night with them before the wedding trip. Luckily, I had a whole 8 days with them after the wedding, which seemed to fly by too fast. Every time I go home I not only notice how much I have grown, but I truly notice how much my sisters have as well. This trip I saw my little sister and was amazed at how much of a young woman she sounded and acted like (at 25 now). It is kinda crazy, because I bet my older sis might think the same about me. Well, this year I saw a big change in her too, she seemed truly happy. Maybe I did not notice it before, but it does seem like things are going great for her now. It was also great to see my parents again. One of my trips highlights was when I gave my mom her present from London (well one of them anyway). She had asked for a very nice French perfume. If my mom has a weakness, they are ‘Authentic Crystals’ and ‘Exotic Perfumes’ (with a mild scent). As such, I had set out the month before with my friend Olivia to go to Harrods to find my mom the perfect scent. It turns out I succeeded, because the smile on my mom’s face when she first smelled the scent was priceless… It was also great because the brand I bought her was from one of the oldest fragrance makers in France, and it was specific to Harrods, meaning you could not but it online or anywhere in the States. I think that truly added to the appeal, having something that is limited and can really only be brought back from London. My dad, on the other had, is a very complex, yet simple guy. When I asked what he wanted from London, he responded (and I quote) “You can get me a London baseball cap for me to wear during the summer months here.” Well that I did sir, I got him a great London, UK hat from one of the tourist shops around. I actually had to go to four stores to find his, because I wanted it to be special and not just one of the standard gifts.

I can also see that I am getting older as well. I did yard work on my families house for the first time (I was never a work in the yard kind of guy, except when it was to volunteer with Strake Jesuit or Marqutte). However, when my mom asked me to de-weed the front yard, plant four rose bushes, five shrubs and mulch the yard, I actually jumped at the opportunity… Why, maybe because I grew up a spoiled brat and I feel I owe it to my parents who have always been there to provide for me. I feel like I owe it to them for all the yeas I refused to vacuum the gameroom, or walk the dog, or take out the trash, or well, do any chrores! So now, yes, I am more than happy to assist my parents with these tasks when I come home. I actually look forward to it, kind of like when the parents visited and cleaned your kitchen and bought you food while in college. Although fun, I am happy that central Londoners do not have yards while a Houston household without a yard is a rare commodity!

Overall, I enjoyed my trip home so much more than other’s because I was able to just be. I was able to be me with my friends. I was able to be me with my family. I was able to see my mom, dad, and sister’s smile and laugh. I was able to take my Godson out for a fun night at Dave and Buster’s, stressing the importance of getting a good education. I was able to be me, the me I know. I feel the new me in London is different… I have to be… I don’t have the same friends, or my family a quick plane ride away. Moving to a foreign country definitely makes you stronger. It helps you to adjust to varying circumstances rapidly, while always keeping that smile on your face. And if you have met me, you know I always have a smile on my face…

Talk with you all soon. My next entry will be about my upcoming trip to Amsterdam and France!

Until next time!

PS. As usual, if you read this, please post a comment!!!!

Dana's Guest Blog - (v)ac(u)ation

2011-03-18T06:05:00.000-07:00

Hi all,

In keeping with my theme of asking my visitors to write my next blog post when they visit, my friend Dana wrote the most recent one. It is extremely interesting because she is in the process of getting her masters in Cairo, but evacuated to London during the recent uprising! Another exciting this is that her evacuation also brought together many old friends. You see, I originally met Dana when I did a semester abroad in Australia, and many of my good friends happen to be in the UK. As such, when Alexandra Doherty, Sarah Elliott, Andrew Tumulak and Ollie Williams found out Dana was coming, they dropped everything and made their way to London (actually we all live here except for Ollie [in Leeds] and Sarah [ in Manchester]).

Also, not mentioned in the below blog but equally important, was Leanne’s going away party. I am sure you have seen her in many a picture in my blogs in the past, as well as a mention in the below post, but she has returned to the US after her 6-month stint in London. Yes, I arrived before her and I am still here. Crazy, I can’t believe I have been here 8 months now, but she will be missed. I had no idea how it is possible to spend so little time with someone but come to care about them so much, miss you Leanne!

As some of you also know, I will be heading back to the states next week. I will be arriving to Houston at 9PM, then fly out to Mexico at 6Am the following morning for a wedding. My good friends Meghan and George are getting married in Manzanillo, Mexico. (I know, my parents have already tried to get me to not go to Mexico now, but I have been assured it is safe). After a week in an all-inclusive beach resort, I head back to Texas to finally spend time with my parents and sisters, who I miss a great deal. So my next blog post should be interesting, as it will deal with reverse-culture shock and I can tell you all the weird things Americans do! Until next time, enjoy Dana’s guest blog entry!

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(e)vac(u)ation – by Dana Kightlinger

I have packed up my stuff to move across the country or world many times. For the past seven years I have essentially been able to condense my life into two suitcases and a couple carry-ons. Each time, however, things accumulate. Leaving each place that has come to feel like home is a difficult task, saying goodbye to friends who have become like family, picking and choosing which items are worth that precious suitcase space, and generally taking my time to close one chapter of my life in favor of opening another. My moves have been quite calculated and I know weeks or months in advance when I need to say goodbye to a place and usually whether or not I am coming back.

None of these experiences prepared me for what I experienced in Egypt at the end of January this year. The first few days of what is now being referred to as a revolution I maintained a healthy sense of denial. I thought classes might still start on January 31 and that Mubarak would die as President of Egypt. I thought I would stay through the end of the semester and have no problem getting my thesis and then moving back to the States. I was ready to leave Egypt in May at the end of two years here. So after a week of continued demonstrations and daily meetings at the local dorms which led to the announcement that the University opening would be delayed, coupled with the availability of charter flights for American citizens and the closure of the American embassy, I decided to leave. I would evacuate. I laid in bed the night that I bought my ticket, wondering aloud whether I had made the right decision. Cairo responded with bouts of machine gun fire. Two days later I was on a flight to London, anxious to see Belton who I hadn’t seen in two years, since Seattle, which was two years after we had met in Australia.

Leaving Cairo was hard. I had spent the previous two days packing up my stuff, wondering what was important to bring with me and what I would be willing to leave in Cairo in case I never came back. This is normally a several week long process for me. The urgency of packing up quickly was almost liberating in a way, but I also knew that I was going to London with the intention of coming back to Cairo at some point. If I was really done, then I probably would have gone home to America and wouldn’t have used the excuse of doing research to justify my one way ticket to a ridiculously expensive city. I was exhausted and emotionally drained even though I had no problems at the airport or getting out of Cairo. In true BT fashion, however, both of these factors were ignored upon my arrival at the South Kensington tube station and BT helped me promptly drop my stuff off and get back on the tube to head out for karaoke. My flight was a little late so we had to run in order to see everyone before they left, but we did manage to sing a few songs (even though the machine kept breaking) and wish Alex a happy birthday. After about an hour out, we all headed back to our homes since most of us were getting up bright and early to be tourists the next morning.

If you ever have to evacuate your current country of residence, don’t despair. There are always people and things somewhere to distract you. In my case, those things were Windsor Castle, Stonehenge, and Bath, and the people were BT and Leanne. Windsor is beautiful and even though I had been there before, I easily could have spent the whole day wandering around the grounds. The audio guide is easy to follow and the whole place is so picturesque you can’t help but feel a sense of awe as you look and listen to history around you. Before we knew it, we were late for the bus because we had been wandering through the rooms of the castle. We didn’t get to see St George’s Chapel, but I guess that just means I’ll have to go back eventually. Our next stop was lunch on the way to Stonehenge. I figured that time was as good of a time as any to start including alcohol and pork products at every meal during my time outside of Egypt and the Chinese food we had lent itself to that perfectly - cider, spare ribs, sweet and sour pork, mmmmmm. We were quite content and (naturally) the last ones on the bus to drive out to Stonehenge. This was again a place I had been before (at age 11 I think), and one that we often have grand ideas about. Yes it’s very interesting to see how they were able to situate the stones in ways that we still don’t really understand and how they were able to get them to lock together all those thousands of years ago and even how they were able to shape and move the stones to get them there, but for something that’s part of human history (and for someone living about twenty minutes away from the Great Pyramids) Stonehenge is small (not like This Is Spinal Tap Stonehenge small, but still way smaller than expected, even though I had already been there!). Through minimal forced perspective photography, BT was able to hold it in his hands while I was able to stomp on it. It’s also completely exposed to the elements, which in our case included a pretty strong wind and some horizontal rain. My coat was not waterproof, so I was not bummed that we didn’t have as much time out there as we had had at Windsor plus the cider and pork was starting to set in and a nap was sounding pretty nice. Our guide, who had an excellent sense of humor (or should I say humour since I was in England) told us a few anecdotes along the way and then gave us some time to sleep before we arrived in Bath. Bath is famous for, well, the baths. I always forget that the Romans made it all the way to England but they did; and they left baths. We checked out the Roman ruins (which seemed way out of place in dreary rainy England) and then got clotted cream ice cream and fudge and went book shopping and had a quaint little evening before climbing back on the bus for the couple hour drive back to London. This time I napped; I was exhausted.

When we arrived back at Sloane Square I told BT that I didn’t think I could go out that night, I was just too sleepy. He agreed so we decided to have a few drinks and dinner at home. Well, the drinks had red bull in them, so a few hours later we were meeting up with Andrew and some of his friends at a birthday party and only after getting home from that was I allowed to sleep. Sunday saw me curling up on the couch until well after noon with a potent combination of jet lag, exhaustion, and sheer laziness knocking me out. That night we went out again looking for wings (TGI Friday’s fail - they kicked us out for not ordering meals; BT got it resolved though and the next week I believe they got free food vouchers for the poor service) and then wound up in a tiny little underground club watching the Super Bowl at 11 pm with a bunch of people who probably had the impression that football is a game played by kicking a round ball across a field with your feet. A lot of the same people from karaoke or the epic tourist adventure from the previous day were there, and most of them had work in the morning so after the Black Eyed Peas and Usher played their very bright half time show everybody except Leanne and I went home. We stayed for the end of the game, cheering slightly that Green Bay won (I really could have cared less, the Patriots weren’t in it) and then Leanne put me on a bus to Sloane Square, from which I was under the impression I could make it home on my own. I did. Eventually. This was my first time walking home without BT and I forgot a crucial turn, thus sending me on a wild goose chase looking for two streets with the same name. I made it home and to the couch much later than expected, but what’s an (e)vac(u)ation (see what I did there? It’s evacuation vacation!) for if not sleeping in all the next day?

I spent most of my time in London on BT’s couch talking to friends in Cairo and trying to assess the situation and when I would be able to return. We went over to Leanne’s one night and BT cooked, some of his other friends came over to his place one night...and BT cooked, I tried to go to the V&A Museum right down the street from BT’s place, but I got lost, and I went to Harrods. One day I did go to the Egyptian Embassy to see if there were protests, but it was quite small and I was wearing flip flops so I left after a little over an hour. I stopped by the original Hard Rock Cafe to get pins for my collection. I had been to London before, so touristy things weren’t my priority, and after having spent a week in Cairo with a fairly high level of anxiety, I was quite enjoying the ability to just lounge around and relax and not hear machine gun fire or the noise from jets circling or the chants of people hoping their President would step down.

I did head out to Oxford one day to visit a friend I met in Africa a few years ago. Though it was a short visit, it was nice to know I was making the most of my (e)vac(u)ation and seeing everyone I could. I arrived back in London on Thursday and Friday was to be the mother of all reunions. First I had lunch with a friend from California whom I hadn’t seen in years, then I went to St Paul’s Cathedral, then I went to a pub and saw that Mubarak had indeed stepped down (really Hosni? Could you not have waited two days until I was back in the country so that I could celebrate with the Egyptian people too?), and then I went to go pick up Sarah at the train station. True to form, we couldn’t find each other for a while but eventually made it back to Belton’s place, picking up my roommate from Egypt along the way. Ollie and BT made it back soon enough and the wine (in bottles, not goon like I kind of expected) was opened. My roommate headed back to where she was staying in the city and the four of us Monashians headed out to meet up with Ali and Andrew for a lovely Valentine’s Day dinner at a casino. After the dinner there was a string of other bars, lines, misguided bouncers, credit card charges, and dancing. Slowly but surely, the group began to dwindle and eventually we made it home full of red bull and delicious pizza. I still can’t believe the random circumstances that brought that group together that night - Ollie, Andrew, and BT had just spent a weekend together a few weeks prior and Sarah had visited not too long ago either, but everybody came out to get back together - as you do when a friend has just evacuated.

The next day, Sarah, BT and I went looking for breakfast and found the most amazing full English breakfast place (BT ordered pasta for some reason; I ordered extra bacon) and then wound up at the Saatchi gallery (a place BT had been encouraging me to go to all week) but it was closed for a private event (drat!). Early in the afternoon we sent Sarah to meet up with a friend who would take her to the train station and then BT and I went shopping for costumes for his flatmate’s birthday party that night. (I was supposed to be leaving at 6am the next day, but BT had decided that I would leave London in just as much of a fun time crunch as I arrived). We got our costumes (glasses and suspenders for my ‘dork’ outfit, boxing gloves for BT) went home and had some dinner (sushi) and headed back out nearly exactly where we had just been to go to the fancy dress party where nobody really quite knew what the theme was. I got a few winks of sleep before the alarm went off and I had to scramble to the airport via the tube - an hour and a half later (thanks to trains not running quite as frequently as you’d like them to on a Sunday morning) I made it to the gate just before it was set to open and was ready to board a flight back to a country that looked nothing like the one I had left.

I didn’t intend to wind up in London in February; I didn’t intend to have to leave Cairo; I frankly didn’t intend to ever refer to Hosni Mubarak as Egypt’s former President while the man was still alive. But this is what happens when you live abroad and if you’re lucky, you have excellent friends in excellent places who are willing to take you in, take you out, and take the time to help you figure out what’s going on in this crazy world. Thanks BT.

Prague!

2011-01-18T15:32:00.000-08:00

So, in Europe, they have this rule where they give all people a massive amount of vacation days; and while we are allowed to roll them over into the new year, we must use them by the end of January. This, combined with the fact that is was one of my collegue’s birthdays (Alex Tam) made us decide to go to Prague! I took a long weekend (Thurs to Tuesday) off and hopped on a plane for my weekend adventure!

Since I was using my vacation days, I arrived a day earlier and left a day later than my travel companions (They arrived Fri to Sun, while I was Thurs to Mon). Here is a day by day breakdown of my experiences there:

THURSDAY – I had an afternoon flight out of London, so arrived at the airport around 10:00 for my 1:00PM flight. It was a short two hours to Prague and I hit down on the ground a little after 4:00 and was checked into my hostel by 5:30! I was a little worried about being there alone my first night because I did not speak any Czech, but I should have guessed, everyone knew English! I made my way to small street vendor and helped my self to a Sausage on a stick! It was tasty. I then made my way to a bar in the city centre, where they tell many Americans to stop at first. I made my way there, and soon realized that while Prague is a fun city on the weekends, it virtually is asleep on other nights. As I made my way to the bar I was excited to have an authentic Czech beer, Pilsner Urquell! Yes, you might have had it in America, as it is popular there, but unlike Australian Fosters, this beer is as synonymous with Czech as Guinness is with Dublin. To top it all off, the beer cost around $1! I was in total shock, but in a very good way. I now know why Prague is labelled one of the top Stag (Bachelor) and Hen (Bachelorette) party destinations in central Europe! The bartender was also great, he told me where I should go on Friday and Saturday. It was also at this time I saw two people at the bar who looked like they could be fun. I wanted to make the best of the night so I introduced myself and asked if they knew of any other fun places to go. They told me of course, and invited me to tag along. Score! Locals who agreed to take me out my first night. Three Czech pubs later, I arrived back to my hostel fully happy with the first night I had (Thanks Jye and Gabreal).

FRIDAY – The second day I had to check out of the hostel, to move to the hotel that we were all staying at, courtesy of Alex Tams girlfriend, Amy Troung (Thank you Amy!). Once they arrived, we used the first day to do some basic exploring. We first went to a really cool building called ‘THE WALKING BUILDING’. If you go to Prague, you should definitely check it out. We then decided to grab some food and randomly found this authentic looking Czech restaurant. Once inside, we were yet again taken aback at how cheap the items on the menu were. We ordered, and soon our meals, or should I say meat, arrived the table. I happened to order Marinated Pork Ribs, with a chilli oil. These massive ribs came out on a metal spike and were stacked one-on-top of the other, and boy were they juicy and delicious! Once stuffed, we made our way over Charles Bridge to the Prague Castle and Cathedral on the other side of the river. After some amazing sightseeing, and a very long uphill track, we were ready for a quick beer at a local pub. We went into the first one we saw, which also happened to look closed, and it turned out to be one of Prague’s oldest pubs. The staff still wore garbs (clothes) from the 1900’s, and the inside really looked like it was the set from a movie. It was one of the coolest finds on our trip. Later that night we met up with one of Leanne’s friends friend, Tomas (pronounces To-Mash), who took us out for a very interesting night. One that ended with us trying Absinth (with Wormwood and Thujone).

SATURDAY – We all woke up bright and early (at 10:00) and made our way to the city centre for the 3-hour walking tour, which started off right by the Prague Clock. Now for those of you who have not been to Prague, this clock attracts people from all over the world. For those of you who have been to Prague, you will also know that this was rated the second most upsetting tourist attraction (right after Stonehenge). Well, the walking tour took us all around the city, and we were even able to see the old Jewish town and the Jewish cemetery. The cemetery was probably 50 feet high because they only gave the Jews a small area of land for their dead back in the day. Further, since Jews do not believe in cremation or above ground burials, they had to improvise, but placing tombs, over tombs, over tombs. It was pretty interesting to see, since there were so many tombstones over the top of the mound. After many hours of walking around, we wandered back to the hotel to rest before our big night out for Alex’s birthday. I had managed to get us Discount Entry cards to the largest club in Central Europe, Kaze Lane. It was a pretty fun club, with low ceilings not made for tall people dancing (which I learned the hard way). They had a variety of floors, each playing it’s own music. This night was a lot of fun as well!

SUNDAY – Leanne left early in the morning. Alex, Amy and I wandered around for a bit before they had to leave and I was left to entertaining myself for one more day. What to do, what to do? I wandered back to the hostel to check in and saw someone in the lobby looking just as lost as me. We started talking and decided to find a fun place to go out to. We had a couple drinks at the hostel (they had a really great bar built in) and made our way to grab a bite to eat. It was kinda funny because when we finally ended up at a bar, I ran into people I met the first and the second nights. My friend was like ‘Are you sure you don’t live here!’ It was funny that I already ran into people after only being in the city for a weekend. But I will say it was a fun weekend.

Prague has definitely been my favourite European city to visit thus far, with a great historical story, great pubs, cheap beer, fun and nice people, and a place you can get by only knowing English! I don’t know what European city is next for me, but I will be going to Leeds to visit my friend Ollie with my other friend Andrew (both Monash University Alumni buddies), later this month. It should be a great time. Also later this month, is the second Marquette University Alumni Event, celebrating InterNational Marquette Day on January 29th! It should be a great event, and we already have 16 people registered, that is more than some National clubs do in the US. I say our club is getting off to a great start!

Well, I hope you are all well back home and, as usual, thanks for reading. I am back to work tomorrow and am actually looking forward to it.

Christmas in London!

2011-01-12T16:46:00.001-08:00

Merry Christmas!

I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year in the US! It was nice entering the new year before all of you… Just kidding, it was funny to call my parents back home saying ‘Happy New Year’ only to have them tell me it was only 6PM and still very much 2010 there.

This year was both a good and a sad Christmas for me. Good because I was able to experience a Christmas in London, but sad because it was my first Christmas away from the folks. I am in a destination wedding coming up in March (Manzanillo, Mexico) and since I am from Texas, will be spending a week with my parents around that time too. As such, I felt it would be nice (and cost effective) to spend Christmas in London. Luckily, one of my friends in London invited me back to spend Christmas with his family in North Devon, UK. Yes, the countryside, just like Chronicles of Narnia. Specifically, the first one where it was cold and snowy.

After a four hour train ride, and an hour car ride we arrived in a quant little town of Barnstaple, UK. When we were at his parent’s house, I definitely felt like we were in the country side with fields of white. When we went to the city, I mean town, I felt like I was in a medieval kingdom. It was pretty amazing to see churches that were built in the 1500’s, streets that were made of cobblestone, and cemeteries with tombstones you could no longer read. It truly puts things in perspective when you realize that our lives are only a ‘blip’ on the radar of life. It also made me realize that we live to love and be loved. I love you so much mom and dad. I love you Avita and Cicely. I love my aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandparents as well. You were all missed this Christmas.

One of the shocking aspects of the city was when we walked by the butcher shop and I saw some freshly caught bunnies hanging outside the shop to air out. I knew I was no longer in a city. One thing I did learn while staying with a British family is their level of sarcasm, also called ‘Taking the piss out of someone’. I truly do not get it, but the British like to make snide comments to each other and it is completely accepted, even part of the norm here. In America, things that might offend are justified here because they are intended only in jest. I think it will take me more time to get used to this one, but if you come to visit, be warned! (You can ask Leanne Eberle about this one too www.cubangalinlondon.blogspot.com!)

Overall, my Christmas in Devon was amazing. My friend’s family was extremely nice, and they even got me some gifts! I know, it was an unexpected surprise! His mother made me feel so welcome, and she always had some sort of food she was offering. His dad was a pleasant gent as well and even got me a Christmas card and a bottle of wine. I truly enjoyed the experience and it was nice to be around a family (even it was not mine) for the Holidays.

A British Christmas is nice though and very similar/different to a US one in the following respects:

Similarities:

· They have Christmas Trees too
· They open presents like we do
· We both celebrate with our family and loved ones
· We both have mashed potatoes, cranberries, rolls, gravy
· We both drink wine

Differences:

· We celebrate Christmas Eve, they celebrate Boxing Day (they don’t even get the 24^th off!)
· We have fruit cake, they have Christmas Pudding (which I realize I do not like)
· They have bacon wrapped sausages as part of their meal
· They always have Turkey, we traditionally have a variety of meats (I think this one is because they don’t have Turkey at Thanksgiving so it is their only holiday to cook the bird)
· They have these little things called ‘crackers’ which are placed at the table where you are sitting. Each person gets one and you and the person next to you grab on to each end (similar to what you would do with a wishbone) and pull. >POP<>
· They have this stuff called Bread Pudding, it is a gravy like substance and pretty good
· I literally drank 5 cups of tea a day (I never realized they really liked it this much!)

On the 27^th, I headed back to London to meet my friend Maria Gencev who was visiting me for Christmas. She is currently living in Madrid and is actually in the destination wedding as well, so she stayed in Europe over Christmas like me. As such, I wanted to show her a good time during her visit. The first night we went out dancing, and had a great time. We went to a very large venue and actually got lost for a bit, but then found each other again. The second day, after we finally woke up, we ventured into Central London to see the sights, including Trafalgar square, Camden markets, Big Ben, the London Eye, Soho, China town and Leicester Square. I had a couple co-workers over that night (Ryan and Dani) and we tried to go to a place called the Roxy. While it sounded fun inside, the hour queue (line) and the amount of 18 year olds in line prompted us to choose another venue. We found a small venue called ‘The Bar’ which was nice, and we heard a funny story about ‘Yumma Yumma’! (Only Maria will get this one). It is really nice to be able to show my friends around London, but I think I am going to have so many pictures of Big Ben by the end of my two years here. For some reason, every time I go I end up taking a picture.

Well, Happy New Year all and thanks for reading. I am actually headed to Prague for a long weekend (Thursday through Monday) so I will be sure to write again soon about my experiences there. Talk to you all later!

Belton

Early Birthday Notice:

Also, Trista and I are starting to plan for our 30^th birthday now! If you are reading this, then you are definitely invited. We will be going to Ibiza for our birthdays the weekend of August 4 – 7^th! If you are adventurous, you can even come to London for July 29 to August 4, then Ibiza from August 4 – 7^th, then Back to the US on the 7^th! This would be a weeklong trip of fun. Plus, the ticket from London to Ibiza is only £50! I really want to get a large group to go and rent out a large apartment there. For those of you who have not heard of Ibiza, just google it!

PS. Congrats Meghan and George on your wedding! I can’t wait to see you guys in Mexico!!!

Ireland and Thanksgiving!!!!

2010-12-07T14:26:00.000-08:00

So, sorry all for taking so long in writing another blog entry and thanks to all of you who actually mentioned how much you enjoy reading them (especially Jenna Lara and Kathy Zdarstek). I will make this one a little bit longer and combine the past two I was going to write. This month I will be writing about my recent trip to Ireland, as well as my first Thanksgiving abroad!

Before discussing those items, I want to give everyone a brief update on me. First, things are going extremely well in London. I am finally starting to feel like this is my home and I am able to get around on the tube now. It was great having two friends visit so far (Suzie and Ellen) and I know one more is scheduled for December (Alright Chelsea!!!). Be on the lookout for an entry blog from Suzie, who is currently writing one about her experiences in London!

One thing that recently hit me was my first wave of true homesickness. I am what you call a ‘mama’s boy’ where I need to talk to my mom at least once a week. Since coming abroad, I just find it harder to call home as much as I want, and given the time differences, finding a time that is convenient for all. It is weird being in a country where you sometimes are walking around with your cellphone in your pocket, and you realize the only people you can call you have known less than six months (for the most part). I am just so happy to have a family back home who is so supportive and who genuinely cares about me and who are happy that I am experiencing new things. I love you all and miss you!

OK, now on to the fun!

Ireland

A couple of weeks ago I saw a special come to my inbox with a £28 return plane ticket to Dublin, Ireland (called round trip in the US). I could not pass it up, as I have always wanted to travel there, and I immediately hit purchase. One reason I was so excited is because my very good friend Kate Judd and her family are all from there. Kate is my friend in Chicago who I have spent the past ten Thanksgivings with, since I was so far from my home in Houston, Texas. I recall going to her Thanksgivings and hearing those with an Irish accent, as well as hearing about her visits to the land of the leprechauns! So, I had all the reason to go and I do say it was worth it.

This happened to be the first trip I have ever taken alone. I originally had a friend who purchased a ticket with me, but she had to drop out at the last minute due to personal reasons. I said, well I am not wasting this chance and decided to still go. From my study-abroad experiences in Australia, I realized that hostels are really NOT like the movie ‘The Hostel’. Further, I am getting to that age where hostels should no longer be considered an option when travelling… Well, I do not care yet. I still think they are fun, and the best way to travel if you are travelling alone. As such, I booked one in Central Dublin, crossed my fingers I would not have to stay in a room with Stinky and Stanky (Reference Madrid Blog Entry)! I arrived on a Friday evening around 18:00 (yeah, get used to the time being shown like that. I HATE IT, but am getting to it). I actually ended up booking a shuttle which took me to the airport at 14:30, instead of 4:30 for my 6:30 flight. Yeah, I was upset, but at least I was reading the Millennium trilogy and that definitely kept me entertained. Anyway, back to my story. I arrived at the hostel and was pleasantly surprised at how central and clean it was. Also, it was just three blocks from Temple Bar (which is not really a bar, but the fun area of the city). So, it was clean, cheap, and close to downtown, what more could I want… Oh yea, good roommates. I arrive to my room and am immediately welcomed by a French guy who barely speaks English. We tried to communicate and he told me how he had been travelling for the past 4 weeks and was finally headed home. He told me the fun places to go, and I got my map and went out to get some dinner and a beverage (another good thing about staying in hostels is you can cook yourself). I went to the store and bought some rice, mushrooms, chicken, and some Irish beer. I made some chicken risotto while enjoying authentic Irish beer in the hostel. While sitting in the lobby, I was approached by a group of foreigners. I actually cannot remember where they were from, but I do know one was Polish. We talked for a bit and they invited me out with them for the night. It turns out they had met each other the night before. Wow, what luck! We went to a couple bars in Temple bar, before arriving at some dance bar that was 3 stories. The night was well, except the price of a beer out was 5.80 Euro (equivalent to 7 dollars!).

The day, I ventured to the city centre to take the free city tour. If you ever are in Dublin, DO THE FREE TOUR. While they ask for tips at the end, you are MORE than willing to comply. We were able to see so many things, including Trinity College (where the library used in the new Star Wars Films is) the Dublin Castle, many pubs, the King’s garden, and many more sites. It was also exciting to hear true Irish history and their relationship to the British… (No comment). Lastly, I knew what I needed to do, go to the Guinness tour! It is a self guided tour, and it was amazing. It was an 8 story building, and on the top floor was a dome which overlooked the entire city. It was definitely the highlight of my trip. I have to say, thank you Dublin for showing me such a great time.

Thanksgiving!

First on a side note, if any of you are Vegetarians or Vegans, check out my sister’s blog (www.veganpeace.blogspot.com). Yes, blogging runs in my family, but she does great recipes for every holiday!

Well, boy was I lucky this year. I was not only able to have turkey on Thanksgiving; I was able to go to a Thanksgiving dinner. On the actual day of thanksgiving, the London office decided to have ‘office drinks’ at a local watering hole. Many of the American’s were happy we were doing something other than just sitting at home on a day that is traditionally considered very family. Toward the end of the night, my co-worker Melissa Ferri mentioned how she really wanted turkey and knew some places featuring it for Thanksgiving… She went on to tell me how she would really like to go, but I interrupted her and said ‘Where is your coat, we are leaving!’ We could not even wait to walk there and immediately called a cab to take us. We arrived and were ushered downstairs where we saw people eating everything we could hope for. We looked at the menu and decided to stay, it consisted of:

· Soup/Salad starter

· Turkey Meat

· Turkey Leg

· Stuffing

· Mashed Potatoes

· Green Beans

· Cranberry Sauce

· Corn

· Choice or cobbler or pumpkin pie

Wow, we were in heaven! We sit down and are about to tell the server what we want, then he simply tells us they are only serving the thanksgiving dinner downstairs and asks if we want it. Of course we quickly replied. Little did we know that the meal in fact, included ALL of the above items on a massive platter. So yes, we go the Turkey leg AND the turkey meat. We got the stuffing AND the mashed potatoes. We were in heaven.

Earlier in the week I was asked by some of my new friends out here, Athena and Dan, to their Staysgiving celebration on Sunday. She is Leann Eberle’s friend from gradeschool and the reconnected when Leanne relocated to London. Well, when I got my invite, I received the following invite in the mail:

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0ByB0Y9XxlhzYZDE0ZTEyOWEtNTQ4MC00MTgzLWE4M2ItYTY5ODA4ODdiMDdh&hl=en&authkey=CLrUwYIB&pli=1 (copy and paste entire link in browser—you can tell I work in IT when I upload a document to the internet just to share it on my blog).

Wow is all I could say. The menu was amazing and I did not have to cook, awesome! To make matters better, it was not a simple dinner party, but quite a fancy event, with a full set table, an entire turkey, great company and 18 bottles of wine… Don’t worry, there were 12 of us J. Athena and Kim had been cooking all day (and Athena even had a time schedule she made in excel detailing when to start which item) and Dan was in charge of the music. Apparently Dan is the better cook in their relationship, but he allowed her to cook this one time… It was a fantastic evening, and it really made me miss home more. I missed home so much; I left to call my mom in the middle of dinner to say happy thanksgiving again! My older sister was sick as well so I was not able to talk with her, but I did send her a Hoops and Yoyo Thanksgiving card J. Just joking Athena, Dan did concede that Athena’s cooking skills outshined his on this occasion.

Overall, my first Thanksgiving in London was a smashing success! I also like all the new people I have met in London (Olivia, Katie) and all the new people I have reconnected with (Ollie, Andrew, Ali, Sara). It has been great!

Anyway, thanks all for reading my blog again and I will talk to you all soon!

PS. Leave a comment if you read this! My counter keeps going up, but not my number of comments :)

Happy Halloween! - From London

2010-11-02T17:59:00.000-07:00

Hey all,

I hope all is well with you guys. Sorry it has taken so long to write but I have some good stories to tell, including:

http://marquettetribune.org/2010/10/19/news/reunion-mg1-az2-dac3-alumni-reunite-overseas/

Happy Halloween!

For many of you, you know that I have chosen some of the worst Halloween costumes in recent years. I even had what I thought was the bright idea of dressing up as a ‘Box Spring’ one year. This entailed wrapping a box in aluminium foil and, well… Let’s just leave it at that. Well, this year one of my American co-workers decided to bring a little of our culture to London and thrown an American style Halloween party. Now, don’t get me wrong, the Londoners do like to have costume parties here, but they are called ‘fancy dress’ parties. Mainly because costume refers to ‘swimming costume’, which refers to the American swimsuit. Well, this year I found a much better costume, as you can see!

On another note, my University is starting to develop a stronger presence in London. When I left Chicago, I was sitting on the National Alumni Board of Directors of Marquette University and when I stepped down to move to London, I told them I was going to reach out to Alumni in London when I arrived, and I am happy to say I did. Right when I landed Martha Moore, Alumni specialist from Marquette, reached out to me to assist with the planning of an event here in London. As it turns out, we have approx. 50 alumni in the London area alone, and an additional 30-40 in the rest of Europe! It was exciting planning the event, but nothing was better that actually participating in it. We also invited the London parents of students who were studying abroad at Marquette in Milwaukee, as well as the students from Marquette who were studying abroad in London. It was a sensational event, and all the Marquette Alumni who attended mentioned how excited they were for the next event.

I am excited for this month because not only does my friend Suzie Rotter have plans to come visit me, but I have plans to visit Dublin, Ireland next weekend! Hopefully more of you follow suit and come visit me soon!

Also, thanks for preparing the care package Meghan! I am actually really excited for it, and it will be the first one I have received since being here.

Belton

Ellen's European Adventure!

2010-10-06T12:41:00.000-07:00

This blog is updated 2x a month...

Hi all, another installment of the blog! This time it comes with a twist. It is going to be written by my Cousin Ellen who just came up for a visit! I hope you all enjoy, and don't forget to LEAVE A COMMENT!

Ellen's Experience in London(Belton's Cousin)

After finally booking my ticket to come to London for my Birthday and visit with my AMAZING cousin BT, it just didn’t feel like Septemeber 29th would ever come, and then it did. A bit concerned with such a long flight, 2 meals, 3 movies, and a few snacks later, I’m actually looking forward to doing it again.

When I first touched down, I will admit, I was ready and tired. Going through customs was quite the experience. I went from being an American to “All Others.” Europeans now took precedence. I’d heard mixed remarks about the way people are in London. I heard it all from “You’ll love London and the people” to “They hate Americans.” My first impression was more like the latter. The woman at the customs counter gave me such a hard time and refused to smile, warning that she could hold me for hours in questioning all because I didn’t know my cousins address. Then, she decided to let me through because she is nice? I couldn’t help but to wonder, if this is nice… Thankfully on the Tube, the locals changed my mind. I was warned not to disturb anyone as everyone sticks to themselves, but that didn’t last to long. I met lots of nice people on the tube. It was a good thing too because I’d no idea where I was going.

Finally, I’d arrived at the Embankment exit, lugged all my stuff up, and called my cousin. It brought a tear to my eyes when I saw him. He looks AMAZING by the way. From the plane to a nice wine greeting, I must say it was a nice welcome indeed. Everyone was so nice.
The next morning (4:45 AM to be exact) we were up and at it again, and heading for Madrid, Spain. Madrid was Fun!!! While London was so cold, Madrid was so hot. The trip would not have been the same had it not of been for Maria, a friend of BT’s and now mine. One thing of I’ve learned about BT is that he knows at least one person where ever he goes (even if it’s out of the country), and leaves knowing even more.

This was my first time in a Hostel and it was an interesting but cool experience. We hoped we’d end up with fun room mates we could go out with, but ended up with two men from Russia whom BT appropriately named “Stinky & Stanky.” They were nice and gave us nice beers to try, but they smelled as though they hadn’t showered their entire trip. Even when they left the next morning, they just rolled out of bed and left.

Day one of exploring was fun but day two was much better because we had Maria to show us everything and she did just that. El Prado, The Egyptian Monument, The park where we went boat riding…I can’t even remember everywhere we went. Thankfully, there are pictures. I love how eating early and beating the dinner rush meant arriving at 10:30 PM. Spain is ALIVE. I mean by 4 AM they are still going with ease which made catching our early flight Sunday morning a breeze because we just stayed up. Sleep wasn’t really a part of the plan this trip, and as for the food…well…let’s just say that I’ve nothing to boast about when it comes to the food.

My birthday was one of the best ever. We had a great Thai dinner that also made great drinks in an area just past Picadilli Square. After dinner, Leanne(Belton’s good friend and now my friend), and I went to see the London Broadway show 39 Steps. BT was kind enough to give me his ticket, and I loved the play. After that we went out for drinks and dancing and I had an absolute blast. I mean, I couldn’t imagine it being any better. Even with the tube strike which made lots of people stay home, there were just enough people out. Additionally, terrorist alerts were issued shortly after our return from Madrid Sunday Morning, and the most concerning part is that there’s actual validity to it all.

I’ve seen and done so much in both London and Madrid that I can’t even begin to say it all nor do I want to. You’ll have to go and experience it for yourselves. I feel like I was able to do the touristy stuff, and get engrossed in the cultures, so I got the best of both worlds. My one suggestion would be, don’t pack so much. I made that mistake and it was a big one, huge even. Try everything and embrace the experience with an open mind. Be fearless but vigilant, hey, there were terrorist threats after all. Oh, and above all, hopefully if you are reading this, you know my cousin BT and will be coming to see him when you visit because he is the best tour guide and the experience just wouldn’t be the same without him. Mine sure wasn’t.

Finally, a new post! September 12

2010-09-12T13:27:00.000-07:00

This blog is updated once a week.

Hey All,

I knew this would happen eventually where I miss a whole week of posting. In order to make it up to you, I am going to try to have two posts this week. One thing I am extremely excited about is that my cousin Ellen is coming in just 3 weeks now! I am extremely excited for her to come and I am ready to show her what London is all about. She arrives on a Thursday, we fly to Madrid, Spain the following day returning on Sunday. So much fun. As for my working out, I am happy to say that I have fit into shirts and jeans that I could not when I arrived, as such I am on the right track. I have lost more weight and am now at 107 KG (about 135LBS). Not as much as before, but that is because I went to a couple of happy hours. Although, for example, my meals on Tuesday consisted of: Breakfast – Blackberries, carrots and grapes, snack – kiwi, lunch – salmon on veggies, snack – blackberries, dinner avocado, grape, and tomato salad. Yep, if I can keep eating like that I will keep on the right track!
As for other activities this week, I went to see Oliver on Thursday with my friend Leanne. We had front row tickets and we got a DEAL on the prices. Has anyone ever heard of www.groupon.com? Well, they have it here and we signed up for it. We purchased FIVE tickets to any five West End Broadway shows for 75 pounds. Well, this was the first of our five shows, and the value of the tickets we received were 62.50 each! That means we essentially got buy one, get four free! Next week we are seeing Billy Elliott. I was not too excited to see Oliver at first because I heard it was not that good. However, after the first song and seeing to many talented kids on stage doing their choreographed dances so well, I knew it would be an enjoyable show. And it was!

Another day this week, I broke one of the rules my personal trainer gave me…. No Cheese. For those of you who know me, my favourite foods before I moved to London were Nachos and Pizza, as well as a good bottle of wine and some nice cheeses. Well, there is this really nice place by my office (Gordon’s wine bar) that offers a great selection of wine, as well as some of their gourmet cheeses. A co-worker and I, Alex Tam, decided to go there after work one day for an after work cocktail. When I saw the selection of European cheeses, I could not but help order a taster place. We enjoyed a great bottle of Opal Syrah, with some brie and smoked gouda. Two of our other cowokers, Melissa and DIa, came to meet us for some wine and we ended up closing the bar! The good thing is that most pub’s in London close at 11PM, and you have to go to a late night pub to drink later than that. Meaning, it is easy to close a bar and still be in bed before Midnight. And since we start work at 9AM here, I can still get a full 8 hours of sleep, I love it!

Right now it is Sunday and I am writing my blog from Hyde Park, a beautiful park in London. I am sitting in a nice lawn chair in the sun, people watching and writing. Every day I spend in London I fall more in love with it. I really hope so stay here quite some time. I really cannot wait until March though. One thing about distance, is it makes you miss things back home so much and I have been missing my family so much lately. I love you all!

Well, I am off to the Tate Modern now to look at some artwork and enjoy the rest of my Sunday afternoon (and hopefully spend no money). The best thing about London, is that all the museums are FREE! Man, before I moved here I had so many bored days. You know, when you wake up and don’t know what to do… Or you wake up and want to do something, but don’t want to spend money… Well, that is not the case in London. There are so many free activities and so many people, that you literally don’t have time to be bored, the perfect environment for me. I hope everyone is well and talk with you all soon. Also, I have included a picture from the Great Britain Beer Festival! All the people in the pic are from my office in London!

PS.

- Kate and Trista, I love the email you guys sent! I miss you both as well.
- Kate and Ally, I hope you are ready to have fun in a couple weeks when Jeff and Christina visit!
- Jeff and Christina, I hope you have a blast in South Korea with Kate and your sister. How about a side trip to London on your way home??
- Cicely, we need to plan a Skype call soon, it has been awhile since we talked last, love you!
- Ellen, the countdown has begun! See you in a couple of weeks
- Tim, so, what’s the status on your passport!
- Sarah K, So, I need more recommendations from you regarding my Madrid trip!!!
- Avita, I got your wish list and I am on it!

And lastly some Wedding Congratulations!!

- Congrats Courtney Tisius!!! I still cannot believe you chose the year I left to get married!!
- Congrats to Stacy Biddle!! You have to tell me how he proposed, I am sure it will be a great story!
- Congrats to Brett Smith! I am happy you have found the one. I know from living with this guy that after one month after meeting his girl, he was smitten. He said he was going to marry her at that time and he was right!

Also, if any of you want to add me on Skype, feel free: AussieBelton!

Time for Belton to get FIT!

2010-09-01T15:59:00.000-07:00

Welcome to my blog!

My name is Belton, and I am writing about my experiences as I live in London for the next two years (possibly longer). I plan on updating this blog every week (I will try my best) so be sure to check for updates frequently.

31 August, 2010

Hey all,

So, I hope all I well with you all. As many of you know, I started working out with my personal trainer this week. The first meeting was pretty intense and I hope I can do it. I started working out in early March at Wicker Park Fitness in Chicago after about a two year hiatus. I think I am going to start tracking my weight on this blog as well so you all fan follow me and give me additional support. I have done a generally good job this year.

When I started working out in March, I weighed in at around 265 (120 Kilograms) with a 42 size waist. Since then, I have slightly changed my diet and been working at the gym doing cardio and random machines each time I go. Eating healthier and the basic workout has helped me get down to 237 (108 Kilograms) pounds now (a size 39 waist). Now that I have moved to London, it seems everyone is ‘FIT’ which means ‘In Shape’. As such, I am going to work hard to get ‘FIT’ in time for my good friends wedding in Mexico in March 2010 (Congrats George and Meghan!!). I am going to start each of my future blog posts with my weight, so you can track my progress as well. Wish me luck!

Here are the Rules from my personal trainer:
1) Eat six times a day
2) No Cheese!
3) No Sugar
4) Cardio 2x a week
5) Cardio & Weights 3x a week
6) Protein for Breakfast
7) Only drink a maximum of 2 days a week
8) Drink plenty of water
9) No chips, crisps, or fries!

Also as part of this entry, I am going to tell you all about my weekend. This weekend was my first holiday weekend and on Friday I went to an Austrian beer hall and had a couple Litre’s of beet. Saturday I rested and then on Sunday we went to a festival called ‘Notting Hill Festival’ with some of my coworkers (Leanne, Melissa, Alex Tam, and others). It is a Caribbean festival, and I got to see a lot of different cultures there. For those of you who don’t know, my mom was born in Trinidad, and raised in Venezuela. That means I am ½ Venezuelan! I love you Mom!

The festival was a lot of fun and I was even able to see a Trinidadian float (which I immediately took a picture of to post on here for my mom). So far London has been a great experience for me. It has given me the chance to take a step back from life and to re-evaluate where I see myself heading in the future. Right now it is exciting to be here and experiencing all the different cultures, and I am very excited for all the European travel that awaits me ahead.

Well, that’s all for now so wish me good luck in working out. Maybe I will make enough progress by Christmas to post a picture… Well, we will just have to wait and see about that one!

Wanna Come Visit!

2010-08-25T11:09:00.000-07:00

Welcome to my blog!

My name is Belton, and I am writing about my experiences as I live in London for the next two years (possibly longer). I plan on updating this blog every Sunday (I will try my best) so be sure to check for updates frequently.

By request, I am now starting to take questions. If you have anything you would like answered, please post it in the comments section and I will answer it during my next blog entry. Willing to give advice from things in London to Belton's words of wisdom!

Hi all, I hope all is well with you guys. Still settling in and it is starting to finally feel like home over here. This weekend is my first weekend in which I will get to experience a holiday! It is pretty cool to have a three day weekend, as we have Monday off. No travelling, as it tends to be quite pricey to travel this during the Bank Holiday weekend, but it should be fun in London. Have you seen the Movie Notting Hill? I will be going to the Notting Hill Festival this weekend so it should be a great time. Well, I have some items I wanted to share with you guys so below you will find some (A) Common UK terms and (B) tips if you want to come visit me!

(A)
UK Terms: Also, if you plan on visiting me, you need to be up on the London Lingo. Here are a couple of terms that I will share with you so you can fit in more easily:

• Shattered (Tired) – After a long night of fun, toward the end of the night you might say ‘Man, I am Shattered’.
• Flat – Apartment (and you need to say flatmates here as opposed to roommates. Roommate is someone who you share a room with. I messed up with that one a couple of times).
• Timepoint – ATM Machine (or in Wisconsin Tyme Machine)
• Pounds – You all know this one, Dollars!
• Quid – Like above, but more similar to ‘Bucks’ (e.g. 50 bucks)
• Pence - Cents
• Rocket - Arugula
• Prawns - Shrimp
• Fit – Very good looking person
• Cheers – Hello, or Goodbye, or Thank you, or well, you get the meaning
• Bum or Arse – Well, you have to guess on this one
• Mushy Peas – They really like to serve peas mushed together and call them mushy peas. They are very common with Fish and Chips.
• Knackered - This is what you use for when you are absolutely tired from lack of sleep or too much fun (they have a lot of terms for tired)…

(B)
Visiting Belton Tips: So, planning on a visit to come see me, check out some quick tips that I have to find a cheaper flight!

1. Search Online! - Check out many of the websites you know like expedia.com, Travelocity.com, and skyscanner.com. Also, try searching some of the sites but change the .com to .co.uk. You might find a flight cheaper in pounds! (Be sure to look at Aer Lingus, that is the flight I used to com here). Super cheap!

2. Come during the week – We all know this one. But when you are flying to a different country and you come from Wednesday to Wednesday, you actually get to spend the entire weekend here as opposed to being jet lagged on a Friday or Saturday!

3. Know when to fly - I hear the cheapest time to come over is January – March, while the most expensive is July – September. Flight during the summer are often over $1000, but in the non-peak time you can find a flight for as low as $400. And remember, you can fly into any of the London airports, as you can definitely get to my house by the tube.

4. Get your PASSPORT! You might find a good price in two weeks, but if you don’t already have your passport, then you will not be able to come down. Be sure to get one early so you don’t have to stress when it comes time to book.

5. Plan a combined trip with me! Going to Europe, let me know because you might be able to have the BT with you at your grand destination to help you drink all those delicious beverages on the beach.

PS. Christina, Leanne, Darci, Ben and Anita thanks for the great emails! I promise to respond by the end of the week to each of them. It truly is nice to receive a personalized email from you guys so keep’em coming and I will do the same. Talk to you all later!

Cheers!

More about Life!

2010-08-16T14:12:00.000-07:00

Welcome to my blog!

My name is Belton, and I am writing about my experiences as I live in London for the next two years (possibly longer). I plan on updating this blog every Sunday (I will try my best) so be sure to check for updates frequently.

Welcome to my new instalment of my weekly blog! I hope all is well with everyone back home, as I am having a blast out here in London and meeting a lot of really cool people. I think I will use this entry to tell you (1) how I am settling in, (2) my job in London, (3) and a little bit about the food in London.

1 - Life: I have been adjusting extremely well, and this week another fellow co-worker of mine (Leanne) arrived from the states to join me in London. This week has been a very exciting week, as I have went to a couple happy hours with new young professionals I have met out here. One person even invited me to the Soho House of London (www.sohohouse.com) and it was amazing. Went back there for afternoon drinks on Sunday (such a cool place). Also, I am excited to start planning my weekend trips. From an initial look at flight costs, they are all around £40-80 round trip! Below is a list of potential places I want to visit (obtained through a Londoner’s feedback):
• Barcelona
• Paris
• Prague
• Scotland
• Munich
• Ireland
• Croatia
• England (Barth, Norfolk, Kent)
• If any of you have travelled through Europe, please let me know some additional recommendations and/or your favourite places!

2 - Work: My new office is great. It is located in Trafalgar square, and right in the heart of the city. The projects I am working on out here are just what I needed in my career. I feel as if I am in a position again where each day I am excited to go to work. Not just because it is different work, but I actually enjoy what I am learning. Also, one nice thing is it is extremely easy to get to any of the client sites around London. Mainly because no one owns a car because the tube system can get you anywhere! I also think it is cool to work in such a diverse office with people from all around the world. One exciting social event our office did this week was to attend the Great Britain Beer Festival aka ‘Beerfest’. It is a festival where they bring in bears from around the world and we get to try them. It was a fun event. It was also funny to see a pint of Sierra Nevada going to £9. Also, me and the two other American transfers took a trip to the ‘Tate Modern’ and I was able to see some really cool paintings, including Dali and Picasso.

3 - Food: Well, this is one thing that people have definitely got wrong. The food here is great and you get to try so many different types. Right before I left the states, I tried to go to as many Mexican restaurants as I could. Mainly because when I went to Australia, there were no Mexican restaurants around and I thought it would be the same here. Well, I was wrong (as you can tell from my very first blog entry). I am not going to talk about it too much yet, because I want to write an upcoming entry just on London Cuisine, but I am really enjoying the food I have tried so far. Just to give you a taste of what I have been eating, I am going to list a couple (I know bad pun): Pot Pie (this is meat stuffed in a flaky crust), Fish and Chips (of course), and lots of sushi. I have yet to get some Indian, but that is at the top of my list.

My House and Thanks!

2010-08-09T14:34:00.000-07:00

09 August 2010

Welcome to my blog!

My name is Belton, and I am writing about my experiences as I live in London for the next two years (possibly longer). I plan on updating this blog every Sunday (I will try my best) so be sure to check for updates frequently.

Thanks again for reading. This blog is dedicated to my wonderful older sister and my great friend Trista. They both provided me with amazing birthday gifts that were both generous and unexpected. My sister gave me a VERY good gift certificate to London Amazon.com and Trista gave me a GREAT wine and cheese basked (those who know me well know I love wine and cheese). I have included a picture above of the gift basket.

I would also like to thank Karin for writing me a wonderful message showing your support for my blog and bringing back wonderful memories. Receiving your message was great!

Now for this issue. I have thought it would be nice to show you all where I live. If you look at my last entry, I included a tube map of England. If you look at that, I live by the tube station called ‘Sloane Square’. This is located in the central SW of the map. I work by the ‘Charring Cross’ tube station and only live 3 miles away.

Now for the videos. They are as follows:

1 – My Neighborhood
2 – My Entryway and Living Room
3 – Bathroom and Kitchen
4 – My Room

Thanks again for watching. I think next week I am going to write about the best way to find a cheap flight to London. Also, if you are reading this, please leave a comment! I really like to read your thoughts on the blog.

The Tube Experience

2010-07-31T07:00:00.000-07:00

Welcome to my blog!

My name is Belton, and I am writing about my experiences as I live in London for the next two years (possibly longer). I plan on updating this blog every Sunday (I will try my best) so be sure to check for updates frequently.

There are so many things I want to talk about, but I don’t know where to start. First, if you are reading this, then thank you. It has really meant a lot to me to receive all the emails and Facebook posts that I have from you guys. It makes me feel less, well, homesick. Yes, I felt it for my first time yesterday. I have spent a semester in Australia with no problems, and now I come here, and am missing everything from back home. I think it is because my birthday is this weekend and I will be celebrating it with all new people. I am extremely happy my office is full of extremely fun people though. I have been in the office for only three weeks, and I have already been to three happy hours, and there are two more planned. Further, a great deal of people from the office comes to them and actually stays the entire time. It’s pretty good.

So, I think for my first topic I will describe to you the ‘tube’ experience. F or those of you in Chicago, it can also be referred to as the ‘El’ experience. When I first arrived, I was extremely intimidated by the underground transit system here. If you look at a map, you can easily see why. I tried to avoid it as long as possible, but my first job was in Canary Wharf, an area you have to take the tube to, or the boat if you are lucky like me and live close to the river. OK, so back to the story. The train stations here are completely unlike those in the US.

The five things to know about London ‘Tube’ Stations:

1. Be Ruthless: One of the first things I learned from the London transit system is you have to be ruthless when it comes to getting to work. I have always tended to be the type of person to give up my seat for the less able and elderly, which I will continue to do, but some things need to change. It all started while travelling to my first client in Canary Wharf. I was at the Jubilee station and was amazed that there were actually lines at each of the train doors. I chose one and patiently waited for the next train (which comes every 3-7 minutes in the morning). There was a nice older lady slightly behind me and to the side. When the train came, I stepped away to let her in. As soon as people saw me do that, they started pushing past me to get on the already crowded train. I missed that train. That is the day I learned, you need to push your way on the train if you ever want to get to work in the mornings…

2. One word… Sardines: Once on the train, you have to find a comfortable spot and not move. I thought getting on the tube was hard enough, now you have to travel with people literally pressed on all sides of you. I thought the Chicago trains got crowded during rush hour. Just image the Chicago morning crowds, with an additional 25 people in each car. Not only that, but air-conditioning is not the best over here, as it typically does not get extremely hot. Well, it sure does get hot in these tube stations with people packed like ‘sardines’ each train car. That is why, in typical Belton fashion, I have bought myself a mini travel fan, which looks ridiculous when using it on the train. But, hey, at least I am cool right…

3. No Talking: One aspect of the tube people have mentioned to me is that London is known for having the ‘meanest’ tube lines in the world. Many Londoners say that talking is ‘taboo’ and you should stick to your own methods of recreation. Well, in my experiences thus far, I have to disagree. I have made many friends on the train, especially during my first two weeks when I was trying to figure out how to get around. I will say though, you will never see so many non-smiling people in one place.

4. Start Reading: I first started to try and read the free paper that they hand out in the mornings on my tube ride. I just found it extremely difficult to try and hold the paper, hold the handrail, and try to maneuverer amidst a mass of people. I looked around and saw many people reading books, easily held in one hand, so I thought I would try it. I went and picked up “The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo” from the store, and within a week it was done (very good book). My next selection was “The Shock Doctrine” by Naomi Klien (I like to switch from fiction to non-fiction every other book). I am only 100 pages in and I am hooked. It is an enlightening book that I read with my jaw open because the content is so unbelievable. If you enjoy economics, and have read Freakenomis, this book is for you. Warning, it is not light reading, so beware. (Sara Schmitt, I really think you would like this book).

5. Great Workout: Lastly, while I live next to the tube station, about a four minute walk, once inside the stations you enter a never-ending maze of a building, with many doors, hallways, escalators, stairs, and elevators. It was quite confusing at first, but now that I know the hang of it I am starting to make it through much faster. I only think you can understand if you have been here, but they have escalators that are about three times the length than the ones I am used to. Not only that, but every once in awhile they break (3 times since I have been here 3 weeks). Because of that, you start to do a lot of stair climbing. I actually have been trying to take the stairs as much as possible until I am able to join a gym.

Well, that’s it for my second post. My birthday is tomorrow, so I will be sure to tell you all how it was next week. Also, be sure to complete my poll question below!

Belton

Backlog and Introduction!

2010-07-19T15:09:00.000-07:00

Welcome to my blog!

My name is Belton, and I am writing about my experiences as I live in London for the next two years (possibly longer). I plan on updating this blog every Sunday (I will try my best) so be sure to check for updates frequently.

As for this post, I am simply adding the entries I have created up to this point. Enjoy!

First Arrival – 1 July, 2010

So, I am finally in London. I am happy to say that after many weeks I have arrived safely in London, and wow, this city is not what I expected. It is always busy, always moving. When I moved from Milwaukee to Chicago in November, I was impressed by how big Chicago is. Now that I am in London, I am yet again surprised at the size.
Right off the plane I was extremely jet-lagged, but I still wanted to explore my new home. After a quick walk around Trafalgar Square (where I am currently staying) and Soho, I was up for a quick bite to eat. I wanted something familiar and quick, so I stopped in a Pizza Hut (yes, Pizza Hut). I was greeted with leather seats and a wine list. I quickly asked myself, is this the same pizza hut from back in the US? Yes, just a little more upscale out here in London. After a quick bite, I made my way back to my hotel and fell asleep. It was 8PM!

Overall, I have to say, London is a great city and I truly think I am going to like it here.

Day 2 – 2 – July, 2010

Well, today is my day to start apartment hunting. I have 14 days to find an apartment, and am currently staying in Trafalgar Square, which is one of the coolest area’s of the city. I would really like to stay here, but I can’t afford 1800 pounds (approx. $3000 USD) a month alone, so off to look at other areas.

One interesting thing about London is that they give people free mobile phones (including the iPhone) if they sign up for a cell plan, which averages around 35 pounds a month (so cheap)! I wanted a phone, since I left mine in the US, so I quickly went to a O2 store to get one. Guess what, I also found out that you have to be here at least six months in order to get a free phone (or pay a hefty deposit). As such, I emailed my old roommate and asked her to send mine over (Thanks Sarah).
Luckily, my office asked if I would like to come in and pick up my work phone to use in the interim. Of course, I would be connected to society again. I went to the office, and was able to meet most of my new co-workers. Everyone seems really nice, and I think I am going to really like it in this office. After the quick introductions, I was asked to happy hour with them. Who I am I to say “No” to a couple drinks with some people who I am going to be spending a lot of time with. Further, it was fitting because the place they chose was The Texas Embassy. Well, I am from Texas, so I was excited. As we walked in, I realized that I was in a Mexican restaurant. When I asked why a Texas place serving Mexican food, one English person replied "Well, here in the UK, we consider Texas part of Mexico." I don't know what to think about that, but I do have to say, they had some good Margarita's!

I know I am going to like it here.