Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone! We have now finished all our Christmas celebrations, and are spending Christmas day doing absolutely nothing. This year, though, we were lucky to have two santas:


One is apparently my sister and the other one is Tim (not really sure who’s who though).

Tim and I are right now building up a fear, as we have promised to make 'an English Christmas dinner' for boxing day (tomorrow) and mum has had to order two ducks especially just for that... But we hope you are all enjoying your holidays!

Landed!

Wow! What a trip! Our sweet landlady, M, offered to drive me to Victoria coach station. It'll take 15 mins, she told me. Fair enough, it probably would have, if it wasn't for the fact that we got stuck in traffic a few blocks away from the station. After five minutes in the car, without having moved an inch, I decided to run for it instead. Unloaded my luggage, and started running, bags and all. Only had five mins. to spare... Three blocks later, M finally caught up with me. So luggage back in car, and no feet on the brake... Made it to the coach with no more than 2 seconds to spare!

Finally on the coach, I started to slowly relax. However, it appeared that the block in traffic was not only on the south side of Victoria station, but on all sides... It took us 45 mins. to get from Victoria to Westminster... (Now, be good and google that distance on a map!) I was still ok, because I knew I had booked a very early coach just to have that extra time at the airport, but people around me really seemed to panic. I should have known better myself...

Well, got to the airport, with 2 whole hours left. Perfect! Queued up to the checking in machine (Ryan Air's latest thing), only to discover that it wouldn't print my boarding pass. Weird! Queued up for assistance. Learnt that my last name (God forbid, there are people who have å, ä, ö or other strange characters in their names!) could not be printed by the machine. Queued up for the sales desk. Had my name changed on the ticked. Queued up for the checking in machine again (they couldn't check me in at the sales desk, oh no!). Queued up for the dropping off luggage (a thing that truly deserves a whole other blog entry, but let me tell you; it included anything you've ever seen on 'the Airport' or similar TV shows: crying, swearing, the lot). Queued up for the security check. Ran to gate. Made it with five minutes to spare...

And then panicked on the plane because I thought I was on the wrong flight (staff very foreign, everyone around me speaking Polish, and security announcement in French!). Couldn't be happier than when I finally landed on home grounds!

Tomorrow I'm off to meet Finnish friends in town, and then to my sister's for a lucia and glögg party. And ahead lies the longest holiday I've ever had...

Lazy life

Thank you for all the positive comments! I think I have landed now, and although the fear of the unknown still hits me every now and then, I am more happy now than I have been in a long time. With the financial crisis and all that, this is possibly the worst time ever to suddenly be unemployed, but I will not let that affect me. Proper job hunting begins next year...

So, what have I been up to? Well, we had some friends over for a mini Christmas party (rather unplanned, but still successful). Tim made a big pork roast (very yummy) and I tried to make Yorkshire puddings for the first time ever (and yes, it is more or less a normal pancake recipe). Mum and dad had brought us some Christmassy candle holders and table cloths, and Tim and I bought some really tacky Christmas lights, as well as dug out my old decorations (mostly hand painted Santas) and our straw (hay?) goat from IKEA (a year-round decoration for us) was placed in front of the fireplace. I even managed to dig out my Absolute Christmas-CD, so the transformation of the flat was complete. I now feel very much in mood for the holidays!

Last night we had Peter and Elena over for dinner. Last chance to see them before the holidays, so we wanted to make an effort. Unfortunately, we weren't too keen on the date: Tim had to go to Paris at 5 o'clock this morning (meaning getting up at 3!), so we were rather stressed hosts but still had a very good time. Peter and Elena (as the good academics they are) gave me gifts as a congratulation to being finished - a book and two Wii games... So we spent the last part of the evening playing on the Wii. Who knew that Australians were so good at winter sports? Englishmen being rubbish was, of course, nothing new.

Today, I'm slowly starting to pack. I've booked by coach ticket to Stansted (wow, that airport is far out!) - a bit scared, since I'm using a new company for the first time, but I'm sure it'll work out. I've also called my mobile phone operators again - and hey! this time I am allowed to use my phone abroad without having to pay £100... Don't know if I should be happy, or annoyed. Probably happy! I'm still waiting for the last load of laundry (which, hopefully, will have time to dry), and updating the contents on my mp3-player (no, it's not an iPod, I hate iTunes). I'm slightly worried about how to get all the things in the bags, but think I might actually leave the laptop behind (and that is shocking!). I'm sure there's one I can borrow at home. Wow! The work me is slowly evaporating...

Life, version 2.1

Yes, it is done! The thesis has been delivered (went to the printers one week ago, and was given to the faculty on Wednesday - great thanks to my hero Elise for helping me with that!) - a new phase of my life has begun. It is a great relief, but also strange. The work that I have done has been such a great part of my life and my identity for the past five years, and it is hard to find a new role, and a new way of defining oneself. More than anything, I am really, really tired. I could easily sleep for a week. It has been both physically and mentally exhausting.

Also, the day after I had finished, mum and dad came to visit - and the day after that Tim's mum as well. Tim has been very very busy - his last sale being on the Wednesday (which went very well, and he has been raised to the skies), so I have had to been entertaining and social non stop for the past six days. To say that I am knackered is not an exaggeration. But it has been very nice to have them here, and to focus on some new things.

I still do not know what to do now, though. The natural first step would be to apply for funding in the UK, but I don't think I have enough (English) publications to even be considered. So, I'm sitting here, contemplating my life, wondering what to do next (do I really want to stay in academia?), worrying about lack of money, lack of experience, lack of future plans. It is a strange feeling - being utterly happy and really frightened at the same time... Welcome to my life - version 2.1!