Typically Southampton isn't the first spot you would choose to visit when you think of England, but when I was invited to a wedding anniversary party from one of my Indian friends from the mountbatten program Krutika, I couldn't resist.
When I arrived at Southampton, I noticed a large bay with huge cruise ships and a large shopping center. I called my friends and they were going to be a while to pick me up. So instead of going to the bay sight seeing. I took the opportunity to shop at the massive Ikea. It was fun to walk through the large halls of furniture, accessories and goodies. I bought some coffee and some sweets to give to the party hosts.
My friend Abhi arrived and called me to pick me up. Four of us squeezed into the back of the hired car and set off where to? Ikea...The hosts had postponed the party for the rain. So here I was walking into Ikea again. Luckily a few of my friends decided to get something small to eat to tide them over. I walked with Prashanth and his wife Reshmi over to McDonalds. This was a cultural experience for sure! We had a hearty MickeyD's meal and walked back to Ikea, picked up our friends and made our way to the party.
The party was a fabulous barbeque, complete with little kids running around and corn on the cob(with indian spices of course). The women were all dressed in colorful traditional outfits and some of the men as well. We sat and chatted about all sorts of things. I met some lovely people, ate rice and curry with my hands and would not be let out the door without a bowl of icecream to share.
Overall it was a fun experience. I was able to spend some more time with these friends, meet some new people and roam the walls of ikea which is always a treat.
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Thursday, August 12, 2010
St Botolph-without-Bishopsgate
After speaking with my youngest sister Michele last night about my struggles with religion and faith, I decided to finally check out the church service at St. Botolph-without Bishopsgate today. It is a historic church which originally housed one of the historic gates of London. It's a beautiful albeit small chuch right across the street from my work with a gorgeous garden that I often sit eat lunch in and read a book.
It was a 12:10 service which is described as "a service of words and silence." It lasted about 15 minutes. The priest came out, prayed did some litergy, prayed some more, served communion and the service was over.
It was strange being in such an old beautiful place with 5 others in the pews (all older men) and the priest in front as I stuggled to make out the strong British accent of the priest. I followed respectully sitting down and standing up in unison with the other church goers, but I stayed back while the others took communion. In the end the priest gave me a friendly handshake.
There is something about the sanctitude of the place, the smells of the old wood and cold walls. The colorful stain glass windows with pictures of the christ child that always gives me the willies when I go into any old house of worship. I'm not sure I got much out of that service, but maybe I'll try the one next wednesday that is characterized as "a service with song and preaching."
It was a 12:10 service which is described as "a service of words and silence." It lasted about 15 minutes. The priest came out, prayed did some litergy, prayed some more, served communion and the service was over.
It was strange being in such an old beautiful place with 5 others in the pews (all older men) and the priest in front as I stuggled to make out the strong British accent of the priest. I followed respectully sitting down and standing up in unison with the other church goers, but I stayed back while the others took communion. In the end the priest gave me a friendly handshake.
There is something about the sanctitude of the place, the smells of the old wood and cold walls. The colorful stain glass windows with pictures of the christ child that always gives me the willies when I go into any old house of worship. I'm not sure I got much out of that service, but maybe I'll try the one next wednesday that is characterized as "a service with song and preaching."
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Rainy day and Pilates
Rainy London
Yesterday, marked one of the heavier rains that I have seen in England. Granted, I haven't seen much for rain storms, just lots of drizzle. But yesterdays' rain was pretty fun to watch. I still walked the 25 minutes to work. I just carried my umbrella with me. One cool thing about the rain is the reflection you get on the black tar when it's wet. Here I was walking down the path with my bright yellow umbrella and it almost felt like there was a big sun above my head when I looked at my reflection on the ground.
Pilates
After work, I went home grabbed a few items for the gym and met my friend Nishita for a pilates class. I had never done pilates before, but I had been practicing yoga with a recording for the last several weeks, so I felt up to the task. unfortunately we got into the class late, had to grab our mats and try to keep up with this intermediate/advanced class. The instructor asked at least 3 times who had let us into the class, but she made a point to give us easier movements when necessary. She was very helpful. When doing the movements at home, it's hard to know if your body is positioned correctly. It was really nice to have an instructor there to help. I think I'll sign up for the next class and hopefully make it there before the class begins.
Yesterday, marked one of the heavier rains that I have seen in England. Granted, I haven't seen much for rain storms, just lots of drizzle. But yesterdays' rain was pretty fun to watch. I still walked the 25 minutes to work. I just carried my umbrella with me. One cool thing about the rain is the reflection you get on the black tar when it's wet. Here I was walking down the path with my bright yellow umbrella and it almost felt like there was a big sun above my head when I looked at my reflection on the ground.
Pilates
After work, I went home grabbed a few items for the gym and met my friend Nishita for a pilates class. I had never done pilates before, but I had been practicing yoga with a recording for the last several weeks, so I felt up to the task. unfortunately we got into the class late, had to grab our mats and try to keep up with this intermediate/advanced class. The instructor asked at least 3 times who had let us into the class, but she made a point to give us easier movements when necessary. She was very helpful. When doing the movements at home, it's hard to know if your body is positioned correctly. It was really nice to have an instructor there to help. I think I'll sign up for the next class and hopefully make it there before the class begins.
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Trip to Oxford
Oxford is college city defined. The streets are lined with shops and bars for college students. Nearly everyone you meet is in their late teens or early twenties and there are pizza shops and late night food spots at every corner. However unlike many US college towns, the college buildings have a castle like quality to them, the buildings are spread out around the entire town instead of being nestled into a mall area within a community and the multi million dollar stadiums are nowhere to be found.
Wow...Oxford. One of the most prestigious names in Academia and then one of the college lads, whistles and it feels just like any other college campus.
We spent the day wandering through the town, looking at beautiful churches, school buildings and the bookstore. I spent the evening in a local pub, reading, talking with some locals and enjoying a pear cider. By the time my friends and I went to catch the last train back to London at 11:45, the train station was closed. We had missed the last train, so went to grab some pizza and make our way to the bus stop, which would take us another hour to get home.
We catch the 12:20 bus, give our £10 for the ride home, pick a comfortable seat and get ready for the long journey back. After about 20 minutes, the bus stops and the lights go off. The driver turns the engine over again, but it stops again. A couple of people on the bus ask what's going on, no answer. The bus driver walkies over to the head office. The engine turns over again, nothing. The bus driver announces that the technician is coming. We wait in the stalled bus for another 15 minutes before another bus comes up behind us. We gather our belongings and load up in the new bus. We finally made it back to London at a quarter passed 2am, catch a 40 minute night bus back to our part of town and then walk another 5-10 minutes home. I was exhausted. Good thing I didn't have class or work the next morning.
Wow...Oxford. One of the most prestigious names in Academia and then one of the college lads, whistles and it feels just like any other college campus.
We spent the day wandering through the town, looking at beautiful churches, school buildings and the bookstore. I spent the evening in a local pub, reading, talking with some locals and enjoying a pear cider. By the time my friends and I went to catch the last train back to London at 11:45, the train station was closed. We had missed the last train, so went to grab some pizza and make our way to the bus stop, which would take us another hour to get home.
We catch the 12:20 bus, give our £10 for the ride home, pick a comfortable seat and get ready for the long journey back. After about 20 minutes, the bus stops and the lights go off. The driver turns the engine over again, but it stops again. A couple of people on the bus ask what's going on, no answer. The bus driver walkies over to the head office. The engine turns over again, nothing. The bus driver announces that the technician is coming. We wait in the stalled bus for another 15 minutes before another bus comes up behind us. We gather our belongings and load up in the new bus. We finally made it back to London at a quarter passed 2am, catch a 40 minute night bus back to our part of town and then walk another 5-10 minutes home. I was exhausted. Good thing I didn't have class or work the next morning.
Friday, August 6, 2010
Trip to America
Truth be told, I forgot about my blog, but was reminded by my friend Anna had with high hopes given my blog the most coveted bookmark spaces on her web browser. I am shameful to admit, that I had to ask her what my blog name was. Thankfully she has given me my address, so I am about to embark on writing once again. Take 2.
After I returned from my bank holiday trip to Amsterdam, the next most notible time was my trip to America for my sister Heidi's and my friend/bandmate Darwin's wedding. I actually feel like I can take a tiny bit of credit for introducing them. And I definately feel like I should get a small award for playing telephone back and forth with them during the first month of their dating relationship. Needless to say I was really excited to go home and see their family wedding. (missed the las vegas elopement unfortunately). I spent much of the month of June preparing the table settings, planning parties, practicing my duet over skype with my other sister Lisa and thinking about the details with Heidi's wedding with the wedding planner - my mom.
1 day before the plan trip, I find out via email that my flight's been cancelled, so I spent hours on the phone with the travel agent explaining that this is my sister's wedding and I can not miss it. Finally, I find another flight with another airline and had to wait 7 weeks for my refund. What a nightmare! Still the new flight was slightly better for times and sure enough I was off to the states.
I will say that the wedding was beautiful and showed both of their personalities. I loved the hand written vows and the shameless plug for Heidi's iphone g4 during the ceremony. Here's a link to the full video (only about 15 minutes long)...Check it out. If you want to hear me sing it's within the last 3 minutes.
http://mediamill.cla.umn.edu/mediamill/embedqt/76680
After the wedding, it was really hard saying goodbye to Heidi and Darwin. they were off to move to Georgia, living hundreds of miles away (ok, so I'm also away) but I'm coming back, and they are gone for a good 5-6 years. I'm definately going to miss that couple. They are super fun and crazy and just a blast to hang out with.
After the wedding and post wedding events, my nieces, my sister Michele and her boyfriend (now fiancee) Aaron and my brother David and sister in law Apryl went to Duluth camping. We saw the fireworks, cooked over the campfire and enjoyed the serenity of being in the woods and hiking.
It was a great time...albeit a bit tiring trying to keep the girls from running amuk and falling off cliffs. We toured a bit of Duluth and came back home. I was able to spend a few days with my friends and family before I was back off across the big blue to my new home for the year London.
After I returned from my bank holiday trip to Amsterdam, the next most notible time was my trip to America for my sister Heidi's and my friend/bandmate Darwin's wedding. I actually feel like I can take a tiny bit of credit for introducing them. And I definately feel like I should get a small award for playing telephone back and forth with them during the first month of their dating relationship. Needless to say I was really excited to go home and see their family wedding. (missed the las vegas elopement unfortunately). I spent much of the month of June preparing the table settings, planning parties, practicing my duet over skype with my other sister Lisa and thinking about the details with Heidi's wedding with the wedding planner - my mom.
1 day before the plan trip, I find out via email that my flight's been cancelled, so I spent hours on the phone with the travel agent explaining that this is my sister's wedding and I can not miss it. Finally, I find another flight with another airline and had to wait 7 weeks for my refund. What a nightmare! Still the new flight was slightly better for times and sure enough I was off to the states.
I will say that the wedding was beautiful and showed both of their personalities. I loved the hand written vows and the shameless plug for Heidi's iphone g4 during the ceremony. Here's a link to the full video (only about 15 minutes long)...Check it out. If you want to hear me sing it's within the last 3 minutes.
http://mediamill.cla.umn.edu/mediamill/embedqt/76680
After the wedding, it was really hard saying goodbye to Heidi and Darwin. they were off to move to Georgia, living hundreds of miles away (ok, so I'm also away) but I'm coming back, and they are gone for a good 5-6 years. I'm definately going to miss that couple. They are super fun and crazy and just a blast to hang out with.
After the wedding and post wedding events, my nieces, my sister Michele and her boyfriend (now fiancee) Aaron and my brother David and sister in law Apryl went to Duluth camping. We saw the fireworks, cooked over the campfire and enjoyed the serenity of being in the woods and hiking.
It was a great time...albeit a bit tiring trying to keep the girls from running amuk and falling off cliffs. We toured a bit of Duluth and came back home. I was able to spend a few days with my friends and family before I was back off across the big blue to my new home for the year London.
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