Yvonne and Nick
31/10/01 - Halloween in London
This was supposed to be a Maori face, but it looks a bit more like a devil...
Yvonne and Nick |
12/09/01 - (re: WTC bombing)
Yes we are fine. Quite shocked, but fine. Because it was
2pm here, I pretty much watched it happening live on TV. Despite that it still
hard to accept.
We've already been talking about whether we should come home now, or at least to Oz. The UK is taking the risk of being struck very seriously - and I guess the risk will increase as the US tries to strike back at whoever it sees fit. We'll stick it out until it's clear whether or not the UK is involved in a war. I know that sounds pretty grim.
On a lighter note, we're looking for a flat. It's difficult
to find anything in London under £195 per week (about NZ$680) - within
London that will get you a studio apartment (possibly with a phone). At little
further out you can get a 1br flat. If you are happy to spend some more time
travelling then you can get a 2br (but you can expect to spend at least 40mins
on the trains).
We spent the last couple of weeks in France, Belgium
and the Netherlands. I had to wait in Amsterdam while my work permit was processed
(because you have to be out
of the country while it's done - apparently). So I've seen Amsterdam - well
the famous bits.
I'm hoping to take Y to Edinburgh (by train) next weekend.
We're hoping to do lots of little trips at weekends - hoping being the operative
word.
29/08/01
We're now in London. And it's enormous. But despite that,
when we got off the overpacked underground train at London Bridge (having been
crammed
against hoards of people for 40mins) all I heard was Kiwi and Aussie accents.
Apparently that's the area they tend to hang out in.
Well, it's bloody hot here (about 30), so we're going to try and find a nice cool place to relax, and make plans. Have to start job hunting now.
29/08/01
We've been moving around a bit for the last few days,
and we're just in the process of preparing for a trip to Belgium, The Netherlands
and Luxembourg - while my work permit is processed. We'll take lots of pics.
05/07/01
We're in Sweden now. Still jet-lagged, we lost 7 hours
yesterday. It's a neat place, we'll be out taking photos today. Almost everyone
understands english here, so it hasn't been too tricky yet.
ABBA (covered by a more recent band) was playing at the airport when we landed, there's even a music museum that has a large exhibit on them in town.
BTW The keyboards here have a different keys for typing Swedish, so it's taking me a while to find things like apostrophes and other punctuation. However it´s easier to type "Zoë" here.
It's warmer here than we expected, we thought it would be about 22, but it was 28 yesterday - and it´s already warming up this morning.
18/06/01
To start with I have to say that we met someone last
week who swore that she'd seen me at a party in Virginia a few days earlier
(even though I was in Florida at the time).
We were sitting at a table in Ruebens world famous deli, not really appreciating why the food should be so famous and eating the enormous pickles that they bring you to eat before your order is ready, when I saw you. And I really mean it was you, you even had your exact style of glasses on. When you smiled your nose screwed up like it normally does (it does). Your hair was the same colour, just a little longer than it's been for a while, and I'd say that you were probably closer to thirty.
But then we noticed the differences, first you had on hippy clothes. Second you had a black baby strapped to your front. And finally, and this really gave it away, your boyfriend/husband was this really tall black guy with and afro' with a large black-power comb in his hair.
Of course I thought about asking if I could take their photo, but somehow it didn't seem appropriate. Still, I would really liked to have seen Mum's expression - if we'd be able to take their picture.
Honestly, we both were amased at how much this complete stranger looked like you, but I guess with 6 billion people on the planet it's going to happen. Like it or not.
Anyhow, we're fine. Just on the way to Ottawa for a couple of days, staying in Montral until Sunday. Not really sure who to look up in Ottawa.