We'll have some pictures of the flat soon. It's about 3 miles outside of downtown, as you might be able to see on the map,. It's a bit of a crowded map, but you get the general idea.
And, if you have no idea where anything is in England, click here. You can get a sense that Oxford is about 55 miles from London, 25 miles from Aylesbury. And, Marty assures me there is good fishing down near Winchester (the Itchen and the Test), less than 2 hours away.
I am feeling a bit removed from world (or at least US) events. We didn't even realize that President Bush gave his State of the Union address-I read it online 2 days later (for what it was worth). The big news around here is whether Tony Blair gave his young child the MMR vaccine or not. It plays over and over at every newsbreak.
A couple things that we're surprised at:
- The sun was out today and yesterday (but it did rain yesterday).
- Mail delivery before 7:30 a.m. Get your mail before you go to work. Amazing.
- Roundabouts - they actually make things flow pretty well (because everyone follows the rules)
- McVitties are yummy (but we knew that already before we came). They're called 'digestives' and are made from wheat flour. Don't bother with the milk chocolate ones - I like the plain chocolate, Toby likes the caramel and chocolate. Plain (no chocolate) are good too. And of course there are Carol's faves, Hob Nobs. (They are called biscuits, and are basically oatmeal cookies.) They're good too with and without chocolate.
- The Patriots won!!
- No one here cares that the Patriots won. Makes our gloating a bit useless.
){kind=link}
Friday night we saw the movie 'Training Day' (Denzel Washington, Ethan Hawkes). Pretty intense, violent and showing the seedy underbelly of the LA Police Dept. Not recommended for the faint of heart. We tried the sweet popcorn - very disappointing. I can only describe it as not sweet enough to be a treat, but sweet enough to take away from the popcorn experience. Toby's search for good popcorn continues. Next time we'll try the toffee popcorn.
Last Saturday we took a drive up to Stratford-Upon-Avon, birthplace and home of Shakespeare. We toured his house and went to Holy Trinity Church where he and some of his family members are buried. It's about 70 minutes from Aylesbury. It started out not rainy, but, true to form, did rain during our visit there. It didn't really rain too hard, but it did rain. It's a very quaint town. Yes, a bit of a tourist draw, but really charming. We're going to try to go see the Royal Shakespeare Theatre perform there sometime soon. Here's Toby in front of Shakespeare's birthplace
)
and one of me in the back of the house
)
. And, his burial place,
)
Holy Trinity Church.
Sunday, we went over to Oxford and walked around downtown. Did it rain? Well yes it did. I left the umbrella in the car, but I had my rainjacket on. Toby, as usual, had on her winter coat. No worries, mate. She kinda likes the rain.
A few more 'bits and bobs' from Toby:
Today I went on my first pseudo job interview. It was actually an interview with an accountancy agency (accounting placement office). There were a couple of potential jobs he had in mind for me and said he would call me back before the weekend. They also set me up with there temporary job department for something to do in the meantime.
I am looking into a collection (credit control) job because they seem to pay more than other types of administrative jobs. Not a whole lot of options here at the moment. There is a BBC Radio 2 office right near our house, but they are not hiring at the moment and seem to be a small satellite station of some sort. Need to look into that more.
Speaking of radio - it ain't very good here. First of all, there aren't very many stations. There is a classical station, but the others seem to be a mix of things. Most play head banging music or a mix of pop from the past 40 years (heavy on the British acts). And don't forget the call in quiz segments - very big here. Plus lots of other mindless banter. It's been a challenge to stay with one station for very long (but you've got nowhere to switch to).
The radio networks/car radios here have automatic traffic alerts if you want them. Our car supports this feature, but has a flaw that, while doing the job of interrupting your current station, does so at near maximum volume. It is very unnerving if you are not prepared for it. Needless to say, we've turned that feature off for now.
I was worried about being in a pint drinking society and not really being much of a 'real' beer drinker (can't do stouts or bitters). But after some home taste tests, I discovered that lagers suit me best. Then when we went out with some of Tom's officemates, I found my drink - the lagertop. (Thanks Pete and Simon!) Basically, it's a lager beer with a little bit of lemonade (I think) added to take away some of the bitterness. It's a girl drink, I admit it. But it just so happens that I am a girl. (Just ask my husband;-) It's brilliant (another big word around here).
Tom got his first hair cut and is looking more British.
That'll do it for this update. Keep those cards and letters coming.
Feel free to email us:
On to next journal entry (Feb 17).
Back to previous journal entry (Jan 30).
Back to England page.
Back to homepage.