(I'm currently redesigning the blog, as I do often; and I'm stuck on a background & theme. Watch this space for a better... look.)

Friday 26 July 2013

NB: lots of honesty contained

Rotten day and I only just ate lunch. I Skyped Dad and Charlotte and I cried. It's the worst thing ever - crying in front of your family who are sitting on the other side of almost 13,000kms of rock. You've just got to suck it all in and be OK, because there ain't nobody I know here to be myself with.

I feel like I've regressed with regards to my face. Actually "feel" is a funny word to use because my poor upper lip is completely numb. I went into the dentist concerned about the cost, since I was thinking they'd fix it up for me forever and that's got to cost something right? I was so naive. Forget the money, this tooth is going to be a pain forever. Not in pain forever, but fillings like the one I have now (only set me back forty nine quid but oh man it hurt) are only guaranteed to last two months (what's this crunchy bit in my chicken? oh crap), and after that I read they can last up to fifteen years if it's just a small one in a molar somewhere and the person only eats yoghurt...!! The dentist I went to today, she did a really good job of making it look and feel like a tooth, unlike the last one who - though he was nice - made it look and feel like a rock solid swirly meringue complete with spiky tip (which I filed down myself because I'm like that). So should I consider a crown? We'll see.
The other very encouraging warning I came away with was that because because it broke so close to a nerve, and she meant really, really close; if there are problems (i.e., the nerve dying) I may need a root filling. AAAAaaaaaaaaaaaggggghhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!! Noses fix themselves and skin grows back. Not teeth. Nope. I wish I had never fallen down those stupid steps. The only good that will come of it as far as I can see is "Oh this photo must be before England because of my teeth."

Right now, to make myself feel better, I'm listening to Vampire Weekend (Unbelievers over and over) and browsing a craft supplies website. It's working! You know you miss home when you're Jess Hunt and sometimes catch yourself considering a Facebook account. Hah, that'll be the day.

Hmm, now that Grandma is looking after my car I think it will be my principles that will be the death of me...

Productivity

Well it's been a laid back week where I haven't accomplished very much. I've finished several pages of my colouring book (a well-invested pound), watched Firefly (love it 100%), had a long overdue Skype date with the beautiful Sarah, had dinner with some friends from church, had lunch with a friend from church, knocked over some Monopoly places (Fleet Street, The Strand, etc), rediscovered some old classics on Spotify, and in a couple of hours hopefully my tooth will be fixed! They hadn't actually booked me in on Wednesday (grr) so they made an appointment for this morning. Kind of a bummer, because I was planning to go to Oxford for the day. Ah well. I'll do some cleaning and stuff. Maybe rent Serenity...

Am I wasting this time? See for me, a holiday is about relaxing. Am I missing out if I don't travel because I'd be forcing myself to? I like wandering around London but after a couple of hours I just get tired and want to go home. Of course I want to explore the countryside but I've never done anything like that before - not on my own - and it's hard to know where to start. And would I be doing it because people think I should? Because they'd think I was lazy if I didn't? Isn't it OK to just live life boringly sometimes? I'm an introvert. I like having time to myself. I like sitting in my room sharpening pencils listening to 90s pop not worrying about where I have to be or what I'll eat. I don't mind missing out on another bunch of nice old buildings and a big castle if it means I can get to know my new church family just a little bit better. So rolling hillsides can wait until next week.

Saturday 20 July 2013

Gloomy Tuesday

As of last Saturday I am officially off duty for two weeks! Mum and the kids are off on holidays, and so I'm free as a bird that never had any wings. It's great so far! I've been asked so many times where I'm going, but I still don't know - it will happen and then I'll write about it, how about that. Originally I was going to spend the whole two weeks traveling but I stopped making plans after I broke my face because I wasn't sure what would have to happen at the dentist. I've got all next week to roam and I'm still going to Edinburgh for a weekend. Besides, I'm here on a two year visa and I'm saving a bit of money so there'll be other opportunities. 

I should have written earlier about my face and I'm sorry I haven't kept the updates coming. It's healing really, really well. The swelling is all gone and all you can see is a scar on my lip. And the temporary filling, but that should be fixed tomorrow. Hopefully.

I keep getting bouts of homesickness and yesterday I went to a suburb I hadn't visited before to do some shopping because I gave so many summer clothes away and I wished I was with my sisters or somebody. Loning it gets boring after a while. And I hate clothes shopping anyway - I did not find one pair of trousers that were not high waisted, nor shorts that wouldn't show your bum if you bent over. AND I've gone up a size. Ah well. I found this neat little shop called tiger where there's groovy gift and activity and home stuff. I bought a colouring book to use with my crayola pencils that I bought on Sunday. It's called malebog but it looks like mandalas, not that I'm Hindu now but I like patterns. And it was one pound. 

I was going to go to Oxford today. And yesterday. Now it'll have to be Friday! I'm just so tired and it rained. It's so hot here I find it hard to sleep.

You know one thing besides cute, fat bumble bees that England has that Australia lacks? The term 'bless'. If someone does something sweet or a kid is cute or you fall and break your nose, someone might say 'oh bless'. There's no equivalent for that in Australia I feel. After my first appointment at the doctor I went to the receptionist and asked if I had to pay, she said 'you're new here aren't you? Oh bless. No you don't have to pay.' Little Miss might do a drawing and write her name underneath and her mum would say 'oh look at that, oh bless!' It's a really nice thing.
Here I haven't seen those plastic things that do up bread, and before the traffic light goes green it goes amber while the red is still on I think. 

There's a red kite (bird) in the sky. I just love the clouds! This is not my house.
Me. 
My family - dad you're at the top and I have no idea who the rest of us are. I had to remind her I had another sister and a brother.

Monday 15 July 2013

Well the swelling in my upper lip has gone down so much - it's great. My nose is still not hurting, though I got a bad headache today so am back on paracetamol. It was hot - 33 apparently! Eating is even worse because I have ulcers on the inside of my bottom lip that appeared last night. I've been avoiding crunchy foods. But that's the worst of it really. The reason the filling isn't annoying me anymore is because I filed it down a bit myself. You might think that was naughty or stupid but it sure helped! The plaster (British term for bandaid, though technically they're steri strips) is coming off and I'm wondering should I take it off early? There's a lot of crusty puss around there... Anyhoo.

I love the people at my church. They are gold. I didn't get to the morning service because of the swelling, but there was a picnic on so I scored a lift and then just hung out with everyone until after post-church hang out - 10pm. I love Sundays. I knew several of the songs at the night service, too. But I wished I was at uneChurch. I miss everyone so much.

Here is me right now.

Sunday 14 July 2013

Overdue update

Sorry I didn't write yesterday. Well I woke up early and the swelling was worse, but it hasn't been as painful as you might have thought. I had yoghurt for breakfast, and made toast which I cut into strips and tore off pieces to put in my mouth. The local dentist was booked out, but there's an emergency line you can call and they got me booked in to another dentist nearby. They were lovely there; very kind and reassuring. He gave me a temporary filling which is a lump of white stuff that hardens and almost looks normal. It only took 15 minutes. He said when the swelling has gone down on my lip, I can go to my local dentist and they'll fix it up. I won't be losing my tooth and there's no damage to the root or anything. The lady thought I was under sixteen!! (Same thing happened with the shopping delivery man the other day, he asked my age and for ID). I had to pay 18 pounds because I'm on a visa, I think, but that didn't bother me at all. I'm more worried about the work that comes next. Anyway I came away from there thinking, sweet!
But by late afternoon my lip had doubled in size.The filling was bumpy and sharp, and I realised it was rubbing on the pre-existing cut on the inside of my lip - the one from the fall. And so the swelling was getting worse even though I'd had ice on for ages. I was thinking, crap - it'll never heal! The same dentist is open for emergencies again today apparently so I'm planning to give them a call and see if they can smooth it off. I might miss the church picnic though, which I'm bummed about. I would have gone this morning if the swelling wasn't so bad. But I skyped Dad and Seamus instead which was great.
My nose isn't too sore. When I'm sitting still I'm not in pain, just a bit uncomfortable. Eating is getting trickier because of my lip, and the rubbing tooth, but hopefully it can get fixed and I'll be properly on the mend by this afternoon. I almost wouldn't mind if the cut on my lip left a scar, but it may not so it's win win.

Friday 12 July 2013

Ouch

You know after I wrote that post about being homesick I got all these lovely emails. I thought to myself, Gee I should write them more often! Well this just takes the cake: I've been in England for two months and one day, I just had my initiating check up with the doctor's surgery this morning, it's one month till my 21st, and I roll down brick steps and fall flat on my face - breaking half my front tooth off, splitting my lip badly on both sides and most likely (the nurse says) breaking my nose.
Here is a picture of me with my mouth closed because my tooth is just so gross to look at (I was crying mostly from pain but also fear of being ugly I think! As well as wanting my family. Says a lot about me.) I've got glue and steri strips on my lip which stay on for five days. A few grazes on my body which I hardly notice. The nurse at the hospital was very good and did all the right check ups, so I know I'll be fine once my face heals. 6 weeks for the nose. I was just sweeping the patio and must have missed my footing. My lip is actually much fatter than it looks in the photo. At least my nose is straight. Gotta find a dentist that's open on Saturdays... Gotta look at my insurance stuff...

Anyway, I'm fine. I'm glad it was me and not one of the kids! Everyone's been really great, the kids grandparent's came to the rescue when it first happened since the parents were still coming home from work. The kids were worried and stressed out, and I admit to letting out a bad word when I saw my tooth and the cut in my lip. Actually I let it out several times. But people have had far far far worse and I'm sitting here typing this without having had any painkillers yet! I'm just so self conscious - talking with my hand over my mouth. When I breathe in, the air is cold on my broken tooth. Anyway, enough whingeing. So off you go and write your kind email, and stay tuned!

Oh what the heck, if you want tooth ones click here.

Can you believe it?

I turn 21 in one month! I thought twice about publishing my birthdate on the world wide web, but really I thought about it three times because I did anyway. So who is coming to my party?

Thursday 11 July 2013

bot bot poopy dump

I still get St Marks emails, and I still read them even if they're for second hand furniture. Habit I guess. But there was a prayer letter from a guy (who I hardly know at all) in Africa - and as I read it I felt like I'd never again have anything to write and if I did I'd write it badly. I almost feel like I've had a stop over in Niger. Anyway, I don't actually have anything much to say tonight but I'm awake and hungry and when I go to bed that's when I'll feel tired.

It seems everyone here grows strawberries, and we have raspberries too. Here is the harvest -
We went to a milkshake place in Brighton where they blended up Oreos with ice cream and a bit of milk with whipped cream on top - yum! So Little Man requested the same ingredients and we had it tonight for "pudding." Yum. You only need one or two Oreos!

Poor Little Miss fought a diarrhea bug yesterday, which is horrible for anyone, but it's really upsetting when you're four and you don't get to the toilet in time and your tummy hurts and you don't really know why. She was tired too, she actually fell asleep on the couch which I was half expecting given how slow she'd been going all day. She stayed home from nursery this morning, and I limited the diet to plain foods. Apparently raspberry leaf tea is good but she wasn't so keen. She's pretty well recovered. Kids are so tough and adaptable, except when they know you have control over the situation, i.e. the TV... I have the Power Rangers theme song in my head a lot of the time. I can only watch one 1993 episode a day, because the storyboard is exactly the same they just replace the monster and the puns, it's cute sometimes... But the newer stuff is unbearable. I hate it. I feel less ill cleaning up runny poo from the floor.

Speaking of poo, I should explain the title. You would think that I'd get more toilet talk from the 10 year old boy than the 4 year old boy? Nope. She loves the loo - spends ages on there singing and talking and pooing and weeing and decorating with toilet paper streamers. Washing hands - bubbles bubbles I've got bubbles bubbles on my hands all bubbly... Looking after kids means going at their pace. Walking home can be running after a scooter or waiting with arms folded until the threat is high enough. It's a different way of life to a regimented boarding school or a bookshop, or simply deciding when you'll do things because you're on your own.

Speaking of being on my own, the roaming holiday (haha, Roman holiday) is still in planning stages but there are youth hostels all around (don't worry - I'm not seeking out the "party ones" as Mum called them) and I've got enough in the bank. I'm not going to post an itinerary here or anything, but I'll try and remember to take photos!? You never know - I might end up just having the weekend in Edinburgh and staying here for the two weeks before hand. Hopefully not.

Monday 8 July 2013

Pong

This post is a top up on gooey feely and boring life stuff. The weather is just lovely - it's been 26, though locals say "Oh my gosh it's 30 degrees outside. Sooo hot. Ugh, the heat!" I've burnt myself in the kitchen five times since moving here: twice today being hot oil on my foot and an oven tray on my wrist. Last week was an oven tray to the forearm. Maybe it's because I'm spending more time properly cooking than I ever have... surely that's not true? Anyway I've finished Drop Dead Diva and moved onto Torchwood. Geez it's graphic sometimes. Much rougher than Doctor Who. I know that I'm using TV as a wind down, but I don't think that's such a bad thing. Apart from the two hours off in the morning while Little Miss is at nursery it's a long day. I think I'll be joining an evening bible study this week. Today was good, mostly. I skyped my family. Man I miss you guys. Sometimes (and I've probably written this before) I wonder why I left behind the best five people in the world, as well as a great town with a great church full of really great people who are dear friends, a good job, a good car, a slightly less than OK university (hmm anyway) to come here where I don't know anybody. I didn't even know that the plural of pennies is pence and that there are one hundred in a pound when I arrived. I think half of my feeling-alien-ness comes from growing up in the country and now living in a wealthy part of London. But it's beautiful, and I really like my new church. On Thursday I'll have been here for two months - WOW! That second month whizzed by like a four year old girl on a scooter (you'd be surprised! It's a good thing I can run in my new flip flops!).
And here endeth the reel. I have the windows open because it's hot and I'm on the third floor, but something outside reeks so it's time I put my face in the pillow. In, not on.

Sunday 7 July 2013

Brighton Day Three

Even hotter than yesterday! Here are some views from the Ferris Wheel -
Deck chairs for hire - pebbles are not very soft or mouldable.

Crazy golf - there's much compensation for the lack of swimable beachiness I feel. 





That's the burnt down pier that they never rebuilt. 


And there's a picture of me (on the Ferris wheel) for those who have asked. Views from the pier -



Horatio's Bar!!

It was so busy. 


This last one I took mostly for the cute little chimney things which I love. Loved Brighton. Got a tan. And a souvenir pebble - cheap as dirt because dirt is free from the ground like pebbles are.

And as I was getting in the car to go home, I get a phone call from my beautiful friend with the news I've been waiting for so long - congrats guys!!
Church this evening was great and the weekly young people kick on at someone's home is lovely. Totally beats Maccas. But I do miss everyone, especially with all the weddings...

Saturday 6 July 2013

Brighton Day Two

Sunny and lovely! First we walked to The Lanes (bunting pic), past the royal pavilion and a bubble blowing busker, then to the beach where the kids did bungee jumping (no, not my thing) and we had ice cream (my favourite thing). After that we sat on the pebbles soaking up the rays... When I was hot enough I braved the water. Oh man. Think Coffs Harbour in the middle of July. It was colder. And it's July - as hot as it gets here! Anyway it was fun. The ground becomes sand further out, but standing on the pebbles waist deep isn't so bad because your weight is partly carried by the water. The beach was packed - London came down for the day. I should have taken a photo but if you google it you'll see how busy it gets. Not like yesterday. But we were a distant from the crowds so it was nice. The picture with the Ferris wheel is a typical Brighton street with the tall terraces. It's a shame for beach views, but it's quaint. There's lots of cement - it goes buildings, road, big path, steps, pebbles. It's a happening, student, seagully (they're HUGE!), heritagy, groovy, fun place. Not somewhere I'd live, I don't think. But I'm so lucky to have had the chance to visit!

Friday 5 July 2013

Brighton Day One

Brighton for the weekend! It's lovely here. Was so warm this morning but after lunch turned a bit cold and foggy. We went out along the pier where there are rides and typical 'fun park' things. Then the beach, where the pebbles were nice and warm and the life guards were wearing joggers and jumpers. I put my feet in the sea. It was freezing. 




The old burnt down pier. Sea mist.
Beautiful buildings, finally the sun again!

Tuesday 2 July 2013

Got off at Tower Hill

The Tower of London with an archery competition going on.

Doctor Who fans - spot the Shard.

Crossing the Tower Bridge

The Gherkin, the Tower of London

Yes I found a garden

Cute little market

A boat sculpture thing
- you would have loved it Dad.
Sorry there's no better picture.







The Globe I think.

A bridge entirely for pedestrians

St Paul's



The City of London - old new and cliche.

Bout #2

Homesickness. I admit it. I thought I was over the hump until the 3 month mark! It probably has something to do with the fact that I'm in for another round of almost debilitating hay fever and am still not getting enough sleep despite having a lot to catch up on. Still. And it's a lot of effort to start new with a lot of people. I'm sensitive to criticism and have less patience than I did to begin with, again it's probably tiredness. If you could see my eyes right now you'd be horrified - they're bloodshot and watery, and the skin underneath is black and newly burnt red. At least I have some non drowsy hay fever tablets now. So cheap here - 4 pounds for 30 which is like $6.60. Anyway.

There are little things about British people that I don't get, and things that I'm scared I don't know. Sometimes people talk really fast or the conversation moves in a way that is bizarre. So many times I've gone to step to the left to get out of someone's way and they've stepped the same way. It's not like that hasn't happened in to me Australia, but it's little things like that that make me feel so alien. At the moment I'm feeling like I won't stay any longer after my visa, and it's a silly thing to dwell on because I need to work hard and invest while I'm here. Let me explain myself - before I left, I wasn't sure what would happen and I was open to whatever. I never made it my plan to find a spouse or a job which was unlikely anyhow, and that would be a stupid reason to uproot my entire life, but now I'm almost positive it won't happen and that's fine. So I'm thinking about where I'll live when I go back. How I want to be close to my family but living my own life as well... You're thinking YES!! That's good! I know, but not when I still have a long time here. I need to love the people I'm with and wake up in the morning glad to be where I am.

Oh, another thing, they have pennies which is like using 1c pieces! It's so weird getting change here for something that ends in 99p since there's no rounding off like there is in Australia. They call a mohawk (hairdo) a mohican. I still get confused with 'pants', which are undies to us. Little Miss came downstairs yesterday laughing saying that her brother "just had pants on..." I thought, so what? That does remind me though that some English menfolk, however old, will go without a shirt even on cloudy days. If it's even a bit warm, off it comes. Tiling a pavement or a roof? Sitting in the park? Playing football? Just walking along? 17 degrees with a chance of rain later? Gotta take every opportunity.

Wimbledon is the talk of the town at the moment, it's a pity I don't give a damn.

I still have most of my holidays to organise! Any ideas? I wish I had someone to go with but I know it will be fun and educating (for want of a better word) on my own too.