Daily wonderings

On the tube they just announced that: "Due to necessary engineering work, there are severe delays on the circle line". I am of course grateful for the information (although I, due to the afore mentioned more or less constant engineering work normally try and stay away from that line), but still cannot help but think that it must mean that there is also unnecessary work?

Experiences from the tube

Dear fellow Londoners,

Summer is here. It is lovely. Please start wearing deodorant when using public transport.

Thank you! Kind regards,

Distressed traveller

PS. Anyone taking the tube from Leicester square to Covent Garden truly deserves to be hit by the plague and drowned in the Thames, you lazy bastards!

One of those calls

Tim was out and about, and I was at home working when the phone rang.

-Hello?

-Hello, how are you? (In very heavy Indian accent, think Apu in the Simpsons.)

-I'm fine thank you, and you?

-I am very well, thank you. Thank you so much for asking. [Oh, for God's sake, just get on with it. You know I don't want to talk to you!] Can I please speak to mrs B?

-Eh, noooo, she is not in at the moment. Can I take a message? [Hehehe, very sneaky!]

-Oh, eh, no, I was just calling about her bank account. I will try again later. Thank you!

And this is when I want to scream - HA! You are not calling about my bank account! Although that would be kind of obvious... But 1) We do not have separate bank accounts, and they would definitely ask for Dr B first 2) My only personal accounts are in Sweden, and why the heck would they have an Indian guy calling me? 3) There's no way on earth a bank would call you on a Saturday.

So, sorry Apu. No business for you!

Public transport

I normally try and take the bus when I'm going somewhere. It works for most of central London, but then there's a point when you have to decided that it takes too long time. London is, after all, quite a large city, where traffic at rush hour can be absolutely horrible.

The main reasons for choosing the bus are four: 1) it is considerably cheaper than the tube (at least if you don't have to change, any new bus route you jump on will be charged again), 2) you get to see so much more of the town (and suddenly realizes how everything is connected), 3) it is easier to get out if you're trapped (a decent bus driver will let you off even if you're not at the bus stop, if stuck in traffic - on the tube you are basically very trapped) and 4) on the bus you have the chance to get some fresh air (rush hour on the tube in the middle of August is NOT a pleasant experience - especially if you're stuck with your nose in someone else's armpit (they should make separate carriages for short people!)).

Having said that: I just experienced a very unpleasant smell on the bus tonight. First of all you look around, trying to work out who it might be who hasn't washed for a week, or who didn't make it to the loo in time. Hopefully you then discover a clearly strange creature in a corner of the bus who can be blamed for the stench. The worrying thing is those occasions when there's no one obviously responsible. That's when you start to panic a bit, trying harder to locate the smell. And the fear sets in - have you sat in something (is that why there was a seat available?!?), and how do you get out of the situation?

(I have actually once sat on a wet seat. I freaked out completely, until I discreetly managed to sniff my fingers and realized that it was just coke. However, Tim and I have once seen a teenage girl wee on a seat. We didn't sit down for months after that.)

Who said that travelling on public transport was easy?

Offended

Well, I guess I shouldn't be upset, but I still am. After going out with some of Tim's old friends last night (Tim, however, had to go out for a business dinner - after already having had two lunches!) I still needed to get some work done before going to bed. So, in order to stay awake, I decided I needed some sugar, and that the best option was to buy some sweets in one of our corner shops, just by the bus stop. I found myself a bag of winegums and went up to the counter to pay. I was a bit tipsy, but nothing bad, and was my usual cheerful self (?) and asked the old Indian man behind the counter how he was doing. He smiled back, and asked if I was having some munchies. I replied that I had to stay up late, and just needed something sweet. But when I went out of the shop I was secretly annoyed that the man had questioned my eating habits - thinking I was a pig who had a large bag of sweets at 22.20 at night (I might just be, but that's not for him to comment on). I told Tim the story when he got back home an hour later. And that's when Tim explained to me what the munchies actually mean: getting hungry after smoking weed! (Well, obviously my English slang vocabulary isn't good enough - or possibly I'm hanging with 'the wrong people'.) I'm shocked! As if being called a fat pig wasn't bad enough - being taken for a junkie is definitely worse (although, seeing my own tired face in the mirror, I could absolutely see myself being taken for a crack whore). I just want to hide today!

Flu again

In reference to my earlier post on the swine flu, I found this in yesterday's the London paper (one of the free local papers) and thought it was pretty accurate:


It also nicely sneers at how dirty the city is and the poor housing (again: see earlier posts). More from this cartoonist can be found here.

Another party

Well, aren't I popular, all of a sudden. Went to a "ladies' dinner" with the choir last night. It's an annual thing, where all the men throw a great dinner party for the ladies; so lots of singing, drinks, food and dance. This year's theme was 'folkpark' (thus bangers and mash for dinner...). Didn't really feel up for it (being tired after the previous night's adventure), and was a bit bummed that it began so early (party started at 17.30, but met up with some of the other girls at 15), but had a great time. The boys had made quite an effort, and when I left at 3 the party was still going... Unfortunately, my night bus apparently doesn't run from the same bus stop as the day bus, so I ended up having to take a taxi (Marylebone is not an area I am very familiar with, so it seemed like the better option, rather than stroll around unknown streets in the middle of the night).

It was, however, not very pleasant to get up this morning. We had choir practice at 13 today, and of the normal 30-40 people, only 10 showed up. (And we didn't sound too good.) But still managed to sing for three hours, even though it was super nice and sunny outside. It took me quite some time to get back home, because the marathon was on today, but now I'm back, and I will take a long, hot bath (and hope I don't fall asleep and drown) before I make dinner and go to bed... It has been quite a weekend. I am defintiely too old for this life!

Dressed up!

I ran around like a headless chicken yesterday, in order to try and find an outfit for the fancy dress party. Even texted the people I was going with and asking whether I actually really had to find an outfit. Well, they replied that everyone basically was going to, so I'd better. In the end - in a major fancy dress store/rental place - I decided to go for the cheap option: a Union Jack dress (think Spice girls) for the not too overly priced sum of £15! Also had to run around to find some matching stockings (the dress barely covered my bum), and finally found a pair of bright blue ones (when will I ever wear them again???) in Topshop, where I also got some bright red sparkling nail polish. Perfect!

Ran home (opted for the bus rather than the tube, since there had been problems on the Victoria line all day), but it really took for ever. Had 15 mins, so picked up the things I needed, and then left for Convent garden, where I was supposed to meet my friends. Met them, just to turn around and go straight back the tube (now that was quite a stupid detour! I thought we were having a drink or something to eat) and headed out to Canary Wharf, where they live.

We all changed into our ridiculous outfits: (the boys were knights) and I discover that the other Spice girl had the exact same dress! Oups! I am the first one to admit that she wore it a lot better than I. Also, she had the matching wig, and thus made a perfect Ginger Spice. (I was Wannabee spice - the one who never made it past the auditions...)I had a very quick dinner: one vanilla soy yogurt (yuk!). (Tip from the expert: don't combine that with beer!)

We took the tube in to town (got plenty of stares and a few comments) and to Leicester square. Went in to the club, only to realize that we were the only ones in fancy dresses!!! No one else of all the guests had bothered, and sat there in their normal little party/after work outfits! Oh, the horror! I have seldom felt so out of place! But we still managed to have a good time, and it was great to hang out with my friends from the States. I was, however, very happy to have a very long trench coat when going home...

And in fifteen minutes I am off to a party with the choir...

Masquerade

In desperate need of ideas here. Going to a fancy dress party on Friday (I think it's St George's day), and the theme is 'reminds me of England'. I don't have much time to make a costume, or the money to buy a fancy one, so I could really use a few suggestions. The people I am going with are all American (dressed up as Ginny Weasley from Harry Potter, Ginger Spice and one of the characters from Sweeny Todd), and as I think there will be many Americans, it should probably be someone (something) that is widely known (so no obscure TV profiles). The alternatives so far: the Queen (present one), queen Victoria (now, that will need quite a dress), Vicky Pollard (from Little Britain), one of the other Spice girls, Elton John (!), English policeman ('Bobby') or school girl in uniform (not sure I want to go for that naughty look though). Any other ideas? Come on, please be creative!

Creatures = uncomforts

I am, once again, starting to freak out about all the little creatures I keep finding in the flat. The occasional spider I can live with (except for the big, fat one I found sitting next to me in the bath one morning, just after I'd had a shower - but at least that woke me up!). Also, I know that the fact that we have such a great gap under our front door brings in the occasional critter. But finding a really big woodlouse in the middle of the bathroom floor is not alright. On any level!

And then, a day later, I suspect we have textile eating moths. We have had some moth like things flying around ever since we moved here (nice, I know) but I never thought they were the bad kind, because I haven't had any problems with any of the textiles we have (especially not with the towels, and the seem to prefer hanging out in the bathroom). But last night I discovered that there were loads of little holes on my t-shirt. So, I have now been googling all morning. I'm starting to doubt that they are actually moth holes (which I guess is a good thing, but also bad because it means that it is my fat tummy that has worn it out). But googling creates another problem - I have now seen too much! And I am now awaiting the arrival of cockroaches, bedbugs and lice (but am still confident that the neighbourhood cats will keep any rats away)...

Shopping excursion

Today, I finally managed to get Tim to go with me to IKEA.* There are a few in and around London. Unfortunately, the one which is probably the closest to us (in Croydon) is not very easily accessible (as there are no tube lines going in the south, thanks to the swampy land). We have once before been to the store in Tottenham Hale, but decided to try the one in Wembley this time (both in north London). So, after a 30 minute tube ride we got off at Neasden. Well, the map wasn't exactly on our side, because there was quite a walk from the station and to the store (which was why we chose no to go to Tottenham Hale, where you have to take a shuttle bus). But we were there, so we might just as well go for it. We had the obligatory meatball lunch, and then strolled around. Got all the normal items - candles, serviettes, lightbulbs etc. My greatest buy was otherwise a great bit wok pan for the amazing price of £3! And then the food section! And this is normally the best thing about IKEA abroad - it's food heaven for an expat. We were both slightly disappointed this time though, because the food section was a lot smaller than in the other IKEA. Still, I managed to fill up a whole basket with Singoalla biscuites, dill flavoured crisps, elderberry lemonade, Swedish fish (from Malaco!), cheese (that can be sliced with a cheese slicer, yay!), Kopparberg's cider, lingoberry/cowberry jam (we got cloudberry jam last time) and other little bits and pieces. Tomorrow, I'm the one having polar bread and blueberry soup for breakfast!


*IKEA in Oslo was otherwise one of our very cheap weekend entertainments - you'd get out of town, and could buy really cheap Swedish candy and a hot dog for hardly any money. However, IKEA also represents one of the biggest arguments we've ever had. We were going to buy some storage for all the shoes in the all, and couldn't agree on which item to get. Tim famously stated that the one I preferred would make the hall claustrophobic... Anyway, after som arguing, which I of course won, we went off to pick up the storage unit - which we suddenly discovered weighed 30 kilos! So, that was our punishment for arguing in IKEA - in the three years we lived in the Oslo flat, we never had any storage for shoes...

Spring in London

Sometimes, life is sweet. I was quite grumpy and slightly bitter this morning - finding it hard to come back from a 'working holiday'. But right now (as I write this) I'm sitting outside in a deck chair in the garden, enjoying a big cup of coffee and the warm sun. It's funny how little things can make such a difference! Yes, there are things I occasionally think are wrong with this country, but its spring (in comparison to the Scandinavian ones - it snowed three days ago in Stockholm) definitely isn't one of them!

Locked up

Tim has forbidden me to go in to town today. In a way, that is a good excuse to walk around in sloppy sweat pants, and say that I cannot do any work because all the books I need are in the library (yeah right!). The reason for this house arrest is not because of me behaving badly (which, of course, I would never do!), but is thanks to the G20 meeting in London. Most of the demonstrations are in the financial district, but parts of the West End are also affected (where they will have protest marches etc). The Firm, Tim told me, sent out emails a few days ago warning their staff from wearing suits to work today (!), and yesterday they put up boards over their windows (and so did most of the neighbouring business)... So yes, London is prepared for a fight. While I think it is rather sweet of Tim to be so concerned about my security, it also annoys me that normal people have to take these security measurements! But based on these pictures:

(taken from www.aftonbladet.se)

and
(taken from www.svd.se)

I guess one has to. But at the same time, I just think this is such a waste of resources. 5 000 police men out today! What gives these protesters the right to take over the streets? Yes, they certainly have the right to demonstrate, but which support do they think they will gain from vandalizing banks?

Super Sunday

M and I went to the Swedish church last night, where they showed Melodifestivalen - the Swedish part of the Eurovision Song Contest. The place was absolutely packed, with a great atmosphere.* Went out afterwards with a big group of other Swedes, first to a bar, and then on to a restaurant. Got home at around 2.30, and, as you could probably guess, slept till lunch time today. But today has been such a beautiful day - sunny and warm. So Tim, M and I went down the street and had brunch at a local cafe. (Greasy food was high on our priority list, but as they were out of burgers I had a tuna baguette instead, but perfect brunch food.)

Tim and I then decided to go for a walk, and went down to Brixton.

(Picture from http://www.londonisfree.com/ongoing-events/markets)

I have been to the area a few times before (as it has the closest Argos), but last time we tried to visit the market it was absolutely pouring down, and we left rather quickly. But today was a perfect day for just strolling around. Of course, the actual market is not open on Sundays, but all the butchers, green grocers and fishmongers were still open. We became really excited, and ended up buying a kilo of really amazing beef for stews for only £3! And then a big bag of assorted veggies for £1.40! We are sooo going back there more often to do more shopping.

So, when we got back home Tim made a super yummy beef bourguignon (yes, I had to look up the spelling on that one). It was such a perfect ending to the weekend!


*Anyone curious can find the winner here.

Snow!

Yes, I know most of you think Englishmen are really silly who cannot take some snow - and to a certain extent I agree. But then think about how little snow one normally gets in this country (or at least in the southern parts). So why should you be overly prepared? I mean, even in places like Scandinavia and New England people are sometimes (too often) caught off guard.

Well, this is what it looked like last night (an attempt to take a photo of Tim in the snow):

And this is our kitchen window this morning:


It was pure chaos, to say the least. All bus routes shut down (as from last night, but Tim has reported that the drivers outside our local bus depot were engaged in a big snowball fight this morning), as well as all trains and almost all tube lines! I was secretly looking forward to a 'snow day' with Tim (yohoo! extra Sunday!), but as Victoria line was the only one fully operating there was not really any excuses for Tim not to go to work (Victoria line being the only tube line that is fully underground). I could have gone to the BL on the Victoria - but soon discovered that all the reading rooms were shut due to the lack of staff! So, cosy day at home for me. (And also a good excuse not to let Jim out, who is still looking a bit weak.)

Recovering

We are slowly recovering from last nights horrible events (both us and the cat). Jim seems to be doing a lot better, although we have now closed the doors to both bedrooms, just in case. We decided to be cultural today, and went to the British Museum to see their newly opened Ancient Near East collections (Assyrian and Egyptian art). Were very impressed with the Assyrian wall reliefs, and also looked at an exhibition on 'life and death' in different cultures. As always, though, the museum is far too big, and there's never enough time to see it all. But that's partly why it's one of my favourite museums - there's always something new to discover and explore!

We also managed to stop by one of the few Zavvi stores that is still open, and made a few bargains on the way home. A CD and six movies came to £23, which seems quite reasonable. Now we're about to snuggle up on the sofa to watch the first one - Cloverfield. Perfect ending to the weekend, especially since it is now snowing (!) outside our windows...

Comedy, ha ha ha!

Saturday was spent in the library, and at night we watched 'We are most amused' - a comedy show in celebration of Prince Charles's 60th birthday, and there were some really good acts. Tim loved Joan Rivers, we both laughed at Robin Williams (although it might have been a little too political) and discovered a - for us - new talent. (The Iranian?) Omid Djalili was absolutely great. I especially laughed at: "We from the Middle East, we don’t know much about comedy. We don’t even know basic joke construction. Like, for you, an Englishman, an Irishman, a Scotsman that is a joke. To us, that is a hostage situation."

Other than that, this was one of my favourites:


Funny was also Eric Idle in a tutu, singing "Always look at the bright side of life" (what else?), with a few new lines, like: "When you're sixty years of age, and you're Mum won't leave the stage, it's good to know that you're still Prince of Wales!" Poor man, he'll never become King...

But it is great to know, that even though I have moved to a country with a rather limited social security system, hardly any maternal leave (not to mention paternal!) and poor housing, then at least British comedy is brilliant!

Weekend report

We had quite a relaxing weekend, much needed I believe. I was supposed to go clubbing on Friday, but ended up not going. Slept in on Saturday, before running some errands. A friend from Norway was in town, but I didn't manage to get hold of him so never met up. Instead, bought four dvd's and three Wii games. It was absolutely pouring down, so it was quite nice to go back home and snuggle up on the sofa with a movie with the rain tapping on the windows. Jim refused to go out. I didn't blame him. Halloween weekend and all, we watched 28 days later. Very good! Had already seen the sequel (28 weeks later) which I enjoyed, as well as the 'comic' version Shaun of the dead (which happens to be one of my favourite movies). Sunday was equally slow. We slept, read, watched Apocalypto, played some Wii, stroked the cat... All the usual stuff. Had planned to go and see a bonfire and some firework, but were in the end too lazy. The weather still wasn't great and the only celebrations we knew about were in Mile End, which is miles away (ha ha ha!). So decided to wait til Wednesday, when the real Fawke's day is. (Read more about that here. It is such a great story!) Some of the biggest celebrations are held in Clapham, not too far away from us, which suits us much better. Hope for no rain on the fifth then and I'll get to experience my first English bonfire night. And as a curiousity, here's a useful poem to read on the day:

Remember, remember the Fifth of November,
The Gunpowder Treason and Plot,
I see no reason
Why the Gunpowder Treason
Should ever be forgot.


Also, I would like to thank you for all the positive comments about the flat! I like it a lot, although there are loads of things I would fix/change if it were ours. At the moment, isolating the windows will have to do (why, why, why will people not use double glassing???). Now at least you know how we live.

Pictures of the flat

Finally, I've taken a few pictures of the flat. It looks very yellow (which is partly true) but that's because I didn't use a flash. Anyway, here it is. The living room and adjacent kitchen:



The not so very impressing bathroom:

Our bedroom (the one room that needs the most done to it):


And finally, the guest room (aka Tim's dressing room):

Another thing...

... that I would be happy to live without is the poor plumming. We were convinced we had sorted it out, but no. The kitchen sink is connected to both the bathroom sink and the washing machine: i.e. food in one of them, and you have food in the other two as well. Often when you go into the bathroom it now looks as if one of us is bulimic - old food everywhere in the sink. Yuk! And before we can do any laundry we now have to run a simple spin and rinse cycle in the machine, to get rid of left overs... (I have not yet had the courage to tell Tim I've found pieces of leek in his clean underwear...) Something clearly has to be done!