Good News All Around

We've had a great few days here. This weekend we hung out with some friends from school that have a 3-year-old son. We went to the Diwali celebration at the V&A Museum. Diwali is a Hindu religious holiday, so at the museum we enjoyed some great Indian music, workshops, and storytelling. Then, we spent the beautiful autumn afternoon at Hyde Park where they have a children's playground that is build like a pirate ship.
Yesterday we had a great time at a social gathering for all the LISPA students. One of our good friends who is a second-year student has set us both up with a part time job serving beverages during intermission at the opera. It will help a lot since my job hunt has proven to be a slower process than anyone could ever imagine. Plus, we'll be working side by side with our friends and hopefully getting some sneak peaks at the opera!
Andy had his first day of school today and it went very well. He really connects with his instructors and fellow students. It's going to be a great 2+ years.
Well that's the good news, hope you are all doing well back home.
-Mandy

Welcome to our Flat!

Yes, that’s right, we call it a flat. Ironically, the building is very old and most of the floors are not actually flat.
We’ve been here a few weeks now and are beginning to feel settled in. I continue to have job interviews, and Andy starts school on Friday. We’ve been anxious to get into a routine. Luckily, we’ve connected with some other students and have had opportunities to be social and enjoy what London has got to offer.
So back to our flat. Every week we add a little bit to it. It is “furnished,” but there are very few items in the kitchen, at least not enough for me to do any kind of serious cooking. It is a one bedroom apartment on the third floor. The living room/kitchen/dining room overlooks a busy street, but the bedroom is in the back and tends to be nice and quiet at night. We’re waiting to get some income before we purchase any decorations, but we have been slowly buying little things to make it more of a home. It has really made me aware of how dependent I am on material items. Tomorrow I’m meeting with a friend to go to the “Pound Stretcher” store to see if I can find a few more kitchen tools I’m looking for.
We were very excited last weekend to have some friends over for a small party. It forced us to clean all the things we were procrastinating on.
We’re excited to have people come visit and stay with us (the invite is open, just let us know if you’d like to come). We have enough room for some air mattresses and we have a short, but very comfortable couch. One catch, the water temperature is very temperamental, so be prepared for baths.

Mandy



Hey everyone. I feel it important that I explain the top two pictures. THis is what happens when you mix a computer that has cool camera effect, MULTIPLE pints... I mean MULTIPLE, and a group of narcasisticly creative theater folk. I hope you enjoy. I am more than willing to e-mail you the other 358 pictures, just let me know.

Andy

by the way, it feels really good to have found a group that I have so much in common with. Aren't we pretty!!!!!!!!!

Waiting for the interweb.

Hi everyone,

Mandy and I are waiting to get the entire interweb delivered to our new flat, this may take several weeks, so we are relying on the Internet store across the the road. Sorry if it takes us a little while to get back to you.

We are doing very well, but we have adopted a new life philosophy:

WE'POE.

to translate means, we are don't have much money, or "we are poor"

Mandy is still looking for work, but with our new We'poe way of living I know all will work out fine.

Hope you are all well.

Peace.

Andy

PS I am currently working on learning more fun songs on the guitar, so I can become a street performer to help us out of the We'poe lifestyle. Any suggestions you have for songs is greatly appreciated.

We Love Cornwall!

So we’re on the train back to London and it’s about 11:30 PM. We’ve just spent a wonderful weekend on the Lizard Peninsula, which is the most southern point in the UK. My cousin Jim started the whole thing by planning a trip to England and thus convincing our relatives in Cornwall to pull together a family gathering, We all met in the Constantine Social Hall on Sunday afternoon. It was great to meet everyone. Luckily, there was a basic outline of a family tree so that we all were able to understand how we are distantly related. Andy and I spent the weekend with one of the cousins that owns a B&B, Joan Hill. She was a wonderful host and took us all over the place on a tour of places related to the Bennett’s history. I can’t wait to go home and show my Grandma Annie all the pictures of the familiar faces and places.
Andy said Cornwall reminded him a lot of Ireland. The shore was beautiful and we spent most of the morning climbing around the rocks and taking pictures. We lucked out with great weather. What a refreshing break from the fast paced, crowded world of London.
We’re anxious to get “home” for the first time. Finally our flat is ready and we will get into it for the first time after midnight tonight. More details to come as we settle into it. We plan to spend most of tomorrow shopping for basic cleaning supplies and food. It will be so great to actually unpack our bags and begin to make it our own. We will also spend some time tomorrow with Cousin Jim before he flies out. We’re meeting some more relatives, Bruce and Marcia.
Cheers!

Planes, Trains, and Mini-Cabs

I have a feeling that many of our first blog entries will be all about the subtle cultural differences we are observing on a daily basis. Today’s theme: transportation.
The tubes are great in many ways. Mostly clean, mostly fast, not terribly expensive considering the other more expensive options here. There are a lot of buses available, too. But, in just the past day, I have spent over 8 hours on some form of public transportation and have traveled a minimal distance.
The first trip was across town to the South East part of London for a job interview. It went very well and luckily the actual job is very close to our flat. There’s 2.5 hours.
Andy and I have had plans to go to Cornwall for a family gathering of some distant cousins this weekend. We left the house at 4:15 and it is currently 9:00 PM. We are still in transport (heading back to London) because the train took 3 times as long as normal and we missed our flight. We get to do the route all over again tomorrow.
I don’t mean to sound pessimistic. We are just learning the ropes here and some days are more challenging than others in ways that we don’t expect. The British seem to be very polite, so we were graciously given a full refund for our train tickets and hope that this time tomorrow we will be in the Newquay airport meeting our hosts. They have made such an effort to make it possible for us to come; we are very excited to see them.
God has definitely blessed us. Our new Landlords have opened their home to us last night and now again tonight. They have two daughters near to our age and they have all been so kind and taught us so much about London life.
Live and learn, learn and live. The airline that we are using to get to Cornwall also offers flights all over Europe (usually to lesser known destinations, but hopefully close to the better known ones). If you book far enough in advance, you can get flights for only $4.00! They charge a $50 tax, but still. We are considering a trip to Rome, Andy has a cousin there.
Well, enough for now, our stop will be coming up soon.
Hope all is well.
Peace, Mandy

P.S. In Africa, I would find myself thinking and dreaming in French. It’s only been a week, but I’m really getting sucked into the accent here and all of their quirky phrases. It’s brilliant!

I'm sorry I only speak american.

Hello friends,

Here are some pictures,
Parliament
Tower bridge (I was amazed at how big it really is)
And my new dream car (the mini copper looks like an SUV compared to some of their cars)

All is well we are moving right along with all we need to take care of.
I don't have an accent yet, but I have found myself saying, "Oh bugger"
I sometimes feel like I am loosing my hearing, having to ask people to repeat themselves all the time. We are amassed at just how international of a city London is; we have met people from just about all around the world.

We are excited to go to Cornwall this weekend for Mandy's family reunion. We have been in contact with a couple of her cousins and they seem like very nice, and really fun people.

The free Skype video conferencing as been very helpful in keeping the home sickness at bay, but for me it is really starting to sink in that I won't be home for quite a while.

I highly recommend you all sign up with skype. It's free to get, and free to call other computers with skype, and they have video conferencing for free too.

OOPpss sorry I turned into a skype commercial there for a second.

When we get back I am looking forward to getting settled in out apartment, and getting set on a consistent schedule, I am realizing more and more how much that is a need of mine.

Oh, last night we had a pint with MR. Jeremiah Fairbanks that was quit lovely, he seems to be doing really well, and he always has such a great energy and approach to life. I hoping we spend more time hanging out. (even though he is a hippie)

THE FOLLOWING PART IS TO BE READ WITH AN EXTREEME ENGLISH ACENT

Well that's about that then, I think I'll quit this note while I'm ahead, flick on the telle, and see if “Flog It” is on bbc2.
Cheers,
Lord Andrew


One quick translation:
Flog It, the show, is not what it sounds like. It is actualy a show like The Antique Road Show where people take and antiques and attempt to "Flog it" by selling it at auction to make money.


I miss you all.

Peace.

Temporary Tourists

Hello All!
Well, we are allowing ourselvesa little bit of tourism. We are eager to move into our new flat and become regular, run-og-the-mill Londoners But until then, we are soaking in some of the sights.
Today we spent the afternoon on a bus tour of the city. It was good to see where the museums, parks, shops, and monuments are. I recognized some of them from my trip with Karalyn back in 2002. We stopped to look around at Trafalger Square and later at Harrod's Department Store. Yesterday, we had a great time wandering around the Portabella Market (the one in the movie, "Notting Hill") which is just blocks away from our flat.
We are so happy to have finally found place to live. We will move in on Monday. It is being leased to us from a wonderful couple originally from Bangladesh. They told us to consider them to be our UK Indian parents while we're here.
Hope all is well back home (:
Love, Mandy