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.

When I'm me, I'm punning.

It actually feels like summer. I had no sleeves outside at 6:30pm and sweated in my boots. It is looking up my friends! I tried elderflower cordial the other day, my host mum bought it because it's a very British thing, and it's yummy. I made a roast vegetable lasagna this week which actually worked! And then I made bolognese the next day and ate beef. Not that I'm a big meet head at all, but I don't remember the last time I ate pork in Australia. After burning myself on the oven I peeled a fair piece of skin off of my thumb, it bled a lot. But I'm not letting that bruise my cooking esteem. (Haha, steam.)

Just an aside: so far I gather that British people think Australia is this huge, glorious expanse of relaxed holiday park where the roads are straight and smooth, and people loll about all day by the pool digesting their barbeque lunch before they head to the beach. We all love cricket and rugby (?) and every day is hot and lovely and people live in Sydney, Perth, Adelaide and um... Queensland. When I'm describing where I'm from I don't bother saying halfway between Sydney and Brisbane like I would to a naive Aussie, I shape my fingers to a rough outline of Australia and point "somewhere around there." "Six hours north of Sydney" is the other one. I'm sure not everyone is that uninformed but it's fun to generalise, right?

And I visited the FIEC church nearby this night and... Yes. I think yes. Much I could write but that is all for now.

The British Museum - love the black security guard's face. Oops.

I changed my mind - here are some photos of the last few days.

Armidalesque clouds I feel

Books in the BM library. Loved it.
(Don't look closely at the reflection..)

3500ish year old dead guy in his grave. Wow.
(Sorry about the reflection)

V&A - no photos of stuff inside. Go there.

Elephants!! BM shop.

My Fair Lady

Are you wondering what I do all day?

There's two kids I look after, the boy (obviously I'm not going to say who they are on the blog) goes to school and the girl, nursery in the mornings. I help get them ready (like NEGS in microcosm but not really) and we walk to school together. It's like half the street walks too - kids on scooters everywhere and mums in coats. I love it. But it's darn cold. No colder than the Dale gets but golly this is May (spring).

And then in the afternoons, the usual stuff: Hiding from giants, monsters and ghosts; getting trapped in caves; buying a car from Tesco (and instead of paying twenty-six pounds you get given fifty); hide-and-seek and oh! you're in the basket again; royal weddings (I was the prince); googling pictures of possums after the typical term of endearment went straight over the target's head (but when native Australian animals showed massive shark mouths we googled my house instead); explaining why there's only half a mouse seen in front of the trap outside; watching the worst show ever - H20 - and it's Australian! blurgh; making daisy chains; making cookies (chose that over scones); swinging in the park (it must have been below 10 degrees); singing Bingo, Five Little Ducks, Away in a Manger, London Bridge is Falling Down... school pick up again and a taste of Little Britain. Even more blurgh - it's like Monty Python was a really good looking apple then it went mouldy and there were some worms and that's Little Britain. It might taste a bit apply (or be a bit funny) but no thank you.

Then it's dinner-bath hour and after that just chillin'. After I finish writing this I'll go to bed, even though it's not completely dark outside yet. Just an aside - I'm sorry if I repeat myself, it's just I can't be bothered remembering what I wrote in an email and what I wrote in my last post.

In all seriousness I am really enjoying this new thing. I can't call it just a job and I'm still me so it's not a new life. Though I've only been here four days I think I'm going to be pretty content. The posts now may be sparse until I have something new to talk about. I'm not really itching to leap into London town really soon; I'd rather just get to know my area and my new community and wander around until I want to stretch my horizon. (Come to think of it I still don't know which way's north..)

Overuse of parenthesis! Criticising myself again at the end of a post!
Woo, top of 14 tomorrow, sunny with 83% chance of showers. I need to invest in a raincoat.